Curtis Gardner
Aurora City Council moves to cut industrial water use during drought
AURORA | Amid widespread drought, the Aurora City Council is moving forward with changes to landscape requirements for industrial developments to make them more water efficient. At Monday’s study session, council discussed changes to the city’s unified development ordinance to reduce and eliminate requirements for development in industrial zoning to have certain landscaping, such as […]
Drones could replace fireworks at Aurora’s Independence Day festival in 2027
AURORA | Aurora’s Fourth of July Spectacular might look a little different next year as the city council could switch away from the traditional fireworks display to a drone show. On Thursday, council members at the September parks and recreation committee meeting voiced support for forgoing a fireworks display and instead having a drone show […]
Aurora lawmakers advance plan to limit ‘socioeconomic impact’ businesses in centers
AURORA | Aurora lawmakers this week gave initial approval to a plan to limit the number of businesses in Aurora that some say pose health and safety risks to neighborhoods. The measure to restrict distances between so-called “socioeconomic impact” businesses passed on first reading during the Sept. 14 city council meeting. For months, lawmakers have […]
Aurora bans evaporative cooling at future data centers, stalls on regulating residential set-backs
AURORA | Aurora lawmakers on Monday were divided on some restrictions on future data centers built in the city but unanimously agreed to limit the water-intensive use of evaporative-cooling at the controversial centers. City lawmakers have struggled to agree on what some of the threats of the nationally and locally controversial computing centers could be […]
Aurora lawmakers advance rules on data center water use and locations near neighborhoods
AURORA | Aurora lawmakers moved forward some proposed data center regulations and plan to bring forward even more, including a residential buffer requirement. At Monday’s study session, city lawmakers unanimously supported advancing two regulations, which address data center water usage and zoning, to future council meetings for a vote. One proposed regulation would ban evaporative […]
Aurora City Council rejects data center moratorium, approves new rules, water regs
AURORA | City lawmakers on Monday opposed a data center moratorium but moved forward with new regulations prohibiting excessive water and requiring operators to mitigate potential residential impacts. The Aurora City Council voted 7-4 to approve a resolution to create data center specific regulations, and opposed another more broad resolution that would have included a […]
VIRTUAL DISPUTE: Aurora council members questioned about virtual meeting attendance
AURORA | Empty chairs at the city council dais have been a common sight at meetings in recent months as some council members have elected with increasing frequency to attend virtually. Two council members, Curtis Gardner and Françoise Bergan, have not attended council meetings in person since April, only participating virtually. Gardner’s last in-person meeting […]
Aurora lawmakers OK oversight for GEO Group immigration detention center
AURORA | A split city council approved a package of new measures designed to give the city more oversight of the GEO Group’s immigration detention center. Progressive members of the council approved the new oversight measures on a 6-4 vote, with council members Françoise Bergan, Curtis Gardner, Stephanie Hancock and Angela Lawson opposed. The package […]
Aurora City Council rushes to restrict police social media posts and mugshots
AURORA | City council approved an “emergency” amended resolution to restrict public communications from the Aurora Police Department, including social media posts, mugshots and press releases. The measure, brought by Councilmember Alison Coombs, requires police communications to follow established city communications policies and procedures, as well as prohibit posting mugshots and suspect names on social […]