April 23, 2012 11:13 PM UTC

History Repeats Itself in Jefferson County

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• by: Colorado Pols

Lookout Mountain residents are suing Jefferson County Commissioners John Odom and Don Rosier over the controversial expansion of a neighborhood church, according to a report from CBS4 News.

Homeowners have filed a lawsuit against Activation Ministries, which plans to triple the size of a church west of Golden.

Many residents who live in the area claim the Jefferson County Commission was unlawful in issuing a permit allowing the church’s expansion. In response, a few dozen neighbors have banded together and filed suit.

A group of concerned citizens met Tuesday afternoon to hear about the lawsuit. Many of the concerns mentioned focused on property rights, safety and traffic.

Sound familiar? It should, considering that the exact same thing happened four years ago.

From a June 2008 report in the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News:

Last month, McCasky and Congrove came under fire when they approved, again by a 2-1 vote, expansion of the Rock South Baptist Church in Littleton.

The church, which sits in the Westridge subdivision, plans to construct a 16,000-square-foot youth center and a parking lot west of its current building along the intersection of West Alamo Place and Kipling Street in Littleton.

Neither Kevin McCasky nor Jim Congrove are commissioners anymore, but you’d think their idealogical successors might’ve remembered the uproar the last time the Board approved a massive church expansion without citizen input.

Indeed, McCasky and Congrove might be gone, but the culture they created within Jefferson County Government remains: development will always trounce both homeowner concerns and longstanding zoning requirements.