City Council - Regular Meeting

Hey Denver, it's time for the weekly general session of your Denver City Council. Tonight's coverage of Denver City Council starts now.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for taking the time to join us for Denver City Council's meeting. Today is Monday, June 1st, 2026. Tonight's meeting is being interpreted into Spanish. Sam or Jasmine, would you please introduce yourself and let our viewers know how to enable translation on their devices? Thank you.

Y juntamente con mi colega Yasmín estaremos interpretando la reunión de hoy al español. Si se une con nosotros a través de Zoom virtualmente, por favor busquen su pantalla un icono de globo que dice Interpretación. Oprime ese botón y de ahí seleccione la opción de escuchar en español. Si se une con nosotros presencialmente y está ahorita en la cámara, Por favor, busque un asistente que le podrá dar audífonos para escuchar en español. Muchas gracias and thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Sam. Welcome to the Denver City Council meeting of Monday, June 1st, 2026. Councilmembers, please join me. Please join Councilmember Sawyer in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Councilmembers, please join Councilmember Sawyer as they lead us in the Denver City Council Land Acknowledgement.

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 this land throughout 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.

Thank you. Madam Secretary, roll call. Council Members Gilmour.

Here.

Gonzales Gutierrez?

Here.

Torres?

Here.

Alvidrez?

Here.

Flynn?

Here.

Hines? Here. Cashman?

Here.

Lewis? Present. Paradis? Here. Romero-Campbell? Here. Sawyer? Here. Watson?

Here.

Madame Harrison-Sandoval? Here. 13 members present.

We have 13 members present. City Council has a quorum. Approval of the minutes. Are there corrections to the minutes of May 18? Councilmember Romero-Campbell? if you look at Teams. Melissa. I can do it. You want to do it? Okay.

Thank you, Council President. The correction pertains to the communication filed during last week's meeting. One piece of information was missed during its reading as follows for the record. On May 15th, 2026, the following departments and agencies provided a report to council on how their on-call contracts were spent. The City Attorney's Office, the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency, Community Planning and Development, Denver Arts and Venues, the Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver Airport, Denver Human Services, Denver Transportation and, Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, Denver Parks and Rec, Department of General Services, the Department of Housing Stability and Technology Services. pursuant to DRMC section 20-27, along with the quarterly financial report conveyed during last week's communication. Notification of the report of how on-call contracts were spent must also be read at the next council meeting after the communication is received.

Thank you so much. The minutes of May 18th with the correction stand approved. Council announcements. Are there any announcements from members of the council?

Council Pro Tem Romero-Campbell, why don't you start us off? Great. Thank you, Madam President. I just wanted to remind people that we have the Wilshire 100 celebration this Friday. And what is the Wilshire 100? It is a celebration of one of the longstanding historic golf courses that we have. It originally was a private course designed by Donald Ross and became one of the first public golf courses open to community here in the city and county of Denver. And so we're celebrating it, and it's a treasured spot in southeast Denver. There will be a golf tournament, so thank you to the council members that are going to be there. in the morning and then a community celebration. So this is June 5th from 5 to 8. We welcome you to come and join us. We'll have the municipal band and a local the vendors a local garage band. In our community that will be playing, there'll be some food and just acknowledgement. This is a really big deal. We have folks from the Donald Ross Society coming across the country to come and celebrate this. This is the only public course designed by Donald Ross that is west of the Mississippi. So this is... Thank you, Madam President.

Before we turn to tonight's agenda, I want to take a moment to talk about Vision Zero. I want to take a moment to clear my throat and then talk about vision. In 2017, Denver made a promise that no one should lose their life simply trying to cross the street, ride a bike to work, or drive home to their family. We set a goal of zero traffic deaths by 2030. I'm committed to that promise, and I hope we all are. But the numbers tell us we are not keeping the promise. Last year, 93 people were killed on Denver streets, the deadliest year on record in over a decade. And year after year, the trend has moved in the wrong direction, away from zero, not toward it. These are not statistics. These are our neighbors. Angela Simpson was 19 years old when he was struck and killed in a crosswalk at Calumet on January 2nd, the first life Denver lost on its streets this year. And just two weeks ago, we lost another, a bicyclist on Denver's southwest side who was struck on February 12th and succumbed to those injuries on May 18th. The name has not been released to the public, so I will not be presenting that name right now. This is the most recent name in a list that is already far too long. Vision Zero is not a slogan that we can adopt and set aside. It is a commitment that only works if we stay focused on it, in our budgets, in how we design our streets, in enforcement, and in decisions we make in this chamber. If we look away, nothing changes, and the deaths continue. So I'm asking my colleagues, the executive branch, to keep Vision Zero at the center, because we owe it to every family member tonight Have a good break. Deserves to come home safe. Thank you. Thank you.

Councilwoman Lewis?

Thank you. So our thoughts and sympathies go out to the victims of a two-day stretch of violence around the city recently. So we lost a 14-year-old, Nasir Payne, who was killed at the Montpelier Recreation Center two weeks ago, as well as a 20-year-old, O'Shea Hicks, and a 28-year-old, Jason Hensley. Or Jacob Hensley, excuse me. And according to the city medical examiner's data, eight of the 20 or 40% of the homicide victims in Denver this year have been 24 years or younger. And so I hope we do more for the youth in this city. And I do support DPR's efforts to reopen the recreation center while also balancing the support of their staff, who unfortunately would witness this, and doing so in a way that integrates community and heals our community as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. My thoughts were with all the families. It was really devastating. Very tragic. Council Member Watson.

Thank you so much, Council President, and I concur. I mean, thoughts, prayers, support to the families. We had three folks that were shot and killed in District 9 within the last 30 days. And so it has been a tough time for families throughout the city. And so thoughts and prayers for the folks who lost their lives this past week. I have two announcements, and they are more of a congratulation and applause to community members for events that happened this past weekend. The City Park Friends and Neighbors City Park Alliance held the annual City Park Ice Cream Social. It's a small meeting of several hundred, almost a few thousand folks that come to City Park every year to celebrate what is the unofficial kickoff of summer. And it provides an opportunity for nonprofits throughout the East Side to meet with community and to elevate a fun community event. Thank you so much for the coordinators, the organizers who do this as volunteers every year for the past, I believe, 10 years. And congratulations to all the folks that came out and to all the families that had a great time on Saturday. It was fun to hang out with you and spend some good time with family. Saturday, I believe it was. It's Sunday. Saturday as well. It's a long day. Councilwoman Alvidrez and I co-sponsored an event that we've held now two years in a row for the Global Financial Literacy Foundation in partnership with Prince Dykes. It's a financial literacy program that provides for financial literacy books for young people and young adults and provides the opportunity to connect them and their families with folks in community that are looking at help to how to build wealth in the black community specifically and broader communities as well. It was another successful event. We had it at Cousins Plaza. We had quite a few folks that showed up. We had a great time with them and provided them books and opportunities to meet with folks from the city and some of the nonprofits. Thank you so much to Ms. Beth from Old Better Greens for also being there and we're able to partner with her and her team providing healthy food for folks at that event. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Councilman Parity.

Yeah, I have an announcement tonight. I'll try to be relatively quick about it. It's kind of more in the matter of personal privilege.

Take as much time as you need.

Thank you, because we do have a lot on our plates, as we always do. But I have to share with all of you and with the city as a whole that I am not able to continue on council due to my health. It's devastating to me to have reached this point because I love being here. every day. It's been my honor, my privilege to be up here representing the city that I love so much, and I do not want to stop. This is where I want to be, but it is not in the cards. I won't pretend to understand exactly what's going on medically because I don't, but what I can tell you is that going up the stairs now is harder and more exhausting than it used to be to go up a 14er. When I stand up from the committee table, the world spins on its axis. Everything hurts, so it's just that kind of thing, pain, fatigue. And to the best of my knowledge, I don't think that there's some undiagnosed progressive illness that's waiting in the wings for me, and I hope that there's not. But I think I'm in more of this indeterminate world of chronic illnesses that overlap with each other, that are not medically that well understood, that there's been a lot more of since COVID. And I had COVID right when I started running and when my son was four months old. So I am kind of in shock to be at this point, but I can't meaningfully do this job and be a parent and try to be a medical mystery in the good hours that I have every day. So what will happen next to my understanding is that under the city charter, If an elected official steps down, there has to be a special election to replace them unless they do so within the 90 days that are just before an existing election. And knowing that we have another tough budget year ahead, I do not want to cause the expense of a special election. And in addition to that, a ballot that has just one race on it that happens at a sort of unexpected time is not the kind of ballot that's going to get high turnout and really reflect what the people in the city want. So my plan after talking to the clerk's office, the city attorney's office, is to formally resign effective August 5th, which is 90 days before the November election, which will allow this seat to be on that ballot. I will continue to serve on council until that date, and in particular to make sure I show up for important votes. But I also ask for some grace and understanding that I am just feeling very rough and experiencing limits on what I can do, what I can respond to. So why am I announcing this now instead of in August? Partly just because I think transparency is important. We're local government. We should be people that you know, like you know your neighbors. I also think people deserve to understand the reasons for decisions that impact us collectively and impact how we will be governed. And then equally, I want to give people in the city time to think about in that 90-day period making a run for the seat. I think that often the best elected officials are not the people who immediately think of themselves for positions of power. And so if this gives you a thought that you might raise your hand, Take that thought seriously. Someone else is going to have a chance to be one of the very few people alongside our congressional representative, the mayor, the auditor, the clerk, and my beloved colleague, Councilwoman Gonzalez-Guterres, who are elected to represent Denver itself. Our city, the city we love, the city where we've seen so many civil rights movements have their homes over the years, the Chicano movement, the disability movement. people who came here as a giant FU to Jim Crow, the city where we mobilized by thousands when we saw people from Venezuela getting on buses with kids in diapers, the city that has already mobilized and responded in overwhelming numbers to the need to be on watch for federal agents coming to deport our neighbors, the city where kids from rural areas like me come to get away from kind of the bigotry and the limitations of a lot of the country. We have an identity as Denverites that is very much under attack culturally and by our federal government, and I am very proud of us for knowing who we are in the face of that. And then at the same time, this is also a city where half of us are cost-burdened by our housing, and a third of us receive some kind of benefits from the Department of Human Services. So it's painfully clear to me this week that if I were this sick and I didn't have a partner with a good job, my kids and I would be at great risk. The safety nets are afraid. We all know that. Getting sick is one of the most common things that causes first-time homelessness, especially for families. And I know that far too many other moms in this city are living day in and day out with that kind of precarity. And that's part of why my feeling as a member of the government of the city has been... There before the grace of God go I, whatever someone's circumstances are. If you think that you are untouchable by those things, you're probably not. So representing the entire city, as someone else will get to do in a few months, means representing all of us, trying to hold the entire city, all of us, in your mind when you make decisions at this table, and not getting turned on your path by the voices of the people that are resourced enough to be reaching out to you. The last thing I want to say, which is probably the most important, is that everyone who's used my office as a jumping off point to be part of local government over the last three years, thousands of people have done that through my office. The results have been beautiful. you know countless bills budget amendments votes on where the city's money goes, so I just want to say that As long as we all keep advocating it doesn't matter who's in the seat. It's a group project It doesn't turn on any one person and it shouldn't it's all of us In particular for me though, it's been the people who work on my office team. I always tell them that a council member is really a bunch of people in a trench coat. One person is, you know, the face. Anyone who's interacted with my office staff, Zach, Megan, Jessica, know that they put their entire selves into serving the city and helping it be what it should be for all of us. So I would be really grateful if you have worked with them, if you took a moment to tell them that in the next few days because This is also a really tough moment for them. So thank you for the chance to represent you. It is the best thing I have ever done or will ever do. Thank you, Madam President, for that time. I appreciate it.

So Councilwoman Parity has been a dedicated public servant, tireless advocate for the residents of Denver. I'm saddened by her decision to resign in August. I have tremendous respect for her choice to prioritize her health and her family during this time. Throughout her service on City Council, Councilwoman Paradis has been a thoughtful leader, a principled voice, and a champion for the issues she cares deeply about. Her commitment to public service and her contributions to our city will leave a lasting impact. On behalf of Denver City Council, we want to thank Councilwoman Parity for her service to Denver and wish her and her family all the best in the years ahead. And she'll be greatly missed. Thank you so much, Councilman Parity. And so with that, Councilman Parity has been a champion for housing, and she's the chair of the community planning and housing. And so we have been talking since she told me this announcement, and she feels it's best if she gets removed as chair of the committee. She'll still be a voting member, so effective tomorrow. Pro Tem Romero-Campbell will become chair of community planning and housing, and Councilwoman Sawyer will step in as vice chair. And for vice chair for South Platte River, Councilmember Flynn has stepped up to that position. And so those will be the new vice chairs and chairs. So thank you for your service. Thank you for your dedication. Thank you for caring. She will still be part of all of the committees and we will support her in whichever way possible. We need to. And just, I would ask all of us that we just offer grace. I know what it feels like to be really sick. I almost lost my life when I was working as a council aide, and I got certain benefits. And as city electeds, we don't get the opportunity to have FMLA. We don't get the opportunity to have sick time. We just have to come to work or we'll miss. And so I just want that to be clear that this is not something where most of the other people in the city of Denver could take FMLA and take a shorter day period and take time off in a different way, we don't have that ability. So you're either here or you're not. And so Councilwoman Parity made this really tough decision, and I just ask that we all support her. And please just support our council during this time. This is a big, big decision coming forward. And let's just offer everyone some grace. Thank you. There are no presentations. There is one communication being read this afternoon. Madam Secretary, please read the communication.

