Rezones 2901 North Grove Street, 2921 North Grove Street, 2890 North Hazel Court, and 3120 West 29th Avenue from U-SU-B, U-TU-C to CMP-EI2 in Council District 1. (NEIGHBORHOODS AND PLANNING) Rezones 2901 North Grove Street, 2921 North Grove Street, 2890 North Hazel Court, and 3120 West 29th Avenue from U-SU-B (Urban, Single Unit, 4,500 sq. ft.), U-TU-C (Urban, Two Unit, 5,500 sq. ft.) to CMP-EI2 (Campus, Education Institution, 2 or more restrictive form standards) in Council District 1. The Committee approved filing this bill at its meeting on 10-28-15.
services with dorm style residents on site. So the proposed zoning district is simply too and that stands for a campus context and education institution, too. So it's pretty self-explanatory. The campus district proposes uses such as educational facilities like schools, churches and so forth, and the two designation is a more restrictive campus district that's designed to be located near single family residences and embedded in the interior neighborhoods to provide a sensitive transition to lower intensity uses. So now we'll get into the existing context. The current zoning on the north side of 29th Avenue is UCB, which is a single unit district, and on the south side of 29th Avenue is U, t, u c, which is a two unit district. So the site is also completely surrounded by single unit and two unit districts. And these are all considered residential protected districts, which in the CMP, A2 District calls for enhanced transitions to those protected districts. So the existing land uses are a combination of single family, two farm, two unit or duplex uses, but which is also unique. At this corner of Grove Street, there is an established nonresidential presence today with a vacant medical office building, which is in the red on the south side of 29th Avenue, and the parish center, which is owned by Saint Dominic's Catholic Church, where they have offices and other meeting spaces on the north side of 29th Avenue. This gives you an idea of the existing building form and scale of development. Again, image number two on the top right shows the parish center, a two storey nonresidential land use. Image number three, just below that is the single storey medical office building with a surface parking lot that's alley loaded on the bottom of the slide. So the the public process followed our standard approach, which entails notification to the registered neighborhood organizations and the affected council districts. In addition to that, the applicant, prior to submitting their application, engaged both registered neighborhood organizations on concerns about the proposed rezoning and met several times over a period of several months to come to agreement. However, at the Planning Board hearing, several of the immediate surrounding neighbors were not notified and did not and did not know about those conversations and did show up at the planning board and expressed opposition and concern not only about the proposed rezoning, but also about other church properties that were outside of the proposed zoning area and what might happen to those in the future. So after the planning board hearing at the request of Councilman Espinosa, a mediator was brought on and a mediation process took place with the surrounding neighbors, the applicant and both registered neighborhood organizations. And they met several times to come to a good neighbor agreement with which all parties signed off on, which basically spells out a communication protocol as when the or when the church develops any future projects with their property that the all parties be notified and engage in a process. So now I'm going to get into our review criteria. The first is consistency with adopted plans. We have two adopted plans for this location comp plan 2000 and Blueprint Denver compliant comp plan 2000 or the Comprehensive Plan 2000 and has several policies that are consistent with this promote for proposed rezoning talks about promoting infill development, increasing more amenities in neighborhoods with a variety of variety of compatible uses, and increased density support for Denver educational facilities and institutions. More flexibility to accommodate changing demographics and encouraging investment in neighborhoods and community facilities. In terms of Blueprint Denver This area is a single family area of stability and it's also on a residential collector street and near an enhanced transit corridor, which is Federal Boulevard. So Blueprint Denver articulates the definition of areas of stability as preserving the existing character. But one of the strategies to preserve existing character is to encourage reinvestment in stagnant commercial centers or other areas where reinvestment would be desirable to make the surrounding neighborhood more attractive and stable. In this case, we feel this meets the goal of of areas of stability, because the existing building on the south side of 29th Avenue is a vacant medical office building, has been vacant for a number of years, and it's deteriorated