Phil Shell said he supports Olde Town and wants to see it succeed. That is why when the opportunity presented itself for him to purchase one of the first units in the yet-to-be constructed Water Tower Village project, Shell jumped at the chance.
But that purchase has some crying foul, claiming that Shell’s role as board member with the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority, the government agency charged with revitalizing the Olde Town area, should preclude him from the possibility of any financial gain within the project.
“It’s very disturbing,” said Arvada resident and commercial real estate agent Rick Nelson of Shell’s purchase. “It’s consistent with the conduct of the current leadership, though. I don’t know what’s happened to ethical conduct in public office. Up to 600 citizens had their homes forcibly taken from them by this same group, and I have no idea where it’s going to end.”
Just a few years ago when the threat of condemnation and relocation loomed over the heads of many of the former homeowners and renters in the Water Tower project area, Renee Nelson, Rick Nelson’s daughter, was one of the real-estate agents who helped some of the misplaced find a new place to call home. Nearly all of the homes that once stood in the area were purchased by AURA and have been demolished to allow for the Water Tower Village.
“This is exactly why I stood up for the people down there. I was looking out for their interest,” Renee Nelson said. “Now, if Phil has an interest down there, whose interests was he looking after? Certainly not those people.”
Shell was among 200 perspective buyers to enter a lottery Aug. 14, held by developer Norstar Residential, for the first 15 residential units that will be built in the Water Tower Village. Shell said he was number 14, and there was not preferential treatment granted him by the developer. He will pay as much as $170,000 for his dwelling.
“The Water Tower Village is pretty well complete. There should be no further involvement by the board. It was sold to the contractors,” Shell said. “I had no contemplation to purchase (the property) until (the lottery.) … I don’t anticipate any conflicts of interest.”
However, Shell said if a conflict did arise, “I will be the first one to run out the door.”
Shell was required by law to disclose his new ownership interest in the current urban renewal project, which will end its 25-year existence in 2006.
The project includes most of Olde Town Arvada and the area south to Interstate 70 on both sides of Wadsworth Boulevard. The Water Tower Village is west of Olde Wadsworth Boulevard and north of West 53rd Avenue. Shell made the public disclosure at the board’s Sept. 1 meeting.
Renee Nelson said the mere fact that Shell was on the board when homeowners and renters were forced or encouraged to move elsewhere so the Water Tower Village could be built creates a lingering conflict.
“It’s a direct conflict of interest. If he (Shell) gets any direct benefit from something he is in charge of, especially any monetary benefit, that just seems like a direct conflict,” Renee Nelson said.
Deputy City Attorney Mike Polk, AURA’s legal counsel, said petitions for condemnation were filed on two of the 48 parcels that were torn down. Out-of-court settlements eventually were reached on those two properties, he said.
Polk said there are few scenarios he can think of where a conflict with the property would arise. If there were a conflict, he said Shell would have to recuse himself from voting on any connected matter. If he failed to do so, Polk said Shell could be removed from the board.
One other AURA board member, Chairman John Boettiger, filed a public disclosure last October stating he has a lease interest in property at the Ralston Fields site.
“I lease office space, and it’s a month-to-month lease,” Boettiger said. “If something were to happen, where a developer bought the building, I would just get the boot.”
Boettiger said he has leased his office north of Ralston Road near Kipling for 10 years. He made his disclosure when the Ralston Fields urban renewal project was approved by City Council last year.
Ralston Fields is one of the next two projects the urban renewal board will take on. The other is the Jefferson Center Metropolitan District.
Rick Nelson said the Shell purchase is just more of the same.
“Individuals in public offices and positions shouldn’t have personal financial benefit from the power given them by the citizens and the decisions they make. This is not the first time this situation has come up with the leadership with this board. Family, friends and business associates of many of our local officials appear to have had tremendous economic benefit as a result of those relationships,” Rick Nelson said. “It used to be that our public officials were above reproach. Something is very wrong, and it’s very scary.”