26-0768, a letter dated May 22, 2026, from Nicole C. Doheny, Manager of Finance, notifying City Council that the Department of Finance has updated Treasury Tax Rule 007 to align with recent changes to the Colorado revised statutes 13-1-127 regarding the definition and requirements of a closely held entity, that these updates are not expected to result in any cost or revenue impacts, and that in accordance with DRMC 53-3B3, Treasury Rule 007 will take effect 60 days after this notice on July 21st, 2026. Thank you.

The communication has been filed and received. There is one proclamation being read this afternoon. Councilmember Watson, would you please read Proclamation 0766?

Yes, Madam President. Proclamation number 260766, a proclamation recognizing Gun Violence Awareness Month. Whereas gun violence remains a significant health and community safety issue impacting individuals, families, and neighborhoods across the United States. And whereas thousands of lives are lost or forever changed each year due to firearm-related incidents, including homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings, and whereas communities, public health professionals, educators, faith leaders, medical providers, first responders, law enforcement officers, and advocates work every day to prevent violence, support survivors, and promote evidence-informed strategies that reduce harm, and whereas Gun Violence Awareness Month serves as a time to elevate education, prevention, and resources to help reduce the risk of firearm-related injuries and deaths. And whereas this month also honors survivors, families, and communities affected by gun violence and recognizes their resilience, strength, and ongoing efforts to foster safer environments for all. And whereas the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, the Department of Safety, and the Denver Office of Social Equity and Innovation are partnering in a coordinated strategy are coordinating in a strategic effort to prevent gun violence in Denver. And whereas Denver's strategy is designed to recognize, strengthen, and align the many gun violence prevention efforts already underway across Denver's city agencies and community organizations, ensuring a unified and community-informed approach to reducing harm, and whereas promoting secure firearm storage is a critical measure to prevent unintentional injuries, suicide, and interpersonal violence, And whereas advancing suicide prevention is a core component of Denver's gun violence prevention work with the goal of understanding the burden of suicide in Denver. Identifying disparities and determining the most effective and equitable roles for a public health department in supporting prevention efforts. And whereas the City and County of Denver is committed to working alongside community organizations and residents to prevent gun violence, reduce harm, and build a safer, more equitable Denver for all. Therefore, be it proclaimed by Denver City Council, Section 1, that the Denver City Council proclaims the month of June 2026 as Gun Violence Awareness Month in the City and County of Denver and encourages residents, organizations, and partners to engage in activities that promote safety, support survivors, and contribute to violence prevention efforts. Section 2, that the clerk and recorder shall affix the seal of the City and County of Denver to this proclamation and that copies be transmitted to the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment and the Denver Department of Safety and Denver Office of Social Equity.

Thank you, Councilman. Your motion to adopt.

I move that Proclamation 260766 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded. Comments by members of council. Council Member Watson.

Thank you so much, Council President. I'll be brief. As we know, we just shared, Council Member Lewis led off our announcements with discussion of the pain and tragedies of harms to folks in our communities. We have seen too often, too early thus far this pre-summer, it's not even summer, of lives lost to senseless violence, senseless gun violence. Can we, with more awareness, can we, with a more coordinated approach, can we, with a focus on health and prevention, reduce these occurrences? I believe we can. I think elevating gun awareness month provides the opportunity for folks who may not have the opportunity to have this discussion about how to store your weapons at home. What are the steps you should take and what are the instances in which someone who's facing suicide, the steps you should take to make sure that they are safe? I thank all of the departments within the city and county of Denver that work on this issue on a daily basis. I thank so much the folks from Denver Police Department that leans in on this issue as well. an OSCEI that provides the capacity, coalition, and the focus on equity to make sure we reduce these instances within all of our communities, but specifically in communities that are underrepresented, that often have a higher incidence of gun violence in our African American and Latino, Latina community. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Councilwoman Lewis. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Watson, for this proclamation. I wanted to thank Councilwoman Parity, Gonzales Gutierrez, as well as Councilwoman Torres and myself as we were able to get $3 million for community safety grants in order to be able to fund organizations that deal with these types of issues in our communities. And we know what solves violence, we know what interrupts violence, and we know what funds violence. And it's not having five violence interrupters in the entire city. You need a larger team than that if you actually wanna have an impact on that. It's addressing the root causes, it's coming from a public health perspective. It's making sure that we have access to recreation centers, foods, libraries, employment, housing, transportation. And so I hope as we're going into this budget season, not just for council members, because they show up and show out when it comes to the budget and making sure that we're addressing the root causes, that the administration is looking at these issues and is actually funding these issues and not defunding them in the way that we've seen in the past few years. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilwoman Gilmore.

Thank you, Council President. I wanted to thank my colleagues for sponsoring this proclamation and really wanting to make sure that we figure out what the issues are within the city because we consistently Every single year, reduce the funding, the gang prevention line item in the budget last year was zeroed out and so cannot expect different results. If we are defunding programs that are so important and. Also, the concern for the community when gathering community sites are closed down are not available to the community. It starts to create an issue in the community where folks feel like they're being punished instead of. being supported in these times. And folks are feeling, especially our young people, like they're in survival mode and making sure that we have the staff resources that are people and that we're opening up some of those thousand vacancies that we have within the city and county of Denver to concentrate on our communities that are clearly struggling at this point in time with gun violence. Thank you.

Thank you for bringing this forward, and I appreciate the words of my colleagues. I also wanted to state that we have the city school coordinating committee, that this is also on the radar, and again, it won't be solved alongside with Councilmember Alvarez, who sits on that committee, but it's definitely part of how we are thinking about the agenda and the conversation and what we do as a coordinating committee with the school district moving forward, knowing it's all of our families, right? And it is all of our spaces. And so I just want to extend to our fellow council members, knowing that we will keep you apprised. of how we can best do our coordination with the school district as well. Thank you. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Councilman Paradis.

I just wanted to take a little bit of a zoomed out perspective on this because I think it's it's been incredibly painful to see the the recent deaths and I just Denver's kind of a big small town. I know some of our colleagues have had personal connections to families that have been impacted and so What's so hard about it is that this is happening after a couple of years in which we saw a huge drop in gun homicides. And I just pulled up this Atlantic article that I remember reading a while ago because that happened all around the country. There were drops in gun violence everywhere. And the sort of best available explanation for that is that what cities and states were able to do with ARPA funding is what led to those drops. And then the funding is gone, right? And we're facing budget crises at every level of government. And so I think what Council Member Lewis said is exactly right. We know what to do and we just have to resource it somehow. So I think that probably means, you know, repealing part of TABOR will be on your ballot. There's It's just a question of resources. And it's a question of resources that is leading to people losing their lives in the most traumatic way and other teenagers seeing that happen. There were kids at that rec center who had to witness that two weeks ago. So it's just about what we resource. Thanks.

Council Member Cashman.

Thank you, Madam President. Nothing new to say. There are not... enough police officers in the world to stop the deaths that took place recently that my colleagues have spoken about. You could hire 2,000 more, 10,000 more. It's not going to stop this part of the violence that has infected our country. And as a city, we keep turning our back on that fact. And we refuse to fund the other—more than half of the world of public safety. I've asked the administration recently for a definition of public safety. We're going into budget season. And if you want to tell me public safety is about badges and guns, I will tell you that is a part of it. That is not the entirety of the discussion. Denver has an opportunity to do what I don't know many places around the country I could point to who have seriously embraced rising discussion of addressing the public health elements of public safety. We know we have to fund the program for our kids. We know we have to fund mental health and drug treatment and reduce poverty and make healthy food more accessible. And we're making small attempts in those directions, not nearly enough to where we can hold our head up and be proud of we're solving the problem. Don't mean to diminish the work by the good people who are working in all those areas, but it is not enough. We need more money in the right direction. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. So last week, city council set our priorities for the 2027 budget to Mayor Johnston. And in there, what we had talked about at our budget workshop is that budget is more than a financial plan. It's a moral document and it reflects our priorities. And we really did do that work at our budget workshop this year. In our letter to the mayor that was sent out, we talk about how important it is to make sure that our residents have the resources that they need. And we hope he prioritizes that and his administration prioritizes what residents need. I went to North High School and I started at North High School in 1993 and it was the summer of violence. And when I was in high school, I went to six funerals. I lost six people in my life during high school from gun violence. One I saw shot and murdered on 32nd and Clay when I was sitting in class. And then another one was shot and murdered on 35th and Federal. And then another one was shot and murdered on 32nd and Federal. And I could go on and on. And I just hope that no one has to live through that. I didn't realize that that was an odd reality for me until I started talking to other people who went to high school. And I mentioned how many funerals I went to. And North High School has turned around. So thank you, Councilmember Watson, for bringing this forward. But if we don't prioritize... our youth, we could see another summer of violence. So just that is always omnipresent for me as someone who lived through that reality as a young person growing up. So thank you for bringing this forward and supportive however we can be.

Council Member Alvidrez? Thank you. I think, you know, we're all saying similar things and I think this is just something I cannot say something about. I'm so sorry for the family that lost their child, that's literally the worst thing that can happen to a community, is to lose a child in the community. Just this past weekend, we had a shooting, shootout, pretty intense one in my district as well. And I think what you said, what has been said is so true. When people are struggling, when they can't put food on the table, when they can't pay their bills, all of those things lead to these situations. It's so much bigger than trying to brush under the rug. Some things that I've heard are like, oh, they knew each other, or it was an isolated incident, but it's not. It's not an isolated incident. And just because they knew each other doesn't mean that we couldn't have helped. And I appreciate that this council wants to lean in and figure out what we can do when we have, you know, parents, single parents, two income households that are struggling to be with their kids in the evening because they have to choose between going to side hustle or putting food on the table for their kids because it's extremely Unaffordable to be in the city. And so I think just that is one example of how this is so much bigger of a safety issue and how it is a public health and public well-being issue and My heart is with all the children. It's with all the mothers. That's what the community I think of sending my kid to a rec center now I think of the rec center workers and the people that work in Parkland right now, what they're having to grapple with going into work and deciding when is the right time to open without the resources that they may feel they need. And so my heart is with everyone across the city, our city workers and all of us and the mothers and the children to figure out, to lean in and to do more than send thoughts and prayers, but actually make a meaningful investment in the city in a way that can help our families, especially when we just got a report showing that Family homelessness is going up. That shows you where our priorities are. Thank you, Council President. Thank you.

Seeing no other colleagues in the queue, Madam Secretary, roll call. Council Members Gilbert?

Aye.

Buenaventura Neres? Aye. Torres? Aye. Alvitrez? Aye. Flynn? Aye. Heinz? Aye. Cashman? Aye. Lewis? Aye. Parity? Aye. Romero-Campbell? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Watson? Aye. Madam President Sandoval? Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and now to the results. 13 ayes. 13 ayes. Proclamation 0766 has been adopted. We have five minutes for the proclamation acceptance. Councilmember Watson, who will you be inviting up to accept the proclamation?

Thank you, Council President. Director McGowan. I think I saw you for a second there. Commander Jake Herrera and Megan Rohr. We'll start first with Director McGowan.

Thank you, and thank you for recognizing and passing this proclamation today. I just want to take a moment of personal privilege and say thank you for everything that you've done. You've been a huge advocate for public health, and it's been really great to feel heard in this space. And so as we talk about the role of public health in gun violence, I can't say it better than you all said today, right? It's communities that feel safe where they live, it's after school daycare, it's after school programming, it's knowing that you have a meal on your table, it's knowing that you have a trusted relationship with the people who are responsible for your safety. It's all of these pieces and we know that we don't have enough resources and how do we work together to bring joy and love and trust into the communities that we know who are disproportionately impacted than some of our other communities. I just wanted to talk a little bit about the fact that gun violence is a public health crisis. It is all those upstream things that we need to work on to make sure that we have better outcomes. at the end. It's more than ceremonial. It acknowledges the real ongoing work happening across Denver right now. I'd like to acknowledge the families and survivors and advocates in the room who've lived experience and advocacy that make this work possible. I'd like to recognize our important community-based partner organizations that operate through a mix of violence interruption, grassroots advocacy, and youth mentorship to reduce gun violence in our city. I was going to try to name them, but I don't dare because we have so many important community partners working in this space. In 2025, 97 people were impacted directly by gun violence in Denver. 32 people died by homicide from a gunshot wound, and 62 people died from suicide by firearms. The recent shooting at Montbello Rec Center is a reminder that behind the statistics are people with families, neighbors, and friends who are impacted by gun violence and the long-lasting ripple effects these incidents have in our communities. Gun violence is a public health issue. It is a public health crisis. It is preventable. It is not inevitable. It demands that we have a community-informed approach, and we bring that to the table in the work that we do. I'm going to stop there because we have two other important partners here today, and I'm sure Dr. Ben is going to say things much more eloquently than I will. Thank you.

