Your weekly field guide to Littleton, Ken Caryl, and the SW Denver foothills

Denver Water's lawn ban took effect Thursday, and of course the first weekend without sprinklers is sunny and warm, 80 today, 83 Saturday, 81 Sunday. If you're wondering what you can still water, and what a first fine runs, I have both answers below. Saturday afternoon TrailMark cooks chili at Hogback Hill Park, and the firefighters pick the winner.

This issue has no sponsor, and it could use one. Last Friday's went to 2,151 inboxes, and 1,469 of them opened it. If there's a business here you'd vouch for, the dentist, the place you send visiting family for dinner, forward this to the owner with a line saying why.

Since Thursday, no watering grass, by sprinkler or by hand. That includes buffalo grass and the other low-water kinds. Trees, shrubs, perennials and the vegetable garden can still get water by hand, with a hose that has a shutoff nozzle, or on drip. You can wash the car any day with a bucket or that same nozzle.

A first violation costs a house $500, a second is $1,000, and a third is $1,000 with the water shut off. The postcard Denver Water mailed to every property counts as the first notice and warning. Denver Water also stopped issuing permits for new plantings after Wednesday, until further notice. One reader got a three-week permit for new grass seed before the cutoff, and the card is in the window.

The reservoirs were 67 percent full on September 28. The average for that date is 91. The ban holds until Denver Water's board decides how and when lawn watering comes back. Denver Water's own FAQ also says an HOA can't fine you for not watering if you're following the drought restrictions, and it cites state law. Nobody has sent me an HOA letter yet.

A reader asked whether the land on the south side of Belleview between Kipling and Simms is getting more housing. What I was able to find in Jefferson County's file is solar panels. The land at 11200 West Belleview belongs to Denver Water, about 16 acres around its West Belleview pump station, and the plan puts a solar array on about 4 acres of it. The county planning commission approved the location 5-1 in July, on the condition that Denver Water do more outreach with the neighbors and come up with a plan to soften the impact. County staff wanted more screening from the houses next door. The grading, electrical and building permits are still in county review, and there's no construction date.

Saturday, October 3: TrailMark's sixth annual Chili Cook-Off, 4:30 to 6:30 PM at Hogback Hill Park, 8892 West TrailMark Parkway, rain or shine, and everyone's welcome. Lori Ross, who hosts it, says it's free to get in, she takes donations of any amount, and all of it goes to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. South Metro's Station 19 comes to eat and judge. Four categories, traditional red hot, green, non-traditional and fan favorite, and the winners get a cutting-board plaque and a $50 gift card. Cooks enter free, but the deadline to register is today. Call or text Lori at 303-437-4563 and she sends the rules.

Hudson Gardens' jack-o'-lanterns run tonight and Saturday 6:30 to 10:30, Sunday 6:30 to 9:30, then Wednesday and Thursday 6:30 to 9 and next Friday 6:30 to 10:30.

Tuesday, October 6, 1 to 3 PM: Mahjong for Everyone at Deer Creek Library, 11100 Bradford Road, for adults, on the first Tuesday of every month.

Thursday, October 8, 5:30 to 8 PM: the League of Women Voters of Jeffco's ballot issues presentation at Common Flame Church in Golden, in person or live-streamed, no registration. What a yes or no vote means, plus where the League and the church's advocacy groups stand.

Friday, October 9, 5 to 7 PM: ROX Arts Gallery's Mystery & Shadow show and reception, 7301 South Santa Fe Drive, Suite 222, in Aspen Grove, with a 5:30 demonstration on framing art on a budget.

Friday through Sunday, October 9 to 11: the Pumpkin Festival at Chatfield Farms, 9 to 4, timed tickets bought ahead only, $22 adults, $20 seniors, $14 for ages 3 to 15, 2 and under free.

Saturday, October 10, 6 to 8:30 PM: Columbine Library's all-ages Halloween party and trunk-or-treat.

Sunday, October 11, 11:30 AM: the League's ballot issue forum in Littleton, Columbine Unitarian Universalist Church, 6724 South Webster Street, just off Coal Mine Avenue. This one covers the state and local measures, free and open to all.

The rest of the pumpkin nights and trunk-or-treats are on the Halloween page.

KidsUnited Littleton is indoor soccer for kids from 18 months to 9 years old, at 5005 South Kipling Parkway, just north of Belleview. The owners say it opens Friday, October 30, and their site already books a free intro class at kidsunited.com/littleton.

The sheriff still lists no fire restrictions in unincorporated Jeffco. Hildebrand Ranch Park and the Black Bear Trail access reopened Tuesday. At Deer Creek Canyon, Meadowlark Trail is closed 8 to 4:30 Monday through Thursday for culvert and drainage work, open Friday through Sunday, and the county hasn't posted an end date. Prairie Falcon at South Valley Park is still closed for the boardwalk damage. One to plan around is Meyer Ranch Park, up in the Conifer area, which closes completely starting October 19, and the county expects it to stay closed through spring 2027 for forest work.

Ballots mail October 5, and I built you a page for the measures. Every question on an 80127 ballot this fall, statewide to fire district, what it does and what it costs, is at hogbackpost.com/littleton-jeffco-ballot-2026. Measures only. The candidates are somebody else's beat.

Two readers wrote this month about speeding on their streets, and who you ask depends on who owns the street. Inside the City of Littleton, the city's neighborhood traffic-calming program takes requests online and posts them on a public map. The map already shows requests on Jackass Hill Road, and the one where it meets the Mineral Avenue trail is marked for immediate attention. In unincorporated Jeffco, which is most of 80127, the county's Transportation and Engineering office takes requests at jeffco.us/4796.

Jared's Nursery. I asked the nursery last week what the 140-home plan means for it and haven't heard back. The county file hasn't moved either. The site plan is still in its first completeness check.

A correction to the September 18 issue. It put Costco at "the Mineral and Santa Fe site." Costco's site is 1000 West Mineral, west of Broadway, about a mile and a half east of Santa Fe. A reader caught it.

There are 213 homes for sale in 80127, up from 209 last week. Seventeen sold between September 22 and 29. The summer leftovers took the biggest cuts. A four-bedroom on Manzanita in the Valley listed in mid-June at $925,000 and closed at $825,000 after two price cuts. The quick ones held, like the three-bedroom on West Crestline that listed September 3, went under contract in a week, and closed at $635,828, over its $600,000 ask. Freddie Mac's 30-year average was 7.28 percent as of October 1, up from 7.03 a week earlier.

Wednesday was cloudy and about 60 with a little rain, and Thursday came in at 67. Today is 80 and sunny, Saturday 83, Sunday 81, all sunny, with lows of 51 to 53. No alerts. Monday goes to 85 and Tuesday backs off to 83 with a slight chance of showers.

A household in TrailMark has heard a steady, high-pitched noise at night since about mid-September, coming from the north-northwest, and one night it shut off around 11:20. If you're in TrailMark and hearing it too, I'd love to know what time and which direction.

Bears, again. A reader in the Valley says the bear getting into garages in their neighborhood went for taquitos, bacon, butter and pies, and walked past salmon, a rack of lamb and berries. If a bear got into your garage, what did it go for?

That's the week from the foothills. Go eat chili at Hogback Hill Park Saturday, and if a bear has been through your garage or you're hearing that noise in TrailMark, reply and tell me.

Joey

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