Denver City Council meeting today is Monday, March 9th, 2026.

Tonight is being interpreted into Spanish.

Sam or Jasmine, uh, would you please introduce yourself and let the viewers know how to enable translation on their devices?

Yes, of course.

Thank you for having us.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Sam Guzman.

With the CLC, joining you virtually through Zoom.

And along with my colleague Jasmine, we will be interpreting today's meeting into Spanish.

Please allow me a quick minute while I give instructions in Spanish on how to access interpretation.

Thank you very much.

I have a gavel.

So we're gonna use my cup.

Um welcome to the Denver City Council meeting on Monday, March 9th, 2026.

Council members, please join Council Member Sawyer as they lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Under God, liberty and justice for all.

Council members, 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 Yu Cheyenne and Arapahoe peoples.

We also recognize the 48 contemporary tribal nations that are historically tied to the lands that make up the state of Colorado.

We honor elders past, present, and future, and those who have stewarded stewarded it, stewarded this land through generations.

We also recognize that government, academic, and cultural institutions were founded upon and continue to enact exclusions and erasures of indigenous peoples.

May this acknowledgement demonstrate a commitment to working to dismantle ongoing legacies of oppression and inequities and recognize the current and future contributions of indigenous communities in Denver.

Madam Secretary, roll call.

Council members Heinz.

Here.

Flynn.

Here Gilmore.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Here.

Lewis.

Here.

Parity.

Here.

Romera Campbell.

Here.

Sawyer?

Here.

Watson.

Here.

Eleven members present.

There are is that right?

Yep, there are.

Oh, that's right.

There are 11 members present.

Uh Council has a quorum.

Approval of the minutes.

Are there any corrections to the minutes of March 2nd?

Nope.

Seeing none.

The minutes stand approved.

Council announcements.

Are there any announcements from Council?

From members of Council.

Okay, let's go ahead and get started with Council Member Parity.

Yes.

Very quick.

Moment of personal privilege.

It's part of how we mark the time around here.

My daughter Imogen turned eight on Friday.

Happy birthday.

Happy birthday, sweetie.

Happy birthday.

Councilmember Alvidres.

Thank you.

On that note, I'll share.

It was my sister's birthday yesterday, and everyone always asks me, Oh, you have the sister?

Yes, I do have a sister.

She does not make merry many appearances, but happy birthday, Monica.

In addition to that, I wanted to share that this Saturday, March 14th from 9 a.m.

to noon at my alma mater West High School, Go Cowboys, for the next community open house for the Burnham Yard Small Area Plan.

The meeting will feature an interactive exercise to provide input on preferences and priorities for how the area should redevelop.

It's important that community have a strong voice in the development of this area, so please be sure to join us and advocate for how you want to see our city grow and prosper.

Again, that's Saturday, March 14th.

Drop in any time between 9 a.m.

and noon.

It's an open house in a West High School's address is 951 Alati Street.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilburner.

Thank you.

Councilmember Torres.

Thank you so much.

I was also going to mention the Burnham Yard open house.

One thing I'll just add.

Thank you, Councilwoman Avides, for giving the details.

Because it sounds counterintuitive.

The small area plan is a big location.

The large development review is the smaller location.

But the small area plan covers everything from the light rail to the Platte River and from Colfax to Alameda.

That's a huge swath of Loma Lincoln Park and Baker neighborhoods.

So it includes a lot of our industrial corridor.

How we treat the river needs to come into play into what goes into this plan, how we interact and connect to highways, how we get across both rail and river systems, and what the impact of those kinds of changes over 20 years might be to the neighborhoods.

These are well established historic neighborhoods.

And this is our time to kind of talk about the future of what happens in this area.

So I look forward to seeing folks there at 9 a.m.

West High School.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Lewis.

Thank you so much.

I just wanted to make an announcement regarding our community panels.

So it's that time of a year again.

We will be hosting our community panels for input from our constituents in District 8 this year.

We'll have four meetings, which will be virtual sessions on Wednesdays beginning Wednesday, March 25th in the evening.

It's free for you all to sign up and attend.

Please email Jesse Carey at Jesse Dacarey at Denvergov.org with the subject line community panels for more information and a sign up, and I hope you all do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Watson.

Thank you, President Pro Tem.

Point of personal privilege.

I took four days off to celebrate my 21st anniversary with my delightful, wonderful, amazing husband.

So Dr.

Mike Wenk, if you are watching, uh love you.

We had a wonderful time and just came back this morning, and so I am refreshed and ready to go.

Also, if you have not signed up for the District 9 newsletter, do it now.

I'm telling you, it's amazing, chock full of great information.

You can go to District 9 at Denvergov.org.

There's one article in there that I wanted to elevate.

It's uh TrashParty.org.

There are some neighbors in the Clayton neighborhood that came together and created a website where neighbors can just simply go out with a pail and um trash pickup stuff, and they can log their hours of picking up trash in their neighborhoods, and it spread like wildfires throughout District 9.

So we now had trash parties happening in Clayton, Hall, Whittier, and the plan is for it to go all through uh to find District 9.

So thank you so much to the Clayton neighbors for creating that interactive um um app.

And as we're going into spring, um we can do some spring cleanups uh throughout our neighborhood.

Thank you, President Protestant.

Thank you.

Councilmember Cashman.

Uh yeah, thank you.

Uh President of Pro Tem.

Uh we have people telling us since we're doing it on April 1st.

It's gotta be a joke.

It can't be possible.

This is simply too much, but it's true.

We're holding our annual Academy in the community on uh April 1st, 6 to 8 p.m.

at Cook Park Recreation Center.

What's so amazing, almost beyond belief.

We will have over 30 city departments, uh, other uh local agencies.

Uh you'll get to talk to Denver Water, XL Energy, uh Denver Mountain Parks Foundation, uh, the uh Department of Community Planning and Development, Public Health and Environment, Parks and Recreation.

So many city people there to answer your questions face to face to give you the information you've been asking for.

It is amazing, it's true.

April 1st, 6 to 8 p.m., Cook Park Recreation Center.

Be there.

Wow.

I know I want to go.

Gee, we're all gonna show up.

Oh and it's not to mention more.

Awesome.

Um, thank you, uh, Councilmember Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Well, I'm gonna make the deal even sweeter because I'll be there.

But wait, there's more.

Um, Councilman Cashman, it may the memo might have not hit you yet, but I'm planning to also be there as I was last year for your council.

So I'm looking forward to that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um we have a proclamation that is on consent, and I just wanted to lift it up that it's uh for Denver Police Officer Barbara Cisneris during Women's History Month for her service on the force and then her continued um service and dedication to the children's hospital, and that will be a proclamation on consent today.

I too also have a very exciting um we we're calling it a District 4 open house, um, very similar uh with on next Wednesday, March 18th, doors open at 5 p.m.

And this is at Thomas Jefferson High School.

Uh there will be hopefully snacks as well.

Um, and we are going to have the vibrant Denver Bond team, Dottie, the Office of Aging.

Um, also tabling there will be um a group with unlocking housing choices.

Uh we have Denver Water, the Denver Library, um, and more.

So if you can um please come 5 p.m.

5 p.m.

Uh next Wednesday, March 18th at TJ.

And I will turn it over to you, wait there's more, and Councilmember okay, Councilmember Gonzalez Gutierrez will also have a table there.

So we are we are glad that you will be there with us.

Um so please come join us.

Councilmember Sawyer.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tem.

Apologies, we jumped in at the last minute.

Um, but wanted to just let everyone know that we have been to budget and policy uh a couple of times to talk about a potential charter change um that would change the timeline of the budget, um, including potentially make it a two-year budget instead of a one-year budget.

Um we are going to Councilmember Lewis, Councilmember Gilmore, and I are going to host a community meeting on Tuesday the 17th at 6 p.m.

This is an online community meeting, so you can still make it to your St.

Patrick's Day celebration if you so desire.

Um but join us Tuesday the 17th uh 6 p.m.

online.

You can find the link to sign up uh on any of our social medias.

Um, but we'll just talk a little bit about where we are with that proposal, um, kind of some of the different considerations that we have gone through and where we're starting to uh narrow down and land.

So hopefully you guys will uh join us for that next Tuesday.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Alvidres.

I didn't mean to get back in.

Sorry, thank you.

Well, just in case we were good.

All right, there are no presentations, there are no communications.

There is one proclamation being read this afternoon.

Council members Watson, Councilmember Torres, Parity, and Gonzalez Gutierrez, would you please read proclamation 26-0244?

Uh yes, Council President Partem, uh proclamation number 260244, recognizing the 50th annual Denver March Powell.

Whereas Denver is the home of as many as 80 American Indian tribes represented by residents of the Denver area.

And whereas the Youth Enrichment Program participants and families have in 1974 to establish a time uh to get together to give honor and celebrate traditional tribal values, which lay the groundwork to Powell into the 21st century, and whereas the 50th annual Denver Powell, Denver March Pow Wow, will be held Friday, March 20th through Sunday, March 22nd, 2026 at the Denver Coliseum and Whereas activities at the Powell will include traditional tribal storytelling, native author readings, dancing and drumming, the opportunity to purchase authentic Native American arts and crafts and food, including delicious Indian fry bread.

And whereas annual events include the introduction of the Powell royalty, the grand entry processional, the beginning of the song A Living Hope, and coordination of the Denver March Powell Princess.

And whereas Mashta Little Cook, the 2025 Denver March Powell Princess has traveled throughout the United States and Canada, proudly representing the Denver March Powell and the city and county of Denver as a cultural ambassador.

And whereas the Denver City Council recognize and appreciates the dedication and commitment of the board of directors and staff for their combined 160 years plus of service to the annual Powell.