Hello everyone, I'm Ben Sanders, City's Chief Equity Officer, Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Social Equity and Innovation. Councilman Watson, thank you for your leadership of this very important proclamation to Council Chair and to the Council as a whole. Thank you for supporting this very important recognition. I would just say that as we make this move to recognize Gun Violence Awareness Month, we also know that there are far too many families right now in Denver who are grieving not just loss of physical life, but also loss of life as they thought that they were going to live it. I want to invite us to remember that in Denver firearm related deaths have become the leading cause of death for young people ages 14 to 24. And while we've made tremendous progress over the past year and are very proud of that, we still have a long way to go. There are generations of folks who have been impacted by this issue in this room right now. Recognizing this month shows how far we've come. The pain we're carrying today shows us how far we have to go. Thank you.

Madam Secretary, please read the bills for introduction.

From the Community Planning and Housing Committee, 26-0619, a bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification for 17671 through 17675 East 64th Avenue in DIA. 26-0654, a bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification for 3001 South Federal Boulevard and 3058 South May Stanton Way in Harvey Park South. 26-686, a bill for an ordinance amending Chapter 2, Article 13 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code concerning the regulation of lobbyists. From the Finance and Business Committee, 26-0678, a bill for an ordinance approving a proposed intergovernmental agreement between the City and County of Denver and School District Number 1 in the City and County of Denver to administer the Denver Youth Employment Program for the 2026 funding year to provide customized workforce development services for eligible Denver youth citywide. 26-0684, a bill for an ordinance requiring all businesses operating in the City and County of Denver to take reasonable steps to ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws. From the Health and Safety Committee, 26-0328, a bill for an ordinance updating the classifications and penalties for municipal criminal offenses. 26-0615, a bill for an ordinance approving a proposed donation of retired Denver Police Department mounted patrol unit horse Maverick to the nonprofit Ride and Shine Equine Assisted Therapy Citywide. And from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 26-0636, a bill for an ordinance vacating the alley abutting 3800 West Colfax Avenue without reservations. and 26-0659, a bill for an ordinance approving a proposed and mandatory agreement between the City and County of Denver and the Colorado Energy Office regarding a tax credit reservation for qualified expenses for the Downtown Denver District Thermal Network Detailed Engineering Design Study.

Thank you, Madam Secretary. Councilmembers, this is your last opportunity to call out an item. Councilmember Sawyer, will you make the motions for us this evening? Yes, Madam President. Now I will do a recap. Under resolutions, Council Resolution 0622 has been called out for questions by Council Member Alvarez. Council Resolution 0682 has been called out for postponement pursuant to Rule 3.6 by Council Member Lewis. Council Resolution 0673 has been called out for a vote by Council Pro Tem Romero-Campbell. Council Resolutions 0723 and 0724 and 0725 have been called out for comments in a block by Councilmember Lewis. And Council Resolution 0120 has been called out for a vote by Councilmember Alvarez. Under Bills for Introduction, Council Resolution 0614 has been called out for a vote by Councilmember Watson. Council Bill 0664 has been called out for comments by Councilmember Lewis. Council Bill 0686 has been called out for postponement to a date certain by Councilmember Lewis. And Council Bill 0328 has been called out for postponement by Councilmember Alvarez. 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 0622, a resolution approving and providing... for the execution of a proposed grant agreement between the city and county of Denver and the United States of America Department of Housing and Urban Development for the community project funding for healthy, efficient, and affordable housing for low-income neighborhoods program and funding thereof. Therefore, Councilmember Alvarez, please go ahead with your questions on Council Resolution 0622.

Thank you so much, Council. I was just curious about this grant and if it was for new housing or if it would be available for constituents that are just low income.

It is aimed at affordable housing that's existing housing and multifamily. So that is the place that's congressionally directed for that purpose.

at individual residents, or is it going to be aimed at large-scale affordable housing?

It'll mostly be at the larger-scale affordable housing, multifamily, and it should be helping people that live in those multifamily affordable housing to have it.

Targeting for rent customers mostly?

We have not determined all of the rules and who can apply or who can't apply at this point, but we could certainly work with you or your office on that as we start rolling these programs out.

That's all I had. Thank you, Council President. Thank you.

Next up, we have... Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens, Council Resolution 0682, a resolution approving a proposed second amendment to lease agreement between the City and County of Denver on the FACS East Colfax Redevelopment LLC for residential rooms units located at 8405 and 8415 East Colfax Avenue. Council District 8. Council Member Lewis, what would you like to do with Council Resolution 0682?

Thank you, Council President. Pursuant to Rule 3.6, I'd like to postpone Council Resolution 260682 for a week. to the next council meeting on Monday, June 8th, 2026. Thank you.

The motion is required. Council Resolution 0682 has been postponed to June 8th, 2026. Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens. Council Resolution 0673, a resolution approving a proposed agreement between the City and County of Denver and HDR Engineering for on-call air, side, and land Side, infrastructure, professional design, and engineering services at Denver International Airport. Council Member Sawyer, would you please put Council Resolution 0673 on the floor for adoption?

I move that Council Resolution 26-0673 be adopted. It has been moved.

And seconded comments by members of Council on Council Resolution 0673. Council Protem, Romero-Kemble.

Thank you, Madam President. I will be abstaining on this vote. I have a family member that works for HDR.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Madam Secretary, roll call on Resolution 0673. Council Members Gilmour?

Aye.

Gonzalo-Cudillas? Aye. Pones. Aye. Alpitrez. Aye. Flynn.

Aye.

Hines.

Aye.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis. Aye. Parity. Aye. Romero-Campbell. Abstain. Sawyer? Aye.

Watson? Aye. Madam President Sandoval? Aye. Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. Twelve ayes. Twelve ayes. Council Resolution 0673 has been adopted. Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens. COUNCIL RESOLUTION 0723, A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AND APPROVING THE EXPENDITURE AND PAYMENT FROM THE APPROPRIATION ACCOUNT DESIGNED LIABILITY CLAIMS. THE SUM OF $67,500 MADE PAYABLE TO CHILE AND LEE FBO JOHN PAUL CASTILLO IN FULL PAYMENT AND SATISFACTION OF ALL CLAIMS RELATED TO THE CIVIL ACTION, CAPTION CASTILLO VERSUS DENVER. which was filed in the Denver District Court for the State of Colorado case 025CV32801, Council Resolution 0724, a resolution authorizing and approving an expenditure and payment from the appropriations account designated liability claims. The sum of $25,000 made payable to... Bob from God Gart Gartner at law LLC and Asher D heart and full payment and satisfaction of all claims Related to the civil action caption Stacey Lorraine grant an aerial wolf versus Ariel wolf versus the city and County of Denver which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado case 22 CV to 862 JLK a resolution 0725 a resolution authorizing approving the expenditure and payment from the appropriation account designated liability claims the sum of 125 thousand dollars and no sense made payable by Baumgartner out law LLC care of area wolf and full payment and satisfaction of all claims related to civil action captioned Stacey Lorraine grant an aerial wolf versus the city and county of Denver which was filed in the United States Court for the District of Colorado Case 22, CV 2862, JLK. Councilmember Lewis, please go ahead with your comments on Council Resolutions 0723, 0724, and 0725. Thank you.

After consistent feedback from my constituents, I see it as my responsibility to ensure that the public is aware of every tax dollar being approved as an expenditure and payment of funds for a settlement with the City and County of Denver. My office is tracking every dollar by department and as a running total. With the approval of 260724 and 725 tonight, the city will approve settlements in the amount of $67,500, $25,000, and $125,000 respectively to settle cases brought against the Denver Police Department. The approval of these items tonight brings the 2026 total for taxpayer dollars in city settlements to $1,002,000. This funding is drawn from a liability claims pool of money. I'd like to flag that there is an item on consent this meeting from the Finance and Business Committee. and designed to refill this pool in the amount of $3 million. The existing funds have been spent on the decision-making of the city's general policies and contingencies and not from agency-specific budgets. You must therefore pay extra attention to this budget environment that we are watching out for how the city spends our money and that we are making decisions for the future with this knowledge. Thank you.

Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens, Council Resolution 0120, a resolution approving a proposed contract to buy and sell real estate commercial between the City and County of Denver and State of Colorado for the purchase of the building and property located at 251 East 12th Avenue in Capitol Hill neighborhood in Council District 10. Councilmember Sawyer, would you please put Council Resolution 0120 on the floor for adoption? I move that Council Resolution 26-0120 be adopted. has been moved and seconded. Comments by members of Council on Council Resolution 0120. Council Member Alvarez.

Thank you so much, Council President. I just want to share, I'm going to be a no on this tonight. I believe, number one, the structure itself I have a lot of concerns about. separate structures if you look at it and that doesn't typically work well with roofs and foundations. It also doesn't look like, in my opinion, it can be adaptively reused and I don't feel like we have the due diligence documents necessary to make me feel comfortable with this purchase. I also am really looking forward to the housing needs assessment to show what the housing need actually is because I have a concern that when you talk about workforce housing that rent is actually what the market rate rent is at this moment and so I'm We're not doing mixed income or extremely low income. It makes me question if this is going to meet the need that we actually have, including family homelessness, as I mentioned earlier, going up, and will it provide multiple bedrooms? A lot of this hasn't been decided or discussed, and these are one-time funds that we may not get back, and I can't handle the idea of approving this and finding out that nobody wants this building later on or that the structure is failing and that it just won't work or that it's going to go at an AMI that doesn't meet the needs or that it's not going to be multiple bedrooms for families. And so with all that up in the air, I'm going to be a no on this tonight. That's all. Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member Hines.

Thank you, Madam President. First, I want to thank Council Member Alvedrez for our conversation earlier today. Thank you. reaching out and talking about this. This is in Council District 10. There are 78 neighborhoods in Denver. This is in Capitol Hill. This is the densest neighborhood in our city. It is dense in part because it is close to the city center. It is close to everything that people need to survive and thrive. It's also the densest city because you can get around easily without a car. to work, live and play without a vehicle. A fair amount of folks in Capitol Hill choose to live in Capitol Hill because they can't afford a car. So they're making a decision to live near the center city, which costs more, but they want to live near the city because they want access to all the things that are available in the center city. This particular property, specifically this property, I know that there were multiple organizations interested in purchasing. We were lucky in that the state reached out to the city proactively, but as a representative for District 10, I did have two other entities reach out and express interest in this property proactively. And so while there might be concerns of lack of interest, I would say I haven't received that kind of inquiry about other properties in our center city. This has a beautiful unimpeded view of the gold dome in at our state capitol. It is part of the capitol complex and so I could see that this would be quite useful for state employees, it would be useful for city employees as well because our campus is only a couple blocks away. And so while I certainly understand and respect Councilmember Alvarez's interest and thank her for sharing the justification why she's voting against it, I will be voting in favor of it and hope my colleagues will as well. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Council Member Lewis?

Yeah, I was wondering if there was someone here that could speak to some of the concerns that Councilwoman Alvidrez brought up, particularly around the due diligence and the affordability.

Is that for someone, Department of Finance? I need to just introduce yourself.

Good afternoon. Lisa Lumley, Division of Real Estate. I'm actually, Laya Mitchell is on the phone from host, and we may want to dial her in as well. I think, you know what I can say is we have Tony here as well to talk about the area plan, and this is consistent with what was approved by City Council for the East Area Plan 2, East Central. But we may want to see if we can get Laya on.

I can hear you and I hope you can see and hear me as well. Hello everyone.

We sure can.

Thank you.

Did you hear Councilwoman Alvarez's questions or comments?

I did, and I'm happy to speak to those components, especially those regarding affordable housing.

Okay, go ahead. The floor is yours. Great. So,

Lisa Lemley will speak to the real estate components and some of the preparedness for the site. I would say host is very excited to be able to provide if and when acquisition is complete to be able to provide a request for proposals to affordable housing developers for this site. We know that there's a need for affordable housing. There's a need a strong demand for housing in the Capitol Hill area. There's a strong employment base with all of the public workers and the downtown workforce. The proximity to Colfax is making this site part of the displacement pressures from the Colfax redevelopment. And we are preparing will be preparing a request for proposals that includes a diversity of bedroom counts, including. A request for more family size units as well as a diversity of area, median income kind of rental levels, including some of our more deeply affordable units that we know we need here as well as a mix of unit types that kind of meet the workforce of the of the community who are in need of affordable housing.

Do you know where you all might fall in terms of the AMI?

We'll be targeting this as affordable housing probably in the averaging around the 60% AMI with including some percentage of units that are below 60% AMI, the more deeply affordable units that we need. But we do want to balance those with some of the more typical kind of low moderate income affordability that makes the project be successful and effective and be able to kind of pencil as a project. So allowing some flexibility for developers to be able to propose a model that really works for them for the site while putting some restrictions around requiring some deeply affordable units and ensuring that we get that diversity of kind of bedroom type product mix.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Councilman Parity.

