City Council - Regular Meeting

City council's meeting. Denver city council meeting today is Monday, 03/09/2026. Tonight is being interpreted into Spanish. Sam or Jasmine, would you please introduce yourself and let the viewers know how to enable translation on their devices?

Yes. Of course. Thank you for having us. Hello, everyone. My name is Sam Guzman with the CLC joining you virtually through Zoom. And along with my colleague, Yasmeen, we will be interpreting today's meeting into Spanish. Please allow me a quick minute while I give instructions in Spanish on how to access interpretation.

I have a gavel, so we're gonna use my cup. Welcome to the Deborah City Council meeting on Monday, 03/09/2026. Council members, please join council member Sawyer as they lead us Council members, please join council member Sawyer as they lead us in the Denver City Council land acknowledgment.

The Denver City Council honors and acknowledges that the land on which we reside is the traditional territory of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho peoples. We also recognize the 48 contemporary tribal nations that are historically tied to the lands that make up the state of Colorado. We honor elders past, present, and future, and those who have stewarded stewarded this land through generations. We also recognize that government, academic, and cultural institutions were founded upon and continue to enact exclusions and erasures of indigenous peoples. May this acknowledgement demonstrate a commitment to working to dismantle ongoing legacies of oppression and inequities and recognize the current and future contributions of indigenous communities in Denver. Madam secretary, roll call.

Council members Hines? Here. Vitoches? Here. Here.

Here. Here. Here. Here. Watson? Here. Here. Members present.

There are is that right? Mhmm. Yep. There are oh, that's right. There are 11 members present. Council has a quorum. Approval of the minutes. Are there any corrections to the minutes of March 2? Nope. Seeing none, the minutes stand approved. Council announcements. Are there any announcements from council from members of council? Okay. Let's go ahead and get started with council member Parody. Yes.

Very quick moment of personal privilege. It's part of how we marked the time around here. My daughter Imogen turned eight on Friday.

That's it. That's

lovely. Happy birthday. Yeah. Happy birthday, sweetie. Happy birthday. Council member Al Beidrez.

Thank you. On that note, I'll share. It was my sister's birthday yesterday, and everyone always asks me, oh, you have the sister? Yes. I indeed have a sister. She does not make very many appearances, but happy birthday, Monica. In addition to that, I wanted to share that this Saturday, March 14 from 9AM to noon at my alma mater, West High School, go cowboys, for the next community open house for the Burnham Yard small area plan. The meeting will feature an interactive exercise to provide input on preferences and priorities for how the area should redevelop. It's important that community have a strong voice in the development of this area, so please be sure to join us and advocate for how you wanna see our city grow and prosper. Again, that's Saturday, March 14.

Drop in anytime between 9AM and noon. It's an open house in West High School's address is 951 Eladie Street. Thank you.

Thank you, council president. Thank you. Council member Torres.

Thank you so much.

I was also gonna mention the Yard open house. One thing I'll just add. Thank you, councilman Oviedrez, for giving the details. The small area plan is more than just the Bronco's proposed development site, and I wanna make sure because it it sounds counterintuitive. The small area plan is a big location.

The large development review is the smaller location. But the small area plan covers everything from the light rail to the Platte River and from Colfax to Alameda. That's a huge swath of Loma Lincoln Park and Baker neighborhoods. So it includes a lot of our industrial corridor. How we treat the river needs to come into play into what goes into this plan, how we interact and connect to highways, how we get across both rail and river systems, and what the impact of those kinds of changes over twenty years might be to the neighborhoods.

These are well established historic neighborhoods, and this is our time to kinda talk about the future, of what happens in this area. So I look forward to seeing folks there, nine AM West High School. Thank you.

Thank you. Council member Lewis. Thank you so much. I just wanted to make an announcement regarding our community panels. So it's that time of year again. We will be hosting our community panels for input from our constituents in District 8 this year. I will have four meetings which will be virtual sessions on Wednesdays beginning Wednesday, March 25 in the evening. It's free for you all to sign up and attend. Please email Jesse Carey at Jesse.Carey@denvergov.org with the subject line community panels for more information and to sign up, and I hope you all do. Thank you.

Thank you. Council member Watson.

Thank you, president pro tem. Point of personal privilege. I took four days off to celebrate my 20 anniversary with my delightful, wonderful, amazing husband. So doctor Mike Wenk, if you are watching, I love you. We had a wonderful time and just came back this morning, and so I am refreshed and ready to go. Also, if you have not signed up for the District 9 newsletter, do it now. I'm telling you, it's amazing, chock full of great information. You can go to district9 at denvergov.org. There's one article in there that I wanted to elevate. It's trashparty.org.

There are some neighbors in the Clayton neighborhood that came together and created a website where neighbors can just simply go out with a pail and trash pickup stuff, and they can hog their hours of of picking up trash in their neighborhoods, and it spread like wildfires around District 9. So we now had trash parties happening in Clayton, Cole, Whittier, and the plan is for it to go all through to find District 9. So thank you so much to the Clayton Neighbors for creating that interactive app. And as we're going into spring, we can do some spring cleanups throughout our neighborhood. Thank you, president pro tem.

Thank you. Council member Cashman.

Yeah. Thank you, madam president pro tem. We we have people telling us since we're doing it on April 1, it's gotta be a joke. It can't be possible. This is simply too much, but it's true.

We are holding our annual academy community on April 1, six to 8PM at Cook Park Recreation Center. What's so amazing, almost beyond belief, we will have over 30 city departments, other local agencies. You'll get to talk to Denver Water, Xcel Energy, Denver Mountain Parks Foundation, Department of Community Planning and Development, Public Health and Environment, Parks and Recreation. So many city people there to answer your questions face to face, to give you the information you've been asking for. It is amazing.

It's true. April 1, six to 8PM, Cook Park Recreation Center. Be there.

Wow. I know. I wanna go. Gee. We're all gonna show up.

Be snacked. Oh. Oh. Nice.

You're selling it. You got to mention that. Awesome. Thank you, council member Gonzales Gutierrez.

Well, I'm

gonna make

the deal even sweeter because I'll be there.

But But wait. There's more.

But wait. There's more. Councilman Cashman, it may the memo might have not hit you yet, but I'm planning to also be there as I was last year for your council standing. So I'm looking forward to that. Thank you.

Thank you. We have a proclamation that is on consent, and I just wanted to lift it up that it's for Denver police officer Barbara Cisneros during women's history month for her service on the force and then her continued service and dedication to the children's hospital. And that will be a proclamation on consent today. I too also have a very exciting we we're calling it a district four open house, very similar with on next Wednesday, March 18, doors open at 5PM, and this is at Thomas Jefferson High School. There

will

be, hopefully, snacks as well. And we are gonna have the vibrant Denver bond team, DOTI, the office of aging. Also tabling there will be a group with unlocking housing choices. We have Denver Water, the Denver Library, and more. So if you can, please come 5PM 5PM next Wednesday, March 18 at TJ. And I will turn it over to you. Wait. There's more. And council member okay. Council member Gonzales Gutierrez will also have a table there.

So we are we are glad that you will be there with us. So please come join us. Council member Sawyer.

Thank you, madam pro tem. Apologies. We jumped in at the last minute, but wanted to just let everyone know that we have bent budget and policy a couple of times to talk about a potential charter change that would change the timeline of the budget, including potentially make it a two year budget instead of a one year budget. So we are going to council member Lewis, council member Gilmore, and I are gonna host a community meeting on Tuesday, the seventeenth at 6PM. This is an online community meeting, so you can still make it to your Saint Patrick's Day celebration if you so desire.

But join us Tuesday the seventeenth, 6PM online. You can find the link to sign up on any of our social medias, but we'll just talk a little bit where we are with that proposal, kind of some of the different considerations that we have gone through, and where we're starting to narrow down and land. So hopefully you guys will join us for that next Tuesday. Thanks.

Thank you. Council member Alvidrez.

I didn't mean to get back in. Sorry. Thank you. Well,

just in case, we were good. Alright. There are no presentations. There are no communications. There is one proclamation being read this afternoon. Council members Watson, council member Torres Parody, and Gonzales Gutierrez, would you please read proclamation 26 Dash zero two forty four?

Yes, council president Fratem. Proclamation number two six zero two four four recognizing the fiftieth annual Denver March Pow Wow. Whereas Denver is the home of as many as 80 American Indian tribes represented by residents of the Denver area and whereas the youth enrichment program participants and families had emerged in 1974 to establish a time to get together, to give honor and celebrate traditional tribal values, which laid the groundwork to powwow into the twenty first century. And whereas the fiftieth annual Denver powwow Denver March powwow will be held Friday, March 20 through Sunday, 03/22/2026 at the Denver Coliseum. And

Whereas activities at the powwow will include traditional tribal storytelling, native author readings, dancing and drumming, the opportunity to purchase authentic native American arts and crafts, and food, including delicious Indian fry bread. And whereas annual events include the introduction of the powwow royalty, the grand entry processional, the beginning of the song a living hoop, and coronation of the Denver March powwow princess. And whereas, 2025 Denver March Powwow Princess has traveled throughout The United States and Canada, proudly representing the Denver March Powwow and the city and county of Denver as a cultural ambassador. Reflecting indigenous resources, sharing the rich heritage of native peoples, and inspiring future generations.

And

Whereas the Denver City Council recognize and appreciates the dedication and commitment of the board of directors and staff for their combined hundred and sixty years plus of service to the annual powwow. And whereas during the unprecedented COVID nineteen pandemic when the 2021 and 2020 and 2021 powwows were canceled, the board and staff faced profound uncertainty and deep concern for the future of the event. But through prayer, ceremony, resilience, and steadfast leadership, the Denver March powwow endured this challenging period. And whereas the Denver City Council extends its gratitude to president Ken Ledeau, president vice president Virginia Irving, secretary and treasurer Diane M. Buck, board member Nancy Bruyard, board member Kelly Bachman, the late senator emeritus Virginia Quintana, executive director Grace B.

