Denver7: Residents in Lafayette are accusing the city’s redevelopment agency of buying land from under local businesses to sell to a developer to build condominiums, and doing it all behind closed doors.

“With this project, they have not breathed one word about it in public,” resident Seth White told Denver7.

The “they” he’s referring to is the Lafayette Urban Renewal Authority, or LURA. The agency’s description on the city’s website reads in part: “The authority works in partnership with property owners to improve existing structures, bring new commercial and mixed-use development to raw land within the blighted area, and prevent deterioration of properties within the area.”

But White and fellow resident Vicky Uhland say the authority is overstepping their bounds by buying land along South Public Road, and in the process, forcing out small businesses. Two businesses between Kimbark Street and Waneka Parkway have closed recently, including Coal Creek Barbers and La Nena’s Beauty Salon.

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