Committee Member Laura Liska convened the meeting. (Co-chairs Ean Tafoya and Christine O’Connor were unable to attend.) The following items were discussed:

• Brad Johnson of the Community Planning and Development Department (johnson2@denvergov.org) continued his presentation from our April 27 committee meeting about the planning and rezoning for the National Western Center. He said that it is important to emphasize the public-street-edge design and to respect the Platte River edge. There will be 4 new zone districts with different standards and regulations. Committee members expressed concerns about protecting the quality and public accessibility of open space. Most of the area designated for open space is currently zoned for heavy-industrial. The new zoning for the area designated for open space will be similar to Open Space B and will also allow outdoor markets and eating/drinking establishments. The rezoning will require that signs in the district will be innovative and high-quality and will require that there be a district sign plan. There will be no minimum or maximum parking requirements.
• City Councilwoman-at-Large Robin Kniech and Andrew Webb of the Community Planning and Development Department spoke to the committee about proposed amendments to the Zoning Code and the Building Code which would deal with an emerging use of “tiny-house villages.” There will be a public meeting on June 5 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church to discuss the proposal at length. The proposal would require a city-sponsored and facilitated neighborhood meeting before a tiny-house village could be established and Good-Neighbor Agreements will be allowed.
• Jennifer Capetto of the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission staff presented a proposed revision of several sections of the Landmark Preservation Ordinance. A 16-person task force composed of developers, architects, preservationists and city representatives had a total of 11 meetings over more than 2 years. The proposal is designed to reduce conflict and encourage coordination among property-owners, developers, preservationists and the LPC. The task force looked at what many other cities do to protect their historic and architectural heritage. One proposal is to add an additional criterion for landmark designation of cultural merit, in addition to historic, architectural and geographic merit. Another is to require a city-led mediation process when there is an application for a demolition permit or a certificate of non-historic status if a structure is deemed by LPC staff to have the potential for landmark designation.
• Three residents who live close to a proposed rezoning of a former parking lot used for the former medical complex for the former Beth Israel Hospital, near the former St. Anthony’s Hospital spoke to the committee: Schuyler Cayton, Larry Ambrose and Claire Shamblin. The developer, Zocalo Development, was invited to attend this ZAP committee meeting, but was unable to do so. The land was rezoned in 1980 to a Planned Unit Development to allow 2 10-story apartment buildings which have never been built. These neighbors had a number of reasons to oppose the rezoning, but asked Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation to initiate a citywide discussion about what they described as “separate but equal” affordable housing, where the “affordable” or income-restricted units may have different entrances or access to open space and other amenities as compared to market-rate or luxury units. The committee passed the following motion:

The committee had a lengthy discussion about a proposed rezoning to enable a large residential development with many affordable units in the West Colfax neighborhood south of Sloan’s Lake. Because no one from the city or the developer were able to attend the meeting to discuss the rezoning, the Committee did not wish to comment on the specific rezoning proposal. However, the Committee did want to start a discussion of an important policy issue and passed the following motion by a vote of 16 in favor, none in opposition and none abstaining:

Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation should:

1. Establish a subcommittee to study how development plans in Denver that include affordable housing units can ensure that all residents of the entire development are treated equitably with regard to access, distribution of units, open space and other amenities. Residents of new housing developments should not be physically separated by income level.
2. Present the recommendations of the subcommittee (after approval by the INC Delegation) to the city government, including City Council, the Community Planning and Development Department, the Denver Economic Development Office and the Housing Advisory Committee and encourage them to develop a citywide policy or ordinance to address this important issue.