Gillette, and Powell coordinator Larissa e. Their commitment to sharing and maintaining their tribal traditions. And?

Whereas the Denver Marsh Pow Wow has achieved national recognition through its permanent documentation in the Library of Congress's Local Legacies Project preserved in the National Archives and its permanent exhibit in the Our Universe's gallery at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, a major museum of the Smithsonian Institution. And whereas the annual powwow is an important annual event for the region's Indian people, making a powerful contribution to passing their cultural heritage from one generation to the next, maintaining pride in their heritage, and promoting cultural awareness of the native American peoples for the general public. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Denver City Council that the Denver City Council hereby designates the days of March, and twenty second twenty twenty six as Denver Native American Cultural Days in honor of the many Native Americans who make their home in the Denver region, recognizes the occasion of the fiftieth annual Denver March Pow Wow, and commend commends members of the Pow Wow Committee for their efforts to make the event a cultural and educational success for the Denver community, and that the clerk of the city and county of Denver shall affix the seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation, and that a copy be transmitted to Larissa e Nobred and the Denver March Pow Wow Committee.

Council member Watson,

your motion to adopt.

It's pause.

I move that proclamation two six zero two four four be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded. Comments by members of council. Council members, I'll start with council member Watson.

Thank you, president Pro Tem. The March powwow, I've visited, participated, have been involved with that from, I think, one of my earliest years since I moved back to Denver. I think the importance of the work that you all do is often elevating and identifying opportunities for communities to see and hear indigenous culture in places and spaces that folks often don't. And so I am honored to have been asked by council member Torres to be on this proclamation and honored to see you here tonight and to listen to you perform as well. Thank you, madam president.

Thank you. Council what's council member Torres? Okay. Both raised

your hand.

Raised my finger. To go. Thank

you. Thank you so much, and thank you for being here. It's always, I think, a joy for us to be able to celebrate this. And I remember that so vividly when Powwow canceled in 2020, and that was that was the real reminder for me that we were in something very serious because that would take something only something very serious to cancel this remarkable event. It is a staple in Denver's history, and so I thank you all for keeping it alive, keeping it activated. And it's been amazing to see those numbers continue to rise, and it's as crowded as as I've ever seen it in the most recent few years. So thank you for all your hard work and really excited to go this year. Thank you.

Thank you. Council member Gonzales Vadares. Sorry. I didn't put my

I forgot to put the queue thing on. My apologies. No. This is it's really exciting, and I'm really grateful to be able to be part of this as one of the at large members and being part of this proclamation and knowing we're looking at the fiftieth, right, annual powwow. That's a lot I mean, that's half a century.

I know it doesn't make up for everything else, but it that is a very long time in marking a half century of celebrating indigenous culture right here in our city, the resilience and community that that brings to our city, but also bringing light to the fact that indigenous people are not historical figures. They're people who exist today and are a part of our present contributing to our communities every single day. And so I'm really proud that we have had this tradition in our city and that the people that are are part of that continue to pass pass that down generation to generation. So thank you so and thank you for for letting me be part of this.

Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Parody.

Yeah. I'm proud as an at large member of the city council to be able to sponsor this. I think it's so beautiful that Denver continues to be this place of confluence like it's always been, And just realizing that we have one of the sort of first in the spring and biggest powwows people from pretty much every state, people from all over the world coming here every year, that's a lot of who we are as Denver. And I also I also really appreciate that this is one of those times when all of all of that history can sort of be uplifted. It can grow.

You know, people are there talking about it amongst each other and making making those kinds of connections just to make sure that that we don't do exactly what councilmember Gonzalez Gutierrez said, which is act like this is all sort of dead history. Right? So and I'm very grateful that my daughter goes to a school that's right by the Colosseum, and they usually get to go. And so it's been really wonderful for me as a parent to watch her grow up with the idea that indigeneity is just part of America and that, you know, she can see the beautiful and living and vibrant and multicultural experience with something like the powwow with all these different native cultures. So thank you so much for working on it and everything that you do to make it real. Thanks.

Council member Lewis. I just wanted

to say thank you, and you all look absolutely amazing. Thank you for the work that you do.

The Denver powwow is one of my most favorite events and and places to go and to take a family to take my family every year. And so I just appreciate and congratulations on fifty years and for another fifty more and and beyond. It is truly, I think, a place where just family connects and and you make new friends. And I think just appreciate the sponsors for bringing this forward. Alright. Madam secretary, roll call.

Members and members of the Aye. I'll be there. Aye. Flynn?

Aye.

Gonzales Gutierrez? Aye. Cashman? Aye. Lewis? Parody? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Torres? Aye. Watson? Aye. Madam Groton?

Aye. Madam secretary, close the voting and announce the results. 11 ayes. 11 ayes. Proclamation 26 dash zero two four four has been adopted. We have time for the proclamation acceptance. Council members, who would you like to invite up for the proclamation? Thank you, madam

pro tem. I'd love to invite up Larissa Nobred who will let us know who she's joined by as well. Thank you for being here.

Hello, friends and relatives. My name is Larissa Nobred. I'm the powwow coordinator for Denver March powwow. And I would like to say on behalf of the current committee and all the people that have served on the committee, whether participants,

vendors,

dancers, singers, we are thankful and thank you for this year honoring us with our fiftieth anniversary. Today, we have our singer, Joe Kai Waters. He is Cherokee in Southern Cheyenne. And we have our Southern Buckskin dancer, Carla Birdshead. She is Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho, and her daughter, morning miss At, Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho as well.

And she is the current Garden of the Gods powwow princess, and they are also descendants of the Sand Creek massacre. And we are still here, and we're gonna have a performance for you guys. Thank you. Thank you again. And on behalf of all our participants and those that come out of town, I wanna invite you guys to the Denver March powwow.

We have a lot planned for this year, and we also have the nuggets, avalanche, and the mammoth planning on visiting. So we're really excited for this year. We hope you can attend. Thank you.

Madam secretary, please read the bills for introduction.

From the community planning and housing committee 260176, a bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification for 17600 East 56th Avenue and 4991 North Telluride Street in Gateway Green Valley Ranch.

Oh, there we go. Council members, this is your last opportunity to call out an item. Council member Sawyer, will you make the motions for us this evening?

Yes, madam president Pro Tem. Great.

Now I will do a recap. Under resolutions, I have called out council resolution 26 dash zero one eight four for a vote. Council resolution twenty six zero one five eight has been called out for questions by council member Lewis, and council resolution 26 dash zero one zero five has been called out for comments by council members Lewis and Parody, and for questions, comments, and a vote by council member Alvidrez. Under bills for introduction, no items have been called out. Under bills for final consideration, no items have been called out.

Under pending, no items have been called out. Madam secretary, please put the first item on our screens. Council resolution 26 dash zero one eight four, a resolution approving a proposed agreement between the city and county of Denver and HDR Engineering Inc to provide professional design services for the automated guideway transit system, AGTS maintenance facility expansion project at Denver International Airport. Council member Sawyer, will you please put council resolution 26 dash zero one eight four on the floor for adoption?

I move that council resolution 26 dash one eighty four be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded. I will actually, I called this out because I have a family member that works for HDR, and so I will be abstaining from the vote. Madam secretary, roll call council resolution twenty six zero one eight four.

Councilmember Hines?

Aye.

Albidres? Aye. Flynn? Aye. Gonzales Gutierrez?

Sorry. Can I pass?

Yeah. I'm staying eventually.

She can

pass it for you. So I can get settled. Okay.

Gonzales Gutierrez.

Oh, I

thought we were

going past me. Okay. I.

Cashion?

Aye.

Lewis? Aye. Parrity? Aye. Sawyers? Aye. Tortoise? Aye. Watson? Aye. Madam pro temer Mary

Campbell? Abstain?

I usually do. I don't think

she's done that before yet. Madam secretary, thank you. Madam secretary, close the voting and announce the results. 10 ayes. 10 ayes.

Council resolution 26 dash zero one eight four has been adopted. Madam secretary, please put the next item on our screens. Council resolution 26 dash zero one five eight, a resolution approving and providing for the execution of a proposed grant agreement between the city and county of Denver and the state of Colorado Regional Transportation District RTD concerning the RTD Doctor Cog surface transportation block, Grant Central Corridor, Vision, and Alternatives Analysis program and the funding therefore. Council member Lewis, please go ahead with your questions on council resolution zero one five eight. Thank you. So I have a

few questions for Dottie, and then I have a few questions for RTD. So I asked these, and I'd love for you to confirm them here here tonight. So will this study stand in the way of the important repair repair work that RTD is looking to do in the area a?

Thank you, council member David Krutzinger, transit director for city and county of Denver. No. This will not get in the way of of RTD's repair work.

So if this contract is approved, can RTD still engage in the repair work while the study is occurring so it doesn't have to complete before they can start the work in area A?

Thank you for the question. Yes, RTD can still engage in necessary repair work during the study.

Does the study need to conclude before they were able to engage in the repair work though?

Mr. No, the entire study does not need to conclude for RTD to be able to proceed with necessary work.

Do any parts of it need to conclude?

We have worked with RTD to make sure that we can reach all conclusions by fall this year that will be necessary.

Do any of the pieces of the study need to conclude before they can begin the repair work?

All necessary repair work can be completed independent of this study.

Okay. Thank you. So

can you tell me what is needed on the side of the city to give RTD the go ahead to begin that repair work?

Thank you. RTD and the city are looking for clarity from the community around the outcomes on Welton, and part of the work is also to look at the Downings section that has been previously looked at but has not had a lot of attention recently.

And that's why I want to clarify because in I just want to make sure I understand. In your answer, you say that you don't need to conclude the study in order to be able to begin the repair work. But it sounds like as a part of the study, there's this community engagement piece that has to conclude in order for that to inform the design of that repair work?

