Josh cooperman’s positions
Below I state my current positions on several issues relevant to Ward 1 and the rest of Louisville. For instance, I supported the City’s new contract with Republic Services to collect Louisville’s residential trash, recycling, and compost with a fleet of all-electric trash trucks. To the right I am pictured sitting in the cab of one of these trucks at the Republic Services Center in Commerce City.
I am actively developing this webpage. If you would like to learn about my position on an issue not covered below, then please contact me.
Rocky Mountain Metropolitan airport
As a father, resident, and candidate, I am seriously concerned about air, carbon, lead, and, especially, noise pollution stemming from flights into and out of Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (RMMA). As a City Councillor I will work not only to restore this issue as a priority of City Council, but also to resolve this issue with Jefferson County.
Almost immediately after moving to Louisville, particularly at the park with my kids, I noticed the inordinate number of overflights. When open-window season arrived, these overflights became an obstruction to my ability to sleep. Now, if we keep the windows open at night, as we do for about half of the year, I either sleep in our basement or with earplugs.
I began to explore the reasons for such air traffic over Louisville, and, initially, I was pleased to learn that Louisville and Superior had conducted a study of noise pollution stemming from flights into and out of RMMA and that a Community Noise Roundtable had recently been convened. I have engaged with these issues ever since: commenting before our City Council, speaking before and writing to the now-defunct Community Noise Roundtable, writing to the former RMMA director and the Jefferson County commissioners, and complaining to the local FAA office. Unfortunately, I cannot claim to have made much headway.
Fundamentally, I view this issue as an egregious case of environmental discrimination. Jefferson County exports the majority of pollution — air, carbon, lead, and noise — from flights into and out of its airport to Boulder County, and Jefferson County is largely unaccountable because the Jefferson County commissioners do not represent the effected residents of Boulder County. Elected officials have a responsibility not only to those whom they represent, but also to those whom they do not represent yet impact through their decisions. Furthermore, the Jefferson County often justifies its inaction on the strictures of FAA regulations. While FAA regulations present some obstructions, these regulations also do not prevent Jefferson County from taking significant action.
When City Council voted to depart from the Community Noise Roundtable, a decision that I supported owing to the Roundtable’s nearly complete ineffectiveness, Mayor Leh strongly voiced this point of view about Jefferson County’s actions. Since then, however, City Council has put this issue on the back burner (or perhaps even in the basement freezer). As a first step, suggested by an active member of the Save Our Skies Alliance, City Council should record the mayor's position in a letter to the Jefferson County commissioners. Next, the City should investigate whether it has grounds to join the lawsuit brought by Superior and Boulder County against Jefferson County. In the meantime I urge residents to bring their concerns directly to Jefferson County by writing and speaking to the Jefferson County commissioners; a concerted such effort, involving neighboring communities, might effect meaningful change.
Seasonal main street closure
To support businesses in downtown Louisville during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially restaurants, the City closed a few blocks of Main Street to vehicular traffic during the summer months. This closure significantly assisted downtown businesses, and the community largely appreciated the opportunity to enjoy downtown out of doors, but residents of neighborhoods adjacent to Main Street and certain downtown businesses endured a variety of adverse impacts. This past spring City Council entertained a proposal to so close Main Street once again. After much consideration and debate, City Council voted to keep Main Street open. I agree with City Council’s decision: the adverse impacts to residential neighborhoods as well as some businesses adjacent to Main Street would have been too severe.
Elected officials bear the essential responsibility of carefully weighing the effects on minority populations of majority positions. I would guess (largely based on emails to City Council) that majorities of Louisville residents and downtown businesses support a seasonal Main Street closure, but such a closure (at least as previously implemented) negatively affects the minority of residents and businesses adjacent to Main Street. Accordingly, City Council weighed the closure’s benefits against its detriments including the potential of strategies to mitigate the detriments. Eventually, City Council determined that the detriments to a minority outweighed the benefits to a majority.
redtail ridge
Redtail Ridge is the commercial development planned for the former StorageTek site at Louisville’s southeast corner. I have consistently supported redevelopment of the StorageTek footprint, including an extension of Campus Drive and a new home for AdventHealth’s Avista Hospital, provided that such redevelopment proceeds in a sufficiently sustainable and thoughtful manner. Given the size of the former StorageTek site, the scale of proposed redevelopment, and the pressing issues currently facing us, we must put sustainability and thoughtfulness front and center.
Over the past several years City Council has reviewed three successive proposals for Redtail Ridge. The first proposal called for a commercial campus anchored by Medtronic as well as some residential development; City Council declined to approve the Comprehensive Plan amendment required for this development proposal. As my family and I had only recently moved to Louisville when this first proposal was under review, I did not engage. The second proposal called for a biomedical campus including a new home for Avista Hospital; City Council narrowly approved the general development plan amendment required for this development proposal, but residents overturned approval in a special election instigated by a citizens’ referendum. I volunteered for the citizens’ group that sponsored the referendum. The third proposal called for a modestly smaller biomedical campus still including a new home for Avista Hospital; City Council recently approved the final subdivision plat required for this development proposal, and the developer expects to begin constructing infrastructure later this year. As a City Councillor I will likely consider planned unit development applications for proposed buildings at Redtail Ridge. I will review these applications according to the stipulations of Louisville’s municipal code.
Given City Council’s recent approval, my perspective on Redtail Ridge is mostly a moot point, but, to provide context and insight, I wish to briefly convey my perspective. While the third proposal shows notable improvements over the second proposal, a few key issues remain. First, the subdivision plat necessitates grading of much of the site including much of the open space dedication; although the open space dedication will be restored, existing habitat will be destroyed, and restoration will take considerable time and effort. As presented to the City, the development application and presentation never sufficiently addressed whether modifications could have reduced the extent of grading. Second, the development agreement does not include a phasing plan that ensures clustering of development: construction of buildings should proceed outward from an initial nucleus, perhaps Avista Hospital’s future location, so that Redtail Ridge does not sprawl unnecessarily. Third, the subdivision plat lacks certain further elements of pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure on- and off-site, most especially, twinned overpasses across the Northwest Parkway at both ends of Via Varra. Moreover, the transportation demand management plan should provide more robust public transit to and from Redtail Ridge. Finally, although not germane to the second and third proposals, I support residential development at Redtail Ridge. All of these issues, if properly resolved, would result in a more sustainably and thoughtfully executed Redtail Ridge.