And whereas during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, when the 2021 and 2020 and 2021 powwows were canceled, the board and staff faced profound uncertainty and deep concern for the future of the event.

But through prayer ceremony, resilience and steadfast leadership, the Denver March Powell endured this challenging period.

And whereas the Denver City Council extends its gratitude to President Ken Lido, President, Vice President Virginia Irving, Secretary and Treasurer Diane and Buck, Board Member Nancy Bruyard, Board Member Kelly Bachman, the Lady Member Emeritus Virginia Cantana, Executive Director Grace B.

Gillette, and Powell Coordinator Larissa E.

The word for their commitment to sharing and maintaining their tribal traditions.

And whereas the Denver March Pow Wow has achieved national recognition through its permanent documentation in the Library of Congress's local legacies project, preserved in the National Archives, and its permanent exhibit in the Our Universal's Gallery at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, a major museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

And whereas the annual POW is an important annual event for the region's Indian people, making a powerful contribution to passing their cultural heritage from one generation to the next, maintaining pride in their heritage and promoting cultural awareness and the Native American peoples for the general public.

Now therefore be it proclaimed by the Denver City Council that the Denver City Council hereby designates the days of March 21st, 20th, 21st, and 22nd, 2026 as Denver Native American Cultural Days in honor of the many Native Americans who make their home in the Denver region, recognizes the occasion of the 50th annual Denver March Pow Wow, and commend commends members of the PowWow Committee for their efforts to make the event a cultural and educational success for the Denver community, and that the clerk of the city and county of Denver shall affix the seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation and that a copy be transmitted to Larissa E.

Nobraid and the Denver March Pow Wow Committee.

Councilmember Watson, your motion to adopt pause.

I move that proclamation 26024 or be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council.

Council members, I'll start with Councilmember Watson.

Thank you, President Pro Tem.

The March Pow Wow, I've uh visited, participated, have uh been involved with that from uh I think one of my earliest years since I uh moved back to Denver.

I think the importance of the work that you all do is often elevating and identifying opportunities for communities to see and hear indigenous culture in places and spaces that folks often don't.

And so I am honored uh to have been asked by Councilmember Torres to be on this proclamation and honored uh to see you here tonight and to listen uh to you perform as well.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Uh Council versus what's Council Member raised your hand, I think I raised my finger.

Um thank you.

Um thank you so much.

Um, and thank you for being here.

Um it's always I think a joy for us to be able to celebrate this.

And I remember that so vividly when Pow Wow canceled in 2020.

Um, and that was that was the real reminder for me that we were in something very serious because that would take something, only something very serious to cancel this um remarkable event.

Um it is a staple in Denver's history, and so I thank you all for keeping it alive, keeping it activated, and it's been amazing to see those numbers continue to rise, and it's as crowded as I've ever seen it in the most recent uh few years.

So thank you for all your hard work and really excited to go this year.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Dorn.

Sorry, I didn't put my cue thing on.

My apologies.

Um, no, this is it, it's really exciting, and I'm really grateful to be able to be part of this as one of the at-large members and um being part of this proclamation and knowing we're looking at the 50th, right?

Annual Powwow, that's a lot.

I mean, that's half a century.

I know it doesn't make up for everything else, but it that is a very long time in marking a half century of celebrating indigenous culture right here in our city.

Um, the resilience and community um that that brings to our city, but also bringing light to the fact that indigenous people are not historical figures.

Um, they're people who exist today and are a part of our present, contributing to our communities every single day.

And so I'm really proud that we have had this tradition in our city, um, and that the people that are part of that continue to um pass that down um generation to generation.

So thank you so much, and thank you for for letting me be part of this.

Thank you, Councilmember Parity.

Yeah, I'm proud of us not a large member of City Council to be all the sponsor this.

Um, I think it's so beautiful that Denver continues to be this place of confluence like it's always been.

Um, and just realizing that we have um one of the sort of first in the spring and biggest um powwows, people from pretty much every state, people from all over the world coming here every year.

That's a lot of who we are as Denver.

Um and I also um I also really appreciate that um this is one of those times when all of all of that history can sort of be um uplifted, it can grow, you know, people are there talking about it amongst each other, making making those kinds of connections.

Um just to make sure that um that we don't do exactly what Councilmember Governor Scoutera said, which is um act like this is all sort of dead history, right?

Um so and I'm also very grateful that my daughter goes to a school that's right by the Coliseum and they usually get to go.

And so um it's been really wonderful for me as a parent to watch her um grow up with the idea that um indigenousity is just part of America and that you know um she can see the beautiful and living and vibrant and multicultural um experience with something like the powwow with all these different native cultures.

So thank you so much for working on it and um everything that you do to make it real.

Thanks.

Councilmember Lewis.

I just wanted to say thank you, and you all look absolutely amazing.

Thank you for the work that you do.

Um the Denver Pow Wow is one of my most favorite events um and places to go and to take a family um to take my family every year.

Um and so I just appreciate and congratulations on 50 years and for another 50 more and and beyond.

Um it is truly, I think, um a place where it just family connects and um and you make new friends and I think uh just appreciate uh the sponsors for bringing this forward.

All right, um, Madam Secretary, roll call.

Hi.

I'll be there.

Hi.

Flynn.

Hi Gonzalez Gutierrez.

I Louis Parody.

I Sawyer.

I've Watson.

I Madam Rotem.

I Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

Eleven eyes.

Eleven eyes proclamation 26-024 has been adopted.

Um we have time for the proclamation acceptance.

Council members, who would you like to invite up for the proclamation?

Thank you, Madam Uh.

I'd love to invite up Larissa Nowbrae, who will let us know who she's joined by as well.

Thank you for being here.

Um I subac Sanishka Bathan Swadu Hi Hong Gi Wii Aoi.

Hello, friends and relatives, my name is Larissa Nelbraid, I'm the Power Coordinator for Denver March Pow Wow.

And I would like to say on behalf of the current committee and all the people that have served on the committee, whether participants, um vendors, um, dancers, singers, we are thankful and thank you for this year in um honoring us with our 50th anniversary.

Um today we have our singer Joe Kai Waters.

He has Cherokee in Southern Cheyenne, and we have our Southern Buckskin dancer Carla Birdshead, she is Southern Cheyenne and Arapahoe, and her daughter Morning Miss at Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho as well, and she is the current garden of the gods powwow princess, and they are also descendants of the Sand Creek Massacre.

Um and we are still here, and we're gonna have a performance for you guys.

Thank you.

We have a lot planned for this year, and we also have the Nuggets, Avalanche, and the Mammoth planning on visiting.

So we're really excited for this here.

We hope we can attend.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, uh, please read the bills for introduction.

From the community planning and housing committee, 26-0176, a bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification for 1760 East 56th Avenue and 4991 North Telluride Street in Gateway Green Valley Ranch.

Oh, there we go.

Council members, this is your last opportunity to call out an item.

Councilmember Sawyer, will you make the motions for us this evening?

Yes, Madam President Pro Tem.

Um now I will do a recap.

Under resolutions, I have called out Council Resolution 26-0184 for a vote.

Council resolution 260158 has been called out for questions by Council Member Lewis and Council Resolution 26-0105 has been called out for comments by Council Members Lewis and Parity.

And for questions, comments, and a vote by Councilmember Alvidres.

Under bills for introduction, no items have been called out.

Under bills for final consideration, no items have been called out.

Under pending, no items have been called out.

Council Member Sawyer, will you please put Council Resolution 26-0184 on the floor for adoption?

I move that Council Resolution 26-184 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

Um I will actually I called this out uh because I have a family member that works for HDR.

And so I will be abstaining from the vote.

Yeah.

So he gets out.

Okay.

Oh, I thought we were going past me.

Okay.

Um Lewis.

I just don't stay.

Parity?

Hi.

Torres.

I Watson.

Hi.

Madam Prince Remark Campbell.

Usually you do.

I don't think she's done that before you Madam Secretary.

Um, thank you.

Uh Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

Council resolution 26-0184 has been adopted.

Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens.

Council Resolution 26-0158.

Council Resolution 26-0158, a resolution approving and providing for the execution of a proposed grant agreement between the city and county of Denver and the State of Colorado, Regional Transportation District RTD concerning the RTD Dr.

Cog surface transportation block, grant central corridor vision and alternatives analysis program and the funding therefore.

Councilmember Lewis, please go ahead with your questions on Council Resolution 0158.

Thank you.

So I have a few questions for Dottie, and then I have a few questions for RTD.

So I asked these, and I'd love for you to confirm them here tonight.

Um so will this study stand in the way of the important repair work that RTD is looking to do in the area A?

Thank you, uh Councilmember David Krutzinger, Transit Director for City and County of Denver.

No, this will not get in the way of RTD's repair work.

Okay.

Um so if this contract is approved, can RT RTD still engage in the repair work while the study is occurring?

So it doesn't have to complete before they can start the work in Area A?

Thank you for the question.

Um yes, RTD can still engage in necessary repair work during the study.

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

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

Do any parts of it need to conclude?

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

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

Uh all necessary repair work can be completed independent of this study.

Okay, thank you.

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

Thank you.

Um RTD and the city are looking for clarity from the community around the outcomes on Welton.

And part of the work is also to um look at the um downings section that has been previously looked at um but has um not had a lot of attention recently.

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

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

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

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

Okay, you're giving me different answers.

Okay, you're giving me different answers, and I just want to make sure I understand.

I I asked explicitly, does the does the study need to conclude or any aspect of the study need to conclude in order to be able to move forward on the repair work?

So the L line is one of RTD's oldest rail cars, and so I want to make sure that we are able to do the safety work that RTD is proposing, and that the study does not need to be concluded in order to be able to move forward.

