Message from the Co-Presidents Greetings Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods Members and Friends, As we celebrate Thanksgiving weekend with loved ones and friends, there is much to be grateful for at CHUN. First, scores of community leaders and residents contributed more than $2500.00 to help CHUN purchase a park bench and memorial plaque in Cheesman Park honoring our friend Roger Armstrong. We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support, kind words, and your generous financial commitment. We are honored to celebrate the life and legacy of an extended family member in this very meaningful way. Earlier this month, we welcomed two new members to our administrative team--Jennifer Preston and Heather MacHale. Jennifer comes to CHUN with a varied history of talents and roles. Born in Ohio, she received a BA in Graphic Design and Photography from Otterbein College. Jen has a background in the mortgage industry, residential leasing industry, and property management. Jen will be the primary tenant and community liaison at the Tears-McFarlane House and Community Center. She will also oversee the property's general operations, event planning and meeting-and-event-space reservations. Heather MacHale recently fulfilled a long held dream moving to Denver to be closer to family.. She is originally from Galway, Ireland but has spent the last five years living in Los Angeles and working as a television production staff member. She has moved to Denver to make some career changes and start her own business. Heather has a BA in Film and Television from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Galway, Ireland. Her primary responsibilities will include membership development, office administration, writing and contributing content for the Urban Dweller. We are thrilled to have them on board. Membership continues to be a priority at CHUN. We recently welcomed new business members like Cornerstone Properties and the Warwick Hotel. Longtime partners including Racines, Steubens, and the hundreds of individual and household donors have also renewed their membership. We now provide window signage for all business and nonprofit members. This is a great way to showcase CHUN's work throughout Denver and demonstrate our collaborative partnership with many local businesses. Certainly, this expanded visibility is indicative of our growing support and a testament to how far we have come in the past year. Finally, we are thankful for YOU ... our supporters, volunteers, neighborhood advocates, and friends. You have been integral to our successes this year. With a robust list of programmatic and operational wins this year, we have much to celebrate. We will end 2017 in solid financial position and outreach efforts that continue to grow. CHUN heads into a new year, poised for more creative thinking, renewed collaborative partnerships, and a firm commitment to more innovation and neighborhood engagement.. We are energized by our momentum and look forward to sharing more about our recent successes at the Holiday Party on Dec. 6th, and the Annual Membership Meeting on Jan. 11th, 2018. We look forward to seeing you at these and other gatherings soon... With gratitude, Travis Leiker & Mark Cossin Co-Presidents, Board of Delegates Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods Holiday Party & Open House Join CHUN and your neighbors for our Annual Holiday Party on December 6 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 1290 Williams St, Denver.
Gathering Place. Both are resources for homeless women and/or women who have escaped abusive relationships. RSVP to [email protected]. CHUN Neighborhood Assemblies & Delegate ElectionsNeighborhood 1 & 2 - A joint annual neighborhood assembly held in conjunction with Uptown on the Hill. Delegates for 2018 include Shirley Howson and Melanie Wiliford in NH1 (Uptown). So far, we have no volunteers to represent NH 2 (West City Park). If you are interested in serving, please send an email, with your contact information and a paragraph stating your interest to [email protected]. Neighborhood 3 & 7 - A joint annual neighborhood assembly was held at The Goods restaurant at Colfax and Elizabeth. Owner Mark Whistler rolled out the red carpet, providing space, a screen and some delicious appetizers for a good-sized group. Attendees heard from Lisa Raville, Executive Director of the Harm Reduction Action Center about a huge public health issue, opioid addiction, and how it is affecting Americans and our city. NH 3 (South City Park) elected Jim Slotta and Andrew Rogge to represent them on the CHUN Board and Brian Henderson and Shayne Brady were re-elected to represent NH 7 (Congress Park). Neighborhood 4 - At the NH4/West Capitol Hill assembly meeting conversation was wide ranging, and a decision was made to meet on December 5th, 6 p.m. at the Capitol Hill Tavern to discuss biking infrastructure and the Colfax Bus Rapid Transit line (see below for more information). Four representatives were elected to the Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods board to represent the neighborhood - John Riecke, Georgia Burleson, Richard Wilson, and new member Donny Boulanger. Neighborhood 5 & 6 - A joint annual neighborhood assembly was held November 7 at the Tears-McFarlane House . The group listened to a presentation from Scott Robinson and Ella Steuve from the Denver Department of Community Planning and Development.about the East Central Planning Initiative They engaged the group in an interactive exercise to identify the things people liked and disliked about our Greater Capitol Hill neighborhoods and also to share some "big ideas." The information will become part of the research that CPD and the ECPI do that will help guide a new neighborhood plan. After the presentation and exercise, we broke into neighborhood groups to elect CHUN delegates for 2018. The current delegates were re‐elected: Brad Cameron and Rachel Griffin in NH5 (West Cheesman/East Cap Hill) and Caroline Schomp and Matthew James in NH6 (East Cheesman). Neighborhood 8 & 9 - City Councilman, Wayne New provided great insight into all the happenings in and around Denver at the NH 8 & 9 Assembly on November 7 at Novo Coffee on East Sixth Ave. at Gilpin St. Cherry Creek continues to be the home to many cranes and there are more to come!! We also heard about the cell phone towers that are slowly making their way into our neighborhoods. Councilman New has approached several of the cell phone companies asking them to mount the towers on existing light poles, making for less of an eye sore. There were about 25 people in attendance and several of them asked interesting questions about homeless issues and other problems of concern to our community. NH 8 elected Molly Williams and Andrea Hamilton to be delegates to the CHUN board and NH 9 re-elected Michele Steed and Kathleen Reilly. Neighborhood 10 - Annual Assembly will be held in cooperation with the Cherry Creek North Neighborhood Association at 7 p.m., November 28 at the Daniels Fund Building on East First Ave. at Monroe St. Committee ReportsHistoric Preservation Committee The CHUN design review subcommittee of the CHUN Historic Preservation Committee met on October 30 to receive annual training on design review from the Landmark Preservation staff. On November 16 many members of the Committee had a special tour of the new Vance Kirkland Museum at 1201 Bannock. The artist’s studio was moved several months ago from 13th and Pearl to the new location, where it is attached to a stunning new building. The museum will open to the public in mid‐March 2018. Zoning, Land Use, Liquor & Marijuana License and Transportation Committee No meeting was held in November. The next meeting is scheduled immediately after our holiday party on Wednesday, December 6th, 7p.m. at 1201 Williams Street on the 19th Floor; Guest parking available on the south of high-rise; RTD Bus Route 10, exit Gilpin Street Stop & walk due north to bldg. entrance. Bicycle and auto parking available to south of high-rise and on both sides of East 13th Avenue. AGENDA:
Please share what is going on in your neighborhood. Please contact Brad Cameron ([email protected]) and/or Shayne Brady ([email protected]) if you want to suggest topics for future meetings. The Committee generally meets on the first Wednesday of every other month. Please calendar ahead. Community Issues, News & Events  Take the Bus Rapid Transit Survey The City of Denver is committed to developing Colfax Ave. as a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor to speed East-West public transit from Broadway to the Aurora city limit. Originally, the plan called for the curbside lane to be used exclusively for BRT during rush hours. However, a new concept that would place the BRT down the center of Colfax has emerged. The city would like to gather public input about this concept and has developed a survey. Please take a few minutes to fill it out by following this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ColfaxTransitSurvey. Discover Denver to Survey Buildings in Capitol Hill-West Cheesman Historic Denver is gearing up for its “Discover Denver” citywide building survey project in partnership with the City and History Colorado. It is meant to identify historic and architecturally significant structures citywide. The next neighborhood to be surveyed is Capitol Hill-West Cheesman. In addition to gathering information about buildings throughout the city, the project seeks to promote public pride and awareness about the city’s unique neighborhoods and built environment. The survey gathers information using public records, neighborhood canvassing, academic research, and tips from the public. Findings from the survey will be accessible online so that everyone can learn about Denver’s past —building by building. In selecting survey areas for the project, Discover Denver’s steering committee seeks to include residential and commercial areas with good potential for historic structures, and areas where there might be significant interest and support for the project. The boundaries of the Capitol Hill-West Cheesman