Community engagement can be thorough and complete this year without inhibiting any of the repair work that RTD needs to

do. Okay. So And from the city side, what is it that we need to do in order to give them the go ahead to make sure the work begins?

We are collaborating with RTD to make sure the community is in agreement with the steps moving forward.

Okay. You're giving me different answers. Okay. You're giving me different answers, and I just want to make sure I understand. I asked explicitly, the study need to conclude or any aspect of the study need to conclude in order to be able to move forward on the repair work?

So the l line is one of RTD's oldest railcars, and so I wanna make sure that we are able to do the safety work that RTD is proposing and that the the study does not need to be concluded in order to be able to move forward. But what I hear you saying is that you all will have to wait to hear from hear from community, conclude that in order to be able to move forward with the repair work. And I just know Councilman Watson, I just wanna I just wanna make sure I'm understanding.

Okay. Let me be clear. RTD's downtown rail replacement project includes some elements that go beyond essential safety replacements, and we'll provide answers to RTD's study. RTD has also made mention of a low floor level boarding study for light rail. They intend to convert their trains to low floor in about ten years. So having information about both of those pieces will help us make the best decisions now so that we are not delaying future projects nor are we investing unwisely in additional repair now that would be torn out later.

How do you all determine that?

Collaboratively with RTD and with asset management metrics.

Okay. So then I'd like to hear from RTD then. Director Guzman. Can you can you talk to me about the work the collaboration between RTD and DOTI? Because it's my understanding that the safety work is necessary in order for you all to stay in compliance with the feds and to receive funding, that you have funding that needs to be used by the end of this year. And if you wait until the conclusion of that study before you invest in the safety work that's necessary on the airline, then you, one, lose funding and that the airline potentially will not be able to be operated because you all would be out of compliance. So can you help me to understand this?

Thank you, councilwoman. My name is Michael Guzman. I am director on the board of RTD representing District C, which includes five points all the way down to Barnum Yard and Westwood. Yes, your question is apropos for this conversation. Two separate things going on.

Downtown rail reconstruction, which I've come before you many times and addressed with RTD members of staff, and the IGA for a study along the Welton Corridor. So these are two separate things that can happen concurrently, but the RTD Downtown rail reconstruction project has already been financed, and there is federal funding pending expenditure to complete this project. The agreement between RTD and the city and county of Denver has been to delay working on this part of the tracks, which is the oldest rail line, twenty five years in active service. It was constructed before then, to be able to bring it to a current state of good repair. This is not just a quick patch and fix.

This is a complete reconstruction of that rail line along the corridor. That said, we received these grant funds between 2223 in the fiscal year. We have until '26 to expend them. This is the last piece of the project that needs to be completed. There are two parts that are pending completion right now, which is the downtown intercity block piece and then the Welton Corridor.

It's a progressive design build, so multiple pieces have been going on all along. And while we do work in collaboration with the City and County of Denver Department of Transportation Infrastructure to figure out what the right thing to do is for future planning. We also need to look at the tracks themselves because we cannot run and operate trains along those tracks if they are not in a state of good repair. Safety is paramount and must come first. And so for us that's the main concern of completing this project on time and ensuring that we can use the funding that's already been allocated for the project from the board and the federal government as one separate issue.

And then we work collaboratively, of course, with the IGA as we are an entity that can receive federal funding and we can hold that in much same way we're collaborating on the East Colfax BRT project. It's a pass through on our budget in order to be able to hold the funds that the city and county has garnered at this point for the completion of the study project separately.

So then what what amount of money do you let me let me take take a step back. Excuse me, doctor Guzman. When do you all need to com complete the work? And when do you all need to be or not complete the work, start the work?

I wish I had

a date certain. I know that permits need to be pulled and approved through the Department of Transportation Infrastructure and by the City and County of Denver in order for us to complete the last section, is the Welton Corridor. According to our timeline that we were given at the board, that is to be completed by the end of this calendar year. And this construction project would then be complete. And so I can find out some more specific dates around this, but I would anticipate, just like last year working on the Kalamath section, we would need to have those permits pulled for the construction piece to go forward in cooperation with the city and county because it affects other traffic lanes during this design and rebuild would have to happen mid year to be able to complete the work by the end of the year.

If you don't complete the work by the end of the year, what happens?

So then that's where we run into the potential for money to be reallocated or returned. Two separate things. RTD taxpayer funding that has supported this capital expenditure would be returned to the RTD general fund, right? In the same way that your grant that you're looking at here, there's a portion the city's paying and a portion that you're receiving from the federal government into this project. Federal funding would also be returned to the federal government if it's not completed.

We cannot put that money onto any other project. It's for this. That's what it was granted for. So if we are not able to complete this, it gets returned to the federal government through the FTA, and then our funding locally through RTD goes back into the general fund and would then be reallocated by the board. And our fiscal policy on the board is a five year is a maximum limit except under extraordinary circumstances to complete a project. This would still require having both. So if we lose either one of these, this is not gonna be a project that can be completed.

So then a question for Dottie is, can you all tell me where you are where you all are at in terms of providing RTD with the necessary permits in order to be able for them to begin the work so that they can complete it by 2026 so that they don't lose that funding.

We're waiting RTD's submission of of design for the project. So Dottie is not holding up the process. And to make a correction, the schedule for the Welton a line is 2027.

A correction to what? I'm sorry. I'm not following.

To the the statement that mister Guzman made that the project had to be completed by 2026.

You're saying that it needs to be completed by 2027?

To his current schedule, yes.

Director Guzman?

Yes. And the work must commence in '26 to be completed in '27. We work on a fiscal calendar year from January to December. We do not work currently on the federal government, but for our purposes in our budget we would need to have this begun by '26 to ensure that that funding and that spending is done correctly. Because otherwise, as I said, our portion of this agreement goes back into a general fund.

It is reprioritized through the transit asset management plan given to the federal government for use on other areas. And we don't want to have to go through that process and try and find scrap together a little bit of funding to be able to finish this from what we already have. This project has been announced and prepared before the public for this is my fourth year on the board. It was started in 2022. So we are in the fifth year of this process.

That's the alignment of fiscal years. Not to parse words, but yeah, '26 for us is what matters. '27 might be the full completion of that work in construction, but we do need to get started in '26. By the way, the IGA, if I may, the IGA agreement that we're going into does include a portion of looking at the relative importance of going from 30th and Downing to 38th and Blake, completing that last mile to loop to the A line. And I want to bring that up because I think that's an important part of the study that has been not discussed here two-four.

And it impacts several other areas because you need to think about RTD as a whole system, not just one piece. And this is one piece. But by connecting the A line to the L line, you can potentially move people that are coming in from out of town down south to Burnham Yard, to I-twenty 5 and Broadway, to areas where we know we will have huge cultural event spaces that are coming forward in the city plans with construction of new event centers. And that comes right through downtown. So there's a very big economic impact in both directions, both to the West Side Of Denver and then back up to the East Side Of Denver and 5 Points to connect to that a line connection.

Thank incredibly helpful. And my final question is for Dottie. So if we approve this tonight, and I just wanna make sure we have this on record. If we approve this tonight, then this will not hold up the permitting process because you all will not wait for the conclusion of the study in order to allow RTD to do the repair work.

Correct. We're we're in alignment with RTD to reach, agreement by the end of the year, which would meet this the schedule that doctor Guzman outlined.

It doesn't sound like they want to reach agreement by the end of the year. They need the permits in order to begin the work.

Yes. Thank you. The permits are reliant on the timing upon which R2D submits the information and also in working together to make sure that community input is received.

Okay. Can you make sure you update me when RTD submits that design so that we can keep track of where this is? Because I'm really interested in making sure that the folks who depend on this line are able to continue to ride in a way that's safe. It's really important to me.

Thank you, councilwoman Lewis. I will certainly do that.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. Councilmember Watson.

Thank you so much, president Bertinman. Thank you, councilmember Lewis, for your questions. David, once again, thank you for your leadership in this process. I mean, you managing the process is your strong suit, and I appreciate the coordinated process that your team has had. I wanna make one comment, and, Nick, I wanna ask you a question.

First, the coordination between DOTI and RTD schedule, we have been in these discussions for at least six months coordinating to ensure that none of the timeline of this study has any direct impact on RTD finalizing the last steps of their maintenance plan. We actually worked with RTD to identify if the airline goes last, will they be able to actually execute on their final rail maintenance process? And the answer was yes. So we coordinated just for city council members' purview, a letter from the CEO Johnson from RTD as well as the mayor, mayor's office, and Dottie. And we worked together on this schedule, and we put it in writing a letter to them stating that this would not have any impact if the airline maintenance process went came last within the entire study.

Question for you for clarification on kind of the ongoing discussions. We are beginning our community advisory group discussions now. And what is the timeline that we have for the first three meetings before we have initial review out from, the community advisory group.

Councilman, I'm Nicholas Williams Dottie on that. Councilman, I don't know that right offhand. Do you, we can get that information to you, though. We do have the the committee set, but I can get a timeline out to you and to the committee, certainly.

For the, expectation for a response from community from the last meeting we had, and I know Phoebe wasn't able to be here, the idea was to have a response back September. I would like for the team to to validate that in writing to Yeah. City council. That review would provide sufficient time for RTD to do the recalibration of any of the steps, and that is also incorporating RTD providing any of their permits and stuff to the city before that time. That was really I just wanted to to clarify the community process, which will be ongoing, doesn't stop, doesn't impact any of the steps, any of the timelines that RTD has.

As a matter of fact, community dialogue will continue through next year as well, and the RTD study will would have already been completed. And so the community process will continue. It is gonna be an integral part of the next step study, which is a DOTI led study with engineers focusing on kind of the outcome for the line, working collaborations with engineers from RTD as well. So that's it that's it, Nick. I'll see if I need to come back. Councilwoman, yeah,

just to reinforce what you said, Dottie's a 100 committed to making sure this does not impact that important safety work on there. Feel like we have good coordination, good communication with them at this point, but we're more than happy to kind of keep you up. We've started conversation about the permits even kind of before they're submitted on there, but we're more than happy, Councilwoman, to keep you and the committee apprised of those timelines. But yeah, full commitment.

