Committee Co-Chair Charles Nadler convened the meeting. Co-Chair Ean Tafoya arrived later. The following items were discussed:

1. Denver’s Chief Economist, Jeff Romine (with the Office of Economic Development), informed the committee about “opportunity zones” in Denver. These were established nationwide by Congress in the Tax Reform Act of 2017. Each state was allowed to establish 126 opportunity zones based on census tracts. The regulations have not yet been finalized by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Former Governor Hickenlooper designated most of the Colorado opportunity zones in rural areas. Denver prioritized and the governor designated census tracts in Denver – Northeast Park Hill, Clayton, Elyria-Swansea, East Colfax, West Colfax, Sun Valley and Westwood as opportunity zones. The main purpose of the federal program appears to be a tool for avoidance of capital gains taxes for big investors. The opportunity zones do not provide grants. The federal government has not established any performance measures for the program, although Denver is trying to steer investment funds into desired areas and outcomes.
2. Ean Tafoya explained that Sarah Showalter and David Gaspers, planners from the Community Planning and Development Department, have indicated that CPD is preparing a response to Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation’s earlier request for a delay in the final consideration of Blueprint Denver and Comprehensive Plan 2040. He does not know if the process will be changed from the current schedule, which is: Planning Board hearing on March 20, first reading at City Council on April 15 and final hearing on April 22. Ean reported that many issues that INC or other neighborhood groups raised earlier have now been included in the draft Denveright documents.
3. Ean and other committee members said that specific reasons for requesting a delay in the process need to be articulated. Some committee members gave these as reasons:

• • Many neighborhood groups are still analyzing the documents to formulate their positions
  • There are too many policies in the documents, many of which are vague. They should be sharpened and prioritized
  • Many neighborhoods are frustrated that they do not have neighborhood plans
  • “Construction is driving everyone crazy”
  • The plans should include inventories to identify whether the city has enough open space, transportation networks and other infrastructure to accommodate all the current and expected growth
  • There should be more stability for single-family neighborhoods, including green space in backyards for families
  • There should be strategies to preserve existing affordable housing in all neighborhoods, not just to create more.

4. Committee members said that candidates for Mayor and Council should be asked at election forums which of the many policies in the plans they will prioritize and try to budget for.