somewhat. So this encourages the revitalization of that property and contributes to the stabilization of the neighborhood. In addition, residential neighborhoods, according to Blueprint, Denver call for not only residential land use, but also complementary nonresidential land uses such as small shops, parks, schools and cultural amenities such as churches and other services for residents. So obviously, by this investment with the church, with a supporting use, it encourages additional residential complementary amenities and nonresidential uses. We also feel that this furthers the uniformity of district regulation and public health district regulations and public health, safety and welfare, primarily through the implementation of adopted plans. It's also meets our justifying circumstances review criteria in that it responds to changing changes in the surrounding environment and encourages a redevelopment consistent with the character of the area has been prompted by growth in the neighborhood that's contributed to an increasing demand for church services. And so this helps respond to that changing circumstances in the neighborhood. The proposal is also consistent with the neighborhood context and the zoned district purpose and intent. So this MPI to district was specifically written and designed to be applied to smaller and medium scale campus sites that are located adjacent to single unit two unit townhouse and other lower intensity, lower intensity residential zone districts where it's important to have a sensitive transition to those lower intensity uses and ensure more open spaces and sensitive setbacks. So to recap, we do feel that this proposed zoning case meets our tests for meeting our review requirements. It's consistent with blueprint members goals for areas of stability in residential neighborhoods. The CFP to district is designed for this type of scenario in this context and this location. And the proposed zoned districts use regulations standards for height, height, step backs, building coverage and setbacks are designed to be compatible with the existing homes at this location. So with that, community planning and development recommends approval based on the finding that all of our review criteria have been met. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Upton. We have ten individuals signed up to speak this evening. I'm going to call the first five speakers. And if you can make your way to the bench here at the front, and it'll be helpful in speeding up the proceedings. So first you have Thomas words and forgive me for messing up names. You can call me. You can mispronounce mine if I do yours. Thomas words that Texar Mariana MaryAlice Browning, Teresa Cooney, Andrade afe. Tom Squirts. Hi, my name is Tom Wirtz. I'm representing the applicant. I'm an architect here in town live at 257 South Logan so I'm not a resident of the district, am concerned but wanted to share that the rezoning effort is really to facilitate the desire for for new priory and novitiate, which really is in support of the religious life of the Dominican friars here in Denver. So it really facilitates it facilitates their common life. Saint Dominic's has been a cornerstone of the neighborhood. They have been in that location for 125 years. And as such, the relationship with the neighbors has been very important. So to that end, we implemented what we believe is a pretty strong outreach program. We met initially. The very first thing that we did was we met with West Highlands and with Sloan's Lake Citizens Group. We met with them to talk about what this rezoning process might look like and how we should we should move forward through the process. We met with them monthly. We did do a public meeting in July after about probably three or four months of meeting with the neighborhood groups. That public meeting was advertised by both neighborhood organizations through an email blast that went out to 1800 residents. All of that said we did not reach everybody. And so thanks to Councilman Espinosa and his efforts, we did have a mediation with some of the more immediate neighbors to the site. And that really facilitated, I think, what we believe is, is pretty unanimous support for the The Priory Project and the rezoning. Knowing that it's probably not going to be completely unanimous. But we do believe that we have reached everybody. We've heard all of their concerns and address them in a number of and in a number of strategies. One is a good neighbor agreement with all of the constituents, including the immediate neighbors, that talks to a communication process as we move forward, as the parish moves forward. Even beyond this project. We have talked about use and height and density with the neighborhood groups and have in that consideration we have drafted a deed restriction. It is final and in order to support that, we've got a good neighbor agreement that fundamentally says we will upon approval file a deed restriction, but with with the property. So I believe it's it's all working out