OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Community Planning and Housing Committee Meeting - November 18, 2025

Council Committees — Tuesday, November 18, 2025
BodyDenver, Colorado
SessionCouncil Committees
DateTuesday, November 18, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:57:37
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Your community planning and housing committee starts now.

0:14

Ah, there we go.

0:15

We're on air.

0:15

All righty.

0:16

Welcome to community planning and housing.

0:18

It is apparently November 18th, 2025.

0:21

Early start at 1 p.m.

0:22

today.

0:23

Yeah, we have a packed agenda.

0:25

So I will start.

0:25

I'm Sarah Parody, Councilmember at large, and I will start on my left.

0:28

Oh, hi.

0:30

Good afternoon.

0:31

I always feel like I'm so surprised when I start first.

0:33

Hi, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver, District 4.

0:36

Good afternoon.

0:37

If I'd be that it's lucky district seven.

0:39

Hi, I'm Amanda Sorry, District 5.

0:41

And I don't think we have any council members online today.

0:46

Councilmember Flynn, you're just in time to introduce yourself for the people.

0:51

Hello, people.

0:56

Look at that, the smooth entrance.

0:57

Alright.

0:58

And so since we have so much on the agenda, we'll start out with a presentation on the Far Southwest area plan from Brian and CPD.

1:05

You can introduce yourself and get us rolling.

1:08

Thank you so much.

1:08

Good afternoon.

1:09

Thank you.

1:10

My name is Brian Boteo, a senior city planner with the Department of Community Planning and Development.

1:15

And I'm the project manager for the Far Southwest Area Plan.

1:18

And I'm pleased to present this to you today for your consideration for background.

1:24

Far Southwest Plan is the latest plan in the neighborhood planning initiative.

1:28

It's comprised of these six neighborhoods we can see on the screen.

1:32

Harvey Park, River Park South, College View, Bear Valley, Marston, and Fort Logan, essentially everywhere in the city, west of the South Platte River and south of Jewell Avenue.

1:42

It's entirely in Council District 2 as well.

1:44

And we've been working on this plan really over the course of the past year and a half or so, gathering community input.

1:52

And we think it really combines the guidance and comprehensive plan 2040, Denver, with community input and strong community support.

2:04

So let me kind of give you an outline of the agenda.

2:08

First, I want to cover the criteria for adoption of supplements to the comprehensive plan, which this is.

2:15

And then I'll kind of proceed in a narrative fashion.

2:17

So I'll talk about what we did for our first round of engagement and how we use that to draft our initial draft of the plan.

2:24

And I'll talk about some of the plan contents and what we heard from the community in response to that.

2:30

And then I'll conclude with the staff recommendation and I'll be open to any questions.

2:38

So comprehensive plan 2040 uh establishes three criteria for uh supplements to the comprehensive plan, so that uh you know an inclusive community process has to be followed to develop the plan.

2:52

Uh supplements have to be consistent uh with comprehensive plan 2040 and Blueprint Denver, and plans have to demonstrate a long-term view.

3:01

So throughout my presentation, you'll see uh how uh the Far Southwest plan meets these three criteria.

3:09

So I want to begin with our first round of engagement.

3:11

Actually, I want to talk a little bit about what we did at the outset of this plan.

3:15

So uh to begin, we reviewed comprehensive plan 2040 in Blueprint Denver and identified which policies and strategies in those plans really required community input and some kind of level of neighborhood specificity.

3:31

Uh and then um we use that analysis, we identified those topics, and then we um went to the community uh beginning in summer, you know, from late summer through the fall last year, together community and but um to get that level of specificity that we needed.

3:47

So um I won't go into everything that we did for engagement.

3:51

I'll say it was extensive, but we really took kind of a three-pronged uh approach to it.

3:55

Um so we kind of had our traditional in-person uh uh engagement, so we had a large kickoff meeting, 250 folks attended it was far more successful than we expected it to be.

4:07

Um, you know, we met with RO's in the far southwest area.

4:13

Uh we had pop-ups at community events, um, and then we also had some focused in-person engagement.

4:20

Uh and so we partnered with three um uh nonprofits uh in the far southwest area uh for community navigator support uh to help reach underrepresented communities in Far Southwest.

