Message From the President Dear Friends and Neighbors, HAPPY NEW YEAR! On behalf of the board of directors and team at Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods (C.H.U.N.), I wish you a joyous 2020. For more than 50 years now, CHUN has worked to shape, preserve, and improve the city we love and cherish. Your advocacy, generosity, and kindness are so greatly appreciated. I look forward to seeing you in person at this week's Annual Membership Meeting. Here are the details for your calendars:
In the meantime, Urban Dweller, CHUN's monthly e-newsletter, is now available online. Check out the latest from your neighborhood organization and the broader community. All the best, Travis Travis Leiker | President Board of Delegates, Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods Member of the Month
Upcoming Events Attend This Year's CHUN Annual Membership Meeting
Membership: Are you new to Denver? Would you like to join your neighborhood organization? Has your membership lapsed? You can join CHUN the night of the annual membership meeting. Please note: You must be a current, dues paying member to vote in the delegate election and on other matters of business. Agenda:
You can rsvp at: https://www.facebook.com/events/2400221750087782/ Urban Matters: Neighborhood Enrichment & Citizen Engagement
Denver Community Planning & Development: |
| The Whole Foods seemingly returning to Capitol Hill could have a bar on the property, according to an application filed with Denver’s city government. The upscale grocer, which served locals at 900 E. 11th Ave. until closing in 2017, proposed a bar with a seating area and a patio, according to documents filed with the city’s business licensing department. A public hearing on the liquor license will take place Feb. 3. Read the full article on denverite.com. |  The Capitol Hill Whole Foods has a fence around it. Nov. 6, 2019. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite) |
Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods encourages Whole Foods Market to engage with RNOs like CHUN. We also invite their team to our annual member meeting next week -- Jan 9 at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center (Colorado Room) at 6 pm -- to renew conversations with neighbors and residents.
CHUN is Rezoning the Tears-McFarlane House. Did you know it once had a cafe'?
 | Did you know Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods has owned the The Tears McFarlane House and Community Center since 2005? It's located at 1290 Williams Street. For 120+ years, the property has been a private home, provided senior assistance services, housed nonprofits, and hosted a variety of talent shows and concerts at the north end of Cheesman Park, Denver. And, after digging through our archives, we discovered that the property had a café in the early 1980s! CHUN's rezoning plan for the property includes bringing back a café and adding other neighborhood-friendly amenities for the local community to use and enjoy. Follow our progress here on the CHUNDenver website or on our Facebook page. |
East Central Area Plan : An Abridged Version From Councilman Hinds
 | A 270 page document is daunting and inaccessible to most constituents. Therefore, Councilman Hinds’ office has prepared an abridged navigational guide to the East Central Area Plan. This guide guide is not meant to be comprehensive, but it does flag all the chief concerns heard at RNO meetings, public sessions, and more. It is 29 pages of text and 13 maps with simple bullet points and short-hand. Each recommendation has a parenthetical citation guiding the reader to the appropriate page in the area plan where they can submit comments. |
Tom’s Diner added to National Register of Historic Places, preserving its life on Colfax
| The Colfax Avenue staple will be saved from a scrape some residents fought over the summer. In August, it looked like neighborhood activists had lost when they withdrew their own preservation bid effort. Owner Tom Messina said at the time that their attempt to list the building as historic was “stealing” his retirement. But now, Messina is "thrilled." Read the full article on denverite.com |  |
Happy Holidays from the Paint-A-Thon Staff & Volunteers!
Brothers Redevelopment Inc. is eagerly preparing for the 42nd Annual Paint-A-Thon season, which will run from March through September of 2020. The Paint-A-Thon is a program that has utilized volunteers to paint the exterior of 7,450 homes over its history, each one absolutely Free of Charge to qualifying older adults and individuals with disabilities. We are actively looking for homeowners in need of this valuable free service during our 2020 season!
We appreciate your willingness to post the attached Paint-A-Thon flyer on your community resource board. I have also attached a copy of our 2020 Paint-A-Thon application. Would you be willing to pass it along to an older adult or person with a disability you know who may be in need of this valuable free service from a trusted and longstanding non-profit organization?
Our application criteria are straightforward; applicants must be a homeowner living on a fixed income, age 60 or over, disabled at any age, live in a 1 or 1.5 story home, and whose home needs exterior painting. Feel free to check us out at www.brothersredevelopment.org If you would like to see a short video about the Paint-A-Thon volunteer experience, please click here
As a fellow advocate for older adults and persons with disabilities in your community, we greatly appreciate your assistance. Thank you.
Have a safe and happy holiday season!
Jason Stutzman, Coordinator, Volunteer Department & Paint-A-Thon
Brothers Redevelopment, Inc.
We appreciate your willingness to post the attached Paint-A-Thon flyer on your community resource board. I have also attached a copy of our 2020 Paint-A-Thon application. Would you be willing to pass it along to an older adult or person with a disability you know who may be in need of this valuable free service from a trusted and longstanding non-profit organization?
Our application criteria are straightforward; applicants must be a homeowner living on a fixed income, age 60 or over, disabled at any age, live in a 1 or 1.5 story home, and whose home needs exterior painting. Feel free to check us out at www.brothersredevelopment.org If you would like to see a short video about the Paint-A-Thon volunteer experience, please click here
As a fellow advocate for older adults and persons with disabilities in your community, we greatly appreciate your assistance. Thank you.
