Urban Dweller

Volume 36, Issue 2

2/27/2018

Message from the President

Greetings Neighbors and Friends,

Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods' board and office staff have had another active month.

Our friends at Life on Capitol Hill published an article about our recent operational and programmatic successes. Included in the article was more information about how we are working to activate and transform the Tears-McFarlane House and Community Center. CHUN also announced its partnership with City Street Investors--who spearheaded other adaptive reuse projects like Denver's Union Station--to help us in this bold endeavor. We are excited to keep you up-to-date as the vision develops.

Nichole Racelis, a graduate student at the University of Colorado School of Public Affairs, is working with CHUN to conduct her final research project for the master degree in public administration. As a part of her project, we are conducting a community wide survey to help guide CHUN's strategic priorities and to boost our relevance throughout the community. We are eager to get your thoughts and perspectives. If you haven't already completed the survey, please take a moment to do so. You can complete it HERE.

CHUN will hold 'Council in Your Community' on March 13, 2018 at 5:45 pm. In attendance will be Denver City Council members Wayne New, Robin Kneich, and Debbie Ortega. The purpose of the community gathering is to discuss key policy matters impacting Capitol Hill and the Mile High City. It will also provide an opportunity for you to connect with neighbors and community advocates. To RSVP, please email [email protected]. We hope you can join us!

March marks the beginning of our membership drive. CHUN members are an important part of fulfilling our mission to advocate, promote, and support a more vibrant Denver. Georgia Burleson, VP of Membership, has set an ambitious goal to significantly increase the number of members supporting CHUN. If you are a member, we THANK you for the support. If you are not a member, JOIN US TODAY! CHUN members are kept up-to-date on the latest events and policy discussions in our ten neighborhoods. We provide guidance on a number of important policy issues and help neighbors navigate the city and county government. Members are also invited to community meetings and other social events throughout the year.

As CHUN enters its 49th year of Preserving the Past, Improving the Present, and Planning for the Future of Greater Capitol Hill, we remain committed to our neighborhoods and are grateful to be working with with you.

With gratitude,

Travis Leiker
President, Board of Delegates
Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods

Be informed. Get engaged. CHUN Hosts Community Conversation with Council Leadership

No 4-20 Events for Cheesman Park in 2018

Katy Strascina, executive director of the Office of Special Events and Projects, has indicated that there are no 4-20 events planned for Cheesman Park this year. You'll recall that one had been scheduled last year, but did not materialize. However, the 4-20 event in Civic Center Park is still scheduled to take place. A special thanks to City Councilperson Wayne New for passing along this information.

Are You Concerned about Slot Homes? Here's the Lowdown

Courtesy-DenverGov.org

The Slot Home Text Amendment Public Review Draft is now available for review and comment. The proposed amendments to the Denver Zoning Code are intended to implement the strategies described in the Slot Home Strategy Report (PDF) to promote multi-family infill development that engages the public realm, considers neighborhood character, addresses human scale, and minimizes negative effects on pedestrians and neighboring properties while ensuring solutions that provide equity, flexibility and predictability.

Staff will be holding office hours throughout the community to meet with members interested in discussing the proposed changes to the Denver Zoning Code. Check "Upcoming Milestones" for dates, times and locations.

A "slot home" is a multi-unit residential structure consisting of attached dwelling units arranged side-by-side and primarily perpendicular to the street. Slot homes are also sometimes called “sideways-facing town homes” or “fraux homes.” In recent years, slot homes have been constructed in many neighborhoods throughout Denver resulting in a new development pattern that can detract from the design quality and sense of community in Denver’s neighborhoods.

A public hearing is scheduled for March 21, 2018, 3:00 p.m. City & County Bldg., 1437 Bannock St.., Parr-Widener Community Room (389),

Download a two-page information sheet on slot homes Denver.

Shout This from the Tree Tops!

2018 Community Forester Workshops... Registration Now Open!

Have you ever wanted to learn more about trees, advocate for our urban forest, educate others, or help improve your community's tree canopy?! Now is an excellent time to do just that.

A local nonprofit, The Park People, is partnering with Denver's Dept. of Parks & Recreation to host the Community Forester program - a fun and informative, five-workshop series that will teach participants about trees and prepare them to act as stewards of the urban tree canopy. This is a great opportunity to support our environment, urban forest, community health, and quality of life in Denver.

Call 303.722.6262 to register TODAY! Class size is limited and tends to fill up quickly, so don't delay.

'Trees 101' Sat, March 10 - 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., James Fleming Mansion, Platt Park
Planting & Health, Sat, April 7 - 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., LaFamilia Recreation Center
Pruning, Sat, May 5 - 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Rude Recreation Center
ID & Inventory, Sat, June 9 - 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Steele Elementary
Volunteer Leadership & Community Engagement, Sat, July 14 - 9:00 a.m. to Noon, James Fleming Mansion, Platt Park

Classes are $20 each and if you attend the first four, the fifth is free! The entire series is $80. To become an official Community Forester, participants must complete all five sessions. However, individuals may take 'Trees 101' and at least one other class to become a Tree Steward. Click here for additional information about being Community Forester

The National Western Is Being Transformed. Here's the Latest

Shayne Brady (in blue) represented CHUN at the National Western "Place-Making Meeting.