Yeah, I appreciate the dialogue about this because just by way of background, the dollars that are going to this purchase were dollars that council and specifically council members Torres, Lewis and myself proposed for the bond and we all specifically set kind of the parameters for what kind of housing investment we wanted this to be, and particularly that it should be anti-displacement oriented. So I'm glad that, you know, that we're watch-talking that, I guess. I have been... Just listening carefully because I can really see a number of different arguments about whether this site meets that intent. But I think the kind of deciding factor for me is that we are concerned about when the BRT goes in about the idea that like when we finally invest in an area and develop it and do something good for an area. then suddenly it becomes more attractive to the market and all the parcels on it get snapped up and they get turned into luxury apartments. And so I do think it's an appropriate use of these dollars, but I also hope that for the remainder of this package of bond money, which is another $40 million, that there is a focus on neighborhoods and parts of the city that also have not been invested in to the same extent. I will be a yes. And I appreciate what Laia has shared about the intentions for the RFP because that's also quite important to me, the mix of incomes. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. I just wanted a chance to respond a little bit. I didn't hear a firm, yes, there will be a percentage affordable housing will be there with the mixed income around 60%. And I am concerned about the continuous, it won't pencil. Because when it doesn't pencil, what happens is we get one bedrooms and studios, and I don't hear a firm commitment on family housing. And so I remain in it. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Resolution 0120. Council members Gilmore.

Hi. Hi. Hi.

Alvitres?

Nay.

Flynn? Aye. Hines? Aye. Cashman? Aye. Lewis? Aye. Perry? Aye. Romero-Campbell? Aye. Sawyer? Aye.

Watson? Aye. Madam President Sandoval? Aye. Madam Secretary, close the voting and answer the result. 12 ayes. 12 ayes. Council Resolution 0120 has been adopted. Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens. Council Resolution 0614, a resolution approving a proposed intergovernmental agreement between the City and County of Denver and Denver Health and Hospital Authority for... To provide care, treatment, and supportive services to individuals living with heavy aids in the Denver transitional grant area citywide. Council Member Sawyer, would you please put Council Resolution 0614 on the floor for adoption? I move that Council Resolution 260614 be adopted. It has been moved and seconded. Comments from members of Council on Council Resolution 0614? Council Member Watson?

Thank you, Council President. The purpose of calling this item out for a vote is to request that Council vote down this item. The item is a bill that was incorrectly filed as a resolution and therefore will need to be refiled.

Thank you, Madam Secretary. Roll call on Resolution 0614. Council Members Gilmour?

Nay. Gonzalo Gutierrez?

Nay. Torres? Nay. Alvitrez? Nay. Flynn?

Nay.

Hines?

Nay.

Cashman?

Nay. Lewis?

Nay. Parity? Nay. Romero-Campbell? Nay. Sawyer? No. Watson? Nay.

President Sandoval? Nay. Madam Secretary? voting to announce the results?

13 nays.

13 nays. Council Resolution 0614 has failed. Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens. Council Bill 0684, a bill for an ordinance requiring all businesses operating in the City and County of Denver to take reasonable steps to ensure compliance with all acceptable federal, state, and local laws. Council Member Lewis, please go ahead with your comments on Council Bill 0684. Thank you.

So, this ordinance simply affirms the obligations of every business owner and contractor who works in or with the City and County of Denver to follow our local laws, and I hate that I have to say that out loud. In other times, I'm not sure that this would have been required, but these are not anything but regular times, and I'm happy to be bringing this ordinance forward. and ensure that folks respect our place of business and they're abiding by local, state and federal laws when doing business with our city. Thank you.

Thank you. Seeing no other council members in the queue, Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screen, Council Bill 0686, a bill for an ordinance amending Chapter 2, Article 8 of the Denver-Rice Municipal Code concerning the regulation of lobbyists. Actually, I think that's Article 10, 11, 12, 13. Sorry, Roman numerals. Council Member Sawyer, would you please put Council Bill 0614 on the floor for publication?

Yes, Madam President. I just want to flag for you that the script is wrong and a little messy at this point. So I'm moving that Council Bill 260686 be ordered published.

Okay, so... Okay, so... I think it's finished. Would you please put Council Bill 0686 on the floor for publication? Thank you.

Yep. I think it's on the floor. Yes. Madam Secretary? Yes. Great. Thank you.

It has been moved and seconded. There is... Another motion on the floor. Council Member Lewis, what would you like to do with Council Bill 0686?

Thank you, Council President. I move that Council Bill 260686, Peoples Town, to a date certain of Monday, June 8th, 2026.

That has been moved and seconded. Comments by members of Council on the postponement of Council Bill 0686. Council Member Lewis?

Just postponing this to give us an opportunity to work out some of the concerns that we've heard from our Council colleagues. So we'll be postponing it and bringing it back for you all to vote on in the affirmative.

Thank you. Madam Secretary, we'll call on the postponement on Council Bill 0686.

Council Members Gilmour? Aye. Gonzalez-Gudiez? Aye. Torres? Aye. Alvidrez?

Aye.

Flynn?

Aye.

Hines?

Aye.

Cashman? Aye. Lewis? Aye. Parity? Aye. Romero-Campbell? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Watson? Aye.

Madam President Sandoval? Aye. Madam Secretary, close voting on the results.

13 ayes.

13 ayes. Council Bill 0686 has been postponed. Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens. Council Bill 0328, a bill for an ordinance updating the classifications and penalty for municipal criminal offenses. Councilmember Sawyer, will you please put Council Bill 0328 on the floor for publication?

I move that Council Bill 26-0328 be ordered published.

It has been moved and seconded. There is another motion on the floor. Councilmember Alvarez, what would you like to do with Council Bill 0328?

Before my motion, I told the sponsors I'd allow them to do an amendment.

Yeah. Can I, John, can we get the guidance of our legal counsel? He has strep, so he's hard. Poor guy.

He's going to have kids.

Yeah. Is this a warning? He's coming through. He's virtual, but he'll be here in just a second. John, are you with us? I think it's Sam.

John? Hmm.

John. Yeah, we can hear, you know.

Okay, great. Sorry about that.

So, council, this is wondering if we would do the amendment now, or we do the postponement.

Yeah, Jonathan Griffin, deputy legislative council, we need to do the postponement 1st, because if we accept the amendments and then we postpone, there's not really an avenue for us to publish those amendments. Like, typically you amend and then you order something published after amendment. So we need to do the postponement 1st, and then bring the amendments at the next meeting. If the postponements accepted.

That's okay. Okay, so I just want to give the council sponsors a moment. Do you have any comments on that? It makes sense because they wouldn't be published if we're postponing. Okay. So the motion on the floor, there's another motion on the floor. Council member, I'll be there. So what would you like to do with Council Bill 0328?

Thank you, Council President. I just want to first say that thank you to the Council sponsors. They've been doing so much work on this. I just have some continued questions and answers and stakeholder-ing of my own to do. And so I spoke to them about postponing the bill one week. But for other reasons, I... They prefer June 22nd, so I would like to move to postpone this bill to June 22nd for introduction.

It has been moved and seconded. Comments by members of council on the postponement of Council Bill 0328. Council Member Alvarez.

I guess I already made my comments a little early, but that basically summarizes it. I need some more time just to dig in. There's been a lot of changes. This is version 13, and there's still some... My areas as well. So I want to postpone to give some more time for me also to be able to comb through and also talk to people. I've gotten a lot of outreach about this bill in particular, and I can't answer the questions I'm getting from community right now.

But didn't any of the sponsors like to say anything? Are you good? I'm sorry, I was not listening. I was trying to say something on this side. I'm so sorry. Do you want to say anything regarding the postponement to June 22nd?

I just learned that Councilwoman Sawyer is not in on June 22nd and I apologize for that oversight. That was not provided to us when we were looking at the dates that we were trying to figure out. We have been working on this for quite some time, very diligently, trying to get the answers, emailing council members, offering briefings as often as we possibly can. And so we're happy that we're probably not happy to postpone because it's been such a heavy lift, but we are definitely open to making sure that folks have their concerns addressed as we move this forward. Thank you.

Council Member Parity?

Yeah, no, I just was going to say we'll continue to be available, including me, for questions. I think we've done maybe five rounds of council briefings, and so we'll keep doing that. But I'm hoping that this can be the last postponement and that people will be ready by the 22nd. It's another three weeks. Thank you.

Madam Secretary, we'll call. I have my name in there. Pro tem America. Thank you.

Question, then, we have the 22nd. Is the 29th an option? The 28th was final reading. The 28th was final reading. As opposed to postponing to the 29th.

Well, then they have to go to the 13th because we don't have council on the 6th.

I knew that.

Thank you. So, just so we're clear, we're postponing until June 22nd. Okay. And secretary will call on council bill 0, 3, 2, 8. Council members Gilmore.

Hi.

Hi. Bye. Aye. Flynn? Aye. Heinz? Aye. Cashman? Aye. Lewis? Aye. Parity? Aye. Romero-Campbell? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Watson? Aye. Madam President Sandoval? Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting. Announce the results. 13 ayes. 13 ayes. Council Bill 0328 has been postponed to Monday, June 22nd. This concludes the items to be called out. All bills for introduction are ordered published. Councilmembers, remember that 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. Councilmember Sawyer, will you please put the resolutions for adoption and the bills on final consideration for final passage on the floor?

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

Okay, all 26 series, 0616, 0624, 0662, 0621, 0635, 0637, 0638, 0650, 0663, 065Q, 0653, 0656. 0723, 0724, 0725, 0600, 0655, 0657, 0617, 0677, 0680, 0681, 0598, 0622, 0623, 0625, 0626, 0627. We're only halfway. 0628, 0629, 0630, 0632. 0651 0658 0660 0661 0664 0665 0666 0667 0668 0669 0670-0671, 0672-0674, 0675-0676, 0597-0633, 0590. Oh my gosh, that's it. Thank you.

Can you repeat those? It has been moved and seconded.

Madam Secretary, roll call. Council Member Gilsmore? Aye. Gonzalo-Condieres? Aye. Torres? Aye. Pavlidis? Aye.

Flynn? Aye. Hines? Aye. Cashman?

Aye.

Lewis? Aye. Parity? Aye. Romero-Campbell? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Watson? Aye. Madam President Sandoval?

Aye. Madam Secretary, close the voting. Announce the results. 13 ayes. 13 ayes. The resolutions have been adopted and the bills have been placed upon final consideration and do pass. Tonight there will be a required public hearing on Council Bill 06202 designating 3535 East 26th Avenue Parkway as a structure for preservation. It required public hearing on Council Bill 0521, changing the zoning classification for 361 through 363 West Evans Avenue in Overland. And it required public hearing on Council Bill 0634, approving an amendment to the Welton Corridor Urban Renewal Plan. to add the Russonian project and to create the Russonian project property and sales tax increment areas. There's no objection from members of council. We will recess until 5.30. Before convening the regular meeting, 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 legally required public hearing. The general public comment session will begin at 5 p.m.

They'll hold up. I'm totally confident that the way we built the roads back are going to withstand the storms the way we thought they will.

When am I going to get called out? What's the next emergency that we're going to deal with? But we have things in place and I know we'll handle it.

The next session will be held on Monday, June 8th. Sign-up begins at 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 4th. We look forward to hearing you again, and thank you for attending. I'll just give us a moment to let the people outside come in for the public hearing.

Okay. Okay. Okay, thanks.

I just want to clarify. Good to see y'all. Oh.

Thank you.

Council will now reconvene from our earlier session. There's no unfinished business from the earlier session. There is one proclamation being read this evening. Council Member Sawyer, would you please read Proclamation 0767?

Thank you.

Proclamation 0767 honoring the Rabi Family Dentistry and Rabi Family Dentistry Charitable Foundation.

Whereas Rabi Family Dentistry has been serving patients for 120 years through three generations of dentists and is Colorado's longest continually operating dental practice. And whereas Max M. Robbie started his dental practice in Leadville in the early 1900s and moved it to Denver in the 1980s. And whereas Max H. Robbie joined his father's Denver practice after serving as a dentist in the 10th Mountain Division in World War II. And whereas Max H. Robbie shared the practice with his son, John Robbie, after John graduated from CU Go Buffs. Dental school and recognizing a desire to support CU Dental School and the Denver community, they established Generations Clinic at CU Dental School, a nonprofit through the University of Colorado Foundation to serve aging patients unavailable, unavailable, unable to afford and needed dental care. And whereas, John Robbie became the sole owner of Robbie Family Dentistry in 1999 and continued its philanthropic efforts by supporting Generations Clinic and by volunteering time to teach at the CU Dental School in the areas of community dentistry and population health. And whereas, Robbie Family Dentistry, through its third generation of dentists and its dedicated staff, has expanded local dental relief efforts to disabled patients, immigrants, and refugees, victims of domestic violence, homeless individuals, and other underserved patients unable to afford needed dental work. And, whereas, Robbie Family Dentistry has given John Robbie the opportunity to participate in dental relief projects over the years through a Denver Rotary Club program and global dental relief projects in other countries including Honduras, Kenya, India, Vietnam, Nepal, Guatemala, and Mexico. And whereas Robby Family Dentistry is raising funds for the Robby Family Dentistry Charitable Foundation to provide dental care in Roatan, Honduras, which funds will also be used to support a teaching program for CU dental students working at the clinic in Roatan. And whereas the dentist staff of Robby Family Dentistry recognizing the good dental health leads dentists and staff of Robbie Family Dentistry, recognizing that good dental health leads to better overall health, remain committed to improving dental care in Denver and elsewhere. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Denver City Council, Section 1, that the Denver City Council hereby recognizes and honors Robbie Family Dentistry for 120 years, providing dental care to sustain and improve patients' dental health and overall health, with three generations serving both its patients and the local and global community who are in need. Section two, that the Denver City Council celebrates the ongoing philanthropy of Robbie Family Dentistry and the Robbie Family Dentistry Charitable Foundation in Denver, and through its mentoring of dental students and its contribution to serving patients in need around the world. Section 3, that the clerk and recorder 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 Dr. John Robbie.

