Finance and Business Committee Meeting – December 9, 2025
Finance and Business Committee Meeting – December 9, 2025
The Finance and Business Committee convened on December 9, 2025, at 9:45 AM under chair Councilmember Satana Gonzalez Cuchez. The committee reviewed two major agenda items: the creation of the North Wing Coop Entertainment District and the associated repeal of the pilot program's sunset date, followed by a briefing on the City's Recreational Vehicle (RV) Disposal Program. Consent calendar items were also approved.
Consent Calendar
- Routine approvals and unanimous actions were passed without discussion or opposition.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Alison Frieden (Westfield Company, representing North Wing Coop Entertainment District Promotional Association) expressed full support for the common consumption area, stating it provides flexibility and community building opportunities. She highlighted the underutilized plaza and noted that similar models at Stanley Marketplace have proven successful for multi-generational activations.
- Stuart Jensen (Peach Grease Club, a participating business) voiced strong support, emphasizing the challenges of operating a bar/restaurant in Denver and the potential for increased revenue and community gathering. He noted his experience with a common consumption area in Edgewater and stressed the responsibly managed space can reduce unregulated drinking.
Discussion Items
1. Establishment of North Wing Coop Entertainment District & Repeal of CCA Program Sunset
- Erica Rogers (Deputy Executive Director, Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection) presented the history of the common consumption area (CCA) program, created by state law in 2011 and adopted by Denver as a pilot in 2021. The proposed entertainment district covers ~13 acres near I-70 and the RTD 38th & Blake station, anchored by three participating businesses (Chubby Unicorn, Peach Grease Club, Left Hand Brewing). Mission Ballroom is not participating. The applicant (North Wing Coop Promotional Association) completed all state and local requirements, including a public hearing on October 7, 2025, with no opposition. The resolution creates the entertainment district; a separate bill removes the pilot program's June 2026 sunset date to provide certainty for future applicants. City Council must approve the district before the CCA license can be issued.
- Councilmembers expressed a range of concerns:
- Councilmember Cashman questioned the 100-acre maximum (state-mandated), the district's actual size (13 acres), whether common consumption areas increase DUIs or fights (no evidence found), and security measures.
- Councilmember Heinz asked why Mission Ballroom is not participating (speculated due to ticketed event logistics) and noted the program's low uptake.
- Councilmember Gilmore raised safety questions regarding harm reduction (Narcan, drug testing strips), re-entry protocols, and potential for increased incidents near EDM shows. Stuart Jensen and Ali Frieden responded that staff are trained in harm reduction and that EDM nights typically have low alcohol sales.
- Council President Pro Tem Romero Campbell questioned whether the program would require additional police overtime; Erica Rogers stated it would not. She also expressed concern that briefings were only offered last week, and requested a written security plan and DPD validation.
- Councilmember Watson thanked the team and applicants for their work, noting the difficulty of creating such a district.
2. Briefing on the Recreational Vehicle (RV) Disposal Program
- Steve Gonzalez (General Services, RV Disposal Program Manager) presented the program, established formally in April 2025 with a $450,000 general fund budget. Since January 2022, the city has demolished 1,400 RVs. The program addresses severely damaged RVs on public right-of-way (118 responses) and stored at the Sheriff's Vehicle Impound Facility (VIF) at 4650 Steele Street (145 spaces, 50-75% capacity). Intake peaked in 2023 (510 units); dropped 28% in 2025 (317 demolished, but over 400 received, with 100 still pending). Cost per unit decreased from $3,700 in 2022 to $1,400 in 2025 due to contractor efficiencies. The process involves hazardous waste removal (propane, batteries, biohazards, fentanyl residue) and on-site demolition. The city is exploring scrap metal revenue and DOTI crew collaboration for cost savings.
- Councilmembers raised questions about owner reclaiming RVs (Sergeant Shelley explained it rarely happens due to missing titles and multiple transfers), enforcement of 72-hour parking rules, and policy support. President Sandoval thanked the team and offered to collaborate on policy improvements.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to Advance the Entertainment District Resolution and Sunset Repeal Bill: Council President Pro Tem Romero Campbell moved, seconded by Councilman Heinz. The motion passed without a roll-call vote, sending both items to the full City Council for first and second readings.
- RV Disposal Program: The briefing was informational; no formal action was taken. Councilmembers expressed support and requested follow-up tours and policy discussions.
- Councilmember Gilmore requested a written security plan and DPD validation for the CCA license; the administration agreed to provide it by the end of the day.
- Consent Agenda: Approved without discussion.
Meeting Transcript
The price of freedom. It's easy when you're out there in the field doing your field work to get engrossed in the minutiae the details of mapping the artifacts in place, measuring the WCAP poles, getting all this data because these things are going away so rapidly. But then every once in a while there's some little little thing that brings us back to the fact that we're out there. What this is really about is the people, the people who live there. I know on this one site, the youth hunters camp we called it, because they were one of the main activities in the site was making red bullets, smelting the lead over the campfire, and we carefully mapped where all these little bullet primers were that they popped out of the bullet casings, and you could see where the individual knocking these primers out had been kneeling. The bullets were arranged in two arcs where his knees had been. We've gotten to the point now where we can walk on to one of these wiki up sites and start finding seed beads. We can tell from the size of these beads. This is pre-1860s. This is 1850s, or this is post-1880s, 1890s. They were demanding and requesting smaller and smaller and smaller beads because they can make more and more intricate embroidery with these beads. And these beads were made in primarily in Venice, Italy, and in Bohemia or in Europe, and shipped over the ocean by the hundreds of pounds, billions. Literally billions of these little beads were shipped over to the East Coast, brought out west on some trader's mule, and traded to the Indians by the billions, where they were sewn onto their clothing, their moccasins, their gun scabbards, horse blankets, etc. And when a thread breaks, dozens of these little things will fall out onto the ground, and many, many of them were left behind. But it brings it back to the fact there were people here, not just artifacts. Yeah, we're here. The people who've lived the life should be revered as the almighty authority. During the early period, we were required to collect artifacts, and the youth were kind of against that idea. The invasive archaeological digs was one of the things that we felt was invading the resting places of those who have passed on. Science is all about the collection of data, not actually the collection of artifacts. However, the past has been very good. That record, that collected record from thousands of sites, literally thousands of sites have been recorded in Western Colorado. Tens of thousands. Join us for the Finance and Business Committee starting now. What's up, Cashman? All right. All right. Um good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Finance and Business Committee. My name is Satana Gonzalez Cuchez, and I'm one of your council members at large and honored to chair this committee. Um we're gonna get going pretty quickly here. We have uh some action items uh and I'm gonna start with introductions of council members and then we'll move on to our action items presentations, and we have public comment and all of the things. So I'll start over here to my right. The distinguished gentleman to your right. Sure, why not? Chris Heinz. Uh, Denver's Perfect Tech. Good morning, Stacey Gilmore, District 11. Uh good morning, Darrell Watson, fine, district nine. Good morning, Paul Cashman, South Denver, District 6. Great. Um, I believe these uh we have the action items that are up. They are in a block coming to us from the formerly known as X-Sen License to the new uh Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. I have to, I'll get these. So I'm really sorry. And then following that, we will have a briefing from General Services. And we do have some items on consent. So with that said, I'll turn it over to our friends from our new meeting names division or department and have you take it away. So council members remember after the presentation, we will go into 15 minutes of public comment, followed by questions from council members. So thank you to the Commission Watson, I'm so sorry.
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