Have a safe and happy holiday season!
Jason Stutzman, Coordinator, Volunteer Department & Paint-A-Thon
Brothers Redevelopment, Inc.
Denver to Reduce Flood Risks with Stormwater Improvement Project that Starts at East Colfax Avenue and Jackson Street
Alternate Travel Routes Advised
Denver will start the new year right with a project to improve safety and reduce risks to people and property in an area of town that is known to flood. On January 6, weather permitting, the city will begin work to install a larger stormwater pipe along Jackson Street from the north side of Colfax Avenue to 14th Avenue, providing additional capacity to carry and drain stormwater for this area. Later in the year, the project heads east on 14th Street for about half a block.
The attached flyer shows the project limits in green. As funding becomes available, more work will be done to further mitigate the flood potential in the upper part of the Montclair Basin. Areas in blue on the attachment represent surface water depths greater than 12 inches that would be expected to occur in the 100-year storm, based on latest flood modeling.
The Montclair Drainage Basin is more than nine square miles and is Denver’s largest basin without a natural waterway to carry stormwater. Rain that falls in the drainage basin travels naturally in a northwesterly direction in pipes underground and on the surface in our streets, ultimately draining into the South Platte River. Many of the existing storm pipes relied upon to safely carry stormwater are significantly undersized and more than 100 years old. The result is significant, persistent flooding problems for homes and businesses during heavy rainstorms. The Montclair Basin has been identified as a priority basin for storm drainage and water quality improvements.
The Jackson Street Storm project that starts in 2020 is a continuation of past efforts. In 2008, the city increased detention capacity at Ferril Lake in City Park, and in 2011 the city constructed a large storm drain in Jackson Street from City Park to the north edge of Colfax. The construction project starting in 2020 will continue this system and work its way across East Colfax Avenue at Jackson Street from January into July, working north to south and maintaining a single lane of travel in each direction on Colfax. Alternate travel routes are advised. A variable message board will be placed at the project site to communicate to travelers in advance of work starting. The entire project shown in green is expected to wrap up in March of 2021.
More details about the project and construction timelines can be found at www.denvergov.org. Search “Jackson Street Storm.”
More information about the upper reaches of the Montclair Basin can be found at www.denvergov.org/montclairbasin. Flood tips and resources can be found at www.denvergov.org/flood.
Denver will start the new year right with a project to improve safety and reduce risks to people and property in an area of town that is known to flood. On January 6, weather permitting, the city will begin work to install a larger stormwater pipe along Jackson Street from the north side of Colfax Avenue to 14th Avenue, providing additional capacity to carry and drain stormwater for this area. Later in the year, the project heads east on 14th Street for about half a block.
The attached flyer shows the project limits in green. As funding becomes available, more work will be done to further mitigate the flood potential in the upper part of the Montclair Basin. Areas in blue on the attachment represent surface water depths greater than 12 inches that would be expected to occur in the 100-year storm, based on latest flood modeling.
The Montclair Drainage Basin is more than nine square miles and is Denver’s largest basin without a natural waterway to carry stormwater. Rain that falls in the drainage basin travels naturally in a northwesterly direction in pipes underground and on the surface in our streets, ultimately draining into the South Platte River. Many of the existing storm pipes relied upon to safely carry stormwater are significantly undersized and more than 100 years old. The result is significant, persistent flooding problems for homes and businesses during heavy rainstorms. The Montclair Basin has been identified as a priority basin for storm drainage and water quality improvements.
The Jackson Street Storm project that starts in 2020 is a continuation of past efforts. In 2008, the city increased detention capacity at Ferril Lake in City Park, and in 2011 the city constructed a large storm drain in Jackson Street from City Park to the north edge of Colfax. The construction project starting in 2020 will continue this system and work its way across East Colfax Avenue at Jackson Street from January into July, working north to south and maintaining a single lane of travel in each direction on Colfax. Alternate travel routes are advised. A variable message board will be placed at the project site to communicate to travelers in advance of work starting. The entire project shown in green is expected to wrap up in March of 2021.
More details about the project and construction timelines can be found at www.denvergov.org. Search “Jackson Street Storm.”
More information about the upper reaches of the Montclair Basin can be found at www.denvergov.org/montclairbasin. Flood tips and resources can be found at www.denvergov.org/flood.
Also In The News
- Denver recycling contractor won’t accept gift wrap
- Denver police aren’t enforcing the camping ban while the city appeals a decision against it
- Denver County Court judge says the city’s urban camping ban is unconstitutional
- RTD Just Got A Bit Better At Telling You Where Your Ride Is
- RTD mulls cutbacks amid driver shortage
- Twenty-three children adopted in Denver during national celebration
- Denver church joins national art movement on impact of gunfire
- Capitol Hill gym blends technology and health
- Uptown nonprofit aims to eliminate barriers for parents
- Colfax Ave BID turns 30!
- Denver’s government adds five solar panel fields to its clean energy cache
- Fee for single-use plastic and paper bags passes first vote in Denver City Council
- Denver is now a ‘serious’ violator of the Clean Air Act, and may be losing a tool that could help
- There Aren't Enough Good Samaritans to Shovel Snow in Denver
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A Special Thanks to Some of Our Business and Community Partner Members:
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