But what I hear you saying is that you all will have to wait to hear from here from community, conclude that in order to be able to move forward with the repair work.

And I just want Councilman Watson, I just want to I just want to make sure I'm understanding.

Okay, let me be clear.

Um RTD's downtown rail replacement project includes some elements that go beyond essential safety replacements, and we'll provide answers to RTD's study.

RTD has also made mention of a um low four uh level boarding study for light rail.

They intend to convert their trains to low floor in about 10 years.

So having information about both of those pieces will help us make the best decisions now so that we are not delaying future projects, nor are we investing unwisely in additional repair now that would be torn out later.

How do you all determine that collaboratively with RTD and with uh asset management metrics?

Okay, so then I'd like to hear from RTD then.

Director Guzman.

Can you can you talk to me about the work, the collaboration between RTD and DOTI?

Because it's my understanding that the safety work is necessary in order for you all to stay in compliance with the feds and to receive funding, that you have funding that needs to be used by the end of this year.

And if you wait until the conclusion of that study before you invest in the safety work that's necessary on the L line, then you one lose funding, and that the L line potentially will not be able to be operated because you all would be out of compliance.

So can you help me to understand this?

Thank you, Councilwoman.

My name is Michael Guzman.

I am a director on the board of RTD representing District C, which includes five points all the way down to Burnham Yard and Westwood.

Yes, your question is pro apropos for this conversation.

Two separate things going on downtown rail reconstruction, which I've come before you many times and addressed with RTD members of staff, and the IGA for a study along the Welton corridor.

So these are two separate things that can happen concurrently, but the RTD downtown rail reconstruction project has already been financed, and there is federal funding pending um expenditure to complete this project.

This is uh the agreement between RTD and the city and county of Denver has been to delay working on this part of the tracks, which is the oldest rail line, 25 years in in active service.

It was constructed before then, to be able to bring it to a current state of good repair.

This is not just a quick patch and fix, this is a complete reconstruction of that rail line along the corridor.

That said, we received these grant funds between 22-23 in the fiscal year.

We have until 26 to expend them.

This is the last piece of the project that needs to be completed.

There are two parts that are pending completion right now, which is the downtown intercity block piece and then the Welton Corridor.

It's a progressive design build, so multiple pieces have been going on all along.

And while we do work in collaboration with the City and County of Denver Department of Transportation Infrastructure to figure out what the right thing to do is for future planning, we also need to look at the tracks themselves, because we cannot run and operate trains along those tracks if they are not in a state of good repair if safety is paramount and must come first.

And so for us, that's the main concern of completing this project on time and ensuring that we can use the funding that's already been allocated for the project from the board and the federal government as one separate issue.

And then we work collaboratively, of course, with the IGA as we are uh an entity that can receive federal funding, and we can hold that um in much the same way we're collaborating on the East Colfax BRT project.

It's a pass-through on our budget in order to be able to hold the funds that the city and county has uh garnered at this point for the completion of the study project separately.

So then what what amount of money do you well let me take a step back, excuse me, Dr.

Guzman?

Um do you all need to come complete the work and when do you all need to be or not complete the work, start the work?

Uh I wish I had a date certain.

I know that permits need to be pulled and approved through the Department of Transportation Infrastructure and by the city and county of Denver in order for us to complete the last section, which is the Welton Corridor, according to our timeline that we were given at the board, that is to be completed by the end of this calendar year.

Um, and this construction project would then be complete.

And so I can find out some more specific dates around this, but we would I would anticipate just like last year working on the Calamath section, we would need to have those permits pulled for the construction piece to go forward with in cooperation with the city and county because it affects other traffic lanes during this design and rebuild would have to happen mid-year to be able to complete the work by the end of the year.

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

So that's where we run into the potential for money to be reallocated or returned to the Feds.

Two separate things.

Uh RTD taxpayer funding that has supported this capital expenditure would be returned to the RTD general fund, right?

In the same way that your grant that you're looking at here, there's a portion the city's paying and a portion that you're receiving from the federal government into this project.

Federal funding would also be returned to the federal government if it's not completed.

We cannot put that money onto any other project.

It's for this.

That's what it was granted for.

So if we are not able to complete this, it gets returned to the federal government through the FTA, and then our funding locally through RTD goes back into the general fund and would then be reallocated by the board.

And our fiscal policy on the board is a five year is a maximum limit, except under extraordinary extraordinary circumstances to complete a project.

Um that this would still require having both.

So if we lose either one of these, this is not going to be a project that can be completed.

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

We are waiting um RTD's submission of of design for the project.

So Dottie is not holding up the process.

And to make a correction, the schedule for the Welton A line is 2027.

Um a correction to what?

I'm sorry, I'm not following.

To the the statement that uh Mr.

Guzman made that uh that the project had to be completed by 2026.

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

Current schedule, yes.

Yes, and the work must commence in 26 to be completed in 27.

We work on a fiscal calendar here from January to December.

We do not work currently on the federal governments, but for our purposes in our budget, we would need to have this begun by 26 to ensure that that funding and that spending is done correctly.

Because otherwise, as I said, our portion of this agreement goes back into a general funded is reprioritized through the transit asset management plan given to the federal government for use on other areas.

And we don't want to have to go through that process and try and find scrap together a little bit of funding to be able to finish this from what we already have.

This project has been announced and prepared before the public for this is my fourth year on the board.

It was started in 2022.

So we are in the fifth year of this process.

That's the alignment of fiscal years.

So not to parse words, but yeah, 26 for us is what matters.

27 might be the full completion of that work and construction, but we do need to get started in 26.

By the way, the IGA, if I may, um the IGA agreement that we're going into does include a portion of looking at the relative importance of going from 30th and Downing to 38th and Blake, completing that last mile to loop to the A-line.

Um and I want to bring that up because I think that's an important part of the study that has been not discussed heretofore, and it impacts several other areas because you need to think about RTD as a whole system, not just one piece, and this is one piece.

But by connecting the A-line to the Line, you can potentially move people that are coming in from out of town down south to Burnham Yard to um I-25 and Broadway to areas where we know we will have huge cultural event spaces that are coming forward in the city plans with construction of new event centers, and that comes right through downtown.

So there's a very big economic impact in both directions, both to the west side of Denver and then back up to the east side of Denver and five points to connect to that A-line um connection.

Okay, thank you helpful.

And my final question is for Dottie.

Um, so if we approve this tonight, and I just want to make sure we have this on record, if we approve this tonight, then this will not hold up the permitting process because you all will not wait for the conclusion of the study in order to allow RTD to do the repair work.

Um correct.

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

Well, it's it doesn't sound like they want to reach agreement by the end of the year.

They need the permits in order to begin the work.

Yes, thank you.

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

Okay.

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

Uh it's really important to me.

Thank you, Councilwoman Lewis.

I will certainly do that.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Watson.

Uh thank you so much, uh, President Pratimant.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis, for your questions.

Um David, once again, thank you for your leadership this in this process.

I mean, you managing the process is your strong suit, and I appreciate the coordinated process that your team has had.

I want to make one comment, and Nick, I'm gonna ask you a question.

Um, first, the coordination between DOTTI and RTD schedule.

Um, we have been in these uh discussions for at least six months, um, coordinating to ensure that none of the timeline of this study has any direct impact on RTD um finalizing the last steps of their maintenance plan.

Um we actually worked with RTD to identify if the L line goes last, will they be able to actually execute on their final rail uh maintenance process?

And the answer was yes.

So we coordinated just for city council members purview.

A letter from the CEO Johnson from RT.

As well as the mayor, mayor's office and Dottie, and we work together on the schedule, and we put it in writing a letter to them stating that this would not have any impact if the airline maintenance process um went uh came last within the entire study.

Question for you for clarification on kind of the ongoing um discussions.

We are beginning our community advisory group discussions now.

Um what is the timeline that we have for the first three meetings before we have uh uh initial review out from um the community advisory group.

Councilman Nicholas Williams Dottie on that.

Councilman, I don't know that right offhand.

Uh we can get that information to you, though.

We do have the the committee set, but I can get a timeline out to you and to the committee.

Certainly.

Or the um expectation for a response from community from the last meeting we had, and I know Phoebe wasn't able to be here.

Um the idea was to have a response back to RTD by September.

I would like for the team to to validate that in writing to um city council.

Um that um um review would have provide um sufficient time for RTD to do the recalibration of any of the steps, and that is also incorporating um RTD providing any of their permits and stuff to um the city um before that time.

Um that was really I just wanted to clarify the community process, which will be ongoing, doesn't stop, doesn't impact any of the steps, any of the timelines that RTD has, as a matter of fact, community dialogue will continue through next year as well.

Um, and the RTD study will would have already uh been completed.

And so the community process will continue.

It is going to be an integral part of the next step study, which is a DOTI-led study with engineers focusing on kind of the outcome for the line, working collaborations with H um engineers from RTD as well.

So that's it.

That's it, Nick.

I'll see if I need to come back and council.

Yeah, just to reinforce what you said.

Dottie's 100% committed to making sure this does not impact that important safety work on there.

We feel like we have good coordination, good communication with them at this point, but we're more than happy to kind of keep you up.

We've started conversation about the permits even kind of before they're submitted on there, but we're more than happy, councilwoman, to keep you and the committee apprised of those timelines.

But yeah, full commitment.

I appreciate that.

And I go ahead.

I am member Watson.

Are you I'm I'm good, I'm good.

Okay, Councilmember Lewis.

Thank you.

And I I do appreciate that, and I hope that what you don't hear is that I don't want you to engage the community.

That's absolutely wonderful.

Where can I hope you continue to do that?

Um, I I think we should be co-governing with community.