survey area will be Colfax (north), 8th Avenue (south), Pennsylvania Street (west) and Franklin Street (east). There is a web page dedicated to Discover Denver where you can learn more about the project: www.DiscoverDenver.CO. City Continuing to Give Our Parks a Rest After extensive public input, the Denver Dept. of Parks and Recreation has decided to continue with rest periods in Denver's most heavily used parks, including Cheesman, Civic Center and City Parks. Rest periods (when a park cannot be permitted for a public event) are in effect from April 1 to October 31 each year. Rest periods range from 2 to 4 weekend days per month, depending on the park. In addition, the 5th weekend in a month cannot be booked for public events (with exceptions for historical priority events), and no new events can be booked on Memorial Day weekend, July 4th, and Labor Day weekend. The holidays and 5th weekend in a month are not considered rest dates, thus rest days are counted separately. In our area, the parks that are affected and the rest periods include:
Each year, the Denver Parks and Recreation Parks Permit Office determines the exact rest period dates after the priority (historical) events are booked, but prior to the permit opening date (typically early November). These dates are published online (included within the “Blackout List”) and with the Office of Special Events. The decision to formalize the rest period program was decided on following public input and testing the idea as a “pilot program” in 2016 and 2017*. If you have any concerns or comments please email [email protected]. To learn more about permitting in Denver parks, visit: www.denvergov.org/permits. Public Restroom Availability Expanding on Colfax Neighborhood 1 Delegate Shirley Howson attended a recent public meeting the city held to discuss the public restroom pilot project. She reported that the pilot program that began last year was deemed a success based on feedback from more than 12,000 user surveys, interviews with more than 70 businesses along Colfax, 12 public meetings, restroom attendant observations from seven locations and coordination with other agencies such as DPD, RTD and transportation. The original seven test locations along Colfax were narrowed to four locations - Pennsylvania, Downing, Park Ave. and Williams - to determine a potential fixed location. Each of those locations was evaluated on 5 criteria: usage, connection to transit, community support, location, safety and proximity to necessary utilities. The Pennsylvania location (near the cathedral) scored highest in all categories. Next steps include:
Denver Safe Occupancy Program Helps Ensure Building & Fire Safety Denver’s pricey real estate has driven some in the creative community and others to find affordable, functional space in older buildings. In some cases, as part of repurposing these buildings, work has been done without permits and not up to the standards of international building and fire codes, putting occupants and the public at risk of fire and other hazards. Through the Safe Occupancy Program, the city is working with the owners and occupants of unpermitted spaces to navigate permitting and ensure that occupants can legally remain in place if there are no immediate life-safety hazards. If work is required to bring a space up to code, this program allows time to find creative, potentially more affordable solutions. Learn more at denvergov.org/safeoccupancy. City Expands Composting Program All neighborhoods citywide are now eligible for compost collection service – Denver Public Works has expanded its program this year to help increase Denver’s current recycling and composting rate of 20 percent to 34 percent by 2020. Residents who sign up for the Denver Composts program will receive a large green compost cart and a two-gallon kitchen pail to collect organic material like food, non-recyclable paper and yard debris for composting. Denver Public Works has found that 19 percent of what most residents throw away is food waste, while 17 percent is yard debris. Composting this organic material helps reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill and prevents greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, composting also helps produce a valuable product that increases overall soil quality. Denver residents can call 311 to sign up for service for the new routes or go to denvergov.org/compost. Denver Public Works will deliver the compost carts at the end of the month, and then start collection in December. The Denver Composts program is a fee-based service and residents have two options for payment: a quarterly payment plan of $29.25 every three months or a one-time payment of $107 for the entire year. (There is a discount for paying annually.). There are about 176,000 eligible homes in Denver, and currently, about 12,000 of those households participate in the Denver Composts program. For more information on the Denver Composts program, please visit denvergov.org/compost. Public Meetings
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