A bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification for 2100 South Colorado Boulevard, 4040 East Evans Avenue, 2140 South Albion Street, 2130-2150 South Colorado Boulevard and 4102-4108 East Evans Avenue in University Hills. Approves an official map amendment to rezone properties located at 2100 South Colorado Boulevard, 4040 East Evans Avenue, 2140 South Albion Street, 2130-2150 South Colorado Boulevard, and 4102- 4108 East Evans Avenue from C-MX-5 and C-MX-5 UO-1, UO-2 to C-MX-12 (urban center, mixed-use, five-stories to urban center, mixed-use, twelve-stories) in Council District 4. The Committee approved filing this item at its meeting on 10-22-19.
Yes, Mr. President. I move the council bill of 19 dash 1058 to be placed upon final consideration and do pass. Thank you, Councilman. It has been moved and seconded. The public hearing for Council 1058 is now open. May we have the staff report? Yes, thank you. Scott Robinson with Community Planning and Development. This is a request to rezone 2120 132, 21, 50 South Colorado. Boulevard, 4040 and. 4102 to 40. 1 to 8 Evans Avenue. And 2140 South Albion Street from see Amex five and select 501022c Annex 12 property is located in Council District four in the University Hills neighborhood at the southeast corner of Evans Avenue and Colorado. Boulevard. Just south of the Colorado station. Light Rail Stop. The property is just. Under two acres. Currently has a single storey retail structure on it and a parking lot. As I said, the request is to go from six, five and six five, you zero one, you go to. Most of the property is 650102. Which is. Urban center mixed use, five storey maximum. Height with the adult use. And billboard overlays. And then a small. Sliver of select site does. Not have the. Adult use and billboard overlays. The request is to go to see an x 12, which is urban center mixed use 12 story maximum. Height in order to redevelop the property. So you can see the existing zoning there with the surrounding CSX five to the south and east s and X five to the west across Colorado Boulevard and see an x 20, which is 20 straight zoning to the north across to Evans Avenue. The property is also part. Of the Corridor Station General Development Plan, which was adopted in 2008. It's in the secondary GDP area development area, too, which generally calls for office and retail uses with. Heights up to six stories. However, the GDP does not specifically allocate use height or density, and those things. Can be changed without any amendment whatsoever to the general development plan. As I. Mentioned, the property currently has a. A. Retail structure on it and parking lots. And then you can see surrounding uses a new residential structure immediately to the south. Commercial uses up and down. Evans and Colorado Boulevards. And here you can see the subject site and some of the surrounding properties. This application went to the planning board on October 2nd or received a recommendation of approval by a 7 to 1 vote. Three members of the public spoke in favor of the application at that hearing. I went to Land Use Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on October 22nd. In your packet you have public comment, including 35 letters of support from members of the community and two letters of support. From registered neighborhood organizations. The University Hills North Community and the University Park Community Council, the University Hills North. Community support is based on the. Signed Good Neighbor Agreement that is also included. In your packet. In order to. Approve a rezoning, the city must find that. These five criteria have been. The first criterion is consistency with adopted plans. There are four adopted plans that apply to this property. The first adopted plan is Comprehensive Plan 2040 that was adopted earlier this year as described in the staff report. Staff has found the proposed rezoning is consistent with these seven strategies from Plan 2040, including strategies related to equitable development by concentrating development in areas close to mixed use development and near transit, which this site would be, as I mentioned, just south of the Colorado Station Transit Center, and also served by transit on both Colorado and Adams . The second plan is Blueprint Denver also from 2019. The future context for the. Site is Urban Center, which is consistent with the key context of. The proposed TMX 12 zoning, calling for high intensity residential and employment areas and. Substantial. Mixed abuses. The future place for this property is what's called Community Corridor, which calls for a mix of office, commercial. And residential. Uses and says heights generally up to eight stories. However, that's just a. General guideline, and that can be higher or lower. Depending on specific factors, which I'll get into in just a minute. Both Colorado. Boulevard and Evans. Avenue are mixed use arterials, which indicate a. Appropriateness for higher. Intensity mixed use. Development, such as the. Proposed TMX 12. Zoning. It's also within the