I appreciate that. And I go ahead.

Are you I am. Member Watson, are you

I'm I'm good. I'm good

for that.

Okay. Council member Lewis.

Thank you. And I I do appreciate that, and I hope that what you don't hear is that I don't want you to engage the community. That's absolutely wonderful work, and I hope you continue to do that. I I think we should be co governing what community. I just wanna make sure that the rail continues to exist and that does so in a safe way, and RTD has what they need in order for us all to be able to serve our folks. Plus, we don't have the money RTD does, so we kind of need to be nice to them to fix our stuff. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam secretary, please put the next item on our screens. Council resolution 26 dash zero one zero five, a resolution approving a proposed agreement between the city and county of Denver and Comply AI Inc. For the implementation and ongoing support for AI guided plan review platform. Council member Sawyer, will you please put council resolution zero one zero five on the floor for adoption?

I move that council resolution twenty six one zero five be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded. Comments by members of council. We'll start with you, council member Lewis.

Oh, good. Lovely. So so I received the answers that I had about the questions understanding that the modules two and three are optional and that only the funding for module one is included in this contract at this time. And so I'm good to go. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Councilmember Parity.

Yeah. I similarly appreciate folks answering my questions about this from tech services and the mayor's office, NCBE. I just wanted to sort of flag that I hope that we will keep an eye on this, and I think well, I don't know whose committee it rolls up to actually because it's tech services is the contract, but it's for CPD. So regardless, I hope we will check-in in a year and sort of really make sure that we're seeing if it's delivering the kind of results that we're hoping that it will because this is a lot of money that otherwise could go towards staff. And we know that CBD, you know, lost a lot of staff in layoffs.

So I just wanna make sure that if we're spending, you know, a million dollars on the first module and up to 4.6 on the other two or three modules, that's a lot of people. And what CPD is lacking a lot of times is staffing. And so I'm not saying there's no place for this kind of tool, but I am saying that, you know, one year in or something like that, we would need to check and see what it's actually delivering and that I you know, just being mindful that this is money that we're spending on a tech tool that could otherwise be spent on people and make sure

we're getting that balance right. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you. Councilmember Alvidrez.

Thank you. Before I ask my questions, I just wanna say that I support modern modernizing and making it easier for people to build and do business in the city of Denver. Our permitting system clearly needs improvements, and I appreciate the department's efforts to think clearly about how technology can streamline the process. At the same time, I am growing more concerned because we're seeing more reporting nationally about inaccuracies and limitations of AI systems, especially when they are also asked to interpret complex rules and regulations. I've also heard concerns from local architects and professionals in the development community who say that current AI tools may ready be yet ready to handle the full complexity of our zoning codes, building codes, and site specific conditions.

So before we make a long term investment, I think it's important for us to understand how reliable it is. And I didn't get a chance to ask my questions ahead of time, so I'm curious if someone's here that can answer some questions. Yes. Great. Okay. First, was there a cost versus cost savings for the cost of this program versus actually having more staffing? Was that analysis done?

We've done some studies. We need to I think as you mentioned hi. I'm Robert Peak. I'm with our Denver permitting office. Introduce myself here. And I do want to note that this tool will be used across all the agencies that engage in the development review process. It's not just a tool for community planning and development. It's for our agency PD, DOTI, our fire department. There are 50 some functions across the city that participate in our plan review process. So we have looked at the cost of staff that participate in our plan review and intake review.

Module one that we're going to go with is an intake only option right now. And it's a tool our customers can use to identify deficiencies with their plan submittal before they submit to the city. And we still have staff reviewing those plans and accepting them before we move advance them through our through the rest of our workflow. So I think it gets at the concern with it not being ready for the complexity of our codes and regulations. I think we realize that as well.

We need to build up the tool, see the value, and then start to expand from there. But we looking at metrics, we want to right now, we see about 37% of our applications get accepted on the first round of submittal, which is quite low. So it's not even half of our applications are actually getting submitted on that first round. We have a goal of increasing that up to 80% with app with applications going through this tool. So it should save our staff a lot of time so they can use that time that they're saving for other kind of more complex parts of their of their job.

Are you expecting it to save?

For the intake tool, we anticipate it could save up to half half of their time. From other jurisdictions that have used the tool, they've saved, you know, roughly thirty minutes per per intake review, and we hope to see similar results here in Denver.

Thirty minutes times how many plan reviews are we doing, like a month or Yeah. Like how do you and when I read it, it looked like it were expecting it to take ten minutes and it used to take thirty minutes.

Yeah, those are in other jurisdictions. So it takes roughly ten or fifteen minutes for our plan review staff here in the city and county of Denver to conduct a review. And that's each review. And as I mentioned, a lot of these submittals have to go through two, three, four separate reviews. So we're potentially spending up to thirty minutes per project because they're going two or three cycles.

And if we can cut that way back and 80% of these projects are getting through, the majority of them are getting through just in that ten minute time frame. But we think we can reduce that even even greater. Just to steal another council member's analogy here, we would be receiving a homework from our customers versus submittals that just just the quality isn't there for us to start the review.

I appreciate that. And has there been an analysis on the environmental impacts of using AI for this tool and how much data processing will be needed for it?

Yeah. I mean, we have to reach

out to the vendor to ask that specific question. I can tell you that they are using a lighter AI model to to produce their results. And it's it's not akin to like a generative AI or something that does consume a lot more power.

I appreciate that. Thank you. Go ahead.

Are you finished? Yeah.

Okay. Council member Torres.

Thank you so much. The more that I learned about this, I feel like this is the right kind of use of AI, actually putting experts where their expertise is needed and not in checking, do we have a signature here and is this document uploaded, which is, I think, what spends they spend a lot of time ending up doing. I had that there were about 1,000 permit applications per month. So if it's 30 per, like, that's a ton of time that gets shaved off where you can actually do the actual work that we need folks spending time doing.

Absolutely. I can speak to that. We do receive on average, and it fluctuates month to month and depends on the season. But over the course of 2025, approximately 1,000 log applications is what we use to process a permit application per month. So if reducing that down by two or three intake cycles and bringing down the time that it takes our staff to review those plans, then we're saving a significant amount of time across our staff. And saving our customers, quite frankly, a significant amount of time as well because they don't have to go through that churn. We can accept their applications right away and get them into our plan review process.

And the up to two days wait time in between each of those transmission?

It takes our staff roughly two days to get to the application. And if there are errors, then we kick it back to the customer. And then it takes them however long they need to be able to make those corrections. They probably partner with their design team to make the corrections or some back and forth there. And then they send it back to the city. That's another two days.

And we're

specific or the system is specific about this is missing, just your applications incomplete. It tells them exactly what?

Yes. It'll provide a report for our customers with the specific items that are missing from their application so the customer can resolve those items, clean them up, and then submit their formal application to the city.

That's good. Thank you, Robert. Thank you, madam.

Thank you. Councilman Hines.

Thank you, madam president Pro Tem. I also have questions. The and and just a a comment about the briefing before the questions as Robert comes back to the to the microphone. In our briefing, we talked about AI, but but the as I think council member Avedris just asked, this is more kind of traditional AI rather than generative AI. So certainly, we've had a lot of conversations right now about these massive data centers that take up incredible amounts of space and use lots of water.

The if I'm kinda starting to get into the question that I have. Really, this AI is just about intake. Actually, so we've just got the first module, and that's just about intake. So that's making sure that there's a name on the application, a phone number on the application, and the requisite documents are attached. Some something like that. Am am I right?

That's correct.

Tool will

yes, hi. Robert Peak again with our Denver Permitting Office. The tool is checking for what we call those intake deficiencies. So there are requirements that we need to be able to accept their application so we can begin our review. Those are items like a stamped and sealed set of plans, signatures. There's a north arrow. There's building code references on the plans. It's doing all those checks that our staff don't have to do. And if there are deficiencies, they'll service those for our customers so they can make those corrections. The intake only module is not doing a thorough robust code check of those plans.

It is servicing the intake deficiencies only right now.

And so the the AI in this case is using logic so that if someone puts in a phone number with area code in parentheses and that's not the format the system's expecting, it will use AI logic to translate the phone number that they put in the application into what the system is expecting. And, like, the address, if if you got two lines for the address and it's you know, the the building is based on 1437 Bannock, you know, Unit 12, it it it will know if that's all on one line. It will use AI and put it into two lines as we're expecting, or it will check to see, as you said, if there's a a northern direction. It it just looks and sees if there's a compass. It doesn't actually make more the more complicated value decisions on whether that is the right thing with the particular zoning type.

It's just verifying the addresses there that is formatted, and they'll try to do mass massaging that some of the basic things are there. It's not then saying, you know, actually, you could tweak it, and you could get a few more units out of it if you did this. It's it right. I'm I'm making the the distinction of the basic AI this is using and the kind of things that we have seen with ChatGBT or or other AI generative AI models. Am I explaining that correctly?

Well said. You. That is that's absolutely correct. The tool is not going to make changes on behalf of the customer. I think that's a a I wanted to call that out. So it's it's really just surfacing and highlighting the issues and deficiencies with the plan set. And then I do want to call out that there's still human involvement. Our plan review intake technicians still receive the application. They go through it for compliance and then pass it on.

Yeah. And if you're shaving, you know, 66 per application going from thirty minutes to ten minutes. We're saving twenty minutes per application times a thousand a month. Man, I'm so glad that we're if I were a plans reviewer, I would go mad if I had to then send it back again because they in the first review, they had a compass, and now they don't. So I have to kick it back again. Like, I would rather my education go for reviewing plans rather than reviewing whether a compass exists or did or or doesn't. So thank you. I'll be supporting. Thank you, madam. Thank

you. Council member Alvidrez.

