Delegate Meeting June 8, 2019

District 1, Denver Police Station

President called to order 9:04am
Quorum present (25)

Present:
Board: George Mayl, Hank Bootz, Steve Nissen, Maggie Price
Chairs: Jane Lorimer, Amy Duclos

Minutes – May 1, 2019 Delegate Meeting
Adrien Brown moved to accept, Greg Sorenson seconded. Passed unanimously
Committee Reports

Parks & Rec (PARCs) – Maggie Price, Co-Chair
The last meeting was May 21. The entire evening was spent discussing the new policy of Electric Devices in Parks with members of the DPR staff Laura Morales Community Relations Parks and Recs, Jacob Wells Denver Park Ranger, Jason Coffee Trails Planner Denver Parks and Rec and Fred Weiss Director of Finance.

A trial policy permitting use of Electric devices in parks was introduced in April and will continue until Oct 15. Simply put, any electric device (scooters and e-bikes) can be used on any trail or sidewalk within the park, where bicycles are permitted. The decision to allow them in parks as of April 2019   relates to one of the missions of  Denver Parks and Recreation to provide recreational opportunities. Because a number of people want to use these devices in parks, DPR is providing that opportunity. The other reason is that DPR wants to allow users to have additional mobility options

Pedestrians and scooters are expected to share the sidewalks and trails. Rangers will enforce speeding and careless riding.

Report troubles to 311 and take evaluation tool. Our notes can be found on the front page of our website https://www.denverinc.org. Look for INC PARC Meeting Notes May 2019

Attendee Comments:
• Finding scooters on personal lawns. Advised to report to 311
• Should be in park and provider company needs to come get scooters. Can’t use without smart phone but can leave “wherever” Onus is on company to manage and city needs to put pressure on them
• Will e-riders follow the trail? Hope this happens, via outreach from Parks. Difficulty in hearing motored devices behind oneself.
• Does INC have a position? Not yet. Judy Trumpeter (Uptown on the Hill) endorses having a position statement from INC on speed, where, when rides on parks and also outside parks.
• Action: Interested parties please send feedback to PARCS (parksandrec@denverinc.org) about this change, your views, needs, etc.
• Idea: Notification via a tracking device attached for speeding over 6 miles, and drunk driving laws apply to these devices.

Sustainability Committee – George Mayl presented on behalf of Ernie Diedrich
1. March’s meeting focused on Food and featured Blake Angelo, former developer of Denver’s Food Vision and Laine Cidlowski, Blake’s successor.  Please see the posted minutes for meeting details.
2. April’s meeting was cancelled (speaker and venue problems)
3. May’s meeting focused on Water and the plan to construct URSC’s platform…we plan to develop policy planks for the topics we are learning about from Denver city officials and activists.
4. June’s meeting (June 26th at the Daniels Building in Cherry Creek from 6:30-8:00) will feature a speaker from Denver Water as well as discussion on a rough draft of policy planks in our platform focused on Climate Change, Waste, Food, and Water.  The Delegates will get a first look at these planks at the Delegate meeting in August.
5. I went on a Waste Palooza tour (sponsored by the City) on May 23rd of the Denver Arapaho Disposal Site, the A-1 Composting site and Denver’s Recycling Center.  It was a great tour and a reminder of how much more we have to do to develop a circular economy that involves reintegrating materials rather than the one way, take, make and waste economy that we have now.  Please let me know if you’re interested and I’ll try to get an INC tour of waste processing facilities as well as a water treatment facility.
6. I am still encouraging all RNOs to organize a High-Five Clean Up event in their neighborhoods.  Here’s the poster:
7. Finally, I urge the delegates to look at the Resilient Denver Facebook site.  This is a grassroots effort to pressure the City to make Climate Change a more urgent priority…including creating an office of Climate Change linked directly under the Mayor along with small taxes on electricity and natural gas so the office can effectuate changes in other parts of the City’s bureaucracy.  I am collecting signatures to let the City know people are prepared to make this a ballot issue at the next election.