Council Member Sawyer, your motion to adopt?

I, hold on, I have to pull my script back up here. All right, here we go. I move that Proclamation 26-0767 be adopted. It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of the Board?

Thank you, Madam President. I am so excited to have the Robby family here with us today. This is the fifth business that has been in the state of Colorado for, like I said, 120 years. It is extraordinary. As we have talked about many, many times, small businesses are the backbone of our community, and not only is Robby Family Dentistry the backbone of our community as a small business, but also for everything that they do for community health. And so I'm just so excited to give this proclamation tonight. They are doing a celebration this coming weekend and I'm sad I will not be there. I'm going to visit my dad in Nashville and go tour Vanderbilt with my junior and senior. And so I'm going to miss it, but I really wanted to acknowledge this event because I think it is extraordinary. There aren't very many businesses that are left in the city and county of Denver that have the history and the passion that this family has shown for bringing and supporting health, dental health in particular, to our community. And so this is just an incredible District 5 business, and I am so excited to have them here today. I'm excited to acknowledge and celebrate them and their contribution. to our community. We'll say thank you.

Awesome. Council President Romero-Campbell. Thank you, Madam President. I heard in the proclamation that one of the contributions back to community is to various countries, one of them being Honduras. And I am a returned Peace Corps volunteer from Honduras. I did not serve in Roatan. That would have been amazing. But I was located on the mainland. And for... multiple years, we would have Doctors Without Borders or other organizations that would come and provide those services to the people who lived in the village where I was working. And it is just so tremendously needed and and just amazing that you are now looking to have your foundation raise money to be able to be located in Roatan for additional services and training and so forth. So I just want to say thank you for that service because it is so needed. Again, living in another country and having those come and brought to your door. A toothache can mean literally life or death for so many residents, and things that would abscess, and you would be surprised that just the lack of dental care, vision care, et cetera, for the families that are living there, it really is such a contribution. So thank you, and thank you for bringing this proclamation forward.

Thank you. Council Member Cashman.

Thank you, Madam President. Thanks for bringing this forward, Councilwoman. So before I was on council, a lot of my friends and colleagues know I spent about four decades publishing a community newspaper in South Denver and spent that time with small businesses and had a number of of small businesses who had been part of the community for 60, 70, 80 years. But in the cases of the ones I'm thinking about, at one point, whether it was the grandkids or the great grandkids kind of went, I think I'm going to do something else. I think I'm gonna do something else. And so to see a family with that consistency, we do, as the Councilwoman said, we talk so much in this room and others about small business backbone of our community. And they are, and we don't acknowledge it often enough. So I don't know you folks personally. I'm thrilled to see you here. And, you know, it's nice to be part of a family with that type of consistency and service to the community. Yeah, it is really a pleasure. So thank you again. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. So if I do the math correctly, this institution, this family, you started 30 years after the city, the state became a state. So I don't know very many because we're celebrating the 150th anniversary. And I was like 120 years. That's like not that long after. And so that means your family has seen change. Denver grow and go from probably cart and horses and a whole entire like different set of rules. At that time, we didn't even have a zoning code. We didn't get the zoning code until the 50s. So thank you all for your service. What a legacy and the amount of people that you've served are generational. So just what an impact. Thank you, Councilwoman Sawyer, for bringing this forward. Madam Secretary, roll call.

Council members Gilmore. Gonzalez-Gudiez. Aye. Alvarez. Aye. Flynn. Aye. Hines. Aye. Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis.

Aye.

Romero-Campbell.

Aye.

Sawyer? Aye. Watson? Aye. Madam President Sandoval?

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. Eight ayes. Nine Eyes Proclamation 0767 has been adopted. We have five minutes for the proclamation acceptance. Council Member Sawyer, who will you be inviting up to accept the proclamation?

I will be inviting up Dr. Robbie, and is your family coming too?

I'm not going to let them talk.

That's totally fair. All right, well, come on up. You've got five minutes to say whatever you would like.

Well, first of all, would we all agree I look pretty good for 120? Thank you guys so much. This is a great honor to be recognized by a city that's meant so much to us, and we've tried to do a lot of good for Coloradans, and they've been very good for our family and our practice, and I appreciate this very much. A couple of strange coincidences. Councilwoman, I'm sorry. Okay. I just flew in from Honduras like a few hours ago doing a dental brigade down there. So that's one interesting coincidence. And the other, I didn't know you were meeting in this room right now during the construction, but John Parr and Sandy Widener were patients of mine and beautiful people that I really loved knowing. And I'm still sad about... the way that that transpired. I would like, wait a minute, did I have one other before the invitation? Nope, I just hope that anybody that would like to come party with us, my band is going to play on Saturday at 5 o'clock, and I got some musicians that are way better than I am that are playing. We're going to have food, drinks, dancing, games, and you can find us easily if you can spell our name right, R-A-A-B-E. Our website is dendds.com. If anybody wants to come party, we'd love to have you. Thank you. Thank you.

We have three required public hearings 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 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're 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 and cities of residence, and if they feel comfortable doing so, their home addresses. If you have signed up to answer questions only, state your name and note that you are available for questions. Speakers will have three minutes. There is no yielding time. 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 0602 designating 3535 East 26th Avenue as a structure for preservation on the floor for final passage?

I'm going to do it for her. I move that Council Bill 26-0602 be placed upon final consideration and do pass.

It has been moved and seconded. The required public hearing for Council Bill 0602 is open. May we have the staff report? Cousins King, would you like to address the podium before we get started? No. Okay. Now may we have the staff report?

Good evening, Council. My name is Kara Hahn. I am with Landmark in Community Planning and Development, and we are here for the designation of 3535 East 26th Avenue Parkway. This is located in Council District 9, and it is come forward from the property owner, and she is serving as the applicant as well. And I wanted to have you guys take a look at the proposed boundary. It is the parcel that has been historically associated with this property. And to note, the size of the parcel is compared to those around it, and we'll talk about that in a moment. So as you know, for landmark designation, it's a community-driven process. It can come from three residents of Denver. It can come from you as members of council, the executive director of CPD, or from a property owner, which is how this is coming forward. In order for a property to be designated per the Landmark Ordinance, it needs to retain integrity, be more than 30 years of age or exceptionally important, needs to meet at least 3 out of 10 criteria, and the Landmark Preservation Commission has to consider the historic context. For this particular designation application, it puts forward that it meets four out of 10 criteria, and the Landmark Preservation Commission concurred with that, and we'll go over each of those four criteria now. The first is that the property has the direct and substantial association with recognized persons who had influence on society. There have been two families that have been associated with this property. So the first is Nora and Frank Harris. Nora worked for the American Woodmen Association, and she was the claims department manager there. She served as the board of director for the Denver chapter of the NAACP, and both her and Frank were part of the Cosmopolitan Club of Denver, and they held meetings at their house. It's an interfaith and interracial educational fellowship, and its creed was humanity above race, nationality, and creed. And so both Nora and Frank helped serve that and helped host the club meetings in their house. And then Frank Harris, he is Denver's first recognized black landscape designer. He was very highly regarded. He started work in the 1920s and continued on for another four decades into the 1960s. He worked on commercial, institutional, and private properties. and became a very well-respected landscape designer. He was not formally educated, so he's not a landscape architect, but was self-taught to become a landscape designer here in Denver. And with their work, both volunteer work as well as work within the community, they are influential members of Denver society. And then the second owners of the property were Dorothy and Charles, our cousins. Charles was more visible in the business world, but Dorothy served as his partner in work on this. And Renee, their daughter, said much of the success he attained in business would not have been possible without Dorothy's conscientious assistance. and much of the work that was done in the businesses were taking place in the kitchen table in this property. And so Charles was very well known within the Five Points community with retail businesses. This is a picture of the newly rehabbed 715 Club, which was something that Charles Cousins started, as well as other work like the queue and cushion billiard parlor in the Five Points neighborhood. So they were both well-known within for the business community, but also really well-known in the civic realm for being supporters of the Owl Club of Denver, which is social and business bonds within Denver's black community, and then hosting the debutante ball, which was celebrating academic excellence of young black women in Denver. They supported students at both Cole Junior High and Manuel High School, and then, Dorothy was very involved in the American Red Cross, Friends of the Denver Public Library, and the Church of the Holy Redeemer. And so both of Dorothy and Charles were influential in both the business and civic realm. And so both the Cousins and the Harrises, the only two families who have owned this property, were very influential in Denver society. The property is also significant for embodying the distinctive visible characteristics of an architectural style. In this case, a custom, very high style, ranch style property. You can see the ranch style in the one story, low horizontal profile, the low pitched roof, the minimal front porch, you can see the really large picture windows there, and the brick construction, there's an attached two-car garage, and then as with a ranch house, it's open and flowing, and you can see in the bottom picture where it's looking out into the backyard, which is an important component of the ranch-style house. There's also a detached three-car garage that I'll talk about in a moment, but the Landmark Preservation Commission found that it met the characteristics of the architectural style of the ranch-style house. They also found that it is a significant example of Frank Harris, so the accomplished horticultural and landscape designer. He worked for or designed the National Jewish Hospital, the Bonfils Estate, the Park Hill Golf Course, as well as Colorado Women's College. And as this being his personal residence where he chose to design this, it's a significant example of his work. It's also a significant example of William J. Borman, who was a recognized architect. He did a lot of ranch style houses for sort of spec developments, and he also did a lot of custom design work He primarily worked in Wellshire, Country Club, Crestmore, primarily wealthy white neighborhoods. And this is likely one of the first examples of his custom work in the recently desegregated Skyland neighborhood. And so it's a significant example of his work in this area of the city. And then finally, it is associated with social movements, patterns of growth on change that are contributing significantly to the culture of the neighborhood, community, and city. And this is particularly in the civil rights and racial integration of the Skyland or the North City Park neighborhood. The city of Denver is based on systemic racism and is very easily seen in our discriminatory zoning and covenants, and then particularly in redlining that's seen here on this map. You can see from the blue arrow, it shows the approximate location of where this property would be. This was rated a grade three, so not very highly rated part of the neighborhood or part of the city based on this map. So the Civil Rights Movement really worked to achieve rights for Denver communities, particularly with anti-discrimination lawsuits with housing and school desegregation. And through that, we start to see racial character that is evolving in the 1950s and 60s in this particular neighborhood as black families began to be moving into the neighborhood. And this is really significant for Nora and Frank's house. They were one of the first black families to purchase in the neighborhood. They compiled approximately eight parcels and lots into this, which is the largest lot along the golf course then. And now, as you can see, There's like four other houses on the opposite side. This is a really large substantial lot. They built a high style custom designed house from a very well regarded architect and builder. So this was a really substantial property and their movement as one of the first black families in this neighborhood reflects the evolution of the area and represents patterns of change in the neighborhood. So the Landmark Preservation Commission found that it met these four criteria for designation. In addition to meeting the criteria for designation, a property must retain integrity. There are seven specific aspects of integrity, but really it comes down to would prior residents recognize the property today? And in this instance, it maintains excellent integrity. It's in the original location. The feeling, setting, and association is the same, being just right across from the golf course. There's virtually no changes to the design, material, and workmanship. And while the Landmark Preservation Commission does not review vegetation, Frank Harris's design is really still evident here. Other than a tree that was removed and some rose beds that got shaded and died, those are the only two changes on the property. And so while we don't review it, we did assess that it retains really good integrity as well. The historic context, which is sort of the second half of the landmark designation application that provides the context for, you know, and helps support why it meets these four criteria was really exceptional. There's great detail on the development of the neighborhood, the history of the owners and their families, and then really great background on the architect and the builder as well. So this is an excellent example of a historic context. And then the period of significance for this property, Okay, the period of significance for this property is 1958, from the date of construction to 1996, which is the end of the 30-year mark that we have for when a property is significant. And for public comment, we didn't have any written public comment, but at the LPC, we had five community members speak, as well as members of Historic Denver. And so, to summarize, the Landmark Preservation Commission found that it was over 30 years of age, that it met at least three of the criteria, that it retains integrity, and they considered the historic context. Council, you look at not only the recommendations of LPC but also the views of the owners and any comments received at the public hearing so you have a wider purview than the Landmark Preservation Commission or staff has. But staff is recommending approval of this application and I'm happy to answer any questions at any point.

Thank you.

We have six individuals signed up to speak this evening. First up we have Charles Foster.