Thank you. I appreciate it. And I just have a comment, not a question anymore. Understand a lot of the, you know, people that are in support of this. I think I I still remain concerned when I talk to other people who have used this technology and for this cost in in a time where we're cutting budget in so many very important places while permit applications are going down and to see how badly, in my opinion, Sunnyvah is failing us. I'm gonna be a no on this today. Thank you. Thank you.

Madam secretary, roll call on council resolution twenty six zero one zero five. Councilmember, aye.

Aye.

Albitres. Nate. Flynn. Aye. Gonzales Gutierrez?

Aye.

Cashman?

Aye.

Lewis? Aye. Parody? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Torres? Aye. Watson? Aye. Madam pro tem Rimera Campbell?

Aye. Madam secretary, close the voting and announce the results. 10 ayes. 10 ayes. Council resolution 26 dash zero one zero five has been adopted. This concludes the items to be called out. All bills for introduction are ordered published. Council members, remember this is a consent or block vote, and you will need to vote aye. Otherwise, this is your last chance to call out an item for a separate vote. Council member Sawyer, will you please put the proclamations and resolutions for adoption and the bills on final consideration for final passage on the floor?

I move that the proclamations and resolutions be adopted and bills on final consideration be placed upon final consideration and do pass in a block for the following items.

All 26 series zero two five three, zero one seven seven, zero one seven eight, zero one seven nine, zero one seven two, zero one seven three, zero one eight five, zero 180, one 9 oh, this is 25, 1981. Back to 26, 0170, 0171, 0187, 0188, 0189, 0169, 0181, zero one four three, zero one five eight, 0174, 0183, 02120151, 0153, 0154, 0139, and 0138. Great. It has been

moved and Madam secretary, roll call.

Council members, hi. Aye. Albitres? Aye. Flynn? Aye. Gonzales Gutierrez?

Aye.

Cashman? Aye. Lewis? Parody? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Torres? Aye. Watson? Aye. Madam Rotembramericampo?

Aye. Madam secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

11 ayes.

11 ayes. The proclamations and resolutions have been adopted, and the bills have been placed on final consideration and do pass. Tonight, there will be a required public hearing on council bill 26 Dash002. Nope, 0062, changing the zoning classification for 4631 North Josephine Street in Elyria, Swansea. If there are no oblique objections from council members, we will recess until 05:30PM before reconvening the regular meeting.

Council city council will provide a half hour general public comment session to hear from the public on city matters except for any matter that is scheduled for a lengthy oops, for a legally required public hearing. The general public may the general public comment session will begin at 5PM. Monday, March 16. Sign up begins at 5PM on Thursday, March 12. We look forward to hearing from you again, and thank you for attending.

I dabble now. Sorry. Council will now reconvene from our earlier session. There is no unfinished business from the earlier session. There is one proclamation being read this afternoon. Council member Watson, would you please read proclamation 26 Dash zero two four five? Do you want just a minute to allow people to transition out? We can do that.

Tell people both.

Yeah. We're getting ready for a proclamation, so thank you so much for coming to general public comment, but I could ask you to take your conversations out to the hallway. Thank you.

And does he have, like, kids here or some or is it? I'm Okay. Sorry.

Can you please take your conversations out? Okay. Thank you. You know

I love it.

Thank you. Can you please take your conversations out to the hallway? We have another proclamation that we're gonna do. Okay. Great. Thank you. Please continue, council member Watson.

Proclamation number two six zero two four five, congratulating the Denver Saint Patrick's Day Parade Committee on the occasion of the sixty fourth anniversary of the annual parade on 03/14/2026. Whereas, Denver has one of the largest cultural parades in United States, the largest Saint Patrick's Day parade West Of The Mississippi. And whereas, this year's theme is centered around stars, stripes, and shamrocks and honors the sixty fourth anniversary of the parade. And whereas the Denver Saint Patrick's Day parade exemplifies a peaceful celebration along with a community of diverse residents who gather together with a glance of the Celtic past and a look at the future while enjoying Irish cultural fanfare, pipe and drum bands, Irish step dancing, and honoring all divisions of our military to the delight of nearly a 100,000 spectators. And whereas, congratulations and thanks are due to all volunteers of the Denver Saint Patrick's Day Parade Committee, including many who have passed on but are still remembered for the endless hours and never ending commitment which makes this celebration possible.

And Whereas,

we hope the Colorado sunshine and the mile high air lifts the spirits of all who march or attend the sixty fourth annual annual parade Saturday, 03/14/2026, and we hope for a warm wind at our backs as we celebrate the Irish culture in the great state of Colorado. Now, therefore, be it reclaimed by the Denver City Council section one that the Denver City Council congratulates the Denver Saint Patrick's Day Committee, a volunteer organization on a well organized, peaceful, and spirited gathering at the sixty fourth annual event. Section two, that the clerk and recorder of the city and county of Denver shall affix the appeal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation and that a copy be transmitted to the Denver Saint Patrick's Day Parade Committee president, Dave Anderson.

Council member Watson, your motion to adopt.

I move that proclamation two six zero two four five be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded. Comments by members of council. We'll start with you, council member Watson.

Thank you so much, president pro tem, on behalf of the fine District 9 where the majority of the parade is held that was laugh at you there. That's I I wanna say once again, it is our honor to welcome so many folks to District 9 in celebration of this fun event. It provides an opportunity each and every year not only to understand Celtic culture and drink some green beer, but it's also an opportunity for us to come together in something that is joyful. There are several events throughout the the city and county of Denver to commemorate this annual event, but the large parade, the largest West Of The Mississippi. I think it's a a great opportunity to bring family, friends, little ones, not just on to the parade, but for all of the events that happen afterwards.

So thank you so much for the organizing committee. I know it's a lot of work that you all put together, not just on this one day, but throughout the year. And thank you so much to council member Hines for cosponsoring this with me every year. Thank you, madam president Pro Tem.

Thank you. Council member Hines.

Thank you, madam president Pro Tem. Thank you, council member Watson. I would say it's a the parade route is a perfect start and a fine ending. We call the post Denver's perfect 10, and he's in the Fine District 9. Starts at Denver's District 10, and the parade route continues.

I I have had the great fortune of being to 26 of the 32 counties in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland, The Republic Of Ireland. And I hope that I get to go back both my first my last international trip before my crash was to Belfast and and touring. And my first international trip trip after my crash also to visit my friend in Belfast. And so I have seen the island both as an able-bodied individual and as someone who uses a wheelchair.

And it's just such a fine culture of individuals who live there. They were kind while I was walking, and they were even kinder to help someone in a wheelchair navigate the Dublin and and Belfast and Galway. I get to see Giant's Causeway as well. So there's there's actually two places that two countries that I've seen and not visited. And one is Scotland where you can on a clear day, you can see Scotland on the other side of Giant's Causeway and but I've never actually been to Scotland.

So and anyway, so just an interesting fun fact. I'm really looking forward to the parade this weekend and celebrating hire Irish culture and heritage. Thank you so much for the sixty fourth annual parade. Thank you. Councilman Flynn.

Thank you, madam president pro tem. Councilman's mentioned Belfast reminds me of a joke.

No. I'm compelled to tell.

Did you get to?

Yeah. I can tell it here. So Murphy goes to see his doctor in down in County Cary, and his doctor, in the course of his physical, he says, so tell me, have you ever been incontinent? And Murphy says, no. Only to Belfast. Anyway

It's okay. We're like, oh.

Despite despite that joke, I I should say that that I've been to I've had the honor, the good fortune of using the Blarney Stone three times. The last time was to recharge it because apparently I took too much of the gift of gab from it, and I was I heard that. So I was I was required to refund some of it. Last year, I think that I did a poem from William Butler Yeats, and it was very seriously Lake Isle Of Innisfree. Yes.

But this year, I'd like to just do a a quick Irish saying. Health and long life to you, land without rent to you, a child every year to you. And if you can't go to heaven, may you die in Ireland. Thank you, madam president Pro Tem. Council

member Parody.

Eloquent, but I do just like to say that my grandma's maiden name was Parnell. We are related to a family of Parnell's, apparently, of which were legislative firebrands. I read that on Wikipedia. I didn't make it up. So I it means a lot to me to have that immigrant background and to know that, you know, Irish people came to this country and were treated like an other and racialized and put in ghettos and all of that and eventually stopped being that way. So it never has to be that way for anybody, and I like to remember that with my Irish part of my soul. Thank you, madam president. Thank you.

We've had two proclamations. This is our second proclamation this evening, and I think one of the beautiful things of what makes Denver Denver and what makes our community strong is that we celebrate all cultures. And so we were able to have a proclamation for the March Denver powwow in the indigenous community, and so it's also lovely to have this proclamation for you this evening. And I see bagpipes. That's very cool. And I think that's coming. So, madam secretary, roll call.

Councilmembers Albuzades? Aye. Lynn? Aye. Consoles Gutierrez? Aye. Heinz? Aye. Cashman?

Aye.

Lewis? Aye. Parody? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Torres? Aye. Watson? Aye. Madam Pro Tem Romero Campbell? Aye.

Oh, I gotta tell you. Madam secretary closed the voting and announced the results. 11 ayes. 11 ayes. The proclamation 26Dash024 I gotta put on my glasses. 45 has been adopted. We have time for the proclamation acceptance. Council member Watson, who will you be inviting up to accept the proclamation?

I'd to ask Saint Patrick's Day Parade committee president Dave Anderson and whomever he would like to join him to say a few words.

I'm joined by our queen Killeen, Mikaela Diehl. We are honored to be here, and we really appreciate this. We have such a good time, and we bring a culture to the city of Denver, and we love doing it. It's such a pleasure. When you walk down the street and you see everybody smiling and happy and waving, it just it's it's something you can't give up, and that's why we do it.