Comments: Now that our reservoirs are up please don’t waste water!

Attendance at this point: 29 delegates

Education Committee -Amy Duclos, Chair
• Successful forum sponsored by INC and led by Amy regarding school lockouts and guns in schools. Covered by Fox 31, Colorado Independent online news. “Hook” for some stories was the young girl who wrote her will leaving her possessions to named people if she were killed in a school shooting.
◦ Committee may consider running more of these forums and perhaps in school season
• Interview on Channel 7 – neighbor in Congress Park – Teller Elem had a 5g cell tower on their rooftop and it was not run by the school and neighborhoods. Brings income to school but is it safe? What are the studies? Planned in every school. Some cell tower rentals are $35K a year. On roof are not near it and it is a better placement than ground.
◦ More curious safety vs aesthetics. What can we do since Virginia Village didn’t get notified by cell tower
• Merrill Middle is installing new front office – but no A/C
• Amy is getting involved in DPS board race, learning about candidates to become more informed
• Request for study of marijuana money for DPS State level: INC ran feature story this year about Marijuana Money. INC feature story HERE

Reminder about TV8 Funding
Please tell your City Councilperson that TV8 needs to be funded under its own budget line rather than to be included as part of “technologies”
Also ask to make this station open to all for free. Currently, in order to watch TV8, it requires cable or Dish subscription to receive. Vital to have it on public TV and open access. Action: George and Maggie to create letter.

Zoning & Planning Committee – Adrian Brown
Recognized other ZAP members who created the motion
The way we go about zoning our land to incorporate low income housing. Handouts were made available.

Background ZAP Motions: On June 1, 2019, the Zoning and Planning Committee of Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation 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:

Motion made by Adrian Brown and seconded by Greg Sorenson

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.

Motion passed as written: 27 in favor, 2 opposed

Comments
• Skyler Keaton, Sloans Lake NA, Issue directly impacting Sloan’s: Doubling population on smaller land area. Not against affordable housing. Affordable housing is high-jacked to please developers in that they are using waivers associated with affordable housing to avoid setback and parking waivers. RNOs are not involved. Separation of income classes is based on ROI for developers
• Need to clarify difference between affordable housing and low income housing
• Need to define “equity”
• Please include inclusion of affordable and equitable zoning.
• A little narrow for now but can this continue beyond the Sloan’s Lake?
• There is no public policy regarding legality of FHA and to take this into consideration before this (Sloan’s Lake) is a done deal.

Around the City
Betsy Rubner, Driving Park Historic
Chris Hinds has been invited to community meetings and to get introduced as new councilman

Hank Bootz, CPFANS
RNO and neighborhood is rededicated to keeping parks – city parks and parks in general
Hank reminded all he is the point person for INC small grant program to help RNO’s with small projects. https://www.denverinc.org/inc-grant-application/

Leslie Rhinegold – Mayfair
Shoring up strength of community meetings, Outreach events with various means.

Amy Duclos Stokes/Green Bowers
Fun stuff, community events –
Reminded all to advise her re board candidates running in November for DPS

Trupti Suthar – SUNI (New membership at this meeting!)
Area of change, Formal zoning and doing overlay
Events and music festivals in parks = outreach efforts

Al Habercorn – Baker Historic
Development coming in – hotel – seem to be doing good job and hotel will lease to commercial. Slot house development built and found afterwards there was no place to put trash included into development. Garage sale for neighborhood this week.

Adrian Brown – Baker Historic
Topic: massive developments in prior SUF areas….this is what a massive pull to Denver that City Council will focus on. We need to stop incentivizing this massive development – giving taxes for TIF tool way too much. Developers get breaks but we don’t.
INC should have a strident voice in front of Council to make sure that we make a different choice in development and who pays for it.

Bonita Lahey – South City Park
Continue on change quadruple in size. No parking anywhere
Neighbors fighting with city because city is reducing size of city park. Considering Overlay.

