Littleton effort gets little attention

What if you held a meeting about Littleton’s future and nobody from Littleton showed up?

That’s pretty much what happened May 22 in Trailmark, an isolated Littleton subdivision with about 800 homes off Wadsworth Boulevard, northwest of Chatfield Reservoir.

Although at least a couple hundred people attended the Inspire Littleton party in Trailmark Park earlier to down pizza and ice-cream sandwiches, only one couple joined five planning commissioners, one city councilor, three city staffers, Littleton resident and former State Rep. Joe Rice and one reporter at the meeting that followed. Held in Trailmark Learning Center, the subdivision’s only commercial building, the meeting focused on how Littleton residents want the city’s comprehensive plan to look.

The couple who attended, Brian Pendleton and Susan Stein, live in Columbine Valley but plan to move to downtown Littleton sometime in the next decade. They asked whether there will be more housing options there in the future. Community Development Director Glen VanNimwegen said he thought it likely.

VanNimwegen said he’d hoped for a better turnout but went ahead with the meeting as planned. After a brief presentation about the comprehensive plan, the audience, such as it was, got interactive “clickers” with which to answer questions anonymously.

Top answers for “What makes a great neighborhood?” were schools, amenities, location and good neighbors. “What do you like about Littleton?” garnered similar answers and added downtown to the mix.

A question about downtown parking drew answers divided equally between available and convenient, and free but challenging. Nobody said they’d be willing to pay to park.

Asked whether the city should take an active role in revitalizing the city’s strip malls, the audience’s top answers were that it should market to major retailers, take no role, allow more signage and create special tax districts to incentivize property owners.

VanNimwegen noted there was good response to a write-in survey displayed during the earlier party, with attendees saying they’d like to see more golf courses and swimming pools, among other things.

The Trailmark event was the first of five Inspire Littleton events to be held throughout the summer. The next is June 26 at Powell Middle School. Visit www.inspirelittleton.org for more information.