Noble, Douglas, Allen-Thomas vote ‘no’ — on affordable housing?

The need for more affordable housing has been cited as a top concern in just about every public opinion survey along the Front Range for several years now. The affordable-housing shortage is as critical in Commerce City as it is anywhere in the metro area.

So, why would three Commerce City Council members vote against a planned affordable-housing development that will provide 60 new apartment units to tenants of modest means? It remains far from clear what prompted council members Susan Noble, Kristi Douglas and Jennifer Allen-Thomas — who chaired the Oct. 2 council meeting as mayor pro tem — to cast “no” votes. 

Noble spoke only briefly during the council’s discussion of the project, her questions and remarks suggesting she had confused it with with another across the street. Douglas rambled on for a painfully long time, launching onto wide-ranging and seemingly unrelated tangents as other council members and staff tried to follow. Allen-Thomas said very little at all to shed light on her motives.

Their opposition to the touted project is all the more curious given Noble and Allen-Thomas are facing challenges in their re-election bids as they seek to retain their seats on the November ballot. Business owner and professional chef David Diop is vying with Noble for her Ward IV seat, and trucker and former council member Rocky Teter is seeking Allen-Thomas’ Ward II seat.

The South Platte Crossing project, which counts the respected Urban Land Conservancy among its partners, will provide housing to tenants who earn as little as 30% of the area’s median income. That will mean rent starts at around $600 a month, a bargain given sky-high rents in the metro area. 

The proposal before the council was a modest assistance agreement under which the city will rebate the fees and taxes the builders pay during construction, lowering the project’s cost. And yet it only narrowly won council approval, with five council votes in favor, in the absence of Mayor Ben Huseman.

Douglas — whose husband Steve Douglas is running for mayor against Chamber of Commerce chief René Bullock – spoke at length against the housing plan but offered “reasons” that were nearly incomprehensible.

“This project has been very questionable in my mind,” she said without explanation and then asked questions about “how it’s going to impact” an adjacent neighborhood, and “…was there any zoning?” She was told by staff that, yes, it complies with local zoning regulations. 

Then Douglas pivoted to, “…There’s a lot of dust and probably contaminants in the air because it’s a concrete company that’s across the, well, there’s definitely a concrete mixing company which I understand that they use (sic) produce water from the fracking wells to mix into their concrete which I guess is perfectly legal…” She added, it’s “beyond my comprehension I don’t know how that happens, but if it’s legal it’s legal…” 

Douglas pressed on, “I just don’t understand how anybody could have thought that this was a good idea.” At one point, she abruptly cut to, “those are my reasons,” and, “Obviously, I cannot support this tonight.”

Of course, Douglas has developed a reputation for catching fellow council members off guard with her spontaneous and at times unintelligible monologues. 

Meanwhile, Noble has a habit of lashing out at minor matters in proposals, leaving bystanders clueless as to why. Her tirade at an August council meeting, against allowing golf carts on a planned pedestrian underpass, offered an especially memorable example.