4:33

Um, and then we also um connected engagement with a manufactured housing community uh in the far southwest area, and throughout the process, we met with um high school students uh at JFK and Lincoln High Schools.

4:46

Um and then we also had online opportunities for people who prefer to participate online or couldn't participate in person, so we had surveys as well.

4:53

And you know, this is really specific to the first round, but this is kind of the approach we took uh throughout the planning process.

4:59

And I'll say at the early stage, our engagement was bolstered by the fact that we sent out 30,000 postcards, nearly 30,000 postcards, one to every address of far southwest to make sure that everyone in the area was aware about the plan from the outset.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Homelessness█████████████████████████████████████████████61%
Affordable Housing█████████12%
Community Engagement██████8%
Environmental Protection███4%
Economic Development██3%
Active Transportation██3%
Parks And Recreation██3%
Historic Preservation██3%
Public Safety█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Community Planning and Housing Committee Meeting - November 18, 2025

The Community Planning and Housing Committee met on November 18, 2025, at 1 p.m. to discuss the Far Southwest Area Plan, approve outreach contracts, and receive a briefing on permanent supportive housing. The meeting was chaired by Councilmember Sarah Parody.

Far Southwest Area Plan Presentation

  • Brian Boteo, senior city planner with the Department of Community Planning and Development, presented the Far Southwest Area Plan, the latest in the neighborhood planning initiative covering six neighborhoods: Harvey Park, River Park South, College View, Bear Valley, Marston, and Fort Logan. The plan was developed over 18 months with extensive community engagement, including 30,000 postcards, 250 attendees at the kickoff meeting, and partnerships with three nonprofits for community navigator support.
  • Six community priorities were identified: complete commercial centers, quiet suburban neighborhoods, local businesses, safer street design, transportation options, and social community spaces. The plan proposes allowing duplexes and townhouses near Federal Boulevard, preserving historic areas, and improving transit and public spaces.
  • Community support ranged from 78% to 88% for each priority. The Community Advisory Committee and Planning Board both voted unanimously to recommend approval.
  • Councilmember Flynn expressed strong support, noting the high engagement and alignment with community desires. Councilmember Alvidres raised concerns about school closures and gas stations near the river. Council President Sandoval requested adding language about the South Platte River corridor, similar to other plans.
  • Councilmember Sawyer highlighted a gap in the zoning code: no suburban zone district allows duplexes and townhouses, making recommendations unimplementable. She urged fixing this in the 2026 work plan.

Outreach Contracts (Action Item and Briefing)

  • Lana Dalton, Polly Kyle, and Corey Branch from HOST presented the 2026 street outreach, youth street outreach, and community ambassador contracts. The contracts total $11,241,101 over three years (2026-2028) and include a $580,000 cut, reducing FTE in some areas.
  • Contracts: Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (DSOC) – $6,959,216; Urban Peak Youth Street Outreach – $1,206,260; Urban Alchemy Community Ambassadors – $3,075,625. The DSOC contract will be voted on next week.
  • The new model divides outreach into priority enforcement zones (downtown) and rest-of-city zones. Councilmembers Sawyer, Lewis, and others expressed concern that resources are concentrated downtown, neglecting neighborhoods and borders. Councilmember Lewis noted the metrics for Urban Alchemy do not clearly connect to homelessness outcomes and voted no.
  • Council President Sandoval asked about policies for people living in campers and suggested a review of Chapter 27. Corey Branch reported that a pilot for large vehicular homelessness served 65 individuals with 44 resolved outcomes, but funding ends this year.
  • Vote on Urban Alchemy contract (Bill 1881): Passed 3-1 (Alvidres aye, Lewis nay, Romero Campbell aye, Sandoval aye). The contract will go to full council. Councilmember Parody questioned using homelessness resolution funds for this contract.
  • Vote on Urban Peak contract (Bill 1882): Moved to full council without a roll call vote.