The National Western Center ‘Place-Making’ Public Meeting was held on Thursday, February 1, 2018. The meeting's purpose was to invite the public to share their ideas about making the National Western Stock Show Complex a year round destination place.

CHUN board delegate Shayne Brady attended the event and submitted the following report.

Six stations had easels of drawings & maps that were staffed and attendees were invited to engage in questions and desires of how they want to use public spaces on the complex and along the Platte River.
Close to 75 to 100 people were in attendance.
Denver voters approved Denver’s contribution of $622 million in bonds to cover the remake of this complex. (Dollar figures reported to climb to $1 billion to cover the complex remake.)
Partners for the next 100 years are: City of Denver, Colorado State University & the National Western Stock Show Association.
Globeville & Elyria-Swansea Neighborhoods are affected by this transformation. These two neighborhoods are majority low to very low income and the neighborhood is being gentrified and residents are fearful of displacement because of gentrification.
City has an active Citizens Advisory Committee for this remake.
City Planners report that the Stock Show & Rodeo will continue to an annual event for at least the next one hundred years, but it needs to be complimented with other year round activities.
Approximately 28 million SF of new and renovated facilities will be on the 240 acres at build-out.
There will a light rail stop.
Large buildings consist of: Livestock Center, CSU’s Equine Sports and Medicine Pavilion, Riverfront Improvements, Stockyard Event Pavilion.
In between large buildings are opportunities for ‘place-making’.
City will use storytelling to create Place.
There is an Art Plan and a Cultural Plan.
CSU wants to have education for the public.
City has created a Community Investment Fund.
Attendees comments included: Promote green infrastructure to address Platte River flooding; no features of agriculture such as greenhouses, pastures, food hubs or places to grow vegetables; access to complex from neighborhoods should include lots of sidewalks; create places for families to picnic along river.
More info available at https://nationalwesterncenter.com/.

Committee Meetings

Zoning, Transportation, Land Use and Licensing Committee - February 7, 7:00 p.m., 1201 Williams St.; submitted by Shayne Brady, Co-Chair

Conservation Overlay Districts

Three neighborhoods - South City Park, Congress Park, West Capitol Hill - are exploring designation of Conservation Overlay Districts (COD) in the CHUN Boundaries. There are five other neighborhoods in Denver which have established such districts.
Ellen Ittelson, Historic Denver Board Member presented an overview of this zoning tool. CODs modify existing ‘form-based’ building codes in residential neighborhoods, in order to retain/ protect character through building design. CODs can limit uses but can’t disallow existing uses.
Denver’s Zoning Code is organized by ‘neighborhood contexts’, generally arranged by streets, lots, & buildings.
CHUN’s neighborhoods primarily comprised of: Urban Neighborhood, General Urban Neighborhood, Urban Center Neighborhood. Ref: https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/community-planning-and-development/zoning/neighborhood-context.html
CODs restrict design on new construction or renovations under a designation & are not as restrictive as Historic Districts.
Two criteria must be established for designation: supports neighborhood character, or identify or features that are not in existing zoning.
CODs are a zoning amendment that recognize uniqueness of a neighborhood not reported in existing zoning. They must be approved by City Council.
Issues being raised that CODs may address: scrape-offs, pop-tops, out of character new construction
Historic Denver offers technical assistance grants for qualifying neighborhoods that want to apply.
Additional resources on this topic: https://www.denvergov.org/content/dam/denvergov/Portals/646/documents/landmark/designations/conservation-overlays-vs-historic-districts.pdf and https://historicdenver.org/resources/for-neighborhoods/

Bus Rapid Transit

Ryan Billings, Project Manager with Denver Public Works and Ms. Jamie Alvarez, Community Outreach Consultant provided progress report with design decisions around Denver’s BRT project.
Denver remains in the Alternative Analysis Phase of this project; primarily decisions around selecting Center Boarding or Curbside Boarding. Denver’s Public Works Engineers favor Center Boarding. Mr. Billings reports that he is collecting opinions from the public on their preferred options via community suveys, Here’s the on line survey for your opinion: http://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/denver-department-of-public-works/projects/current/colfax-corridor-connections.html
Buses would run on inside lanes, where autos would not be allowed. Some parking spaces will be eliminated at the curb side near stations.
Left turn lanes will be reduced along corridor.
RTD bus 15 Limited and 15 local will be eliminated or modified. Users will expect to walk one or two blocks more to board buses at stations.
Stops between Colo Blvd and Broadway Street are not yet decided though.
Thursday, 22 February, 4-6pm, the city will have a kiosk to answer questions about the BRT project at the Carla Madison Rec Center, Josephine Street and East Colfax Avenue.
More information available at: https://www.denverite.com/colfax-avenue-brt-2021-43596/ and http://www.colfaxcorridorconnections.com
John Riecke represents CHUN on the BRT task force.

