Pleasant View residents urge county to halt fast-tracked plan to turn Glow Park open space into dense housing

Pleasant View residents told the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 5 that a sudden state proposal to convert a portion of Camp George West known as Glow Park from a research-oriented plan to dense residential housing would harm local traffic, infrastructure, wildlife habitat and public trust.

Community members said the change — described by several speakers as a rapid repurposing of state-owned land — would bring hundreds of new residents and vehicles to a neighborhood that lacks sidewalks, full road improvements and adequate emergency access. Tammy Waller, district manager for Pleasant View Metropolitan District, told commissioners: "This project will potentially bring 700 to 1,000 people into 1 little park and that will have a significant impact not only on the district financially."

The residents’ comments outlined why the change matters to Pleasant View: Glow Park is one of the few nearby flat, accessible open spaces used daily for walking, sports and wildlife viewing; many neighbors say they were engaged by the original Glow Park vision and feel blindsided by the proposal to replace it with high-density apartments.

Speakers described the original Glow Park plan as a trade involving open space and a research facility, not a large residential development. Adrian Waller, board president for Pleasant View Metropolitan District, said the earlier plan envisioned offices and research uses that would not generate 24-hour residential traffic: "It's gonna be residential properties, which then it's 24 hours a day, all year long people are there, and which eliminates many of the things that were discussed for the 3 years that we had meetings regarding a research facility."

Residents raised multiple practical concerns: traffic already congests South Golden Road and nearby collector streets; a Mount Vernon Road traffic study cited by speakers found "a thousand cars go down our Mount Vernon Road per day" and many vehicles exceed the speed limit; local volunteer fire service depends on mutual aid from neighboring districts and may not be equipped for an eight‑story building; and the site contains wetlands and frequent wildlife sightings. Sam Clement said volunteers have removed "over a 150 contractor bags" of trash from the wetland corridor and warned that stormwater from a large paved development would drain into the same stream.

Several speakers also framed the change as a loss of trust. Laura Cardon, vice president of the Pleasant View Metropolitan District board, said neighbors had "come to terms with the Glow Park development" during a long engagement process and that the sudden change in concept "has left many neighbors feeling betrayed by their local governments." Cardon said a weekend door‑to‑door survey produced 89 new responses, with "94% were against the new project concept and 98% were against its aggressive timeline."

Others urged alternative uses of state property. Jeffrey Sackley suggested reuse of the nearby former prison site for supportive services such as residential recovery programs rather than adding high-rise apartments at Glow Park.

Commissioner Leslie Dahlkemper acknowledged commenters and told the crowd that the commissioners had heard concerns and would take them up in the informational briefing scheduled later that morning: "The Board of County Commissioners will continue this conversation during our briefing where we will have an informational presentation to learn more about this issue. That briefing is open to the public."

No formal action or vote on the Glow Park concept occurred during the meeting; commissioners said the topic would be discussed in the closed study/briefing session on the fifth floor and that the public may listen online or attend. The remarks at the Aug. 5 public comment portion of the meeting reflect community opposition focused on traffic, emergency access, wetlands, wildlife, neighborhood character and the perceived abrupt change from a research use to high-density housing.

Residents asked the county to protect Camp George West’s accessible open space, to ensure infrastructure and emergency services before any density increase, and to restore transparent public engagement if the site’s intended use is changed.

The county’s briefing on the matter, announced at the meeting, is informational; any formal land use or zoning action would follow separate public notice and hearing processes.