Good afternoon, Council. My name is Charles Foster. I am an international tour director here, specifically in this region too as well. I speak in support on a tourism basis in terms of 3535 East 26th Avenue Parkway being changed into a historical preservation structure. As we are aware of, tourism is down in our country at this time, and I think this particular project would be a significant asset to the city and county of Denver, specifically in that area where it lacks a lot of these types of buildings in terms of following up under that particular category. So I'm not going to waste a lot of your time at this time, but I just wanted to speak in terms of a tourist perspective. I think this would be a very, very good asset to add to some of Denver's wonderful already Assets in terms of tourist attractions.

Thank you Next up we have Jesse Paris virtually

Yes, good evening members accounts for those watching our home those in the council chambers. My name is Justin. I'm representing for black star action movement for self defense. Positive for social change as well as the unity party of Colorado, the Northeast or North Park Hill coalition. Frontline black notes about his black experience and has to revolutionary agenda. And I reside at the road in bed bug. Legacy loss in Darryl Watson's district of the fine district 9, the historically black district of 5 points. Same on you counsel and no more police in our own house. Enough is enough. You said that we could do better back in 2019 and we're not doing better Denver. We're doing worse in 2026. So, in regards to this proclamation, I'm in full support of it. It's a damn shame. It took this long for this to even happen. Because these architects just so happen to be black. So, you waited 50 years to give them a proclamation when our footprints are all over this city to stay in this country. foundational Black Americans, the people that built this country. And this is a prime example of that. So of course, I'm in immediate support of this. It meets all of the criteria. Shout out to the Harris family. And I will see you on the next one.

Thank you. Next up, we have Donnie Betts. Next up, we have Ron Sladek.

Hello, and thank you for having me here before you today. My name is Ron Sladek. I'm the author of the nomination that you have before you. You mentioned that I have to say where I'm from. I actually live in Fort Collins. So, Rams, right? You got one in for CU. No, okay. I'm from Denver originally. I was born and grew up here. My family's been here since the 1890s. Although I'm based in Fort Collins, I do a lot of consulting work in Denver and the surrounding metropolitan area. And so I'm very aware of the history of this community, having grown up here and been working professionally in the community for years. I just want to offer a few thank yous today to some people who were instrumental in getting this nomination pulled together, and then I'll be available if you have any questions you might want to ask of me. I first want to thank Kara Hahn for her great staff report and for all of her support through the project. We also couldn't have done this without the support of Historic Denver, John Deffenbaugh, who is here, and Jay Homestead, who gave us great support throughout the course of getting this nomination pulled together. We have to give some kudos to these people. They do great work in the community. And then, of course, Dr. Renee Cousins-King, who is here today, and I have to thank her personally. from the bottom of my heart for giving me the opportunity to work on this wonderful property that is so close to her family's heart. This is a property that conveys so much to us today about the history of the black community in Denver and the history of Denver's development. And I look forward to your thumbs up on the nomination today. I'll step back and let others speak, but thank you for your consideration of this nomination.

We have John Deffenbaugh.

Members of Denver City Council, thank you so much for this opportunity to speak tonight. John Deffenbaugh with Historic Denver at 1420 Ogden Street. I will not take up much of your time because so much great stuff has already been said. But just to say it's such a pleasure to work with Dr. Renee Cousins-King and connect her with Ron Sladig, the author of the document that you're reviewing. And if there is a mid-century modern house better than this in Denver, then I would love to see it because it is one of the most stunning homes inside and out, tells a wonderful story, and it's such a great project to be part of. I'm also very excited because you and I are going to spend a lot of time together over the next few weeks. There are a number of wonderful preservation projects making their way through the city approval process, and collectively they will shine a light on Denver's rich history and some history which has not had bright enough light yet. shone on it in recent years. So I look forward to chatting more with you about those projects in future weeks and later tonight and available to answer any questions you might have.

We have Terry Gentry.

Good evening. Thank you very much for the opportunity to talk to you. I am here to celebrate This home and the family that on the home for our community driving up East 26th Avenue was a vision of possibilities for us. There were so many people that lived along 26th Avenue that we're doing some incredible things in our community. And the Cousins family, they provided so much leadership and compassion and a range of things to move our lives forward two generations later. And so I am so pleased to hear because Well, for me, when we drove up 26th Avenue, that was the coolest house on the block. It was the coolest house on 26th Avenue. And especially at Christmas time, they had the most beautiful decorations on the house. And everybody that I knew, all my neighbors and cousins, that was the thing. It's like, get in the car and go cruise next to that house to see the Christmas decorations. And that's how we started our holiday celebrations. But the people that lived in the home They impacted our lives so much. The Cousins family and my grandparents were very, very close. And my grandmother loved celebrating the work that the Cousins family conducted in our community. And so I hope that we can continue to celebrate this family and honor the incredible support and love that they have for us. And I still love driving past that house. It's a landmark. It's an important landmark. 26th Avenue will always be that landmark for us and the possibilities for us and how we move our lives forward. So thank you very much.

That concludes our speakers. Do we have questions from members of council on Council Bill 0602? It looks like it's Renee Keenan.

Keenan?

Cara, there's a Renee King on Zoom with the hand up. Are they part of this? There's a Renee King online. Yeah, I think she's here in the chambers. No, it's her. No, they're on Zoom. No, she's here in the chambers. Do we have questions from members of council?

I do keep thinking this is a touchpad. I'm just curious.

Is the house occupied right now?

I would actually like to speak to that.

It's not occupied right now, but occasionally I have a party over there.

Okay, thank you. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous property.

Do you have any other questions from the council? Seeing none, the public hearing is closed. Comments by members of the council on Council Bill 0602. Council Member Watson.

Thank you, Council President. Thank you, Dr. Cousins-King, and thank you so much to the Landmark Department for this historic Denver as well, and all the community members that have spoke throughout this process. I live on 26th Avenue, just low west of of York. And my route—one of my running routes every morning is to go past—go up 26 to Colorado and to continue going forward. Running by your house and running by all of the homes that black families owned during that struggle, I specifically chose to live in Whittier, to buy in this community, because understanding redlining. understanding that the covenants on our homes along not just 26, but throughout North City Park, Whittier, Cole, that we weren't supposed to live east of Five Points. And first, it was east of Five Points, and it went up to Reyes and Gilpin, and it went over to York, and it kept going east. And it didn't just happen by happenstance. It happened because of your families and Harris' families choosing to fight. Living in that beautiful home is one thing. Having Ku Klux Klan members a few blocks away, burning crosses near our communities, that's another. And so the historic landmarking of this is essential, but the blood, sweat, and tears and the courage to say that you will not determine the future of my family and you choosing not just to stand up, but to buy and to defy an entire generation of folks who felt that we weren't, that this was not our place, matters. And so when I run up that street and I run by your home and I run by some of the other homes up amazing African-American leaders in our community. It gives me such great hope, such great faith. So, Dr. Cousins-King, thank you so much for all that you have done and your family have done for our communities. Thank you to Historic Denver for your good work. Thank you for all the folks in the city working on this. This is one of now three, I believe, homes that we have landmarked on Eastside. Whereas we had very few, they're piling up, and I say bring more. So congratulations, and thank you so much for the good work.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President.

Councilmember Cashman.

Thank you, Madam President. I certainly am in full support of this designation. I may owe an apology to Dr. Cousins-King. I have... played the fairways of most frequently before the current rebuild of the back nine. And so coming up one, two, three, four, I'm just saying there's a chance I might have hit a terrible duck hook that bounced in 26 and came across onto your property. I was heartened. To see the map show your house seems to be set back. If you found any of my golf balls, I wondered if I could stop by during one of your parties and pick them up. Due to the setback, I don't think you have an insurance claim against me, so I'll just be glad to be here. Glad to support this designation tonight. That's awesome.

Thank you. Madam President, Madam Assembly. That's great. Thank you, Madam President. And when this came through committee, I think I had said it then, but how exciting and what a great way to honor the history of the families that have lived in this house and the significance that this has for Denver. I've driven by this house, I've seen this house so many times, and so to know this history is just, I think, a gift to the city as a whole. So I am definitely in support of this, and thank you for taking the time to fill out the application and move this forward in such a significant way. There was a gentleman who talked about having this be part of a tourist program. route, I guess, would be, or maybe parties and stuff within the house. But what a neat way to also be able to recognize it ongoing and to have it be, I think, a part of a larger story and narrative for our city. So thank you. Thank you.

Thank you all for bringing this forward. I worked on a designation in northwest Denver for La Raza Park and we don't have very many designations in Denver that represent communities of color. When we did, Councilman Torres did the first one for La Alma Lincoln Park, and then I did the second one in Denver history for La Raza Park for the Chicano Movement in Northwest Denver. And before that, 98% of our designations represented the white elite Denver. And that's not the neighborhood I grew up in. My dad grew up in the Five Points neighborhood, delivered papers with Wellington Web, That was not his lived experience. His lived experience was going to schools where it was white only who could use the water fountains. He couldn't swim in his local pool because it said whites only. He had to deliver newspapers to the back door. because he was brown and he could not go in the front door. And so thank you for bringing this forward, because that's the Denver that I know. That's the Denver I was raised in. And when I became elected, I was fascinated at how our people aren't able to bring forward these designations. And so thank you for bringing forward this, because as we tell the history of Denver, This highlights how diverse Denver is and was and how important that culture is. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for bringing these forward. We just don't see enough of them. So I will absolutely be supporting that this evening. Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 0602.

members Gilmore. Gonzalez-Pedreras.

Aye.

Alvarez. Aye. Hines. Aye. Cashman. Aye. Lewis. Aye. Romero-Campbell. Aye. Sawyer. Aye. Watson. Aye. Madame President Sandoval.

Aye. Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. Ten ayes. Ten ayes. Council Bill 0602 has passed. Thank you. Congratulations. I put Council Bill 0521 changing the zoning classification for 361 through 363 West Avenue in Overland on the floor for final passage.

I move that Council Bill 26-0521 be placed upon final consideration and do pass.

It has been moved and seconded. The required public hearing for Council Bill 521 is open. May we please have the staff report?

Good afternoon, Council. My name is Abner Ramos-Alcedo. I am with Community Planning and Development, and I'm here to talk for the resigning request at 361 through 363 West Evans Avenue. So I'll try to keep this brief. It's hard to follow up such an amazing hearing. So as you all know, this is the agenda for the presentation. We'll start with the request, move on to location and context, the existing conditions, then we'll talk about the process to date, and lastly, the review criteria that was used to analyze this request. So the property is located in the red box at the center of the image. It is a little over 60,000 square feet, or just over 1.38 acres. Currently on the property, there are a number of, oh, sorry. There are a number of single unit buildings. Location and context, we are located in Council District 7. This is in Council Member Alvedrez's district. The neighborhood is the Overland. And then the existing zoning as it exists currently is predominantly I-8 to the north of Evans. It's a mix of East to the south. And as you approach Broadway, it becomes very commercial. So the proposed zone district is CMX8, that's urban center mixed use, eight stories, or up to eight stories. The allotted building forms are the townhouse, the general, and the shopfronts, given the location of the property. And then the existing land use matches sort of the existing zoning where there is industrial uses to the north of Evans. There's some residential to the south of Evans. And then as you approach Broadway, there are commercial, retail, and then some mixed use and office uses as well. So these are some images of the surrounding area. So on the top left, we have the image of the property itself. So as we can see, there is a single unit building, some units, single unit buildings, and then there's a lot of surface parking lots. And then to the bottom of the screen, we have the property just south, just across Evans Avenue, and that is a multi-unit building, or a mixed-use building. The process to date, we had the informational notice go out back in February, planning board noticed in March. The hearing for planning board was at the middle of April, followed by committee at the end of April. And then that brings us to today when we are having our city council hearing. There have been no comments received by RNOs or the public to date. And now the review criteria that has been used, starting with consistency with adopted plans, starting with comprehensive plan 2040, there are a number of vision elements that are met when we are focusing on equitable and affordable and inclusive Denver. This rezoning would facilitate the development of housing near transit and mixed use developments. It would also be meeting the environmentally resilient vision element by promoting infill development where infrastructure already exists. And then it would be producing strong and authentic neighborhoods by ensuring a mix of housing and services for a diverse population. Looking at Blueprint Denver, which is our next plan, we start with the Future Neighborhood Context Map. So this area is mapped urban center, which is what the C stands for in the CMX8. And it is very consistent with the statements outlined here, focusing on the second sentence. Even the residential areas are high mixed use, often with high intensity multi-unit residential and mixed use buildings. So that is consistent with the request. Similarly, we look at the future place map, and here we see that the property is mapped community center. These areas typically have heights up to 12 stories. This request is eight stories, so it is consistent with the future place guidance in Blueprint Denver and the Southwest Area Plan. And then the last map for Blueprint Number is the growth area strategies. This map outlines this property as a community center and corridor, which is meant to accommodate 25% of housing growth and 20% of employment growth. So that is consistent with the CMX8 zone district. Lastly, for the consistency with adopted plans, we have the Southwest Area Plan. This plan was recently adopted earlier this year, and as we can see, the future neighborhood context and the future place guidance remain the same. It was not updated after substantial community outreach and coordination with the council offices. Furthermore, in the land use and built form chapter, this property is mapped as high intensity mixed use area, which is consistent with the CMX8 zone district. The next review criteria that we're looking at is public interest. Given that this rezoning request is aligned and implementing citywide adopted plans, it is acting in public interest. And then lastly, looking at consistency with neighborhood context, zone district purpose, and intent statements, we see that this request is consistent. The CMX is consistent with the intent to have multi-unit residential and mixed-use commercial strips at commercial centers. This area is a commercial center and corridor. And then it is consistent with the general purpose and intent statement promoting active and pedestrian scale diverse areas through the use of building forms that clearly define and activate the public street edge. So with that, CPD recommendation is that based on the review criteria in the Denver Zoning Code, staff recommends approval of the application 2026 ReZone 0000009 by the full city council.