community corridors and. Center's growth area, which calls for 25%. Of new housing and 20% of new. Jobs over. The next 20 years. The proposed rezoning is also consistent with strategies from Blueprint Denver, including general policy one strategy which calls for encouraging higher density mixed use development in transit rich areas, particularly areas community corridors such as this, where transit per priority streets are planned. Both Carr. Colorado Boulevard and Evans Avenue. Are transit priority streets in Blueprint Denver. So this is an area appropriate for higher density. And then as I mentioned, there are factors in. Blueprint Denver setting when higher or lower heights should be considered. So I'll run through some of those. First is guidance from a. Current small area plan. I'll get into the small area plan guidance in just a minute. But the. Small area plan that applies to this property is fairly old, so not exactly. Current. And does not provide clear guidance. The second factor is surrounding context, including existing and. Planned building heights. As I mentioned, there's five story zoning on three sides, three sides of this property and 20 story. Zoning across. Colorado Boulevard. To the north. With 20 story buildings on the north side of Colorado station. So there are taller buildings in the area and zoning for taller buildings immediately adjacent to this property. The third factor is transitions, including transitions from higher intensity to lower intensity areas. So as I mentioned, the 20 story zoning immediately to the north, five story zoning to the. South, the 12 story zoning would act as a transition between those. Two. The fourth factor is. Adjacency to transit, especially mobility hubs. So as I mentioned, this is just south of the Colorado station. Light rail stop and also served by busses. On both Colorado Boulevard. And Evans Avenue. And then the last two factors for. Achieving planned goals or furthering urban design. This proposal at. This time does not specifically address those, but given. Are the three factors around context transitions and adjacency to transit staff finds that the proposed request of 1212 story zoning against 12 is appropriate and consistent with. The recommendations of Blueprint Denver. The third plan is the Colorado Boulevard plan. The small area plan that I mentioned is from 1991. So as I said, fairly old. It says continue appropriate mix of land uses and new development should be compatible with existing development. Also, the. Proposed TMX 12 zoning would allow mixed use zoning consistent with what is currently allowed, and the 12 storey zoning would allow appropriate. Development heights. Consistent as the transition from the taller zoning to the north and the shorter zoning to the south. And then the last. Plan is the Colorado Station. General Development Plan, which, as I mentioned earlier, calls for. Office and retail uses consistent with the. Proposed TMX 12 building heights of 1 to 6 storeys. Which is less. Than the proposed TMX 12. However, as I said, the GDPR does not. Specifically control height, use or density, and those can be changed without any amendment to the GDP. So staff finds the proposed rezoning consistent with all four plans. And the first criterion met. The second criterion is uniformity of district regulations. Staff finds the proposed rezoning would result in the uniform application of the Annex 12 Zone District. The third criterion is to further the public health, safety and general welfare of the city. Staff finds the proposed rezoning would do so by implementing the city's adopted plans and promoting. Walkable mixed use areas. Promoting people walking and getting to transit safely and healthily. The fourth criterion is justifying circumstances. Staff finds the proposed. Rezoning is justified by changed and changing conditions in the area. There's been a fair amount of redevelopment. As I mentioned, there's a brand. New apartment building just to the south. There's been new development around Colorado Center Station. At that higher height, this is turning into more of a transit. Oriented development area. And so concentrating more. Growth here, allowing more height. Especially at an intersection of two major. Arterials close to transit, is justified by the changes in the area. And the fifth criterion is consistency with the neighborhood context. District purpose and intent. Steffens The proposed rezoning would result in. Development consistent with the urban center neighborhood context, description and the purpose and intent of the same x 12 zone district, which is intended to apply to areas and intersections served primarily by major arterial. Streets. Or building scale 3 to 12 storeys if. Desired. As I mentioned, both Colorado and Evans are major arterials, so this. Is an appropriate location for the next 12 zone. District. So staff finds all five criteria have been met and recommends approval. I'll be happy to answer any questions. Thank you very much. We have 21 individuals who signed up to speak on this item this