I just want to make sure that the rail continues to exist and does so in a safe way, and RTD has what they need in order for us all to be able to serve our folks.

Plus, we don't have the money RTD does, so we kind of need to be nice to them to fix our stuff.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens.

Council resolution 26-0105, a resolution approving a proposed agreement between the city and county of Denver and ComplyAI Inc.

for the implementation and ongoing support for AI guided plan review platform.

Councilmember Sawyer, will you please put council resolution 0105 on the floor for adoption?

I move the council resolution 26105 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council.

We'll start with you, uh, Councilmember Lewis.

Oh, good.

Lovely.

Um I received the answers that I had about um the questions, understanding that the modules two and three are optional and that only the funding for module one is included in this contract at this time.

And so I'm good to go.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um Councilmember Parity.

Yeah, I similarly appreciate um folks answering my questions about this um from tech services and the mayor's office and CPE.

Um I just wanted to sort of flag that I hope that um we will keep an eye on this, and I think well, I don't know whose committee rolls up to actually, because it's tech services is the contact, but it's for CPD.

So regardless, um, I hope we will check in in a year and sort of um really make sure that we're seeing if it's delivering the kind of results that we're hoping that it will, because this is a lot of um money that otherwise could go towards staff, and we know that CPD you know lost a lot of staff in layoffs, so I just want to make sure that if we're spending you know a million dollars on the first module and up to 4.6 on the other two or three modules, that's a lot of people.

Um, and what CPD is lacking a lot of times um is staffing.

And so I'm not saying there's no place for this kind of tool, but I am saying that you know, one year in or something like that, we would need to check and see what it's actually delivering.

Um, and that I um you know just being mindful that this is money that we're spending um on a tech tool that could otherwise be spent on people and make sure we're getting that balance right.

Thank you, Mr.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Alvidris.

Thank you.

Before I ask my questions, I just want to say that I support modern modernizing and making it easier for people to build and do business in the city of Denver.

Our permitting system clearly needs improvements, and I appreciate the department's efforts to think clearly about how technology can streamline the process at the same time.

I am growing more concerned because we're seeing more reporting nationally about inaccuracies and limitations of AI systems, especially when they are also asked to interpret complex rules and regulations.

I've also heard concerns from local architects and professionals in the development community who say that current AI tools may not be yet ready to handle the full complexity of our zoning codes, building codes, and site-specific conditions.

So before we make a long-term investment, I think it's important for us to understand how reliable it is.

And I didn't get a chance to ask my questions ahead of time, so I'm curious if someone's here that can answer some questions.

Yes, great.

Okay.

Um first, was there a cost versus cost savings for the cost of this program versus actually having more staffing?

Was that analysis done?

We've done some studies.

Um we need to I think as you mentioned, hi I'm Robert Peak.

I'm with our Denver permitting office, introduce myself here.

Um and I I do want to note that um this tool will be used across all the agencies that engage in the development review process.

It's not just a tool for community planning development for our agency CPD, DOTI, um, our fire department.

Um there are 50 some functions across the city that participate in our in our plan review process.

Um so we have looked at the the cost of of staff that participate in our plan review and intake review.

Uh module one that we're gonna go with is uh intake-only option right now.

Um and it's a tool our customers can use to identify deficiencies with their plants in the middle before they submit to the city.

Um and we still have staff reviewing those plans and accepting them before we move advance them through our through the rest of our workflow.

So I think it gets at the concern with um it not being ready for the complexity of our codes and regulations.

Um I think we realize that as well.

We need to um uh build up the tool, see the value, and then start to expand from there.

Um but we um looking at metrics, we want to right now we see about 37% of our applications get accepted on the first round of submittal, um, which is quite low.

So it's not even half of our applications are actually getting submitted on that first round.

Um we have a goal of increasing that up to 80% with applic with applications going through this tool.

So it should save our staff um a lot of time so they can use that time that they're saving for other kind of more complex parts of their of their job.

Are you expecting it to save?

Um for the intake tool, we anticipate it could save up to half half of their time.

Um, from other jurisdictions um that have used the tool, they've saved um you know, roughly 30 minutes per per intake review, and we hope to see similar results here in Denver.

30 minutes times how many plan reviews are we doing, like a month, or like how do you and when I read it, it looked like it were expecting it to take 10 minutes, and it used to take 30 minutes, so that's those are another jurisdiction, so it you know it takes roughly 10 to 10 or 15 minutes for a plan review staff here in the city and county of Denver to conduct a review.

Um, and that's each review.

Um, and as I mentioned, a lot of these submittals have to go through two, three, four separate reviews.

So we're we're potentially spending up to 30 minutes per project because they're going two or three cycles.

Um, and if we can cut that um, if we can cut that way back in 80% of these projects are getting through, um, the majority of them are getting through just in that in that time minute in that 10-minute time frame.

Um, but we think we can reduce that um even um even greater um to steal another council member's um analogy here.

Um, we would be receiving a homework from our customers versus um submittals that just um uh just the quality isn't there for us to start the review.

I appreciate that.

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

Yeah, I mean I have to reach out to the vendor to ask that specific question.

I can tell you that they're using a lighter AI model um to to produce their results.

Um, and it's it's not akin to like a generative AI or something that does consume a lot more power.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Um go ahead.

Are you finished?

Yeah, okay.

Councilmember Torres.

Thank you so much.

The more that I learned about this, I feel like this is the right kind of use of AI.

Actually putting experts where their expertise is needed and not in checking, do we have a signature here?

And is this document uploaded?

Um, which is I think what spends they spend a lot of time um ending up doing.

Um I had that there were about a thousand permit applications per month.

Um so if it's 30 per, like that's a ton of time.

Yeah.

Um that gets shaved off where you can actually do the actual work that we need folks spending time doing.

Absolutely, that can speak to that.

We we do receive on on average, and it fluctuates month to month and depends on the season.

Um, but over the uh course of 2025, approximately a thousand um log applications is as is what we use to process a permit application um per month.

So if we're um if we're reducing that down by two or three intake cycles and bringing down the time that it takes our staff to review those plans, then we're saving a significant amount of time across our staff and saving our customers quite frankly a significant amount of time as well because they don't have to go through that churn.

Um we can accept our applications right away and get them into our plan review process.

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

It takes our staff roughly two days to um to get to the application.

Um, and if there are errors, then we kick it back to the customer.

And then it takes them however long they need um to be able to make those corrections.

They probably partner with their design team to make the corrections or some back and forth there.

Um, and then they send it back to the city.

That's another two days.

And we're specific or the system is specific about this is missing, not just your applications incomplete.

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

That's good.

Thank you, Robert.

Thank you, madam.

Thank you.

Um Councilman Hines.

Uh thank you, Madam President Pro Tem.

I also have questions.

Um the uh and just a comment about the briefing um uh before the questions is uh as Robert comes back uh to the to the microphone.

Um in our briefing, we talked about AI um, but uh but the uh as I think Councilmember Vidras just asked, this is more kind of traditional AI rather than generative AI.

So certainly we've had a lot of conversations right now about these massive data centers that take up incredible amounts of space and use lots of water.

Um the uh if I I'm kind of starting to get into the question that I have really this AI is just about intake.

Actually, so we've just got the first module, and that's just about intake.

So that's making sure that there's a name on the application and a phone number on the application, and the requisite documents are attached, some something like that.

Um am I right?

Uh yeah, that's correct.

The the tool will will um yes, hi hi, Robert P.

Again with our Denver permitting office.

The the tool um is checking for uh what we call those intake deficiencies.

Um so there are requirements that that we need to be able to accept their application so we can begin our review.

Um those are items like uh um a stamped and sealed set of plans, signatures.

There's a north arrow, um, there's uh building code references on the plans, it's doing all those checks um that our staff don't have to do.

Um if there are deficiencies, they'll service those for our customers so they can make those those corrections.

Um the intake only up module is not doing a thorough um robust code check of those plans, it is surfacing the intake deficiencies only right now.

And so the um the AI in this case is using logic so that if someone puts in a phone number with area code and parentheses and that's not the format the system's expecting, it will use AI logic to translate the phone number that they put in the application into what the system expecting and like the address.

If um, if you've got two lines of the address and it's uh you know, the the building is based on um 1437 bannock uh you know unit 12.

It uh it will know if that's all on one line, it will use AI and put it into two lines as we're expecting, or it will check to see as you said, um, if there's a a northern direction, it it just looks and sees if there's a compass.

It doesn't actually make more the more complicated value decisions on whether that is uh the right thing with the um particular zoning type is just verifying uh the address is there that is formatted and it'll try to do massaging that some of the basic things are there.

It's not then saying, you know, actually you could tweak it and uh you could get a few more units out of it if you did this.

It's it's right.

I'm I'm making the distinction of the basic AI this is using and the kind of things that we uh have seen with Chat GBT or or other AI generative AI models.

Am I explaining that correctly?

Well said thank you.

Um that is that's absolutely correct.

Um the tool is not going to make changes on behalf of the customer.

I think that's a uh um I wanted to call that out.

Um so it's it's really just surfacing um and uh highlighting the issues and deficiencies with the plan set.

Um and then I do want to call out that uh there's still a human involvement.

Um our plan review intake technicians still receive the application, they go through it for um compliance and then pass it on.

Yeah, and if you're shaping uh, you know, 60 6% um per application going from 30 minutes to 10 minutes, we're saving 20 minutes uh per application times a thousand a month.

Man, I'm so glad that we're uh if I were a plans reviewer, I would go mad if I had to then send it back again because they in the first review they had a compass and now they don't, so I have to take it back again.

I I'd rather my education go for reviewing plans rather than reviewing whether a compass exists or did or or doesn't.

So thank you.

I'll be supporting.

