Niwot Connects

By Bruce Warren

Niwot Community Association (NCA) President Neal Anderson greeted approximately 50 community organization leaders at the Niwot Inn March 11 at a gathering to encourage cooperation in local affairs. Organizations ranged from the Mountain View Fire Protection District to local scout and 4-H groups.

The meeting was the first of its kind in the unincorporated town governed by the Boulder County Commissioners and a host of special districts. Leaders spoke briefly of their needs, projects, goals and activities. Barb Theobald, president of the oldest organization, Left Hand Grange No. 9, led off the presentations, noting that the Grange recently celebrated its 130th birthday.

Other speakers included Rosemary Bruce of the Niwot Senior Advisory Council, Kelly Beran of the Niwot Historical Society, Catherine O’Connor and Kendra Brown of the Niwot Nifties 4-H group, Donna Wright of the Niwot High School Boosters, Eve Doggett of the Girl Scouts, Dave Title of the Niwot High School Honor Society, Starr Aldrich and Steve Pischke of the Mountain View Fire Protection District, Toni Francis of the Ute Creek Charter High School, Bill O’Donnell of the Boy Scouts, Steve Jones of Niwot Youth Sports, Janice Rebhan of the Niwot Elementary School PTAC and Cub Scouts Pack 161, Liz Schmidt of the Niwot Community Association, Dick Mandile of the Niwot Optimist Club, Ruth and George Hannah of the Left Hand Valley Grange Park Beautification Committee, Ken Fucik of the Niwot Business Association, Tim Wise of the NBA Caboose/Bandstand Project, and Darwyn Herbst of the Longmont Council for the Arts.

Homeowners association (HOA) representatives included Hossein Tolooee of Burgundy Park HOA, Tony Santelli of Autumn Ridge HOA, Dick Mandile of SpringHill HOA, Kristin Rahenkamp of Overbrook HOA, Yogi Schaffner of Niwot Estates HOA, Maggie Sutak of Waterford HOA, Graham Fowler of The Cove HOA and Mary Gibbon of Cottonwood Park West HOA.

Several organizations are looking for more members, including the Niwot Historical Society, which meets annually on the last Saturday of March at the Grange. Several youth groups noted that their members were looking for community service hours, while other organizations took note.

Among projects underway is a bridge being built over an irrigation ditch by the NHS Boosters. Donna Wright noted that footings have been poured for the $6600 project. She thanked the ditch company for its cooperation, including the donation of engineering services. The bridge will be dedicated in memory of NHS graduate Randy Rehn, who was killed in action April 3, 2003, while serving in Iraq.

Starr Aldrich, president of the Mountain View Fire Protection District Board of Directors, noted that the board voted to seek a mil levy increase at the May 4 election to support two new stations in the district and increase staffing at the stations.

Bill O’Donnell reported that the Boy Scouts had recently painted the inside of the Grange, getting most of the paint on the walls. The Girl Scouts pitched in and painted the kitchen area.

Ruth and George Hannah asked for help maintaining the landscaping around the sign at the corner of 83rd Street and Niwot Road. They noted that their committee, which consists of the retired couple, needed someone to help with watering when they were out of town.

Steve Jones and Janice Rebhan of Niwot Youth Sports said that over 500 players had registered for baseball and softball, while another 400 just completed the basketball season.

Ken Fucik and Tim Wise of the NBA thanked the community for its support of the Caboose project, and noted that over 100 organizations and individuals contributed to the project. Wise said the caboose is available for use by the community.

Fucik also spoke of the NBA’s plans for a bandstand, and the need to attract additional retail businesses to the commercial areas of town. He noted that Second Avenue is a Local Improvement District (LID), created to fund street and drainage improvements with sales taxes collected in Niwot.

Darwyn Herbst and Neal Anderson of the NCA thanked those attending and promised to create an email list to keep local organizations better informed, and to promote continuing cooperation to benefit the community.

Photo by Bruce Warren

Gunbarrel Plan - Step Closer To Final Adoption

By Thomas George and Claire Chase

In March, the Boulder City Council approved changes to the Gunbarrel Community Center Plan that were almost, but not quite, identical to those passed earlier in the month by the city planning board. Since both boards must approve the final plan, revisions made by one will be passed back to the other until a complete agreement can be found, continuing a process one city planner termed “ping pong.”

The Community Center Plan, known as an “area plan” in city jargon, envisions the creation of a pedestrian-friendly shopping hub in Gunbarrel. While the plan deals with a host of transportation, housing and land-use issues, most of the attention has been focused on the issue of building height in the proposed retail core.

The plan, drafted by city planning staff with help from a working group of Gunbarrel constituents, allows buildings of one to four stories in the densest part of the plan area. Despite protest from neighborhood residents, both the city council and planning board have voted to keep the four-story provision, but have adjusted and readjusted limitations for the design of four-story buildings in an attempt to satisfy some of the neighbors’ concerns.

The adoption process for the plan began in October 2003, when the planning board approved the original draft in full. The city council approved the plan as well, taking a vote in February, but council members amended the paragraph dealing with building height, stipulating the depth of setback for a fourth story and the building coverage, or the percentage of a building’s total footprint, that could be occupied by the fourth story.

