The City of Black Hawk will gain about 74 acres after the Black Hawk City Council approved the Lake Gulch Whiskey Resort Annexation. They annexed and rezoned the area during a regular meeting at 3 p.m. on December 8, 2021, at 211 Church Street in Black Hawk. The Council also approved a new tax for gaming, two grants for the Police Department, and a liquor license for Feeney Farms

Vincent Harris and Ethan Wat with Baseline Corporation introduced the the proposed annexation of a parcel of land to the City of Black Hawk. On September 22, 2021, Proximo Distillers, LLC, submitted petitions for 11annexations of land in unincorporated Gilpin County into the City.

The proposed annexations cover about 74.7 acres of land and consist of a portion of what has been previously referred to as the “Bulge” property located south of Lake Gulch Road and north of Central City Parkway, adjacent to the southern city limits of the City of Black Hawk. Proximo intends to develop a distillery for the Tincup Whiskey brand and proposed to include a distillery, barrelhouses, a visitors’ center, guesthouse and cabins, a restaurant, event space, retail, parking, and outdoor activities.

Peter Weber of Coburn Architecture applied on behalf of Proximo. The property to be annexed lies outside the city limits. Concurrent with the annexation, the applicants requested approval of an initial zoning to the Commercial/ Business Services (C/BS) zoning district and the Planned Unit Development (PUD) overlay zoning district.

Each of the 11 proposed Lake Gulch Whiskey Resort annexations meets the one-sixth contiguity requirement. A community of interest exists between the City and the area proposed to be annexed, and the property is within the future growth area identified in the City Comprehensive Plan adopted as the Three-Mile Plan.

On October 13, the Council found the 11 annexation petitions substantially complete and set December 8, 2021, as the date of the public hearing. Concurrent with the annexation petitions, the applicants are requesting approval of an initial zoning to the C/BS zoning district and a PUD overlay zoning district. In addition to the initial zoning of land being annexed, Proximo requested the rezoning of other Proximo-owned land already in the city.

The proposed PUD, known as Lake Gulch Whiskey Resort (LGWR) Amendment 1 PUD, will supersede and amend the original Lake Gulch Whiskey Resort PUD approved in 2020. Together, all of Proximo’s land in Black Hawk is proposed to be under one new PUD.

The project is envisioned to be completed in phases, with the distillery and the visitors’ center highlighting the first phase. Residential uses in this phase would consist of a caretaker’s residence only.

In summary, Staff recommended that the initial zoning, rezoning and Lake Gulch Whiskey Resort Amendment 1 Planned Unit Development be approved. Harmon Zuckerman, attorney in Boulder, said this has been an incredibly collegial process with the city manager and attorney, and he commended Baseline for working under pressure to get this done.

The Council approved the annexation motions and approved a bill for an ordinance zoning certain newly annexed property within the City to C/BS zoning district and a PUD overlay to be known as the Lake Gulch Whiskey Resort Amendment 1 Planned Unit Development. They also rezoned property within the City to delete the PUD overlay known as The Lake Gulch Whiskey Resort Planned Unit Development, and rezoned other property within the City to C/BS zoning district and a planned unit development overlay known as the Lake Gulch Whiskey Resort.

City Attorney Corey Hoffmann introduced an ordinance to implement a new category of occupational tax for live stadium games conducted on electronic betting terminals, as well as to implement a new category of occupational tax for sports event betting on self-service betting devices. Both had been approved by the city of Black Hawk voters. Hoffmann said the ordinance implements what voters approved.

It was stated that Black Hawk needs to address the impact of gaming, and tries to capture every scenario with all the new games. The second category it addresses is sports betting, and it captures a sports betting device on the casino floor. The Council approved the resolutions.

Police Chief Michelle Moriarty and Finance Director Lance Hillis introduced two ordinances for grant agreements. The first was an ordinance approving the grant agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and the City of Black Hawk, in the amount of $375,000 over a three-year period.

Chief Moriarty said it’s a hard grant to get, but they will work with casinos on health and safety. A City match for the grant is required. After the three years, the City needs to keep the positions for one year more.

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by the nation’s state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources. The COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 134,000 officers.

COPS Office information resources, covering a wide range of community policing topics such as school and campus safety, violent crime, and officer safety and wellness, can be downloaded via the COPS Office’s home page, www.cops.usdoj.gov. Anticipated outcomes of COPS Hiring Program awards include engagement in planned community partnerships, implementation of projects to analyze and assess problems, implementation of changes to personnel and agency management in support of community policing, and increased capacity of each agency to engage in community policing activities.

Goals set for receiving the grant include the Black Hawk Police Department working with Casino Security, Department of Gaming, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and most recently, the FBI, to obtain a better understanding of human trafficking and economic crimes facing the city.

These positions will allow for more community engagement, more visibility, and more public education. The casinos’ security departments and the Black Hawk Police will dedicate staffing to educating all hotel employees on identifying signs of human trafficking and family violence.

The long-term plan is to get several officers trained as trainers. Then they will begin to provide several courses to all the casinos in Black Hawk.

The Council approved the grant agreement and another between the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice and the City in the amount of $56,495 for Body Worn Cameras. Chief Moriarty said this was another grant they were very pleased with. Police already wear cameras, and this will assist with new cameras.

The Council approved a Liquor Store Liquor License for Feeney Farms II, Inc. at 7320 Black Hawk Blvd, Suite 1A 2, for representative Kevin Coats, attorney, and owner Tom Finney. The Council found Finney had no criminal history in his background and the area needs and desires a liquor store.

The Council also approved the 2022 fee and pay schedules.

The next Black Hawk Council meeting will be at 211 Church Street in Black Hawk on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, at 3 p.m. For more information go to https://site.cityofblackhawk.org/.