Thank you, thank you.

Uh council member Alvidres.

Thank you.

I appreciate it, and I just have a comment, not a question anymore.

Um understand a lot of the you know uh people that are in support of this.

I think uh I I still remain concerned when I talked to other people who have used this technology and for this cost, uh, and in a time where we're cutting budget in so many very important places while permit applications are going down, um, and to see how badly, in my opinion, Sunnyba um is failing us.

I'm gonna be a no on this tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, roll call on council resolution 260105.

Council members.

Aye.

Aye.

Albitres.

Nay, Flynn, aye.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Aye.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis.

Aye.

Parity.

Aye.

Sawyer.

Aye.

Torres.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam Prote Romera Campbell.

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

10 ayes.

10 ayes.

Council resolution 26-0105 has been adopted.

This concludes the items to be called out.

All bills for introduction are ordered published.

Council members, remember this is a consent or block vote, and you will need to vote aye.

Otherwise, this is your last chance to call out an item for a separate vote.

Councilmember Sawyer, will you please put the proclamations and resolutions for adoption and the bills on final consideration for final passage on the floor?

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

Back to 26, 0170, 0171, 0187, 0188, 0189, 0169, 0181, 0143, 0158, 0174, 0183, 0212, 0151, 0153, 0154, 0139 and 0138.

Great.

It has been moved and Madam Secretary, roll call.

Aye.

174 0183 0212 0151 0153 0154 0139 and 0138 Great It has been moved and Madam Secretary roll call council members go dead aye Cashman Lewis Parody Sawyer Torres Aye Watson Aye Madam Rotember Maricamp Aye Madam Secretary close the voting and announce the results 11 ayes 11 ayes the proclamations and resolutions have been adopted and the bills have been placed on final consideration and due pass tonight there will be a required public hearing on council bill 26-002 nope 0062 changing the zoning classification for 4631 North Josephine Street in Elyria Swansea.

If there are no objections from council members, we will recess until 5 30 p.m.

before reconvening the regular meeting.

Council City Council will provide a half hour general public comment session to hear from the public on city matters, except for any matter that is scheduled for a lengthy, whoops, for a legally required public hearing.

The general public may uh the general public uh comment session will begin at 5 p.m.

Monday, March 16th.

Sign up begins at 5 p.m.

on Thursday, March 12th.

We look forward to hearing from you again and thank you for attending now.

Council will now reconvene from our earlier session.

There is no unfinished business from the earlier session.

There is one proclamation being read this afternoon.

Councilmember Watson, would you please read proclamation 26-0245?

Do you want just a minute to allow people to transition out?

We can do that.

Yes.

Tell people we're getting ready for a proclamation, so thank you so much for coming to General Public Comment, but I could ask you to take your conversations out to the hallway.

Thank you.

And does he have like case series?

Or is it okay can you please take your conversations out?

Okay.

Thank you.

You know in the middle of the zero.

Thank you.

Can you please take your conversations out to the hallway?

We have another proclamation that we're gonna do.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Please continue, Councilmember Watson.

Proclamation number 260245.

Congratulating the Denver St.

Patrick's Day Parade Committee on the occasion of the 64th anniversary of the annual parade on March 14th, 2026.

Whereas Denver has one of the largest cultural parades in the United States, the largest St.

Patrick's Day Parade west of the Mississippi.

And whereas this year's theme is centered around stars, stripes, and shamrocks, and honors the 64th anniversary of the parade.

And whereas the Denver St.

Patrick's Day Parade exemplifies a peaceful celebration along with a community of diverse residents who gather together with a glance of the Celtic past and a look at the future while enjoying Irish cultural fanfare, pipe and drum bands, Irish step dancing, and honoring all divisions of our military to the delight of nearly 100,000 spectators.

And whereas, congratulations and thanks are due to all volunteers of the Denver St.

Patrick's Day Parade Committee, including many who have passed on but are still remembered for the endless hours and never-ending commitment, which makes the celebration possible.

And whereas we hope the Colorado sunshine and the mile high air lifts the spirits of all who march or attend the 64th annual annual parade Saturday, March 14th, 2026, and we hope for a warm wind at our backs as we celebrate the Irish culture in the Great State of Colorado.

Now, therefore, be reclaimed by the Denver City Council, Section 1, that the Denver City Council congratulates the Denver St.

Patrick State Committee, a volunteer organization on a well-organized, peaceful, and spirited gathering at the 64th annual event.

Section two that the clerk and recorder of the city and county of Denver shall affix the appeal of the City and County of Denver to this proclamation and that a copy be transmitted to the Denver St.

Patrick's Day Parade Committee, President Dave Anderson.

Councilmember Watson, your motion to adopt.

I move that proclamation 260245 be adopted.

It has been moved and seconded.

Comments by members of council.

We'll start with you, Councilmember Watson.

Thank you so much, President Pro Tem on behalf of the Fine District 9, where the majority of the parade is held.

That was a laugh at you there.

I I want to say once again, it is our honor to welcome uh so many folks to uh District 9 in celebration of this fun event.

Um provides an opportunity each and every year, not only to understand Celtic culture and um drink some green uh beer, but it's also an opportunity for us to come together and something that is joyful.

Um there's several events throughout the the city and county of Denver to commemorate this annual event.

Um but the large parade, uh the largest west of the Mississippi.

I think it's uh a great opportunity to bring family, friends, um, little ones, not just down to the parade, but for all of the events that happen afterwards.

So thank you so much for the organizing committee.

I know it's a lot of work that you all put together, not just on this one day, but throughout the year, and thank you so much uh to Councilmember Hines for co-sponsoring this with me every year.

Thank you, Madam President Protem.

Thank you.

Councilmember Heinz.

Thank you, Madam President Pro Tem.

Thank you, Councilmember Watson.

I would say it's a uh the parade route is a perfect start and a fine ending.

We call ourselves Denver's Perfect Ten, and uh he's in the fine district nine, starts at uh Denver's District 10, uh, and the parade route continues.

Um I uh I have had the great fortune of being to 26 of the 32 counties in uh Ireland and Northern Ireland, uh Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, um, and I hope that I get to go back both by first my last international trip before my crash was to Belfast and uh and touring, and my first international trip after my crash also to visit my friend in Belfast.

Uh and so I have seen uh the island both um as an able-bodied individual and as someone who uses a wheelchair, and it's just such a fine culture of individuals who live there.

Um they were kind while I was walking, and they were even kinder uh to help someone in a wheelchair uh navigate the uh uh Dublin and uh and Belfast and um uh Galway.

I get to see Giants Causeway as well.

So um there's uh actually two places that two countries that I've seen and not visited.

Um, and one is uh Scotland, uh, where you can on a clear day you can see Scotland on the other side of Giants Causeway um and uh but I've never actually been to Scotland.

Uh so and anyway, so uh just an interesting fun fact.

Um I'm really looking forward to the parade this weekend and celebrating Irish culture and heritage.

Thank you so much for the 64th uh annual parade.

Thank you.

Councilman Flynn.

Um Thank you, madam President Pro Tim.

Councilman's mention uh Belfast reminds me of a joke.

Oh I'm compelled to tell.

Is it a good joke?

Uh I can tell it here.

Uh so Murphy goes to see his doctor and uh down in County Kerry and his doctor in the course of his physical, he says, so tell me uh have you ever been in continent?

And uh Murphy says, No, only to Belfast.

Anyway, I go so despite despite that joke, I I should say that uh that I've been to I've had the honor, uh the good fortune of single Blarney stone three times.

Uh the last time was to recharge it because apparently I took too much of a gift of Gab from it, and I was recovering.

I heard that.

So I was required to refund some of it.

Uh last year, I think that I did a poem from William Butler Yates, and it was very seriously Lake Isle of Inish Free.

Uh, but this year I'd like to just do a quick Irish saying health and long life to you, land without rent to you.

A child every year to you.

And if you can't go to heaven, may you die in Ireland.

Thank you, Madam President Pro Tem.

Um, Councilmember Parity.

Thank you.

Eloquent, but I do just like to say that my um grandma's maiden name was Parnell.

Um we are related to a family of parnels, apparently, some of which were legislative fire brands.

I read that on Wikipedia, I didn't make it up.

Um so uh it means a lot to me to have that immigrant background and um to know that you know um Irish people came to this country and were um treated like another and racialized and putting ghettos and all that um and eventually stop being that way, so it never has to be that way for anybody.

Um, and I like to remember that with my Irish part of the soul.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you.

Um we've had two proclamations.

Uh this is our second proclamation this evening, and I think one of the beautiful things of what makes Denver Denver and what makes our community strong is that we celebrate all cultures, and so um we were able to have a proclamation for the um March Denver Powell and the indigenous community, and so it's also lovely to um have this proclamation for you this evening.

And I see bagpipes.

That's very cool.

Um and I think that's coming.

So uh Madam Secretary, roll call.

Council members are doing this.

All right.

Yes.

Aye.

Hi.

Hi.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis, aye.

Parity.

Aye.

Sawyer.

I.

Torres?

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam Pro Tem Romero Campbell.

Aye.

Oh, I gotta tell you, Madam Secretary closed the voting and announce the results.

Eleven ayes.

Eleven ayes.

Uh, the proclamation 26-024.

I've got to put on my glasses.

Four-five has been adopted.

Um, we have time for the proclamation acceptance.

Councilmember Watson, who will you be inviting up to accept the proclamation?

I'd like to ask uh parade, uh, committee president Dave Anderson and whomever he will like to join him to say a few words.

I'm joined by our Queen Colleen, Michaela Deal.

We are honored to be here, and we really appreciate this.

Uh we have such a good time, and we bring a culture to the city of Denver, and we love doing it.

