Agency involved:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) has granted permission to Denver Botanical Gardens at Chatfield (“DBGC”) and the City of Denver (“the City”) to construct a large solar utility on the farm adjacent to the Trailmark Community in Jefferson County, CO. The Lease from the USACE to DBGC is for Parks and Recreation, not utility, but this utility is being allowed by the USACE. The utility will cause a decline in value to the homes in the Trailmark Community (a community of approx. 800 homes), disrupt wildlife and certain migratory patterns of wildlife where the utility will be installed. There are safety concerns as well.

Notice was not provided to the Trailmark Community about this project. Members of the community only learned of the project by pure chance in September of this year (2023), even though planning has been ongoing for several years. Construction is currently slated to begin in March 2024. The Trailmark HOA had never been informed of this utility until some homeowners got wind of the project and started asking questions. While DBGC claims to have notified the community during an open house in March 2022, a homeowner attended the event and specifically requested information about any potential building occurring on the south side of the greenhouses where this utility would be installed. The homeowner was told by personnel working the event that the fields would remain open and there were no plans for construction of anything in those fields. Currently, the utility is being constructed in the closest possible location to the Trailmark Community. 

There is approx. 700 acres of land that is leased to DBGC and instead of placing the utility at an appropriate distance from the community, such as the corner of the property at Deer Creek Canyon Road and Wadsworth Blvd, DBGC chose to construct this on a site backing directly to the community despite previous claims that no construction would take place in this location. 

Decline in Home Values 

There are many groups nationwide that have studied the location of solar panels near residential communities and the consensus is that responsible solar farm placement is at least one mile in distance from homes. A study of homes in the Rhode Island and Massachusetts areas, where solar is much more prominent, found that homes within one mile of a solar utility decline in value from 1-7% depending on how close the homes are to the utility. The majority of Trailmark homes will be within the one-mile radius and a large portion of homes are in a half mile radius. Many homes are less than 2/10ths of a mile from the utility. This will cause a substantial decline in value to many homeowners in the Trailmark Community.

When homeowners purchased their homes in Trailmark, those that border the DBGC property were provided documents that the lease between USACE and DBGC was for parks and recreation, not utility. Homeowners relied on this information to purchase their homes and paid a substantial premium to back to land that was to be used for park and recreation. While many homes do not directly back to the DBGC, their values are reflected on the retention of value of homes that do back to DBGC and other open space. 

Once home values decline for those that directly back to the DBGC, all others may decline as well. While DBGC is framing this as an experiment with agrivoltaics, the reality is the City is installing this in Jefferson County for the benefit of the City. The City is attempting to go outside of City Limits and install a utility that only benefits the City while it degrades suburban values. This project is at the expense of those in the Trailmark community without any benefit to residents. 

Safety and Wildlife

Along with the decline in value, there is also concern about safety and noise from the operation and the lack of concern over the presence of wildlife in the area and the known migratory patterns of the wildlife directly in the area of the utility. It is substantiated that solar farms disrupt habitats and displace animals and contribute to soil erosion and water pollution. The utility is being placed on land that is considered a floodplain as noted on Realtor.com. 

Additionally, with utility-scale solar arrays bring additional risk for fire. We are told that in the event of a fire, due to the chemicals within the equipment, the fire department will have to let it burn. This will cause unsafe air quality issues for residents, especially those who live just a few hundred yards away. This also has the potential to cause homeowners insurance premiums to significantly increase due to the increased risk or worse, lose coverage altogether amongst private insurers who are already rejecting policy renewals due to increases in wildfire disasters in the state. 

 Our Ask 

Trailmark residents are asking that the USACE consider the community’s objections to the project, and request that the USACE retain the original lease agreement for parks and recreation and not utility. If the utility is to be placed on the property for the benefit of the City and DBGC, we ask that the USACE require the utility be moved to the northeast side of the farm (closer to the corner of Deer Creek Canyon Road, and Wadsworth Blvd.) or farther away from  residential homes. We request that the USACE perform wildlife surveys to determine if protected species will be impacted. As part of the agreement, the USACE required that the City and DBGC apply for all required permits. It is unknown if all required federal and local permits were applied for and granted. We request that the USACE determine if all proper permits were applied for and granted and provide a copy. The floodplain map on Reator.com shows this will be constructed in a floodplain. While the 100-year floodplain map is different, we do think this solar is encroaching on the floodplain and there are federal restrictions on placing solar on floodplains. We ask that the USACE determine if there are restrictions to the current siting of the utility.