In the sleepy All-American City of Longmont, one can find over a dozen coffee shops, two Wal-Marts, three King Soopers, three Safeways, numerous local mexican restaurants, and the most intense political climate in anyone's memory. Issues of transparency, growth, eastern borders, and prairie dogs all run amok when discussing issues with any given citizen. For some citizens the Twin Peaks Mall ought to be the highest priority for the development of a tax base that has been dwindling for years. Others feel the current city council has squandered opportunity and fiscal responsibility by enacting one study after another with little to show in the scope of progress.
The eastern boarder of Longmont is currently the hot topic in town. The council has declared that Longmont is to be a stand-alone city. With that vision in tact, this council has purchased open space to secure any future developments from encroaching on the Union Reservoir area. Feelings are sharply divided in Longmont over the true motivation for this acquisition.
The arguments for the open space land grab range from protecting bald eagle habitats to prevention of a church's development and perceived sprawl. Those proponents for the Eastern Buffer continue to use the term of "Stand Alone City" when describing the need for open space. It seems that more Longmont residents are in favor of good relations with their eastern neighbors than they are in favor of prairie dog habitats and infringing on a church from growing for the next 50 years.
During the previous election in 2007, the issue of Lifebridge Christian Church's property development came to the fore and was met with a divided council voting against their application. The vote was 6-1 with the deciding nay cast by Karen Benker, current Council member and candidate for re-election. This set a series of events and lawsuits in motion that are still proceeding. As of October 23rd, Firestone has upped the ante with Longmont by annexing three parcels that will, in effect, unseat any future opposition from Longmont's eastern boarder land acquisitions. The recent annexation by Firestone now allows WCR26 to be accessed regardless of Longmont's win or loss in the Appellate Court.
What does this action mean to the election cycle this year? Does it paint the efforts and more than $120,000.00 in legal fees Longmont has paid in fighting this cause? Can the current council assure their voters and citizens that they have progressed with Longmont's best interest at heart? Those questions will be answered on November 3, 2009 when voters retain or fire the incumbents responsible for the border war with Firestone.
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