As required, the city council’s amended language was sent back to the planning board. Members of the planning board, at a March 4 meeting, said they respected the council’s intent, but called the new language “too proscriptive.” Seeking to preserve the intent of the city council, while allowing a

greater range of design solutions, the planning board introduced its own new language, making the language presented by the city council more general and qualifying the use of a fourth story as “occasional.”

The planning board changes returned to the city council for approval March 16, where the council approved most of the newest changes, but re-inserted it’s own language concerning fourth-story building coverage. That most recent revision must now return to the Planning Board for consideration.

At each meeting, a number of Gunbarrel residents protested the allowance of any four-story building in their neighborhood. “We’re deeply disappointed by this outcome and failure of public process,” said Gunbarrel Community Association representative Paul Klamer, at the March 4 meeting. In contrast, one Gunbarrel resident, at the March 16 council meeting, claimed he spoke for the “unheard majority” in favor of the entire plan, tall buildings included.

Weighing in on behalf of the former group, the Board of County Commissioners sent their second strongly worded letter to Boulder Mayor Will Toor. In the letter, the commissioners said they were “concerned that allowing even a limited percentage of four-story buildings in the ‘urban core’ of the Gunbarrel Town Center could negatively impact the character of the Gunbarrel neighborhood.”

The commissioners said they were “not inclined to act favorably on Comprehensive Plan changes that will come before us to finalize and implement the Gunbarrel Community Center Plan.” While the area plan itself requires only the approval of the two city boards, zoning and land-use changes required for the implementation of the plan must also be approved by the County Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners. A refusal by either county board to approve zoning changes could hold up some area plan projects indefinitely.

Ironically, city planners say the parcels that make up the retail core are already zoned to accommodate four-story buildings and that an action by the county commissioners would only delay buildings of three stories or less.

City council members, at meetings in both February and March, discussed the possibility of giving the commissioners a vote on any proposed four-story building. While the council did insert a stipulation sending four-story applications to the county for comment, the council members thought it inappropriate to give county officials veto power over projects within the Boulder city limits.

Left Hand Laurel: Chris Kanowitz

By Jennifer Svendsen Delaney

Chris Kanowitz has been a Care Coordinator/Resource Specialist with the Aging Services Division of Boulder County almost ten years. She works with adults aged 60 and over, and their families, to identify strengths and to deal with challenges. She loves her job.

“It is a nurturing environment and I work with an exceptional team,” she said. “We look out for each other, and it is a blessing to be available for families who need my assistance.”

She reinforces interdependence not dependence, which empowers individuals who seek her services. Kanowitz works with the philosophy that “everybody pilots their own canoe. The client is the front person and I’m like the rudder.”

Kanowitz is originally from New York, and later moved to south Florida where she lived in a neighborhood with mixed age ranges. Kanowitz and her husband, Martin, decided early in their marriage that they would eventually move west, and 16 years ago their dream came true when they discovered Niwot and settled on a five-acre farm. But when she moved to Niwot, she missed her elderly neighbors.

As a result, she began working as a private caregiver and volunteered for Meals on Wheels. While serving meals at the Longmont Senior Center, she met Rosemary Williams who hired Kanowitz to fill the position with Aging Services.

“Jim Martinsen calls me ‘Canoworms,’ because I get into everything. The seniors need a big mouth!” explained Kanowitz. If a big mouth means an understanding and intelligent advocate, then the nickname is apropos.

Kanowitz offers “information and assistance.” Her expertise includes knowledge of the network of resources available in the area. As a care coordinator/resource specialist, her role in the community includes identifying, assessing and addressing seniors’ priorities and then developing a plan. The frequency of contact depends on the individual’s circumstances.

Kanowitz does not provide emergency services or direct assistance in areas such as personal care, meal preparation or transportation, although she can refer individuals to the appropriate organizations. She ascertains what could become a crisis and then educates the client how to be proactive in preventing an emergency.

Gaps in resources become evident as a result of her work and this information is shared with the local senior advisory council, which can address the issues as necessary.

Kanowitz studied at Paier School of Arts in New Haven, as well as with a Master portrait artist. In Florida, she worked as a staff artist for the Fort Lauderdale News. Later she began freelancing while caring for her elderly parents. In Niwot, she has continued her art work and exhibited one of her pastels at an event sponsored by the Society for Creative Aging.

Kanowitz’s other favorite activities include yoga and gardening. She donates bouquets from her garden to the Niwot United Methodist Church, and members have coined her arrangements “the flower ministry.”

Her love of gardening led Kanowitz to organize an annual fundraiser to benefit the Niwot Senior Advisory Council. A volunteer team digs up plants from local resident Mildred Seader’s prolific garden, and then Rosemary Bruce pots them and nurses them until they are ready for the sale.

“Whether it is working, volunteering or making art, you’ve got to have fun or you won’t do it well,” she said. After watching a rehearsal for a show produced by Kathy Raczkowski’s “Teen Theater on the Green,” Kanowitz was inspired to “play with them.”

Kanowitz commissioned her husband, a master carpenter and cabinetmaker, to construct the set which she painted. She also helped design the set for a play that Raczkowski directed for the Society of Creative Aging. “You have to stretch yourself,” Kanowitz advised when describing her recent creative ventures.

She is now being called to work with children in some capacity. “I want to make mud pies!” Children who need an advocate will be blessed to find a big mouth with such a big heart.

Photo by Jennifer Svendsen Delaney