Permanent Supportive Housing Briefing

  • Rosie McQuigan and Polly Kyle from HOST presented five supportive housing contracts for 2026-2027, totaling about 282 units and serving 617 households annually. Three contracts require council approval: Mercy Housing (31 households), Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (165 households), and Urban Peak (16 youth households). The other two (St. Francis Center and Dolores Project) are under $500,000.
  • Supportive housing provides wraparound services with no time limit, targeting high-acuity individuals. Average length of stay is over three years. Funding is entirely from the general fund.
  • Councilmember Cashman asked about the overall need for supportive housing; Jeff Kositzki estimated 10-20% of the 5,000-6,000 people experiencing homelessness need it, but a precise assessment is lacking. Councilmember Alvidres noted a housing needs assessment is underway, expected in Q2/Q3 2026.
  • Councilmember Sawyer raised concerns about staff turnover and property management at CCH properties, and asked for more detail on how contracts are structured. No vote was taken; contracts will come to council on consent in the coming weeks.

Key Outcomes

  • The Far Southwest Area Plan was recommended to full council for approval (motion by Councilmember Flynn, seconded by Councilmember Alvidres).
  • Urban Alchemy community ambassador contract (Bill 1881) passed committee 3-1 and will go to full council.
  • Urban Peak youth outreach contract (Bill 1882) passed committee and will go to full council.
  • Permanent supportive housing contracts will be presented for approval on consent in upcoming meetings.
  • Councilmembers requested a review of zoning code gaps for missing middle housing and a policy review of homelessness ordinances.

Meeting Transcript

Your community planning and housing committee starts now. Ah, there we go. We're on air. All righty. Welcome to community planning and housing. It is apparently November 18th, 2025. Early start at 1 p.m. today. Yeah, we have a packed agenda. So I will start. I'm Sarah Parody, Councilmember at large, and I will start on my left. Oh, hi. Good afternoon. I always feel like I'm so surprised when I start first. Hi, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver, District 4. Good afternoon. If I'd be that it's lucky district seven. Hi, I'm Amanda Sorry, District 5. And I don't think we have any council members online today. Councilmember Flynn, you're just in time to introduce yourself for the people. Hello, people. Look at that, the smooth entrance. Alright. And so since we have so much on the agenda, we'll start out with a presentation on the Far Southwest area plan from Brian and CPD. You can introduce yourself and get us rolling. Thank you so much. Good afternoon. Thank you. My name is Brian Boteo, a senior city planner with the Department of Community Planning and Development. And I'm the project manager for the Far Southwest Area Plan. And I'm pleased to present this to you today for your consideration for background. Far Southwest Plan is the latest plan in the neighborhood planning initiative. It's comprised of these six neighborhoods we can see on the screen. Harvey Park, River Park South, College View, Bear Valley, Marston, and Fort Logan, essentially everywhere in the city, west of the South Platte River and south of Jewell Avenue. It's entirely in Council District 2 as well. And we've been working on this plan really over the course of the past year and a half or so, gathering community input. And we think it really combines the guidance and comprehensive plan 2040, Denver, with community input and strong community support. So let me kind of give you an outline of the agenda. First, I want to cover the criteria for adoption of supplements to the comprehensive plan, which this is. And then I'll kind of proceed in a narrative fashion. So I'll talk about what we did for our first round of engagement and how we use that to draft our initial draft of the plan. And I'll talk about some of the plan contents and what we heard from the community in response to that. And then I'll conclude with the staff recommendation and I'll be open to any questions. So comprehensive plan 2040 uh establishes three criteria for uh supplements to the comprehensive plan, so that uh you know an inclusive community process has to be followed to develop the plan. Uh supplements have to be consistent uh with comprehensive plan 2040 and Blueprint Denver, and plans have to demonstrate a long-term view. So throughout my presentation, you'll see uh how uh the Far Southwest plan meets these three criteria. So I want to begin with our first round of engagement. Actually, I want to talk a little bit about what we did at the outset of this plan. So uh to begin, we reviewed comprehensive plan 2040 in Blueprint Denver and identified which policies and strategies in those plans really required community input and some kind of level of neighborhood specificity. Uh and then um we use that analysis, we identified those topics, and then we um went to the community uh beginning in summer, you know, from late summer through the fall last year, together community and but um to get that level of specificity that we needed.

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