After years of fighting with the Regional Transportation District of Denver to prevent the loss of their home and business to eminent domain, Lakewood property owners Kim Snyder and Galen Foster have settled and plan to relocate. The couple recently sat down with Independence Institute President Jon Caldara to film a final video in the series: "The Human Cost of FasTracks."
COLORADO'S FRONTPAGE
Face the State
Content Index: Property Rights
Follow this topic by RSSAttorney Jessica Corry on Centennial's medical pot ban
Attorney Jessica Corry represents the owners and patients of CannaMart, a medical marijuana dispensary recently closed on order of the City of Centennial. New zoning laws disallow dispensaries everywhere within city limits, but is the ban constitutional?
Play audio - 9:40 minutes
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Trio of anti-tax petitions on deck for 2010
A Face the State Staff Report
July 27, 2009Three anti-tax petitions are being circulated in hopes of rolling back recently-enacted tax and fee increases at next year's election. Backers of the initiatives emphasize the grassroots nature of their endeavor, but Colorado's most prominent tax-cutting activists are at work in the background helping to shepherd the measures to the ballot.
6/4: Gov't neck-deep in Arvada real estate project
A mostly vacant urban renewal project in Arvada is costing taxpayers over $1 million.
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6/1: RTD's voracious appetite for land
RTD’s latest land grab could cost taxpayers $100 million.
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State gov't lease props up Arvada urban renewal project
A Face the State Staff Report
May 29, 2009Face The State has learned the state judicial department leases over 30% of the taxpayer-subsidized Grandview Plaza urban renewal project in Arvada, providing $250,000 in revenue for the site's developer the first 18 months. But the arrangement does little for local tax coffers, for which increased revenue was a major selling point in pursuing the project. The state's contribution to the project's finances are on top of an estimated $800,000 in direct local subsidies, detailed in a recent FTS investigation into the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority.
5/19: Cloud still looms over Pinon Canyon
The Army has backed off its planned expansion at Pinon Canyon. Sort of.
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Segment 3 - Pinon Canyon expansion in the news
A review of the week's news regarding possible expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuvering Site.
Play audio - 8:50 minutes
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Englewood homeowners tell of their 'Nightmare on Pearl Street'
A Face the State Staff Report
May 13, 2009
For Englewood families considering opening their homes to an exchange student or two, they may want to think twice. After fighting city officials for their right to house exchange students, one couple is claiming their lives have been put under the microscope by city hall.
Experts forecast future of eminent domain abuse in Colorado
A Face the State Staff Report
May 13, 2009At an Independence Institute event Tuesday evening, property rights expert Jessica Peck Corry and land use attorney Bob Hoban presented their latest findings about eminent domain in a "post-Kelo" world. They say RTD's potential takings for transit-oriented development could usher in a new era of eminent domain abuse in Colorado.
5/11: Lamborn on Army's Pinon Canyon expansion
U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn is pushing for the Army's expansion in Pinon Canyon.
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5/4: The failed promise of 'urban renewal'
A mostly empty commercial building in Arvada is all the proof we need that "urban renewal" isn't all it's made out to be.
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FTS investigation: Arvada redevelopment project sits mostly vacant, costing taxpayers nearly $800,000
A Face the State Staff Report
May 1, 2009
After the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority condemned and forcibly acquired an elderly small business owner's property in 2004, the land was transferred to a private developer who was given the property free of charge. Now city leaders and other project supporters are lauding the project with awards, despite the fact that the new development sits mostly vacant. The total tab to taxpayers thus far is estimated at nearly $800,000 and counting.
'The Buzz' on 1310 KFKA, 4/27/09 - U.S. Senate challengers, RTD on property rights
FTS managing editor Brad Jones visits with 1310 KFKA's Amy Oliver for a wide-ranging survey of hot topics in Colorado politics. Brad and Amy discuss the results of Face The State's online poll regarding GOP challengers to U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, and examine lessons learned from RTD's eminent domain proceedings for its FasTracks expansion.
Play audio - 28:14 minutes
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RTD talking points detail how to organize against property owners
A Face the State Staff Report
April 23, 2009
A 2008 presentation by a top Regional Transportation District official is spurring questions about the transit authority's use of taxpayer dollars to teach other agencies how to effectively prevail against property owners in future disputes.