And we keep doing it after year after year, and it's it's tough. We work hard to do it. We are an all volunteer organization, and we rely on friends and family to come out and help us do this. And we really need to get a lot of young people involved. We need them to become a part of their community. And this is a great way to become a part of a community, is to get in there and help us with that parade. And we will put them to work. And they will learn great things, and they will make a lot of friends. And we also rely on donations. So we are always looking for money.

We're a five zero one c four, so we really look for corporate sponsorships, but we'll take money in any form. So but we really appreciate it. Mikaela, do you wanna say anything?

I'm I'm so excited. I've been a part of this Denver parade since I was a wee little lad, and my my grandma was one of the ones that helped revive it back in the sixties, so I'm just so proud of this parade, and

it gets better every year.

Mhmm. Thank you.

Thank you.

We have one required one required public hearing tonight. As a reminder, council members need to turn on their video during the vote. For those participating in person, when called upon, please come to the podium. On the presentation yep. On the presentation monitor on the wall, you will see your time counting down.

For those participating virtually, when called upon, please wait until our meeting host promotes you to speaker. When you are promoted, please accept the promotion, turn on your camera if you have one, and your microphone. All speakers should begin their remarks by telling the council their names, cities of residence, and if they feel comfortable doing so, their home address. If you have signed up to answer questions only to answer questions, only state your only state your name and note that you are available for questions to counsel of counsel. Speakers will have three minutes.

There is no yielding of time. If trans if translation is needed, you will be given an additional three minutes for your comments to be interpreted. Speakers must stay on the topic of the hearing and must direct their comments to counsel as a whole. Please refrain from profane or obscene speech and refrain from individual or personal attacks. Council member Sawyer, will you please put council bill 26 dash zero zero six two changing the zoning classification for 4631 North Josephine Street in Elyria, Swansea on the floor for final passage.

I move that council bill twenty six sixty two be placed upon final consideration and do pass.

It has been moved and seconded. The required public hearing for council bill 26 dash zero zero six two is open. May we have the staff report?

Good evening. My name is Edson Ibanez with, Community Planning Development. The case before you is 4631 North Josephine Street. The request is to go from a former chapter 51 PUD, which stands for planned unit development, into our URH 2.5, which is our row house up to 2.5 stores in height. This is, sponsored by council member, Darrell Watson. I know he's out taking some photos, talking. So I'll let I'll go with my presentation first, and then allow him to kinda give some of his remarks afterwards. And this oh, he's walking in. So I'll I'll let the council member go first, and then I can give my presentation.

Thank you so much, Edson, and thank you so much, colleagues. I am so honored to be, the legislative sponsor for this rezone. And as I shared before, this rezone is about repairing harm, restoring housing, and keeping neighbors rooted in the Elyria Swansea communities. A few blocks from this site, families once lived on streets that no longer exist. Kids walked to school.

Neighbors watched out for each other. Then the I 70 expansion occurred and came through Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods. 56 homes were removed and families were forced to leave through no fault of their own. What remains are vacant parcels and a promise we still owe to this community. 4631 Josephine Street is one of those vacant parcels left behind. The rezone allows four family size homes and multiple bedrooms. It is one small but meaningful step toward fulfilling a promise the city owes to this community.

Thank you, council member Walton. So tonight's agenda will consist of what the request is. We'll look at the location and context. We'll go through the review and what we received from public comment, and then we will wrap it up with the review criteria. So the first thing, the request.

So the property itself is highlighted in red on the screen here. The property is 9484 square feet, but as council member was mentioning, this was prior to the I 70 expansion, it was 16,500 square feet. So this has happened to multiple blocks where the property size has decreased significantly. And so the request is to go from, you know, former Chapter 59 Zone District into URH 2.5, which stands for the urban row house up to 2.5 stories in height. And the site, it's currently vacant.

So looking at the location in context, it's located in Council District 9, council member Watson's district. And as you can see there, highlighted in red, kind of in the middle, it's in the Alaris Swansea neighborhood. So like I mentioned, it's currently Zone P U D 335. P U D 335 used to be a auto kind of repair shop that allowed for commercial uses. It's currently vacant now, but as you can see around it, to the yellow, to the north, and to to the west of east of the site is ETUB, which is a two unit zone district that allows for up to two units.

And then directly to the west of the site, we do see the R H 2.5, which is that row house up to 2.5 stories. And then when we go south, we see the E M X 2, which is a mixed use up to two stories. So from land use, the site is classified as vacant. That's what pretty much a lot of these I 70 expansion kind of properties are vacant and is adjacent to a lot of single unit residential. So the subject site is there on the bottom bottom right hand corner, which is currently seen as vacant.

And then on the top right, you see some single family houses to the north, which range between one and two stories in this neighborhood. Now jumping into some affordable housing. So the property owner currently is Habitat for Humanity, but it's working with GS Coalition and this agreement, you know, so GS Coalition, Tierra Collectiva Community Land Trust will develop four affordable homeownership units, which will be income restricted up to 80% of the area median income with a ninety nine year land lease. So looking at the process, an informational notice was sent out of November It went before the planning board in January 7, and it's before you today. To date, part of our requirement for noticing rezonings, we did notify all the proper RNOs, and we received one letter of support from the Aleria Swansea r and o.

With addition, we received 22 letters of support with that, which are included in the staff report. But just to highlight what those letters of support mentioned as well as the r and o letter of support, they all highlighted the need for affordable home ownership as well as consistent with adopted plans in the small area plan and that they highlighted that there should be a need for housing options and home ownership availability in the community and this rezoning will help accomplish that. So now looking at the review criteria, the Denver zoning code outlines three specific re review criteria every rezoning has to follow, which is consistent with adopted plans, public interest, and consistent with neighbor context, zone district purpose, intent statements. So this specific rezoning falls under three plans, which is Comperzan plan twenty forty, Blueprint Denver, and the Alaris Swansea neighborhood plan. So there's multiple strategies that the staff report highlights for this specific rezoning, but I want to highlight a few under equity goals such as equitable, affordable, and inclusive goal two strategy a, create a greater mix of housing options in every neighborhood for all individuals and families as well as encourage quality infill development that is consistent with the surrounding neighborhood and offers opportunity for increased amenities.

Additionally, under climate goals, under environmentally resilient goal eight, strategy a, promote infill development where infrastructures and services are already in place. When we jump into Blueprint Denver, this plan highlights this as urban neighborhood context where we see predominantly single and two unit uses on smaller lots. It's classified as low residential. Low residential is predominantly single and two unit uses on smaller and medium lots with building heights generally up to 2.5 stories in height. And Josephine Street is a local street, but when we jump over to York Street to the east, you can kinda see there in purple that is a mixed use arterial street.

And in terms of growth area strategy, it's classified as all other areas of the city. So what this analysis tends to do is look intends to anticipate where we will experience a lot of growth in the city. So we anticipate to see 20% of new housing growth and 10% of new employment growth by 2040. Additionally, this rezoning is consistent with several other goals that are and policies that are found in Blueprint Denver such as the land use and built form housing goal to diversify housing options by exploring opportunities to integrate missing middle into low and low medium residential areas and increase the development of affordable housing, and mixed income housing. In terms of climate goals, this will help reduce climate impacts because multiunit buildings are more energy efficient than low density residential development types.

When we jump into the Aleria Swansea neighborhood plan of 2015, it classifies this site as single family duplex. Now the definition of that in that plan states that residential areas are moderately dense areas that are more predominantly residential, but there's a mixture of housing types, including single family houses, which we see across the street, duplexes, and then row houses and small apartment buildings. So single family duplex does allow for row houses, which is what they're pursuing. Additionally, that falls consistent with several other recommendations within the plan such as e two, explore the opportunity to introduce building forms consistent with the single family duplex land designation such as duplex, tandem homes or real houses in this instance, as well as encourage investment in new housing to expand the total number of residents and to provide for a diversity of housing types to bring more people of all ages and income levels into the neighborhood. It's consistent with public interest as is consistent with the adopted plans that do call for more affordable housing and affordable home ownership, as specified in within Blueprint Denver, the small area plan and comp plan.

It's consistent with the neighbour to contact its own district purpose and intent statements as specified in the staff report. Therefore, recommends approval that all the review all the findings of the review have been met and I'm available for any questions. Thank you so much.

Individuals signed up to speak this evening, and we're going to go ahead and get started. Dani Slabaugh? Am I saying that Slabaugh? Slabaugh? Slabaugh? Slabaugh?

Hang Hang on just a moment. I thought you were going to call Nola first. Good evening, City Council. My name is Danny Slabh. I'm the real estate development director for Tiara Khoctiva.

And I'm speaking to you tonight in support of rezoning of 4631 Josephine. I first want to take a moment and thank Councilman Watson and the District nine staff, as well as Edson from CPD for their help and support with this rezoning. This rezoning will support four family sized homeownership units at roughly 55% AMI affordability. That's about a third of market cost to buy a house right now in Denver, a comparably sized house. That also means that families that move in will have mortgages that are below market rents for similar rental housing.

This is in alignment with the housing needs of GES and the city at large, as identified by Host in their strategic plan. And in the spirit of naming that alignment, I want to talk about some of Collectiva's track record so far. We have 14 families that are currently housed in homes developed by Tierra Collectiva in partnership with various affordable housing developers. 100% of those families were previously at risk of displacement from the Global Eleria and Swansea neighborhoods. Half of the people housed in those homes are children, and 100% of the families in those homes are black, indigenous, and people of color families.

The homes and properties developed in Tiara Collegtiva are community controlled and accountable to the development needs of Global and Aleria Swansea community members directly. Those needs are determined through GES residents in a truly democratic process. We're the only community controlled community land trust in the state of Colorado. That's all I have. Thank you so much for your time. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Nola Miguel.