We have one individual signed up to speak this evening. Jesse Paris? Go ahead, go ahead.

Yes, good evening members of council that I was watching at home. That was in the council chambers. My name is Jessica. I'm representing for black star action for self defense, positive action. Commitment for social change as well as the unity party of Colorado, the North. Park Hill coalition, frontline, black noodles box box mission has revolutionary agenda. And I was hard at the road and bed bug infested legacy loss in the fine district 9, Darryl Watson's district of district 9, the historically black district of 5 points. And I am a candidate on the ballot for office for house district 8, the election is in November. In regards to this, I remember driving along Evans and seeing this place. I never know what it was, but now I know. Anytime I was on the West side, because I did go to West, shout out to my alumni. This is in her district if I'm not mistaken. So, yeah, I'm just full support of this rezoning. It meets all the criteria, so I want to get to the next 1. So I'll see you on the next 1.

All right, thank you. Do we have questions from members of council on council bill? 0521. Seeing none, the public hearing is closed. We have comments by members of council on Council Bill 0521. Councilwoman Alvidrez.

Thank you so much, Council President. I'll just say we did a lot of work on the Southwest Area Plan, and when these things come before, When all the work is done and all the outreach has been done, which in this case it has, there's not a lot to say. But this is transit-oriented development. I also want to mention that with the light rail and potentially COCO, Front Range Passenger Rail, maybe have a stop nearby eventually. So this is the perfect place for a development. I'm going to give a shout-out to Jesse Paris. I'm not going to say what class, so... West High School alumni, for sure. I'm really grateful for your work, and so I will be supporting, and I ask my colleagues to do so as well.

Thank you. Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 0521.

Council Member González-Gallegos. Aye. Alvitrez. Aye. Flynn.

Aye.

Heinz? Aye. Cashman? Aye. Lewis? Romero-Campbell? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Watson?

Aye.

Madame President Sandoval?

Aye. Madam Secretary, close the voting. Announce the results. Nine ayes. Nine ayes. Council Bill 0521 has passed. Thank you. Council Member Sawyer, will you put Council Bill 0634, approving an amendment to the Welton Corridor Urban Redevelopment Plan to add the Risonian Project to create the Risonian Project property and sales tax increment areas on the floor for final passage?

I move that Council Bill 26-0634 be placed upon final consideration and do pass.

It has been moved and seconded. The required public hearing for Council Bill 0634 is open. May we please have the staff report?

Good evening. It's good to be here tonight. I am Bill Pruder. It's Ed Dura. I'm the interim executive director at Dura, and I'm here to talk to you tonight about the... amendment to the Welton Quarter redevelopment plan to hopefully add the Rossonian project to it. So that's what we're talking about tonight. I've talked to most of you about this, but we can go through it again. The urban redevelopment plan area was created in 2012, and it's located between Broadway and Downing along Welton. And it's in the Five Points neighborhood, Council District 9. And it's about 85 acres. And the zoning, I'm actually way ahead of myself. The zoning is way over here. But I went ahead. So I'm going to go back. At the time the redevelopment area was created, the area was determined to be blighted in 2012. At the time, the plan was found being conformance with the Denver Comprehensive Plan and its supplements at that time. And urban redevelopment for that area is appropriate. At the time, tax increment financing was authorized but not approved for any projects. Since that time, we, you, have added five projects to the area, the most recent of which opened in April with the Hattie McDaniel 62 affordable condo units opening. So, very exciting. The Welton Corridor Urban Redevelopment Plan Amendment does two things. One, it approves the Rossonian project as an approved project and establishes the Rossonian property tax increment area for sales and property tax. Sorry, I said twice. Most of you have heard of this. By the way, I could show you the pictures because there we are. That's the area. There's the Rossonian in the yellow. And I talked about it's in five points in the size. The developer is Rossonian LLC. There are several people here who can answer questions that I might not be able to answer. And hopefully they're going to talk about a few other things later. Existing land use is vacant. So that's that's the It's a vacant lot, vacant hotel. So that's why we're here. The project itself is to refurbish the historic building into hotel rooms and a ground floor restaurant. The addition of an eight-story building between the Hooper Building and the Rossonian Building with hotel rooms and event space. You can kind of see the pictures in the middle. the conversion of two floors of the existing Hooper building from office space to hotel rooms, and the addition of ground floor retail in the Hooper building. And there's going to be 25 parking spaces available in the Hooper building. In summary, it's a total of 126 hotel rooms, 12,000 square feet of event and restaurant space, 6,400 square feet of retail. AS TO THE CURRENT COMPLIANCE, THE URBAN REDEVELOPMENT PLAN CONTINUES TO BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE RELEVANT PLAN OBJECTIVES THAT WERE IN PLACE AT THE TIME WHEN IT WAS CREATED. BLUEPRINT DENVER COMM PLAN 2000 AND THE NORTHEAST DENVER NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN AND ALSO THE URBAN RENEWAL AREA PLAN. So that's still going. The amendment, the blueprint, the Walton Quarter Amendment, conforms with the applicable planning documents currently, the ComPlan 2040, Blueprint Denver, and the Northeast Denver Neighborhood Plan. And I could read a lot about all that stuff up there, but the planning board looked at it. They said it was okay. They certified it. So that's one reason why we're here today. Okay, so as it relates to the urban redevelopment plan amendment, the proposed renewal project promotes the objectives of the urban redevelopment plan, and I could read them all, there's lots of them, but I'll talk about a few of them. To encourage retail and commercial development, and redevelopment that is socially and economically inclusive, and from which the urban redevelopment area and its environments can draw economic strength. To encourage the reuse of existing buildings where appropriate, including historic preservation and adaptive reuse, which we're basically doing both. To promote a diverse, sustainable neighborhood economy, including mixed use and commercial development opportunities along the urban redevelopment area. to encourage the participation of existing property owners within the urban redevelopment area in the redevelopment of their property. So, next up, TIF. The project itself has been underwritten by DURA to determine whether or not there is a need for tax increment assistance. We've done that underwriting and concluded that the project does require assistance in order to be delivered as it has been contemplated. We are looking to create a tax increment area for both sales and property tax increments to reimburse the redeveloper approximately $15.5 million. As you can see in the anticipated eligible cost, the majority of those are related to the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the Rossonian historic building. Generally TIF eligible project costs in this project will be used for the rehabilitation of the building, the utilities, fire protection, HVAC, and conveying in other parts of the project to enable the whole project to happen. Along the way, we have a couple more agreements we have to talk about because there's lots of agreements. So the first of which is we have an agreement with the Dura City Cooperation Agreement that will be voted on at the end of this, I believe. This agreement is under which the city and Dura are going to cooperate on the collection and remitting of the incremental taxes to Dura in order for us to be able to support the project. Excuse me. The tax increment area will have a life of a maximum of 25 years unless it terminates early, which would happen if the financial obligation is repaid in advance of 25 years. Along the way, the cooperation agreement works with DURA because we have our own requirements on the projects. So the cooperation agreement acknowledges that DURA will be making the redeveloper comply with these programs. The first is the first source hiring program. which we work with DHA to manage to hire people from Denver, living in Denver. Our small business enterprise utilization program, which requires that 23% of the project contracting opportunities go to small business enterprises. We have our Dura's construction employment opportunities program, which allocates 1% of the Dura project cost to construction training programs, which we administer. And then our project art requirement that 1% of the Dura projects cost be spent for art. And then prevailing wage applies on all of our projects. In this case, because there's really not anything within the budget that we've seen that is really would be done by the city if they didn't do it. So there probably aren't any prevailing wage issues on this project at this point. We've entered into other agreements that are important. We've entered into an agreement with Denver Public Schools and the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District to allow us to collect the incremental taxes. And they both said this project won't affect their ability to provide services, so we're good to go. And then some legislative findings that we should talk about. So just to quickly, the project is located in the Welton Quarter urban redevelopment area. There are no individuals, families, or business center concerns in those buildings. So we're not relocating anybody. Written notice of public hearing has been provided to all property owners, residents, and owners of business concerns in the area. No more than 120 days have happened since today. So I think we're good on that one. Craig, that's funny, right? Sorry, Craig is my lawyer. He likes me to say these things. The proposed plan amendment contains no property that was previously submitted to City Council and not approved. Obviously, the conformance with the comprehensive plan we talked about in the urban renewal area is amenable for maximum opportunity for redevelopment by private enterprise. The city and county of Denver will still have the ability to finance additional city infrastructure during the term of the TIF obligation. And we also have a long-term agreement with Five Points Bid to give them back their assessments. So that wasn't on the original deck, but we added that. And then the next thing is, I think the background, before I go to the background, I want to talk about public engagement because Dura has been to several meetings with the neighbors and the neighborhoods, and the developer has really worked hard, gotten some good letters of support. I believe at least a couple of those people are going to talk about that today, so I probably won't jump in on that. In the background, obviously, this has been vacant for 30 years. The developer has been working on it for at least 10 years. And we're sitting here now, and I think they're ready to go now. But it's taken 10 years to get here. And it's a really important building. It's a historic building. You can read all that. But I think it's going to be really cool when it looks like this in about two years. Yes? They'll tell us about that later. So that's really all I have. I'm here for questions if you have them now, or I'll sit down and still be here if more questions come up.

Thank you. We have six individuals signed up to speak this evening. First up, we have .

Good evening, council president, members of the city council. My name is Paul Books. I'm a real estate developer with Palisade Partners at 2700 South Broadway, and one of the owners of the Rossonian. The Rossonian has been one of the most talked about hotels in Denver, despite not being open since 1973. Hopefully with your help tonight, we can change that. I wanna start by thanking this council for your time and your service. A specific thank you to Councilman Watson. Your engagement in Five Points has meant a great deal to this project and to the community. And thank you to Bill Pruder and the entire DURA team. You've been an outstanding partner throughout the process. Also, thank you to John Deffenbaugh with Historic Denver. They've been a great partner as well. I've been involved in Five Points since 2013. We've completed four projects in the neighborhood, two of which we still own. I served on the Five Points Business District Board, which helped lay the groundwork for the Five Points BID, where I am proud to serve as a board member today. I purchased the Rossonian from the late, great Carl Bourgeois on August 16th, 2017, the same day my daughter Lillian was born. I can honestly say it was one of the best and most expensive days of my life. This tax increment financing is one of the final pieces that makes the Russonian possible. Without it, this project does not happen. But with it, we are working through the last remaining steps to break ground this summer. Five Points has been waiting for this, and we plan to do this with the community. We are committed to all of DURA's goals, including their small business enterprise goals, and working with Millinder-White to pursue women and minority-owned subcontractors. In addition, we are working closely with our hospitality manager, Coral Tree, to build community engagement pillars into the operations of the hotel from day one. This ensures that this project can be enjoyed by visitors while benefiting the local community as well. The Rossonian isn't just a building. It's a statement that we can honor the cultural soul of the neighborhood while pushing it into a vibrant, activated future. There is real momentum building in Five Points right now, and I believe the Rossonian will stand as one of its cornerstones for years to come. Council members, I ask you for your support tonight. I've been working in Five Points for over a decade, and I can't wait to see what the next decade will bring. We have several members of our team here tonight and happy to answer your questions. Thank you very much.

First, I want to wish health and long life to Councilwoman Paradis. For this public hearing, I want to bring a perspective from my service on the Curtis Park Neighbors Board in the early 2010s, including the 2012 creation of the Welton corridor and urban redevelopment plan. In the year leading up to the adoption of the urban redevelopment plan, Dura held many information sessions with the community and made sure that everybody understood the purpose of the prerequisite condition study and discussed the primary reason to pursue an urban redevelopment plan, which is access to tax increment financing for projects that further the goals of the plan. Not only did the five points business district, which is, you just heard was the predecessor to the current fully support the creation of the district, but so did all the surrounding neighborhoods. You have the 2012 letter from Curtis park neighbors as an attachment to Curtis park neighbors, current support letter in your packet and a similar support letter from Whittier and the old San Rafael neighborhood organizations are in legislature for the same time. But of course, the project we all wanted and want to happen most is the rehabilitation and active use of the Russonian. It is the iconic building of the corridor and in the heart of Five Points. 14 years later, here we are. Finally, the right project is happening and tax increment financing will make the project possible. I encourage council support for amending the urban redevelopment plan and setting the tax increment area for the Russonian. Thank you.

Thank you, Joe. Next up, we have Jesse Paris.