It's such a pleasure when you walk down the street and you see everybody smiling and happy and waving.

It just it's it's something you can't give up, and that's why we do it, and we keep doing it after year after year.

It's it's tough.

We work hard to do it.

We are an all-volunteer organization, and we rely on on friends and family to come out and help us do this.

And we really need to get a lot of young people involved.

We need them to become a part of their community.

And this is a great way to become a part of a community is to get in there and help us with that parade.

And and we will put them to work, and they will learn great things and they will make a lot of friends.

And we also rely on donations.

So we are always looking for money.

Um we're a 501c4, so we really look for corporate sponsorships, but we'll take money in any form.

So, but we really appreciate it.

Michaela, do you want to say anything?

I'm I'm so excited.

I've been a part of this Denver parade since I was a wee little lad, and my mom my grandma was one of the ones that helped revive it back in the 60s.

So I'm just so proud of this parade, and it gets better every year.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Bagpipes.

Thank you.

We have one required one required public hearing tonight.

As a reminder, council members need to turn on their video during the vote.

For those participating in person when called upon, please come to the podium.

On the presentation monitor, yep, on the presentation monitor on the wall, you will see your time counting down.

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Councilmember Sawyer, will you please put Council Bill 26-0062 changing the zoning classification for 4631 North Josephine Street in Illyria Swansea on the floor for final passage?

I move that council bill 2662 be placed upon final consideration and do pass.

It has been moved and seconded.

The required public hearing for Council Bill 26-0062 is open.

May we have the staff report.

Good evening.

The request is to go from a former Chapter 51 PUD, which stands for Plan Unit Development, into our URH 2.5, which is our row house up to 2.5 stories in height.

So I'll let I'll go with my presentation first and then allow him to kind of give some of his remarks afterwards.

He's walking in, so I'll I'll let the council member go first.

And then I can give my presentation.

Thank you so much, Edson, and thank you so much.

Uh colleagues.

And as I shared before, this rezone is about repairing harm, um, restoring housing, and keeping neighbors rooted in the Illyria Swansea communities.

A few blocks from this site, families once lived on streets that no longer exist.

Kids walked to school, neighbors watched out for each other.

Then the I-70 expansion occurred and came through Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods.

56 homes were removed and families were forced to leave through no fault of their own.

What remains are vacant parcels and a promise we still owe to this community.

4631 Josephine Street is one of those vacant parcels left behind.

The rezone allows for family-sized homes and multiple bedrooms.

It is one small but meaningful step toward fulfilling a promise the city owes to this community.

Thank you, Councilmember Watson.

So tonight's agenda will consist of what the request is.

We'll look at the location and context.

We'll go through the review and what we receive from public comment and then we will wrap it up with the review criteria.

So the property itself is highlighted in red um on the screen here.

Um the property is 9,484 square feet.

But as council member was mentioning, this was prior to the I-70 expansion, it was 16,500 square feet.

So this has happened to multiple blocks where the property size has decreased significantly.

And so the request is to go from you know former Chapter 59 zone district into URH 2.5, which stands for the urban row house up to 2.5 stories in height.

Um in the site, it's currently vacant.

So looking at the location and context, it's located in Council District 9, Councilmember Watson's district.

Um, and as you can see there, highlighted in red, kind of in the middle, it's in the Ilaria Swansea neighborhood.

Um like I mentioned, it's currently um zone PUD 335.

Um PUD35 uh used to be a auto kind of repair shop that allowed for commercial uses.

Um it's currently vacant now.

Um but as you can see around it to the yellow to the north and to uh to the west of the uh east of the site is ETUB, which is a two-unit zone district that allows for up to two units, and then directly to the west of the site, we do see the um RH 2.5, uh which is that row house up to 2.5 stories, and then when we go south, we see the EMX2, which is a mixed use up to two stories.

And then when we go south, we see the EMX2, which is a mixed use up to two stories.

So from land use, the site is classified as vacant.

Um, that's what pretty much a lot of these I-70 expansion kind of properties are vacant.

Um, it is adjacent to a lot of single unit residential.

Um the subject site is there on the bottom uh bottom right-hand corner, which is currently seen as vacant, and then on the top right, you see some single family houses to the north, which range between one and two stories in this neighborhood.

Um, now jumping into some affordable housing.

So the property owner currently is Habitat for Humanity, but it's working with GS Coalition and this agreement.

You know, so GS Coalition, Tierra Collectiva Community Land Trust will develop four affordable homeownership units, which will be income restricted up to 80% of the area medium income with a 99-year land lease.

Um looking at the process, uh, an informational notice was sent out of November of last year.

It went before the planning board in January 7th, and it's before you today.

Um to date, uh, part of our requirement for noticing uh rezonings.

We did notify all the proper ROs, and we received one letter of support from the Illarious Swansea RO.

With addition, we received 22 letters of support with that, which are included in the staff report.

But just to highlight what those letters support mentioned, as well as the RNO letter of support, they all highlighted the need for affordable home ownership as well as consistency with adopted plans and the small area plan, and that they um highlighted that there's an there should be a need for housing options and home ownership availability in the in the community, and this rezoning will help accomplish that.

Um so looking at the review criteria, the Denver zoning code outlines three specific review criteria every rezoning has to follow, which is consistent with adopted plans, public interest, and consistent with neighbor context zone district purpose and intent statements.

So this specific rezoning falls under three plans, which is Comprehension Plan 2040, Blueprint Denver, and the Euler Swansea neighborhood plan.

So there's multiple strategies that the staff report highlights for this specific rezoning, but I want to highlight a few under equity goals, such as equitable, affordable and inclusive goal two strategy A, create a greater mix of housing options in every neighborhood for all individuals and families, as well as encourage quality infill development that is consistent with the surrounding neighborhood and offers opportunity for increased amenities.

Additionally, under climate goals, under environmentally resilient goal 8 strategy A, promote infill development where infrastructure and services are already in place.

When we jump into Blueprint Denver, this plan highlights this as urban neighborhood context, where we see predominantly single and two unit uses on smaller lots.

It's classified as low residential.

So low residential is predominantly single and two unit uses on smaller and medium lots with building heights generally up to 2.5 stories in height.

And Josephine Street is a local street, but when we jump over to York Street to the east, um you can kind of see there in purple that is a mixed-use arterial street.

Um in terms of growth area strategy, it's classified as all other areas of the city.

So what this analysis tends to do is look and tends to anticipate where we will experience a lot of growth in the city.

So we anticipate to see 20% of new housing growth and 10% of new employment growth by 2040.

Additionally, this um rezoning is consistent with several other goals that are and policies that are found in Blueprint Denver, such as the land use and built form housing goal to diversify housing options by exploring opportunities to integrate missing middle into low and low medium residential areas, and increase the development of affordable housing and mixed income housing.

In terms of climate goals, um, this will help reduce climate impacts because multi-unit buildings are more energy efficient than low density residential development types.

When we jump into the Elera Swansea neighborhood plan of 2015, it classifies this site as single family duplex.

Now, the definition of that in that plan states that residential areas are moderately dense areas that are more predominantly residential.

But there's a mixture of housing types, including single family houses, which we see across the street, duplexes, and then row houses and small apartment buildings.

So single family duplex does allow for row houses, which is what they're pursuing.

Additionally, they follow consistent with several other recommendations within the plan, such as E2, explore the opportunity to introduce building forms consistent with the single family duplex land designation, such as duplex, tandem homes or row houses in this instance, as well as encourage investment in new housing to expand the total number of residents and to provide for a diversity of housing types to bring more people of all ages and income levels into the neighborhood.

Um it's consistent with public interest as is consistent with the adopted plans that do call for more affordable housing and affordable home ownership.

Um, as specified in within Blueprint Denver, the small area plan and complan.

And it's consistent with the neighborhood context on district purpose and intense statements as specified in the staff report.

Therefore, CPT recommends approval that all the review fire, all the findings of the requirement have, and I'm available for any questions.

Thank you so much.

Um individuals signed up to speak this evening.

Um, and we're gonna go ahead and get started.

Uh Danny Slobaugh, am I saying that Slave Slob?

Yeah.

Um hang on just a moment.

I thought you were gonna call NOLA first.

Um, good evening, City Council.

My name is Danny Slaybaugh.

I'm the real estate development director for TR Collectiva.

And I'm speaking to you tonight in support of rezoning of 4631 Josephine.

I first want to take a moment and thank uh Councilman Watson and the District 9 staff, as well as Edson from CPD uh for their help and support with this rezoning.

This rezoning will support four family-sized homeownership units, um, at roughly 55% AMI affordability.

That's about a third of market costs to buy a house right now in Denver, um, a comparably sized house.

That also means that families that move in will have mortgages that are below market rate rents for similar rental housing.

Um, this is uh in alignment with the housing needs of GES and the city at large, um, as identified by host in their strategic plan.

And in the spirit of naming that alignment, I want to talk about some of Tier Collectiva's track records so far.

We have 14 families that are currently housed in homes developed uh by Tier Collectiva in partnership with various affordable housing developers.

100% of those families were previously at risk of displacement from the global Illyria and Swancia neighborhoods.

Half of the people housed in those uh homes are children, and 100% of the families in those homes are black, indigenous, and people of color uh uh families.

Um the homes and properties developed in TR Collectiva are community controlled and accountable to the development needs of global and illeria Swancia community members directly.

Those needs are determined through GES residents in a truly democratic process.

We're the only community-controlled community land trust in the state of Colorado.

Um that's all I have.

Thank you so much for your time.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Nola Miguel.

Good evening, council members.

Nice to see you all.

Um, my name is Nola Miguel.

I'm the executive director of the GES, Global Valerie Swancia Coalition, um, and Theatre Collective Community Land Trust.

