Chair Margie Valdez convened the meeting of the INC Zoning and Planning Committee and introduced Blair Taylor of Greater Park Hill Community, who spoke about GPHC’s strong opposition to an application to rezone 5325 Montview Blvd. (at Glencoe) and also to split the zone lot, which would allow the construction of an out-of-character 6000 square foot home on the garden portion of an existing home at 5315 Montview (which will remain). The application is under review by Community Planning and Development. The committee discussed the following motion, which passed by a vote of 24 in favor, 1 opposed and 3 abstentions, and will be forwarded to the INC Delegation to consider on October 8:

Whereas: The intent of the Denver Comprehensive Plan, Blueprint Denver, the 2010 Legislative Rezoning of Denver and Denver’s Sustainability Plan exist to protect the character and embodied energy of Denver’s neighborhoods,

And Whereas: Preserving the character of Park Hill, City Park and surrounding areas of stability from incompatible infill and high density development is a value of the Park Hill community,

And Whereas: The 2010 Zoning Code classifications maintain the look and feel of existing housing patterns and stock in Park Hill, and explicitly disallow lot splitting for the formation of new small lots along historic Montview Boulevard,

And Whereas: Denver’s historic interconnected Parks, Boulevards and Parkways provide a “unique identity and sense of place,”

And Whereas: The Greater Park Hill Community Registered Neighborhood Organization held a community presentation and discussion in November, 2015 after which its governing committee voted 0 in support and 13 in opposition to splitting the lot at 5315 Montview Boulevard,

And Whereas: The City appears to be navigating paths to circumvent established Zoning laws which allow “downzoning” which threatens to set a precedent for the reduction of open space, tree canopy, active and passive solar in Park Hill,

And Whereas: The Justifying Circumstances listed within the application are fundamentally against those Denver pronounces itself as: the “green oasis” maintaining neighborhood integrity and sustaining our building and landscape resources,

Now, therefore, it is resolved: The Zoning and Planning committee of Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation respectfully requests the City to honor the Greater Park Hill Community and deny the application to rezone the property at 5315 Montview Boulevard.

Heather Noyes and Michael Beasley of Berkeley-Regis United Neighbors spoke to the committee about a notice of claim letter dated August 29, 2016 to the Denver City Attorney by Attorneys Jason Reitz and Steven Boatright, representing the developer of a new mixed-use project under construction at 4390 Tennyson St. The letter threatened to sue District 1 City Councilman Rafael Espinoza, his aide and the city of Denver for $350,000 for “unlawfully interfering” with and “attempting to stop” the permitted and approved project and “far exceeding their authority” and requested the City Attorney to “advise Councilman Espinoza to cease his unlawful interference with the project.” After much discussion, committee members agreed that the letter is a very inappropriate attempt to threaten Councilman Espinoza (and by extension, other elected officials) and to chill them from representing their constituents and is very similar to a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). The committee will consider taking a position if any further action is taken by the attorneys.

Charlie Busch, former president of West Washington Park Neighborhood Association, gave her views of the lengthy planning process since 2002 of the Broadway-area Transit Oriented Developments. The most recent is the 37-acre I-25 Broadway Station Plan, which was recommended by the Planning Board in March 2016, after participation by WWPNA, Athmar Park and Baker. Although Charlie had positive comments about many aspects of the plan and the staff from Community Planning and Development, she said that, unfortunately, there are no plans yet for any park land or good transportation connections across the Platte River, I-25, the railroad lines and the light-rail line. She is discouraged by planning for developments by “volunteer exhaustion, “ especially during holiday seasons, when neighborhood volunteers are especially exhausted.

Several members spoke about various matters:

• Robert Schmidt of Berkeley-Regis United Neighbors, who is also the former chair of the Urban Design Committee of the Denver Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, regretfully reported that the leadership of the group has discontinued the Urban Design Committee, which has been a strong ally of neighborhoods in many important issues, such as re-routing Interstate 70.

• Neighbors are encouraged to read the minutes of all of the meetings of the important Denverright process, which can be found at www.denvergov.org/denveright. (Only one R)

• Some members expressed concern about a proposal by City Council President Albus Brooks to limit the amount of time that Council members can use during Council meetings to ask questions and make comments, saying that any elected representatives should not be limited in their comments on important issues.