Connecting Downtown Lakewood

Anyone who lives in Belmar knows that crossing Wadsworth on foot is an unpleasant task. It's too many lanes and too many cars, and as a result, downtown Lakewood is effectively cut in half.

So it was nice to read in the Lakewood Sentinel that the city is finally taking seriously the need to unify Belmar, Lakewood Commons, Belmar Park, and the Lakewood Civic Center.

The City of Lakewood has also put up a web page for the Downtown Lakewood Connectivity and Urban Design Plan, announcing a series of public workshops.

Perhaps most promising of all, the city's webpage states that the "study will evaluate transit options in the area, as well as possible connections to the West Corridor light rail stations at Wadsworth and the Federal Center."

Chick-fil-A Proposed Site Plan

Here are the draft plans for the proposed Belmar Chick-fil-A. The building sits on the corner of S. Vance and W. Virginia Ave, with the drive-through lane wrapping around the building. Drive-through patrons would order on the northeast corner and pick-up on the west side of the building.

You can see that the planned buffer between the drive-through and the residential property on the other side of S. Vance is a 3 foot screen wall, along with varied trees and other landscaping.

Although I would not want to live across the street from a drive-through fast food restaurant, the property is zoned 4-C, which is different from the rest of Belmar's PD (planned development) zoning. According to the City of Lakewood, 4-C allows for "larger commercial uses such as bowling alleys, shopping centers, supermarkets or museums." I would hope that anyone buying a home across the street from vacant 4-C land would go into it with their eyes open.

My concern is the vast amounts of parking that this plan calls for. Does a Chick fil-A really need almost 50 parking spaces? It's two thirds of the site, and no matter how well landscaped, it's a parking lot that will likely be vacant most of the time.

This is especially problematic when you consider the vast amount of under used parking that exits on the 1st Bank property immediately to the west of the Chick-fil-A site.

Oceans of asphalt are simply not good urban planning, and not what we need if the intersection of Alameda and Wadsworth is truly to become downtown Lakewood.

Chick-fil-A Proposed for Belmar

ZC3 has filed a plan with the city of Lakewood to put in a Chick-fil-A with drive through at the corner of S. Vance St and W. Virginia Ave (details below).

Wow. Unless thoughtfully designed, this seems likely to put a damper on sales of the KB Home duplexes that are immediately opposite-- I can't imagine walking out my front door to see cars idling in a fast food drive-though. There's also the issue of the odors generated by fast food restaurants.

And of course the fact that the last thing the world needs is another Chick-fil A.

At any rate, pictures of a depressingly suburban Chick-fil A built by the applicant in Aurora are available here.

Case Number:	SP12017
Project Name:	Chick-fil-A at Belmar Site Plan
Address:	565 S Vance St
Applicant:	ZC3, LLC
Owner:	Continuum Partners LLC
Project Status:	1st Submittal
Last Status Date:	08/10/2012
Description:	New 4,688 sq.ft. restaurant with drive-through in 4-C district

Geico Building Demolished

The Geico Building is gone. I was surprised how different the intersection of Wadsworth and Alameda looks without it, even though it was set back behind a large surface parking lot and did little to contribute to a defined streetscape. Work is supposed to begin shortly on the new Walgreens and Key Bank.

The plans call for the Walgreens to sit close to the street corner, with parking behind and to one side, which should create a strongly-defined street wall.

Now, any chance the demolition guys could take out the Olive Garden on the north side of the street before they finish up?

Festival Italiano 2012

Cooler weather made for a really nice Italian Festival this year in Belmar. The sky was clear, but it felt like fall. The shade trees along Alaska St. and Teller St. have grown and filled out in the last seven years as well.

There also seemed to be a noticeable improvement in the quality of the street food. Marco's Coal Fired Pizza was a good example of this. Lines were long at their booth, but their pies were head and shoulders above the other vendors. Dolce Sicilia, my favorite north Denver Italian bakery, was also present.

 As always, there were big crowds to watch the flag throwers, the Bocce tournament, and lots of kids stomping grapes. It's a big event, with lots to see and do.

Living in Belmar, I didn't feel the need to get out and do everything at once. Instead, it's nice being able to wander over, grab a coffee and a bite to eat, then come back again later in the day to listen to some live music and sip a glass of wine.