I should say I'm honored and privileged to be the executive director.

Um, thank you, Councilman Watson, for sponsor sponsoring this, and Twite for all your help.

Um, and Edson for all your support.

Um this type of rezone we'd like to not have to do in the future, but we can talk more about that moving forward.

But um, many of you know that Tierra Collectiva is um a community-based solution.

So this came out of our community and really the bravery and hope that many community members in Global Swansea had for addressing displacement.

Instead of just complaining and and um constantly worrying and being displaced, uh predominantly women in global area Swansea decided to stand up and say, we're we're gonna try something, we're gonna do something, we're gonna work on something, and people have put countless hours towards making this happen.

Um, so Theatre Collectiva um maybe well, maybe some of you remember in the Hancock administration, uh Mayor Hancock called us relentless, and we have claimed that, and and that continues.

And part of that battle has been the I-70 um project overall.

Um we have had to be relentless through that.

And one of those pieces in this kind of final piece was looking at the remnant parcels that were left over at the end of the I-70 project.

And we did that um in partnership with CDOT, trying to figure out okay, which of these sites could we actually put housing on?

And this was one of three.

We're coming back for another one pretty soon here.

Um that uh could we could put housing on, and they're just sitting empty.

So we'd love to get them activated.

This is really a win-win for everyone.

Um so those of you that remember the viaduct, um, and there's a picture in your presentation.

If if you want to look at the old Viaduct, there was a stop and shop and then a mechanic shop.

Um, and this is where the mechanic shop and homes were.

Um, and you know, the viaduct was kind of dark and looming, but many of us still feel nostalgic about it.

Um, but we're really excited just to have it activated and moved again.

And this hasn't been easy.

This has been years and years and years of a process of getting, you know, having CDOT reserve the funds and then getting congressionally designated funds to purchase the lots.

So this has been a long process to get here, and we're very happy to be here, and we're very excited to build some affordable homes for neighbors at risk of displacement in GES uh very soon.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jesse Paris.

Yes, city members of the council was in the council chambers.

My name is Jessica Michelle Paris and I'm represented for Black Star Action More for Self-Defense, Positive Action Commercial Social Change, as well as the Unity Party of Colorado, the Northeast Denver Residence Council, Frontline Black Nose, Shabaka's Black Experience enhanced the revolutionary agenda, and I reside at the Roach and Bear Bug and Festival Legacy Loss and Daryl's district of District 9 to find District 9, the historically black district of District 9, which I might be running for, by the way.

Um I was initially against this Louis on it, but hearing NOLA of GES speak in favor of it.

I have to say I have to be in favor of it, but I'm still gonna ask the same questions I always ask.

Um I would like to know are these going to be for sale for rent, um, these royal homes, what is the AMR level we're talking about for these raw homes?

Has there been a community and neighborhood uh agreement signed?

Um community benefits agreement sign.

Is this a product of the land trust?

Um GES is put together.

This is part of the elevations, land trust.

Um I would like to know that.

Also, I'd like to know has there been a rail study done, a traffic study done, and a nest study done.

Because this has been this area of town, like all areas, but mainly Northeast Denver have been rapidly gentrified.

And I hate to see any more unattended consequences come from these rezonings that this council passes.

As you know, I've been attending a city council for over 10 years, and I don't want to see any more unattended consequences come from these zonings.

Yes, I would like to see more housing.

Uh like to see it done in the right way.

So I'd like to know how these agreements have been signed, how these studies have been done.

If someone could please answer those questions, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you and have a best night.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Yesiko Again.

Okay.

If you could need to okay.

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

Okay.

Go ahead when you're ready, ready.

Good evening.

It's an honor to be here today.

My name is Jessicaen, and I'm a longtime resident, Denver resident, currently living in the Sloan Flake neighborhood.

I grew up in the Swansea neighborhood, just two blocks away, actually, less than two blocks away from the property being considered today.

I previously had the honor of serving as the district one transportation commissioner for CDOT.

And I'm here today to speak in strong support of the rezoning request for the site at 4631 Josephine Street.

This rezoning is so much more than just the planning decision.

This is an opportunity for the city to acknowledge the real costs that the communities like Elyria Swansea have carried for regional transportation progress.

When CDOT expanded to I-70, the land in Illyria Swansea had been taken through eminent domain.

Entire blocks changed.

Families had for generations were pushed to businesses that were part of the fabric of the community disappeared.

In total, we lost 56 homes, 17 businesses because they were displaced.

While transportation investments served the broader region, we have to acknowledge who has paid the price for that progress.

Communities like Galeria Swancia have carried that burden disproportionately.

Families were displaced.

Businesses were forced to close or relocate.

These neighborhoods lost homes stability and truly a part of their history.

We'll never undo this harm.

But we can choose how we respond to it right now.

I urge City Council to take a bold step today.

Acknowledge that cost and begin repairing it by approving this rezoning and allowing this land to once again serve the community that it that has sacrificed so much.

Through years of organizing community advocacy, neighbors and local leaders have pushed to ensure that this land didn't just disappear into the speculative market.

Through a lot of advocacy, CEDA ultimately worked to sell this parcel back to the community.

Yes.

It was sold to the community.

It was not given.

And this is despite that, this is an important step towards accountability and feeling.

Now we have an opportunity to build something meaningful in its place.

This rezoning would allow Tierra Collective Community Land Trust to create permanently affordable home ownership opportunities, which are quite rare in our community.

These are homes for families who want to stay rooted in this neighborhood and want to be part of this future.

Will this fully replace what was lost?

No.

But we can't erase that.

We cannot erase the displacement that happened, but we can choose to repair some of the harm and invest in the people who have fought to keep this community strong.

Passing this rezoning is a step in the right direction.

It helps fill the gap that was created and ensures that the future of Elyria Swancia includes family who belong here.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is that right, Selene.

Lopez.

Yeah, okay.

Ready?

Hola, buenas tardes.

Hi, good evening, Adelante.

Obviamente estoy a favor de la resonificación de esta area.

My name is Elena Lopez, and I am a homeowner in this area.

I'm obviously in favor of this proposal.

Adelante.

I am in favor of this because as a single mother of two, and as a widow, it was something very difficult at times to pay for my rent and to get that money together.

So for this reason, I'm in favor of creating more affordable housing.

Um costos de vivienda.

Thanks to the help from the coalition, I've been able to find housing at a price that I am able to pay, and I would only like for this opportunity to also be granted to other families.

There are a lot of families that have been displaced due to being unable to pay their rent.

And so yes, obviously I'm in favor.

That's all.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Katie McKenna.

Katie, will you accept the promotion?

Okay.

Yeah, thank you.

It's great.

Uming, and thank you, Councilmembers, for the opportunity to speak.

I also wanted to thank Councilman Watson for sponsoring this rezoning.

My name's Katie McKenna.

I've lived in Globewell for the last 13 years.

And I'm also a member of the GES coalition and serve on the Tierra Collectiva Development Board.

And I'm here to express my strong support for the rezoning of 4631 Josephine Street.

This change is something that would help make affordable homeownership feasible in our neighborhood.

For so many longtime residents, homeownership is becoming increasingly out of reach.

And projects like this are such an important step to change that, particularly when they come with long-term permanent uh affordability restrictions.

I sub I also support the greater housing density.

It just makes sense to have more homes on our land, especially close to downtown and great amenities and places where people want to live.

And when this kind of density is led by community organizations, and it's designed with that long-term affordability in mind, it really can strengthen the fabric of our neighborhood.

Efforts like this can be part of real community-driven solutions for displacement in global area in Swansea.

And I encourage you to approve the rezoning.

Thanks so much for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Anna Varela.

Yeah.

Um, can you guys hear me okay?

Yes, please uh you'll be oh, it looks like I'm skipping.

Um you'll also see as well some of um my partners coming up as well.

Okay, then I'm going to speak.

Okay.

So thank you so much for your time.

My name is Anna Varela.

I live here in the Illyrio Swansea neighborhood.

I could look outside of my window and look at the lot that we're talking about.

I just drove by it today to make sure that everything looked great and it and it really does, and it's so exciting to imagine housing there.

Um, because again, that it used to be an active corridor, right?

So it's really exciting for me as a neighbor.

Um, I'm also part of the Illeria Swansea RNO and um have heard nothing but good things and good questions about this.

And um when we well, I also work, I'm wearing a lot of hats in this world right now, but I also work for Tierra Collectiva.

And so we went out and we flyered every adjacent neighbor and the surrounding blocks, and I must share that everyone was so excited, right?

They were just like, oh, good, this has been an empty lot since the expansion of the highway.

Um, we're really excited to see that there's housing.

What what are they gonna look like?

Will there be trees?

Was a big question that we had.

So people are really excited that this is gonna be um a site where their neighbors can live.

I also obviously work a lot with our neighbors um and community, and I know that um a few people, some of them with me right now are excited about more housing opportunities that are affordable in the community for them to enjoy and be able to stay in these neighborhoods.

You'll hear from other neighbors as well that have been displaced and been able to come back to their uh historic neighborhood and their cultural neighborhood through the Tierra Collectiva program.

Um I'm here with Raimunda and Mercedes and Claudia and others who are just um I'm always so honored to hear their stories.

I work specifically as the community steward for Tierra Collectiva.

So if something happens in their homes, if they have any questions about being a homeowner, um, I'm there for them.

And I just I am just so honored to work for this organization and to represent these families and these individuals.

I will say that it really is just a slice of um opportunity that to the point of what Daryl Watson was talking about.

There is it was taken away from the community and no fault of their own.

And this is a way that community can collectively through neighbor-led processes, decide what they want to do with land that um otherwise was just remnant, right?