Good evening, council members. Nice to see you all. My name is Nola Miguel. I'm the executive director of the GES, Glovilari Swansea Coalition, and Theodore Colectiva Community Land Trust. I should say I'm honored and privileged to be the executive director.

Thank you, Councilman Watson, for sponsor sponsoring this, and Dwight, for all your help, and Edson for all your support. This type of rezone we'd like to not have to do in the future, but we can talk more about that moving forward. But many of you know that TiraCollectiva is a community based solution. So, this came out of our community and really the bravery and hope that many community members in Global Valeria Swansea had for addressing displacement, instead of just complaining and constantly worrying and being displaced, predominantly women in Global Eiry Swansea decided to stand up and say, we're we're gonna try something, we're gonna do something, we're gonna work on something, and people have put countless hours towards making this happen. So, Theodore Collectiva, maybe well, maybe some of you remember in the Hancock administration, Mayor Hancock called us relentless, and we have claimed that, and that continues.

And part of that battle has been the I-seventy project overall. We have had to be relentless through that, and one of those pieces in this kind of final piece was looking at the remnant parcels that were left over at the end of the I-seventy project. And we did that in partnership with CDOT trying to figure out, okay, which of these sites could we actually put housing on? And this was one of three. We're coming back for another one pretty soon here that could we could put housing on, and they're just sitting empty.

So we'd love to get them activated. This is really a win win for everyone. So those of you that remember the viaduct, and there's a picture in your presentation, if you want to look at the old viaduct, there was a stop and shop and then a mechanic shop, and this is where the mechanic shop and homes were. And, you know, the viaduct was kind of dark and looming, but many of us still feel nostalgic about it. But we're really excited just to have it activated and moved again.

And this hasn't been easy. This has been years and years and years of a process of getting you know, having CDOT reserve the funds and then getting congressionally designated funds to purchase the lots. So this has been a long process to get here, and we're very happy to be here, and we're very excited to build some affordable homes for neighbors at risk of displacement in GES very soon. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Jesse Paris.

Yes. Good evening. Votes on the council chamber. My name is Jessica Lashawn Paris, and I'm representing for Black Star Action Movement for self defense, Positive Action Committee for social change, as well as the Unity Party of Colorado, the Northeast Denver Residence Council Frontline Black News, Shibaka's Black Experience Enhance the Revolutionary Agenda. And I reside at the Roach And Bearbug Infested Legacy Lost in Darrell Watson's District of District 9, defined District 9, the historically black District of District 9, which I might be running for by the way.

I was initially against this rezoning, but hearing Nola of GES speak in favor of it. I have to say I have to be in favor of it, but I'm still going to ask the same questions I always ask. I would like to know, are these going to be for sale, for rent, these roll homes? What is the AMI level we're talking about for these roll homes? Has there been a community and neighborhood agreement signed, community benefits agreement signed?

Is this a product of the land trust that GES has put together. This is part of the elevations land trust. I would like to know that. Also, would like to know has there been a rail study done, a traffic study done, and a nest study done. Because this has been this area of town, like all areas, but mainly Northeast Denver have been rapidly gentrified.

And I hate to see any more unintended consequences come from these rezonings that this council passes. As you know, I've been a Tennessee council for over ten years, and I don't want to see any more unintended consequences come from these rezonings. Yes, I would like to see more housing. Would like to see it done in the right way. So I would like to know how these agreements been signed, how these studies been done. If someone could please answer those questions, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you, and have a blessed night.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Yesica Holguin. Okay. If you Yesica? Do we need to

okay.

Jasmine, can you help us have her accept the prop the promotion?

She said she she

did. Okay. Go ahead when you're ready ready.

Good evening. It's an honor to be here today. My name is Yessica Ragin, and I'm a longtime resident, Denver resident, currently living in the Sloan Lake neighborhood. I grew up in the Swansea neighborhood, just two blocks away, actually less than two blocks away from the property being considered today. I previously had the honor of serving as the district one transportation commissioner for CEDAP, and I'm here today to speak in strong support of the rezoning request for the site at 4631 Josephine Street.

This rezoning is so much more than just a planning decision. This is an opportunity for the city to acknowledge the real costs that the communities like Aliria, Swansea have carried for regional transportation progress. When CEDA expanded I '70, the land in Elyria Swansea had been taken through eminent domain. Entire blocks changed. Families who had for generations were forced to move.

Businesses that were part of the fabric of the community disappeared. In total, we lost 56 homes, 17 businesses because they were displaced. While transportation investments serve the broader region, we have to acknowledge who has paid the price for that progress. Communities like Galeria, Swansea have carried that burden disproportionately. Families were displaced. Businesses were forced to close or relocate. These neighborhoods lost homes, stability, and truly a part of their their history. We cannot do it that undo that harm. We'll never undo this harm. But we can choose how we respond to it right now.

I urge city council to take a bold step today, acknowledge that cost, and begin repairing it by approving this rezoning and allowing this land to once again serve the community that it's that has sacrificed so much. Through years of organizing community advocacy, neighbors and local leaders have pushed to ensure that this land didn't just disappear into the speculative market. Through a lot of advocacy, CEDA ultimately worked to sell this parcel back to the community. Yes. It was sold to the community.

It was not given. And this despite that, this is an important step towards accountability and healing. Now we have an opportunity to build something meaningful in its place. This rezoning would allow Tierra Colectiva Community Land Trust to create permanently affordable homeownership opportunities, which are quite rare in our community. These are homes for families who wanna stay rooted in this neighborhood and wanna be part of this future.

Will this fully replace what was lost? No. But we can't erase that we cannot erase the displacement that happened, but we can choose to repair some of the harm and invest in the people who have fought to keep this community strong. Passing this rezoning is a step in the right direction. It helps fill the gap that was created and ensures that the future of Valeria Swansea includes family who belong here. I respect for your support.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Selene. Or is that right? Selene? Lopez.

And, Jasmine, if you can help us, I believe, to let her know to receive the promotion. Continue when you're ready.

Yeah? Okay. Ready? Hi. Good evening, Alente.

My name is Alente Lopez, and I am a homeowner in this area. I'm obviously in favor of this proposal. I am in favor of this because as a single mother of two and as a widow, it was something very difficult at times to pay for my rent and to get that money together. So for this reason, I'm in favor of creating more affordable housing. Thanks to the help from the coalition, I've been able to find housing at a price that I am able to pay, and I would only like for this opportunity to also be granted to other families.

There are a lot of families that have been displaced due to being unable to pay their rent. And so, yes, obviously, and in favor. That's all. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Our next is Katie McKenna. Katie, will you accept the promotion? Okay. Yeah.

Thank you. It's just me. Evening, and thank you council members for the opportunity to speak. I also wanted to thank councilman Watson for sponsoring this rezoning. My name is Katie McKenna.

I've lived in Globeville for the last thirteen years, and I'm also a member of the GES coalition and serve on the Tiara Collectiva development board. And I'm here to express my strong support for the rezoning of 4631 Josephine Street. This change is something that would help make affordable homeownership feasible in our neighborhood. For so many longtime residents, homeownership is becoming increasingly out of reach, and projects like this are such an important step to change that, particularly when they come with long term permanent, affordability restrictions. I I also support the greater housing density.

It just makes sense to have more homes on our land, especially close to downtown and great amenities and places where people want to live. And when this kind of density is led by community organizations and it's designed with that long term affordability in mind, it really can strengthen the fabric of our neighborhood. Efforts like this can be part of real community driven solutions for displacement in Global Eleria and Swansea, and I encourage you to approve the rezoning. Thanks so much for your time and consideration.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Anna Varella.

Can you guys hear me okay?

Yes. Please My pulse sound ready.

You'll be oh, it looks like I'm skipping. You'll also see as well some of my partners coming up as well.

Okay. Then I'm going to okay.

Thank you so much for your time. My name is Ana Varela. I live here in the Elyria, Swansea neighborhood. I could look outside of my window and look at the lot that we're talking about. I just drove by it today to make sure that everything looked great and it really does.

And it's so exciting to imagine housing there because again, that used to be an active corridor, So it's really exciting for me as a neighbor. I'm also part of the Elyria Swansea R and O and have heard nothing but good things and good questions about this. And when we well, I also work I'm wearing a lot of hats in this world right now, but I also work for Tierra Collectiva. And so we went out and we flier ed every adjacent neighbor and the surrounding blocks, and I must share that everyone was so excited. Right? They were just like, oh, good. This has been an empty lot since the expansion of the highway. We're really excited to see that there's housing. What what are they gonna look like? Will there be trees?

Was a big question that we had. So people are really excited that this is gonna be a site where their neighbors can live. I also obviously work lot with our neighbors and community, and I know that, a few people, some of them with me right now, are excited about more housing opportunities that are affordable in the community for them to enjoy and be able to stay in these neighborhoods. You'll hear from other neighbors as well that have been displaced and been able to come back to their, historic neighborhood and their cultural neighborhood through the Tierra Colativa program. I'm here with Raimunda and Mercedes and Claudia and others who are just, I'm always so honored to hear their stories.

I work specifically as the community steward for Tierra Colactiva. So if something happens in their homes, if they have any questions about being a homeowner, I'm there for them. And I just I am just so honored to work for this organization and to represent these families and these individuals. I will say that it really is just a slice of, opportunity that to the point of what Daryl Watson was talking about there is it was taken away from the community and no fault of their own. And this is a way that community can collectively, through neighbor led processes, decide what they want to do with land that otherwise was just remnant.

Right? Remnant parcels. So thank you very much for your time and your consideration. Please look into Tiara Colactiva as an organization. We actually have an orientation coming up. And so if folks have questions about the work that we do and wanna see it firsthand, we'd love to invite you to that. Please reach out to us. I so appreciate your support and time. And the last thing I'll say is housing doesn't have to be a commodity. It's a right, and we're making that happen. So thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Angelina Torres. Torres.