well and I am available for any further questions. Thanks. Thank you. Mr. Words that text. Mr. Tex. Said. Tex of 4535 Julian Street, Denver. Begin by noting that. This city must be. Really bad. Shape. Seems like there's no one in the city but a happy Heinz who's available to fill positions. It's also nice of you to spend another $140,000. Of our money to settle a case of police brutality while you're doing nothing meaningful to reform the police department. Mr. Tex. In regards to the particular issue. Given the commitment of the Catholic Church. To dealing with poverty. This parcel that you're. Rezoning tonight would really make an excellent location for another homeless. Shelter. You know, a couple of weeks ago, Councilperson. Ortega mentioned that she was afraid people were going to die because of the cold weather. That same week, the Denver Post reported a. Person freezing to death in an. Alley on Broadway. I hope that on Friday, when you're on your retreat for homelessness, you're going to be. Willing to spend as much. Money. For warm beds for. People as. You're spending for warm beds for horses at the stock show. Thank you. Mr. Tech's a very honest brownie. I'm Mary Alice Ramming 2040 Hooker Street, and I'm a parishioner at Saint Dominic's. I support this project. We're a growing parish. We've been a parish there for 125 years. And we are attracting many new young families. And the Dominicans have been really committed to our parish. Thank you. Thank you. Teresa Cooney. I'm Theresa Cooney, 4610 West 26th Avenue. I'm a member of Saint Dominic's and I fully support this project. Saint Dominic's has a long history in the neighborhood. They do very positive work in the neighborhood. They're inclusive and welcoming to Catholics and non-Catholics alike alike. They do a lot of outreach to people in need. And I think this really is a positive step forward for the parish and I fully support it. Thank you, miss. Getting ready for a. Friday, 2979 Raleigh Street and the West High in the neighborhood. I'm a member of the West Valley Neighborhood Association, and I'm on the Land Use Committee, Design Preservation Committee and on the Joint Committee of the West Highland Sloan's Lake neighborhood representatives who have been meeting with the Prairie and their architect. Handprint Architects. For the past eight months, I've seen a lot of development in West Highlands over the 30 years that I've lived here, but I've never seen a development that sought neighborhood involvement early in the process, as this project has. This reasoning should be used as a model for how rezoning should take place. St Dominic's Priory came to the West Highland Neighborhood Association meeting last winter and explained what their long range plans was for this site and asked for input on that. A neighborhood advisory group was formed with the West Highlands Neighborhood Association. This was like Citizens Group representative from historic Denver and several Prairie members who had been meeting for the past six months. We were invited to attend the Resource Rezoning Pre-Application meeting with CPD at every stage that follows. Also, the project and the rezoning was presented to CPD. CPD recommended that this rezoning not be Miss three but simply eye to the Hamparian Denver team. The priorities of the R.A. representatives agreed to that zoning was the best fit for the neighborhood in this area of one and two story homes Zone two, unit and single family residence . The heights of the new buildings were. The primary concern of the neighborhood. The primaries plans were for a three storey building. The zoning allows more than that. There is some give and take and the end result. Of the current rezoning application and deed restrictions put in place to cap the height three occupied storeys. This is how all zoning and neighborhoods should occur and process come to the neighborhood, work with the neighborhood, have an outcome that is a win win for everyone. I ask you to support this rezoning. Thank you, Mr. Defender. I'll call it the next five. That's Jacqueline Youngblood, Mary Edgar, Geri Olsen, Gilbert Martinez. And when we bring Tom Brown up here as well, too, if you want to make some room. We'll start with Jacqueline Youngblood. Hello. My name is Jacqueline Youngblood. I live at 2975 Irving Street. I am the president of the West Highland Neighborhood Association. I am also a member of Saint Dominic's Church, and our association appreciates the communication and presentations that St Dominic's has provided regarding their project. In October six, our association voted to support Saint Dominic's. I am happy to be here this evening to share with you our support for St Dominic's project. Marilyn Quinn, who has worked very closely on this project. She could not be here this evening and she is celebrating her father's 91st birthday in Grand Junction. And she writes, As good a project as this is, it is unfortunately revealed a problem with the citywide rezoning that passed over five years ago. Prior to rezoning, immediate neighbors would have received written notice of rezoning, and many in the city believe that was still the case. Unfortunately, right now it isn't, and it created a problem in our neighborhood. We like to think, Councilman Espinosa, for arranging mediation among the neighbors in Saint Dominic's church that has resulted in the Good Neighbor Agreement. We strongly encourage council to reinstitute the requirement for written notification of immediate neighbors in all cases of rezoning. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Youngblood. Mary Edgar. Thank you. Good evening. I also. My name is Marie. Edgar and I live at 3532, West 39th Avenue, less than a mile from the church. And I'm also a parishioner, and I'd like to support this rezoning. And just to say, I'm very proud of the parish and the councilperson and the neighbors for planning it the way they did. Thank you. Q. Mr. Jerry Olson. Good evening. My name is Jerry Olson, 2195 Decatur Street. Denver, Colorado. A member of the Jefferson Park United Neighbors Board. And I would like to say that we definitely support this rezoning. This site really needs to be rehabilitated. And I would just like to say. As a good loser, and I'm glad to see them doing it. Thank you, Mr. Olson. Mr. Gilbert Martinez. All right. Gilbert Martinez. I live a 1940 grocery. I've been a member of that church for 60 years. I'm a Vietnam veteran. I got married there. And. I've seen the good times. I've seen the bad times. And. Now we're going through some good times because a lot of young people are willing to the area and St Dominic's has really helped them up a lot. And it'd be a shame if we couldn't keep it going the way it's going now because these young kids need a lot of help nowadays. And that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Martinez. Thank you for serving our country, Mr. Brown. I'm Tom Brun. I live at 2105 Newton Street. And I'm on the board of Sounds Like Citizens Group. And I'm the. Head of the zoning committee. And I want to once again congratulate. NPR architects. And the Dominicans. For. Their neighborhood outreach. We've been meeting with them for months. Going over. Their proposal. And they have worked with the neighborhood it wonderfully well. I mean, as ready to face that this should be the model for. The way people. Come into the neighborhood and want rezoning. So I definitely. Want the rezoning. To be approved. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes our speakers questions for members of council. Councilman Espinoza. Oh. I'm sorry. No, that's okay. After me. I figured you probably had a question since it was right. Let's go to Councilman Brooks, the Iranian first. Councilman Espinoza and then. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. President. Kyle, can you. Can I ask you a question? This is kind of a larger question, and it will not be the last time I ask it, because we're going to start to see a lot of these throughout the city. But I'm wondering, is on a macro level for this city, is CPD beginning to look at customization of zoning of churches within single family neighborhoods? This is a great example of something that worked well, but we have many examples of contentious rezonings of churches in neighborhoods. And it's coming up more and more. So I'm just wondering if you guys have taken a look at scope back to to start to do some customization. Zoning. Sure. So I'm Kyle Dalton with the Department of Community Planning and Development. More specifically, we've seen a pattern of rezoning requests over the past couple of years in relation to both places a religious assembly, but also other civic institutions that are experiencing in some cases, decay and in some cases growth. And we're finding that that we have to look at them on a state by state basis to see what kinds of zoning solutions are necessary. In many cases, there are standards on districts available, like in this case on the books that will satisfy the needs. And in other cases, we've had to look to custom zoning options that that sometimes are what it really just depends on what the plan direction is, what's going on. But at a broader level, we see that there's this trend that we want to look at as a city. And so we've suggested that this be a topic that we look at during the Blueprint Denver's citywide plan update next year. Perfect. Perfect. I'm glad that it's going to be on the docket on a larger deal. You know, I think as for us, the city council and a lot of heartache for the community, it's a lot of heartache and for you are CBD. And if we can get an agreed upon plan of principles of how we kind of go through the zoning, I think that would be very helpful. So thank you. Thank you, Councilman Brooks. Councilman Espinoza. Kyle, don't go away. Yeah. Hey, Tim. Got it, Kyle. And here's where I. Now I'm going to screw up. Is it did you. My understanding is you came to Denver from a similar type of department in Phenix. Is that correct? Or is that somebody else? My colleague did. See, I told you I was going to screw it up. I think I would like to speak to your colleague. Yeah. And almost got out of that one. Yes. What were the notification requirements in Phenix on rezonings? So in Phenix it was a little different. They do do mailing notifications to a radius surrounding the subject property. Okay. I just I thought I understood that about Phenix and I wanted that said because it came up and I don't I would like to encourage counsel to consider that putting that back into our requirements. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman. Thank you, Mr. Rose. I just would like to make a comment about the good neighbor agreements that I just really want to commend CPD and Councilman Espinosa and and all the neighbors for working out and developing this good neighbor agreement. I see these agreements working in contentious situations, but also in very favorable situations where you have a documented discussion about what the uses and issues are with the age of the rezoning. So I just really want to commend CPD for going forward on this and I hope this will be a this mediation and good development, good neighborhood agreements will be something that will be adopted in continuing rezonings in the future. Thank you, Councilman. Are there any other questions from council? All right. Public hearing is closed. Comments by members of council and Councilman Espinoza. All right. So first off, Tom, Brian, great pen. I really like that. So tell me where I can get one. And he's not paying attention. Okay, Tom, I just said a great pen. I like it on your shirt. So my brief comments are going to do this. Justice would mean do justice what it took to get here. Whether you think it was three months or eight months, it was still a long process. But when you come in to this dais and you see nothing but support on the monitor, I it feels like from district one , it feels like I'm in the twilight zone. So I swear Rod Serling is going to meet me out in the corridor. But listening, finding compromise and agreeing on language which allows both the developer and the community to move forward together. The fact that all speakers were in support on a sizable District one rezoning prove that it can be done. It starts with meaningful communication, and I think I speak for many involved when I say I deeply appreciate all of your hard work and willingness to dialog. Thank you all. Oh. And I encourage my colleagues to to approve this rezoning. Thank you. Right. Are there any other comments from members of the council? Councilman Ortega. I just wanted to clarify one point that was raised by one of the speakers, Jack Youngblood. She asked that we ensure that notification of the registered neighborhood notice registered neighborhood organizations continue to be a practice unreasoning. And that is, in fact, one of the stipulations of the registered neighborhood notification ordinance. My predecessor, Sal Carpio, was the author of that legislation, and there were a number of things that the ordinance required notification to neighborhoods on in rezoning applications or in fact, one of those. And if a city attorney could just nut his head, this has not been changed since then, to do my understanding. So is it, in fact, correct that this continues to be one of the notifications that neighborhoods receive? David Broadwell again, notification r and o's has taken consistent through the years. I think the comment made earlier was direct mail notification to adjacent neighbors. And I honestly, I think though the word that was used was reinstate or I'm not familiar with whether we ever did that in the past or when that might have changed. But I think that's the point the speaker was making, in addition to her now notification, advocating a system for direct notification of neighbors in writing. Okay. Thank you for that clarification. It's not my understanding that there has ever been direct notification by the city to all of the adjacent property owners. That has typically been the responsibility of the developer that is proposing a project. So thank you, Mr. President. I will be supporting this application today. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilman Espinosa, is that okay if I go to Councilman Cashman first and then come back or do you have an answer? Yeah, no. I was just going to make that clarification that why don't you let Jackie, who is was talking about, was direct notification of adjacent property owners. And the rule that we used to have is within the 200 foot halo on rezonings. And then that any requirement for that when it was and it was specific conditions was stripped in the 2010 legislative Rizzo. Nope. Okay. I stand corrected. Oh, Kyle. Looks like you can speak to one question. Thanks for the opportunity to correct the record here. Kyle Dalton Again with CPD and previous to 2010 and former Chapter 59, there was not a requirement to provide direct mail notification. The only thing that changed about notification from the old code to the new code was the addition of of another hour and no notice at the time of complete application, which was not required before. Other than that, there was no change to the notification requirements. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Cashman. Thank you, Mr. President. I just couldn't let this go by without saying how absolutely thrilled I am to see a property owner work so openly with a community to arrive at a solution. And I don't believe you have to be a church to show that type of respect and compassion to the neighbors. We've sat here in recent weeks and had examples of half hearted efforts by one developer and a complete disrespect for the community shown by another. And I think I don't think a landowner is obligated to do everything that a community asks them to do. But I think a landowner is is morally obligated to engage in an open dialog in an attempt to create a win win situation. I think there are places where private property rights and community property rights come together, and I think it's been a fabulous example of that. So I just want to take my hat off to my colleague, Councilman Espinosa, for the role he played and certainly to to the church and the community for the time they invested in this. Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Kenny. Thank you, Mr. President. I am I, too, want to thank all the speakers tonight for their thoughtful work and for sharing their support for this project and will be voting in support of it. I did just think it might be helpful, though, to chime in, since I imagine members of the public are a little confused. We've got some folks saying there was notice happening and the staff confirming that there wasn't. What I wonder if some of the members of the public might be thinking of is the Zipkin zoning plan informational notice. There are certain types of requests for oversight fences or other types of things, some home occupations that require an informational notice that goes to people. And it might have been a you might still be, I would assume is still the same amount of distance as it was in the prior code. So folks may have thought that that meant that all zoning things were notice to neighbors, and that's not the case. So if you're feeling like, hey, I know I've gotten a notice before, I've heard of notices before, you probably have. But it wasn't a rezoning notice. It was probably an informational notice for a certain category of probably what I would consider lesser changes. And Kyle can certainly step up and correct me if I'm wrong, but I just want to affirm for people who think they've seen and heard of such notices, they do exist but also affirm the staff that that's very different than notice for a rezoning. So just to help clarify that, Rick, thank you. Councilman. Councilman Brooks. Yeah, and I'm supportive of this. This is great. I wanted to speak on this notice piece again further clarifying with councilman can each that the department when you're doing a legislative rezoning when one of us as council members do a legislative rezoning, they actually encourage you to send a letter to every house that's impacted. And I know our office has done that. Five Voice Business Association has done that. So there may be further confusion there. And I also know that if a home is doing a pop up or things like that, they require to notice the adjacent house front and back as well with the letter. And so there's a lot of confusion around the rezoning stuff, but I am so supportive and so, so great to see you all come together and agree on this rezoning. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments, Councilman Espinoza? Thank you, Councilman Brooks, for that best practice. I appreciate that. And I'm going to commit to District one from now on when I get rezonings. Until we have a law, I will notify my neighbors that are impacted. Thank you. Thank you. Can't any more. All right. I wanted to chime in and say that I'm impressed with the process and I'm impressed at how smooth this has gone. And also, I just you know, I my daughter attended the school just north, and it's quite a catalog of such a long time. And to see the level at which you participate in the community and what different community events and everybody use in your your parking lot, I mean, it's probably the only parking lot I know out there. I know that you guys are great players and you have a great choir. So hats off to the process. Thank you, Councilman Espinosa, for your work on the ground. And thank you, folks, for making this a smooth process. With that, Madame Secretary, if we have a roll call on Council Bill 775. Espinosa I. Flynn, I. Gilmore, I. Cashman. I can h. I knew Ortega. I. Susman. Black Brooks II. Clark, I. Mr. President. I. Madam Secretary, please announce the results. 11 Eyes. 11 Eyes Council Bill 775 has passed saying that there's no other business before this body. Today, this meeting is adjourned. Everybody drives safe. Denver eight TV. Your city, your source. Denver eight on TV and online to stay connected to your community, your city, your source.