Maggie Price- Congress Park
Large neighborhood. With lot of development. NPI Central – threw out the existing plan and city is rewriting it completely. Destroying final homes built in 1890’s along Colfax and bungalows. Applying for conservation overlays. Small town feel in large neighborhood.

Judy Trumpeter – Uptown on Hilll
Face same issues with teardown of old buildings, no parking, slot homes (although outlawed). We don’t have employees and feels like we have to fight city. Small projects. Denver Turnverein to take up asphalt and planted garden and trees.

Nola Miguel – Chaffee Park
Next RNO meet with CPD is talking about ADUs – interest in having those. Debating overlay or package redone with fewer restrictions. Development 49th/Zuni possibly scaling down because they can’t find rental for commercial establishments like restaurants.

Greg Sorenson – Cheesman Park
Public commercial uses are being considered for the Tears-McFarlane House on the north edge of Cheesman Park, with the goal of attracting park users. There is concern about the effects such an operation would have on the neighborhood as well as the precedent this would set for others to provide commercial activities in Denver parks.

Steve Nissen – Alamo Placita
INC board Sunnyside rejoined at this meeting – welcome!
We all are suffering with parking, retail changes and how to get around. Giving developer a tax break and adding more people and not getting infrastructure from the builders. Developers should pay the city a fee to develop.

Tim O’Byrne – Wash Park
We are same in terms with parking, overbuilding. Denver Moves/bike lanes. Testing bike lanes and no one is using them.

Tim McHugh – East Wash Park
Concerns with goose poop, bikers not following the speed – school lockouts
High comfort bike land in area

Sally Kurtzman– Lowry
Celebrating 25th decommission of Lowry AFB. Food bank once a week available to low income and needy.
LUN is Hosting INC meeting in September

Jane Lorimer – Winston Downs
Involved in conservation overlay. For all who pursue overlays must work via RNO board or Council will not approve.
Friday out Front once a month began in May. Various neighbors open their driveways and front yards to all residents. BYO food, beverage. Great social asset to unite neighborhoods

Dave Augustinis – U-Hills
Festivals at holidays and outreach. New board sees issues facing with density
North U Hills zoning going from 8 to 16 stories.
Getting involved with INC hoping to learn from INC
Last election focused on parks near them and invested in open space and parks

Kalle Anderson – Sloans Lake Citizen
High area of development. Denveright plan will impact zoning. So blank they can work on anything they want. No policies to protect “stable neighborhoods.”

Wende Reoch -Cramner Park
July 4 hold community picnic and Sundial is restored. Will feature free public concert on Jul 2 from 6p-10p. Can see Glendale fireworks. Pack in it and pack it out. Take trash out to leave no trail of your visit. Park belongs to all of us.
At one of the Denver Decides forum and reported her displeasure with INC president showing lack of impartial behavior when topic of Short Term Rentals was discussed. Reminded that if INC sponsors these forums, representatives must demonstrate impartiality.

Anne Elizabeth – Globeville
Attends meetings only to keep Globeville in INC mind. Appreciated forums. All inclusivity. Spoke well of ZAP as information source.
ADU’s to successfully afford home payments. Need literacy. Age in place. Hang on to ability of housing inventory STR.

Meeting adjourned at 11:10am

Member RNO’s Present (22)
Alamo Placita
Baker Historic NA
Bellevue-Hale NA
Chaffee Park NA
City Park FANS
Congress Park Neighbors
Cory-Merrill NA
Cramner Park/Hilltop Civic
Driving Park HD
FANS for Cheesman Park
Harkness Heights NA
Lowry United Neighbors
Mayfair Neighbors Inc
Sloan’s Lake Citizens Group
Sloan’s Lake NA
Stokes Place/Green Bowers
Sunnyside United Neighbors (new)
Swallow Hill NA
University Hills NA
Uptown on the Hill
Wash Park East
West Wash Park
Winston Downs

Guest RNO – Globeville KARES