Remnant parcels.

So thank you very much for your time and your consideration.

Please look into Tierra Collectiva as an organization.

We actually have an orientation coming up, and so if folks have questions about the work that we do and want to see it firsthand, we'd love to invite you to that.

Please reach out to us.

This is because in having a home which is uh ideal, we can live happily with our families.

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

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Claudia Hurtado.

Um our next speaker is Raymond Carion.

I think they were all sitting on the table with Anna Bare.

So I don't know if Anna has the mic, but those three other community members were sitting around the table.

Were they sitting around the table with their okay?

Yeah, I can see their zoom account has to match.

Oh, the Zoom.

Oh, that's what's happening.

That's what's happening.

Sorry about that.

Okay, so Remunda is I believe on Zoom and just needs to accept the promotion.

And Jasmine, can you help uh can you help us?

That's the same computer Raymond.

Yeah, she just took her hand.

Okay.

Um do we have is Raymond?

Okay, they're on separate accounts and they aren't, are they?

Okay.

Um Jasmine, can you ask her to accept the promotion?

Raymond la promotion.

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

No, I'm not sure.

No, I think they can do it on their phone.

Okay, we'll just we'll wait for just one second.

Is there an option for them to call in via phone?

That's a good question.

Yeah, we also have Mercedes.

Unable to accept the promotion?

Okay.

Here's my question.

If they're both on the phones and they're sitting there, if they can't accept it, would it be okay to also promote Anna's computer because they can speak on that computer?

Like we can see that they're there logged in.

Yeah, it has to be um to their email, but or to their um.

Correct login.

Right.

Our producer is working on it.

Hold on.

Is there a way for you to unmute them, producer?

Yeah.

Okay.

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

Hello.

Hola.

Hi.

Um my name's Claudia Ortavo.

I finally got unmuted.

Sorry about that.

Okay.

Um go ahead and go ahead.

When you're ready.

My name is Claudia Hurtado.

I live on the 44.

Are you guys able to hear?

Sorry.

Um Claudia does speak English, and now we have Raimunda who's is that who's also a mutter.

This is a lot of fun.

So is it Raymunda who's on?

Jasmine, can you tell Raimunda to hold on for just a minute and we will go first with Claudia and just if she can uh remain silent and unmuted until Claudia's done, and then we'll go to her.

She said muted.

Okay.

Claudia, when you're ready.

Cool.

So can you guys still hear me?

Yes, please continue.

So my name's Claudia.

I live currently on the 44 on the Tierra Collectiva's homes in 44th on Josephine.

Me and my um my mom and a couple of my sisters bought a home there.

And I think it's just really nice what they're doing just because we it's better to have homes uh built for low income homes built for our community rather than to just have empty dirt lots.

Um it's really nice just because I feel like it gives us the opportunity as young people, because I'm 25.

I bought the home when I was 22.

It gives us younger people the opportunity for us to be able to buy our first time home buyers.

Uh as first time homebuyers, and also like my currently my sister right now, one of my sisters who was prior or is prior um living with me now, is now looking um into the homes um so that way she can purchase her home.

Um and she's only 19.

So we're looking um to just be uh honestly have a better up um have a better future for our families and stuff, and tierra collective collective allows us to be able to do that with those homes.

Okay, thank you.

All right.

Thank you.

Um next speaker is uh Raimunda Carion.

Is that right?

She's she is producer has her, we're gonna unmute.

You're ready to go.

Okay, Jasmine, can you let Raimunda she can speak now?

My name is Raimunda, and my name is Raymunda.

I've lived in the Swansay area for 26 years.

When I got to this neighborhood, I was having a really really hard time to pay for my rent, and uh on top of that I had a son with lupus.

So frankly, I was having a really hard time to get the money together for both our expenses and his medication.

I I just want to speak in in support of this rezoning, and I'm supporting it because despite having struggled with you know paying for the rent and both my son's health.

I still participated in the coalition and I learned a lot about what they were doing, and I was able to benefit from the land trust that they're um that they established, and I was able to find a home for myself.

I want to thank the coalition for helping me.

Um I want to you know thank them for um helping me get to this place where my quality of life has improved my health has improved, and I want them to continue to use uh land to create homes for other people that have already suffered like I have from displacement.

And so thank you very much for your time.

I hope that we can help um you know people of low income and and low resources to complete and to like meet this dream and make it come true.

Um so thank you very much for your time.

Thank you.

Our final speaker is Mercedes Gonzalez.

Yeah, my name is Messi Gonzalez, resident de Swancia por ocho años.

Josephine.

Mercedes.

Um as a resident from Swansea for over nine years.

I'm here to share about my experience.

Adelante.

And I'm asking the council to also support this uh rezoning, and I've seen this type of effort in our communities.

Adelante generando ganancias masivas causando desplazamiento.

I've seen uh these um organizations have enormous profits and harming the community.

We've seen how this uh displacement um harms families and harms any access to resources and also harms their mental health.

The land trust is the best solution to mitigate this damage.

And for them to be owners of their own home.

Thank you all for your attention, and we hope to have your support for this rezoning.

You all know that our neighborhood has been very um you know impacted and has seen itself hardened.

And we have a lot of developments around our community.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you.

That concludes our speakers.

Questions from members of council on Council Bill 26-0062.

Um Councilmember Lewis.

I'm just nosy at this point.

So that you all had to pay for the one what was the cost of that, or was it discounted in any way, or was it market?

Talk to me about that.

So per CDOT's requirements, they said um they they did an appraisal of each parcel, and that had a range of um value, and they gave it to us for the lowest of that range of value, but that was the lowest market rate value.

So it's kind of what they could do within their powers.

Um although I have heard that they can donate to the city, and then the city could potentially do something, but I don't know if if that works or not.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

This is my only question.

Thank you.

Um Councilmember Torres.

Nola, how many other remnant?

So this is totally off the rezoning uh question, but how many other remnant parcels exist?

Um the three the the were part of this deal um were the best for housing.

The rest had some sort of issue or or were too small.

Um there's two really big ones.

We we call them the Burger King parcels that are right on the two sides of steel, um, right by the highway.

Well, obviously they're all by the highway.

Um and those ones are going to the state uh a different state agency called the DPA.

It's it's like their public private partnership office.

Um, and they are supposed to release an RFP for those.

Those they did some initial studies looking at feasibility of those two parcels.

Um, and there are some big like Excel utility lines and things that are going through that make it a little bit harder for housing.

Um, but they will, I guess at some point release an RFP for those two, because those two are pretty big.

Um, and then there's another one um right south to of the our uh a Brighton Boulevard property at 4640 um Bright Boulevard that we recently purchased that we're working with CDOT to see if there's something that we can do with that parcel, because it's right below or where the we're now the adjacent property owner.

Um and then there was a deal also recently between the National Western um the between my understanding is it was between the NUCO, the mayor's office of the National Western and the National Western Stock Show, and and they took one of those parcels for parking um in exchange for uh uh the RTD parcel that's further up north.

Um so some of those are being added into things, but there's still a couple of little strips and so on.

Okay.

Um I remember um the parcel across the alley from this one coming through for rezoning before have they already started building or what's do you know anything?

No, okay.

No, they they actually we had wanted to purchase that originally, and then um they they rezoned and then they came back to us and said, now would we want to purchase, but we don't have the funds to do it right now.

Um so it could be a potential future purchase, but um I haven't seen them take action on development at this point, but they rezoned for the same thing for the URH.

Thank you.

Thank you, madam.

All right.

Um the public hearing the public hearing is closed.

Comments by members of council on Council Bill 26-0062.

And we'll go with you, Councilmember Watson.

Yeah, just briefly, um, I wanted to thank, I was remiss in my in introduction um uh without thanking uh Nola Anna and Danny for uh the collective work, not just on this parcel, but on the collective work of all of the homes.

Um there are 23 more home ownership homes that TR Collective are working on.

220 rentals in the pipeline.

That is a massive amount for a community-led um uh community invested uh organization that is all deed restricted to make sure that displacement does not occur.

So thank you all for your good work and all the other members of TR Collectiva and GS Coalition for the work that you do.

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

Obviously, it's not a part of the criteria, but it's really just the same if you hear when community plan is taken that the land is not given to you and be happy to participate.

Thank you.

Councilmember Alvidres.

I agree.

Um, but I just want to thank you all for your and have the honor of going on your bus ride and learning about the amazing work that you're doing.

It's very inspiring.

As I feel like we're the mirror part of GES on the other side of the inverted L that isn't as well organized and hasn't created a community land trust.

So thanks for leading the way in creating these systems, not just for yourselves and your community, but so we can really think about the future of the city in that way.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Council Pro D you and thank you for the work that you've put into this.

This is very it's it's the beginning of many more to come.

So thank you for your work.

Um Madam Secretary, roll call, Council Bill 26-0062.

Council members Albitris.

Aye.

Flynn.

Aye.

Gonzalez Gutierrez.

Aye.

Hi.

Cashman.

Aye.

Lewis.

Perry.

Aye.

Sawyer.

Aye.

Torres.

Aye.

Watson.

Aye.

Madam Pro Tem Romera Campbell?

Aye.

Madam Secretary, close the voting and announce the results.

11 ayes.

11 ayes.

Council Bill 26-0062 has passed.

On Monday, April 6, 2026, Council will hold a required public hearing on Council Bill 26-16.

Oops, 26-0176, changing the zoning classification for 1760 East 56th Avenue and 4991 North Tilly Ride Street in Gateway Green Valley Ranch.

Any protests against Council Bill 0176 must be filed by council offices no later than noon on March 35th.

Nope.

March 31st, 2026.

You guys passed, you were listening.

This meeting is adjourned.