Yes, good evening, members of council, those watching at home, those in the council chambers. My name is Jesse 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 North Park Hill Coalition, Frontline Black News, Chewbacca's Black Experience Enhanced, the revolutionary agenda. And I reside at the Roach and Bearbug infested Legacy Lofts in Councilman Darrell Watson's District of Defined, District 9, the historically Black District of Five Points. I am in full support of this. This has been a long time coming, at least 40 years that I know of. And I welcome the redevelopment. And I just want to know, is this the final piece that is needed to get this whole thing off the ground? If somebody could please answer that question, I would greatly appreciate it. Appreciate you allowing me to speak tonight. And farewell parody, hopefully we get somebody better to replace you.

Except we have Robert Price. Robert? If you could unmute Robert.

There we go. Is that better? Thank you. Good evening, Madam President and members of City Council. My name is Robert Price. I reside in Curtis Park and I'm on the board of Curtis Park Neighbors, which is a Denver registered neighborhood organization, and I'm speaking today on their behalf. The Rossonian is the iconic building of the Five Points Historic Cultural District and the beloved anchor and the heart of the corridor. It's the building you most often see on every news story about events taking place in Five Points. Sadly, this icon has been vacant for decades, waiting for the right project and support to enable its rehabilitation and activation. And now, with the Rossonian's rehab on the horizon, this tax increment financing will be an important part in making it a success. Revitalizing this building honors the legacy of the Five Points community. It creates employment opportunities for neighbors, activates the key center of the historic corridor, and will catalyze more reinvestment along and around Welton Street. The Curtis Park Neighbors R&O enthusiastically supports this bill to amend the Welton Corridor urban redevelopment plan to add the Rossonian project, and to create the Rossonian project property and sales tax increment area. This position was discussed and unanimously approved at our March 16th, 2026 board meeting. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next up, we have Norman Harris.

Good evening, Council. It's great to see you all again. My name is Norman Harris. I serve as the executive director of the Five Points Business Improvement District. I am a co-owner of Spangling Brewery on Welton Street, and I serve as the lead organizer of Denver's Juneteenth Music Festival, which annually welcomes more than 20,000 people to the historic Five Points neighborhood. I'm here tonight in strong support of the tax increment financing request for the Rossonian Hotel Redevelopment Project. Over the last several years, as my colleague Paul spoke, Five Points has begun to experience a level of momentum that many of us have worked towards for decades. We're seeing new businesses opening their doors, historic buildings being renovated, public spaces activated, cultural programming expanding, and more people choosing to spend their time and invest their resources along the Welton Corridor. As someone who works every day to support the businesses and property owners, operates a business on the corridor, and organizes one of Denver's largest cultural celebrations, I can tell you that the energy is real. There's renewed confidence in Five Points and renewed belief in what this corridor can become. The Rossonian Hotel has become the opportunity to be the catalyst that takes the momentum to the next level. Catalyst projects create a ripple effect, They increase investment, they attract visitors, they encourage surrounding property owners to improve their buildings, they create jobs, they generate economic activity for restaurants, retailers, artists, musicians, and entrepreneurs. Most importantly, they send a message that the future of Five Points is worth investing in. The Rossonian is uniquely positioned to do exactly that. This project will bring new life to one of the most important corners in our neighborhood while preserving one of Denver's most iconic cultural landmarks. It honors the legacy of musicians, business owners, and community leaders who made Five Points the Harlem of the West while creating new opportunities for future generations. I'm particularly encouraged by the development team's commitment to establishing a community advisory board to ensure the project remains connected to neighborhood voices and continues to honor the history of the culture of Five Points. I'm also excited by their commitment to utilizing local contractors and workforce participation so the economic benefits of this investment are shared within the community. Simply put, the Rossonia is more than a hotel project, it is an economic development project. historic preservation project. It's a cultural investment and it's a catalyst project. I respectfully ask for your support for this TIF request so that together we can build upon the momentum already underway and help us usher in the next chapter of the Five Points revitalization. Thank you for your consideration.

John Deffenbaugh.

Hello again members of Denver City Council. My name is John Deffenbaugh with Historic Denver at 1420 Ogden Street. The history of the Rossonian Hotel is well documented and I don't know about you but for me it's difficult to think about it without becoming quite angry and emotional because what happened there exists and if you know about the history of the Rossonian you know about the dark side of Denver's history. You know about redlining, about oppression, about racism, and about restrictive zoning practices. You know about singers who are performing in ritzy, white-orientated hotels downtown that they weren't able to stay at, hence coming back to the Rossonian to give the performances of their lives, so much so that many of those who used to patronize the hotels downtown would then come to the Rossonian to watch the better performances. This is a project, I would just echo what Norm said before me, that's been so long coming. It's an icon of Five Points, an anchor of our city, one of the most important buildings in Denver. And these projects, Jura and other public agencies exist to support the private sector. in overcoming the obstacle that some of these historic preservation projects and cultural projects need to get them over the finish line. The private sector sometimes can't do this by itself, and I would very much strongly ask you to support the creation of this district, to allow this finance to flow, to allow this project to continue and this building to be brought back to life after so many years.

That concludes our speakers. Do we have questions from members of council on Council Bill 0634?

Council Pro Tem, Mayor Campbell. Thank you, Madam President. I was trying to decide if I would ask, I'm going to ask my question here. To the speakers that have talked about how the project is going to be incorporated in use, and I think it looks like a fabulous, you know, beautiful hotel, but in honor of its history, Are you having conversations about the accessibility for artists and for people to be able to access this hotel? Or is it going to be something that just is very unattainable, a price that I wouldn't be able to afford a night or that others would? And I don't know if you're already having those conversations, but I wanted to provide an opportunity for you to speak to that directly if there are conversations underway.

Yeah, I can speak to that. My name is Sarah White. I'm also with Palisade Partners, one of the co-owners and co-developers. I'll be speaking mostly on behalf of Coral Tree, our hospitality partners. We've been having a lot of conversations with them about how to do exactly that. And Opening, if everything stays on track, is still two plus years out, so we don't have all of the details, but we've put together a community pillar framework, and I can run through that and some of the ideas that we're working through with them. We are looking to work up until opening on finding partners to work with through all of these things. So pillar one is economic inclusion, which some of the ways that we anticipate being able to meet that is local and minority vendor participation targets, opportunities for five points, entrepreneurial pop-ups, and also transparent reporting goals to the community for how we're meeting those. Pillar two is workforce development, which could include paid internships, local hiring benchmarks again, and partnerships with area schools and hospitality training programs. I know Coral Tree, they are a local Denver-based company, and they've already started looking into the existing hospitality training programs for local people. Pillar three is cultural preservation. There's a lot here. So some of the things that we've talked through are music residency programs for local musicians, artist in residence initiatives, through potential rotating gallery exhibits. We're still working through all of that, as well as historical exhibits. So a mix of current artists and participants in the neighborhood as well as information about the history of the project and the neighborhood and doing it in a way that is more than just a you know static historic installation we want it to be engaging we want it to be interpretive And lastly, pillar four would be community governance. We do anticipate putting together a community advisory council of local neighborhood folks, business partners that our hospitality project or hospitality managers would run. They've done this at other projects across the country and have had good success with it. Again, annual impact reporting and exploring event space grants for neighborhood nonprofits. So it's not an inclusive list. It's not an exclusive list, but we're definitely working through it. And we're really excited to bring some of this to the neighborhood.

I'm glad that you've been talking about those four pillars and that you have things that are underway and thinking about it in a, I think, Norman, you had said in your comments, in a very holistic way of incorporating the history to be able to move forward. So thank you for those comments.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Pro Tem Tamara Campbell, for your question about accessibility. It piqued my interest. I think we can have nice things and accessibility at the same time. I think, you know, partnered with Mr. Deffenbaugh when we talked about the Greek amphitheater, which is now 103 years old, something like that, and I said that we can have historic preservation and accessibility at the same time. The Rossonian, sorry, has been vacant longer than the ADA has been law, which apparently chokes me up, or I've got a cookie in my throat. And so I wonder what your Palisades thought is about accessibility. I'm guessing because of the size of the renovation, it don't trigger ADA requirements, is that right?

Yeah, so the benefit of our approach to the rehabilitation and addition is we are essentially creating a whole new structure. There's an eight story addition and it's all going to be tied together. So when you're in inside of the building, you kind of won't know when you move between the historic footprint and the new tower. And so essentially we are fully compliant with all building codes. The only areas where there's a little bit of gray area is the street level. entries because of water levels and things like that. But we do anticipate having fully ADA compliant entries. It's just not every entry point along the building is able to be, but the main entrances will be. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. Next up, that concludes our questions from members of council. Public hearing is closed. We have comments from members of Council on Council Bill 0634. Council Member Watson.

Thank you, Council President. Once again, I mean, what a dream. We talked a little about this last week or a week before. The weeks are rolling into each other when we did the 10-year extension of the Business Improvement District. But I recall coming to Five Points, a little 17-year-old, new to Denver, coming over to Capri Chicken and watching this hotel, the Rossonian. And knowing, because I was a history nerd, knowing that this was a place where jazz artists played, knowing that this was a welcoming spot that community members and folks across the country, when they came to Denver if they were black, They stepped foot in there. And many of the other places on the strip, the Rossonian is more than a development. And I know you know this, Paul, and your friends at Palisade Partners, as well as Melinda White. This development means a lot more than just simply another hotel in Denver. This is a history and history. of our city, a history of our people that for so many generations, many of us, we never thought it was going to be real. I did not say anything about this redevelopment out of fear of jinxing it myself. Outside of our meetings and sitting in the community meetings, we didn't publish anything in my newsletter. I am absolutely, was terrified that we would get to the point that once again, community would not be able to realize the hope of this building. To connect to my colleagues, just the uniqueness of this building. Many of you know Clea Parker Robinson, and her dance ensemble is just about four blocks down the street from here. Clea Parker spent most of her young childhood in the Rossonia. I think she was... born and her family moved to the Rossonian. So the wild idea that now she has one of the world-renowned dance studios just about four or five blocks from here, and finally we can breathe life because of the work of these folks and many others the decades before. And so I encourage my colleagues to enthusiastically join me in voting for this, that funding is necessary. Thank you, John, as always, for Historic Denver's partnership, leadership. You don't have to move that far. Partnership and leadership in this process. It is our history. It matters to us, and it matters that you are a part of this as well. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you so much. Council Member Height?

Thank you, Madam President. I would share with you why I'm going to vote against this, but I'm not. This is an amazing development, and I'm very excited to see it come to fruition, the designs I've seen for a long time. Sorry, was that too much for me?

It was too much for me. That's too much tonight.

I'm sorry. So I do want to thank everyone who came here to present. I think it's a fabulous project. On paper, on the screen, and in reality. And one comment about Mr. Deffenbaugh. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to historic preservation in our city. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. When I was working for Councilwoman Montero, when I started this city in 2012, I remember learning about this project. So for the gentleman who spoke, I was one of the council aides who you actually talked to under Councilwoman Montero. And I thought in her span, this would come to fruition. And then I worked for my predecessor, Councilmember Espinosa, and I thought it would come under his leadership. And now here I am in my second term. And here it is. So I have been watching this transform over the last 12 years that I've been here. No, actually, that's 14 years. I can't do math very well. 14 years and proud to support this and just really look forward. to bringing life back to that corner and bringing life back to that building. I don't think I've ever been in that building. I think it's been closed most of my life and so I can't wait to go into that building and stay there and celebrate it. So just know you have a huge advocate over here who's been watching this transform over the last We'll just call it a decade to be generous. So I'm absolutely supportive of this tonight. And for the public comment that was made disparaging my colleague, we don't encourage that and I don't accept that and I didn't know how to exactly stop that when it was happening. And I just want to publicly go out and say that all of us do this work because we love it. It's not easy. And I will say one thing. It's easy to attack someone in that manner. And I will not stand idly by while people cyber bully. I'm sick of it. And I know this has nothing to do with this public hearing, but I had to say something because I'm so sick of it. Sick of the cyber bullying and so sick of the bullying in general that I'm going to start speaking up about it and I'm going to start calling it out every single time it happens. So council member Watson, I'm so sorry that that happened to you and it's not acceptable period. So, thank you all for letting me go off on my little moment of personal privilege. Madam secretary roll call on council bill. 0634. Hi.

Alvarez? Aye. Flynn?

Aye.

Hines? Aye. Cashman?

Aye.

Lewis? Aye. Romero-Campbell? Aye. Sawyer? Aye. Watson?

Aye. Madam President Sandoval? Aye. Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results. Ten ayes. Ten ayes. Council Bill 0634 has passed. Congratulations. On Monday, June 29th. 2026 Council will hold a required public hearing on Council Bill 0619, changing the zoning classification for 17671 through 17675 East 64th Avenue in DIA and a required public hearing on Council Bill 0654, changing the zoning classification for 3001 South Federal Boulevard and 3058 South Main Street. May Stanton Way in Harvey Park South. A little tongue-tied tonight. Any protests against Council Bill 0619 or 0654 must be filed later than noon on Monday, June 22, 2026. There being no further business before this body, this meeting is adjourned.