Good evening. Angelina Torres. My name is Angelina Torres. And I live at the Fillmore 4675 I am in favor of rezoning this area so that we can build homes on Josephine. This be this is because in having a home, which is ideal, we can live happily with our families.

Thank you so much to Tira Collectiva for working on creating homes so that us and all of our neighbors can live well. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Claudia Ortado. Now on Zoom? Okay. Our next speaker is Raimunda Carreon.

You, sir. Pretend I think they were all sitting on the table with Anna Barrera. So I don't know if Anna has the mic, but those three other community members were sitting around the table.

Were they sitting around the table with their okay.

Yeah. I could see their

faces.

Zoom account has to

match. Yeah.

I see.

Oh, the Zoom account. Oh, that's what's happening.

Discussion of the name for each speaker.

That's what's happened.

Tape access.

Sorry about that. So

in pretend.

Remunda is, I I believe, on Zoom and just needs to accept the promotion. And, Jasmine, can you help can you help?

Anna has her hand raised. That's the same computer.

Yeah. She she has to go. Yeah. Okay.

So do we have is Raymonda on? Okay. They're on separate accounts, and they aren't, are they? They're not accepting. Jasmine, can you ask her to accept the promotion?

Promotion?

Can't because they're on their phones, and they have to have a desktop to accept the promotion.

No. I think they can do it on their phone. Okay. We'll just we'll wait for just one second.

Is there an option for them

to call in via phone?

That's a good question. Can just go back

to Hold on.

Yeah. We also have Mercedes Gonzalez. Unable to accept their promotion? Okay.

Here's one question. If they're both on their phones And they're sitting there able to If they can't accept it, will it be okay to also promote Anna's computer because they can speak on that computer? Like, we can see that they're there logged in.

It has to be to their it has to be to their email, but or or to their account. Is just if we can

see that someone Correct. Is logged in. Could they just

use Right. The

Our producer is working on it. Hold on. Is there a way for you to unmute them, producer?

Yeah. Unmute them because she's gonna be

off the top. Okay.

If they're still on, Jasmine, can you tell them to hold on, and then the producer will work to unmute them?

Hello? Hello?

Hi. My name is Chloe Ortaro. I finally got unmuted. Sorry about that.

Okay. Go ahead and go ahead when you're ready.

My name is Chloe Ortaro. I live on the 40 4 Are you guys able to hear? Sorry.

Hello? Claudia does speak English, and now we have Remunda who's is that who's also unmuted? This is a lot of fun. So is it Remunda who's on? Jasmine, can you tell Remunda to hold on for just a minute? And we will go first with Claudia, and just if she can remain silent and unmuted until Claudia's done, and then we'll go to her. Okay. Claudia, when you're ready.

Cool. So can you guys still hear me?

Yes. Please continue. So

my name is Claudia. I live currently on the 44 on the homes in 44th on and Josephine. Me and my, my mom and a couple of my sisters bought a home there, and I think it's just really nice what they're doing just because we it's better to have homes, built for low income homes built for our community rather than to just have empty dirt lots. It's really nice just because I feel like it gives us the opportunity as young people because I'm 25. I bought the home when I was 22.

It gives us younger people the opportunity for us to be able to buy our first time homebuyers. As first time homebuyers and also, like, my currently, my sister right now, one of my sisters who was prior or is prior living with me now is now looking into the Terra Collectiva Homes so that way she can purchase her home. And she's only 19. So we're looking, to just be, honestly, have a better up have a better future for our families and stuff. And Terra allows us to be able to do that with those homes.

Okay. Thank you. Alright. Thank you. Next speaker is Remunda Carreon. Is that right? She's already right. She is. Producer Hauser, we're gonna unmute. You're ready to go. Okay. Jasmine, can you can you let Raymunda? She can speak now.

My name is Raymunda. I've lived in the Swansea area for twenty six years. When I got to this neighborhood, I was having a really, really hard time to pay for my rent. And I on top of that, I had a son with lupus. So, frankly, I was having a really hard time to get the money together for both our expenses and his medication.

I I just want to speak in in support of this rezoning, and I'm supporting it because despite having struggled with, you know, paying for the rent and for my son's health, I still participated in the coalition, and I learned a lot about what they were doing. And I was able to benefit from the land trust that they're that they established, and I was able to find a home for myself. I wanna thank the coalition for helping me. I wanna, you know, thank them for helping me get to this place where my quality of life has improved. My health has improved, and I want them to continue to use land to create homes for other people that have already suffered like I have from displacement.

And so thank you very much for your time. I hope that we can help, you know, people of low income and low resources to complete and to, like, meet this dream and make it come true. So thank you very much for your time.

Thank you. Our final speaker is Mercedes Gonzalez.

As a resident from Swansea for over nine years, I'm here to share about my experience. I'm here in support of the rezoning of this area, and I'm asking the council to also support this rezoning. And I've seen this type of effort in our communities. I've seen that these organizations have enormous profits and harming the community. We've seen how this displacement harms families and harms any access to resources and also harms their mental health.

The land trust is the best solution to mitigate this damage. It also allows accessibility and affordability by providing homes at half of the market rate, and it provides safety, and it provides this in perpetuity. It provides a dignified and safe, housing for those that were displaced, and it allows people, that were displaced from this neighborhood to be able to come back safely. And for them to be owners of their own home. This land trust is an antidote to heal the harm caused by this displacement.

Thank you all for your attention, and we hope to have your support for this rezoning. You all know that our neighborhood has been very, you know, impacted and has seen itself harmed. And we have a lot of developments around our community. Thank

you for your support.

Thank you. That concludes our speakers. Questions from members of council on council bill 26 Dash zero zero six two? Council member Lewis.

I just have one question

for Noah. They someone on the public comment mentioned that you all had to pay for the land. I'm just nosy at this point. I'm just so that you all had to pay for the what what was the cost of that, or was it discounted in any way, or was it market? Talk to me about that.

So per CDOT's requirements, they said they they did an appraisal of each parcel, and that had a range of value, and they gave it to us for the lowest of that range of value, but that was the lowest market rate value. So it was kind of what they could do within their powers. Although I have heard that they can donate to the city, and then the city could potentially do something. But I don't know if if that works or not.

Thank you. I appreciate it. This is my only question. Thank you. Council Member Torres.

Nola, how many other remnant so this is solely off the rezoning

three that that were part of this deal were the best best for housing. The rest had some sort of issue or or were too small. There's two really big ones. We we call them the Burger King parcels that are right on the two sides of steel right by the highway. Well, obviously, they're all by the highway.

And those ones are going to the state a different state agency called the DPA. It's it's like their public private partnership office, and they are supposed to release an RFP for those. Those they did some initial studies looking at feasibility of those two parcels, and there are some big, like, Excel utility lines and things that are going through that make it a little bit harder for housing, but they will, I guess, at some point release an RFP for those two because those two are pretty big. And then there's another one right south to the our Brighton Boulevard property at 4640 Brighton Boulevard that we recently purchased that we're working with CDOT to see if there's something that we can do with that parcel because it's right below or where the we're now the adjacent property owner. And and then there was a deal also recently between the National Western.

The between my understanding is it was between the NewCo, the mayor's office of the National Western and the National Western Stock Show, and they took one of those parcels for parking in exchange for the RTD parcel that's further up north. So some of those are are being added into things, but there's still a couple of little strips and so on.

Okay. Thank you

for that. I remember the parcel across the alley from this one coming through for rezoning before. Have they already started building, or what's do you know anything? No? Okay.

No. They that we had wanted to purchase that originally, and then they they rezoned. And then they came back to us and said, now would we wanna purchase, but we don't have the funds to do it right now. So it could be a potential future purchase, but I haven't seen them take action on development at this point. But they rezoned for the same thing for the URH. Mhmm.

Got it. Thank you. Thank you, madam. Alright.

The public hearing the public hearing is closed. Comments by members of council on council bill 26 Dash0062. And we'll go with you, council member Watson.

Yeah. Just briefly, I wanted to thank I was remiss in my in introduction without thanking Nola, Anna, and Danny for the collective work, not just on this parcel, but on the collective work of all of the homes. There are 23 more home ownership homes that TIER Collective are are working on, 220 rentals in the pipeline. That is a massive amount for a community led, community invested organization that is all deed restricted to make sure that displacement does not occur. So thank you all for your good work and all the other members of Tierra Collectiva and NGS coalition for the work that you do.

Thank you. Council member Lewis.

Obviously, it's not a part of the criteria, but it's really just the same if the human community land is taken that the land is not given to them if they have to purchase it. Thank

you. Council member Javeedres. Agreed.

But I just wanna thank you all for your work and have the honor of going on your bus ride and learning about the amazing work that you're doing. It's very inspiring as I feel like we're the mirror part of GES on the other side of the InverteDale that isn't as well organized and hasn't created a community land trust. So thanks for leading the way in creating these systems, not just for yourselves and your community, but we can really think about the future of the city in that way. So thank you. Thank you. Council

you, and thank you for the work that you've put into this. This is very it's it's the beginning of many more to come. So thank you for your work. Madam secretary, roll call council bill 26Dash0062.

Council members, Alidres?

Aye.

Flynn?

Aye.

Gonzales Gutierrez? Aye. Heinz?

Aye.

Cashman?

Aye.

Lewis? Yes. Parity? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Torres? Aye. Watson?

Aye.

Madam pro tem vera Campbell?

Aye. Madam secretary, close the voting and announce results. 11 ayes. 11 ayes. Council bill 26 dash zero zero six two has passed. On Monday, 04/06/2026, council will hold a required public hearing on council bill 26 dash one oops, 26 Dash0176, changing the zoning classification for 17600 East 56th Avenue and 4991 North Tillywright Street in Gateway Green Valley Ranch. Any protest against council bill zero one seven six must be filed by council offices no later than noon on March. Nope. 03/31/2026. Hey.

You guys passed. You were listening. There being no further business in this body, this meeting is adjourned.