The next meeting of this committee is scheduled for April 4 at 7:00 p.m.

Historic Preservation - January 29, 7:00 p.m., Sheedy Mansion, 1115 Grant St.
Submitted by Michael Henry

Former Denver Post Reporter Mike McPhee spoke about his in-progress biography of his maternal grandfather, prominent Denver architect Jacques Benedict (1879-1947). Benedict moved to Denver in 1909 after going to MIT and L’Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris. Mike showed a Powerpoint of many of Benedict’s 120 designed buildings in Colorado, of which 80 were actually built and 60 are still standing. Many of his Denver buildings are protected by landmark status. His Denver standing buildings include the former Sports Castle at 1000 Broadway (originally an auto dealership), the Washington Park Boat Pavilion, the fountain at Benedict Fountain Park (named after him), the Woodbury Library, Holy Ghost Catholic Church (the bell tower and chapelm including stained glass) at St. Thomas Seminary, the George Cranmer House on the east side of Cranmer Park, the Weckbaugh Mansion on the south side of the Denver Country Club and the Waring residence at 910 Gaylord.
Jonny Barber, the founder and curator of the Colfax Museum, talked about the museum and the extensive research he has done about Colfax Avenue. He grew up in Salt Lake City, came to Denver in 1989 and was the Velvet Elvis for a few years at the Capitol Hill People’s Fair. He founded www.colfaxave.com in 2004 and www.colfaxmuseum.com later. The museum is located at 6109 East Colfax (inside Ed Moore Florist) and is open for a visit by appointment only. Colfax was originally named Grand Avenue and then Colfax Avenue, after Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives Schuyler Colfax, a good friend of Abraham Lincoln. Soon before Lincoln died, he asked Colfax to go to Colorado (not yet a state), which he did later in 1865. Colfax was later incorporated into U. S. Highway 40 from Atlantic City to Los Angeles.
Committee member Jude Aiello discussed with the committee a proposal to work with Denver Urban Gardens, the Landmark Commission, the Parks Department and Uptown on the Hill to establish one or more flower and/or vegetable community gardens in one or more of the triangles along the Park Avenue Historic District. The committee was generally favorable, but much discussion with the affected entities will be necessary.
Committee members were given a tour of the beautifully and historically renovated Sheedy Mansion, which is used for its headquarters by Unbridled, Inc., which is also currently renovating the Bosworth House at 1400 Josephine Street. The CEO of Unbridled, Stan Bullis, received the 2017 Jim Peiker award for historic preservation.

Public Meetings & Opportunities to Comment

March 6, 2018, 10:30 a.m. Wellington Webb Bldg., 201 W. Colfax Ave., Room 2.H.14 - Case # 233-17; Appeal of a Cease and Desist Order for a sign that was altered/erected forward of the primary street facing facade and encroaching into the setback without permits at Corona Presbyterian Church, 1205 E. 8th Ave.
March 13, 2018, 9:30 a.m. Wellington Webb Bldg., 201 W. Colfax Ave., Room 2.H.14 - Case # 2-18; Appeal of a Denial for a new detached garage with lot coverage violation at 1025 Monroe St.
March 13, 2018, 9:30 a.m. Wellington Webb Bldg., 201 W. Colfax Ave., Room 2.H.14 - Case # 3-18; Appeal of a denial for a new attached garage with setback and lot coverage violations at 1153 Detroit St.
March 16, 2018, 9:00 a.m. Wellington Webb Bldg., 201 W. Colfax Ave., Dept. of Excise and Licenses - Application for a Standard Cabaret License for the Shanty Supper Club at 1033 E. 17th Ave.
March 21, 2018, 9:00 a.m. Wellington Webb Bldg., 201 W. Colfax Ave., Dept. of Excise and Licenses - Application for Beer and Wine Liquor License at 3250 E. 1st Ave. by Purluxe Nailbar.
March 21, 2018, 3:00 p.m. City & County Bldg., 1437 Bannock St.., Parr-Widener Community Room (389), Planning Board Public Hearing on proposed Slot Home Text Amendment.
March 28, 2018, 1:30 p.m. Wellington Webb Bldg., 201 W. Colfax Ave., Dept. of Excise and Licenses - Application for a new Retail Marijuana Store, Pink House Cherry, at 111 S. Madison St. (note this is just outside of CHUN boundaries but may be of interest to our community)
April 17, 2018, 11:00 a.m. Wellington Webb Bldg., 201 W. Colfax Ave., Room 2.H.14 - Case # 21-18 & 22-18, Appeals of denials for over-height fence/wall at 1050 & 1080 Sherman St. - Belmont Apts.
April 24, 2018, 11:00 a.m. Wellington Webb Bldg., 201 W. Colfax Ave., Room 2.H.14 - Case # 23-18, Appeal of an Administrative Decision regarding a Code Interpretation at 785 Colorado Blvd. by Sinclair Oil Corp.