Left and Right unite to say no transit condemnation power
A Face the State Staff Report
April 15, 2009
During a House debate Tuesday over Senate Bill 94, which would create a new transit bureaucracy within the Colorado Department of Transportation for "planning, development, operation, and integration of transit and rail into the statewide transportation system,” an amendment was offered that would deny the new division condemnation authority over private property on the eastern plains.
Letter to the Editor: El Paso Republicans question Apuan on Piñon Canyon
FTS Opinion
April 9, 2009By Representatives Larry Liston, Bob Gardner, Mark Waller, Marsha Looper, & Amy Stephens
This past week members of the Colorado State House of Representatives extensively debated, HB-1317 by Representatives Pace and McKinley, better known as the “Block Piñon Canyon Expansion” bill. This bill would effectively preclude the U.S. Department of Defense and Fort Carson from ever expanding its Piñon Canyon Training facility.
Segment 5 - Lakewood eminent domain case draws to a close
Lakewood business owners Kim Snyder and Galen Foster announced Friday they had reached a settlement with Denver's Regional Transportation District over the taking of their land for the district's FasTracks rail expansion project. The case sets important precedent for other Coloradans facing eminent domain condemnation proceedings. Darren Copeland reports.
Play audio - 3:53 minutes
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Segment 4 - Dueling energy protests at the state capitol
Thursday, representatives of Colorado's oil and gas industry, joined by hundreds of energy-sector workers, rallied across the street from the state capitol in opposition to new, stricter rules governing oil and gas production. On the opposite side of the capitol, Gov. Bill Ritter touted his "new energy economy." FTS takes a closer look at the controversy over the state's new drilling regulations.
Play audio - 5:57 minutes
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'Colorado's Kelo' comes to a close
A Face the State Staff Report
March 13, 2009
Nearly two years after receiving notice from the Regional Transportation District that their property would be seized for light rail expansion, Kim Snyder and Galen Foster of Pro-Tint Windows in Lakewood are moving on.
New bill seeks sunshine for state's special districts
A Face the State Staff Report
February 25, 2009Over the past decade, Colorado has seen its number of governmental entities grow by 50 percent, due almost entirely to the creation of special districts across the state. In response to growing concerns by property owners, Sen. Morgan Carroll, an Aurora Democrat, has sponsored legislation to increase special district transparency.
Segment 4 - Rep. Cory Gardner on property rights
Under new rules adopted by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the state's Division of Wildlife holds an unprecedented role in approving or denying oil and gas drilling permits. Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, has introduced legislation to ensure the DOW cannot hold a unilateral veto power over permits, thereby lowering the value of property held by surface and mineral rights owners.
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Talk about bad timing for RTD
February 3, 2009In the face of metro mayors questioning leadership decisions made at the Regional Transportation District, the transit authority will inevitably face more backlash this week after it announced that it will seek more than 100 full or partial properties as part of its expansion from downtown to Denver International Airport.
Small business gears up for court battle over eminent domain
A Face the State Staff Report
January 21, 2009Selling window tinting and totem poles out of a property that also houses their home and a doberman pincher rescue project, Kim Snyder and Galen Foster could be the poster children for hardworking small business owners. Over the last year, however, they've also become the face of the increasingly difficult struggle over eminent domain.
Lakewood Eminent Domain Meeting Gets Heated
A Face the State Staff Report
January 19, 2009Nearly 80 property owners and property rights activists gathered Saturday at the Lakewood Public Library to voice their frustrations to board members and an attorney representing the Regional Transportation District. The source of dispute: the agency's intent to condemn more than 150 properties as part of its westward light rail expansion.
Commerce City Tea Party continues its fight
A Face the State Staff Report
January 16, 2009The Commerce City Tea Party has come a long way since 2007 when its members gathered to throw tea on the steps of City Hall in protest of a proposed land annexation.
Gardner, Brophy to take on eminent domain in 2009
A Face the State Staff Report
January 6, 2009As the 2009 state legislative session gets underway, two lawmakers have plans to protect property owners from property rights abuses.
Segments 4 and 5 - COGA's John Swartout on new drilling rules
FTS managing editor Brad Jones visits with John Swartout, government affairs director for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, about the state's new regulations for energy development.
Play audio - 9:13 minutes
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11/20: Unelected bureaucrats stifle growth
In a sluggish economy, we should be encouraging growth, right? Not in Downtown Denver.
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Segment 1 - The week in Colorado news
FTS managing editor Brad Jones visits with Kate Melvin for a look at the week that was in Colorado news.
Play audio - 11:05 minutes
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