evening. So I do apologize. But I'm going to ask if that front row, if you can just move, there's still front row seating available over here just so that we can bring I'm going to bring the speakers up in sets of five and use that that bench. So I will call you up five at a time as soon as I call your name, if you'd make your way up to this front bench and then I'll call when I call your name, step right up to the podium so that your time can start. I also took a quick look and it looks like of our 21 is overwhelmingly signed up in support of this tonight. You are free to take your full 3 minutes at the microphone. But if we get further down the list and someone has covered the points that you're going to make, you're also welcome to introduce yourself state how you feel on this and reiterate quickly some of the points that were made and you don't need to take up the full 3 minutes if you don't need it. All right. Vincent English. Brit Probst, Sandy. Heck, UNMOVIC Chairman Say Qu and Robert Forster. If you'd come to the front bench and Vincent English, you are up. Thank you. Mr. President, we are currently passing out an information packet for the council here. To the count. To the council clerk. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Vinny English. My address is 3825 Tone Street, Denver, Colorado. 80211. I'm the chief development officer for Q Factor. And for those of you that are not familiar with CU Factor, we are a contemporary development company, most notably recognized for industry, the modern office environments in the Reno neighborhood. We have been working with the property owners here with us tonight, Z portfolio in our team for more than a year on a mixed use concept as well as this associated rezoning process for the site located at Colorado Boulevard and East Seventh Avenue, adjacent to the Colorado Transit Station. We've been involved with leading a long and proactive outreach effort with the city, the University Hills North Community, the Arno, the primary and closest Arno to the site, as well as the University Park Community Council, the neighborhood and R.A. to the West across Colorado Boulevard and the East Evans Business Association, as well as other local organizations. We are honored to have a great deal of community and neighborhood support for the application, which I think is a reflection of the type of outreach and genuine communication that we have sought to provide throughout this process. Furthermore, on page 13 of your packet is a list of the letters of community support received for our application. Since that time, both the project and our community outreach have both evolved significantly, and we are excited to be here in front of you today. We've taken a lot of the concepts and recommendations and blueprint. Denver and the comprehensive plan to heart, such as urban centers, community corridors, design, quality and mobility just to name a few. And we've truly let a number of these concepts drive some of the inspiration for our project and mix of uses. I would like to thank the city planning staff for all the time and hard work they've put in. I also want to thank the community and neighborhood leaders that we have been working with. I'm here to answer any questions you may have, and I thank you again for your time and consideration. Thank you. Next up, Brett Probst. Hello. I'm Brett Probst. I live at 2255 South Jackson. Street. In Denver. I'm going to be very brief. The architect who has. The honor of working with Q Factor in Z portfolio on the design of this project. I'm really excited about it because I know. They have such high intentions. To create a really. Noteworthy development here. I'm also excited because I live just a few blocks away from this property, so I feel especially. Invested. In making sure a great. Outcome. Occurs. And again, I'm here to answer questions that you may have. Thank you. Next up, Sandy Hook, UNMOVIC. Good evening. It's a pleasure to be here. My name is Sandy. How of itch? Our family owns the property at the south east corner of Colorado Boulevard and East Evans. My address for the record is three, three, three South Monroe Street. Number 401 Denver. My family has owned and developed real estate in Denver for over 100 years. In fact, my great grandfather was one of the original stonemasons here at City Hall. We have on the land to Colorado Boulevard and Evans for as long as I can remember. And that's a very long time. As you can imagine, we have had a ton of offers over the years for a variety of uses, including fast food chains, automobile dealerships, drive thru Starbucks, and of course, the proverbial five story rep style apartments as many other sites in the area have developed. However, as a tribute and legacy to our family, we have turned down these less than visionary projects and offers and took the time to consult with the city, with the council, with the community to deliver a project that the community desires and can be proud of. We are looking at this property as an iconic long term legacy for Southeast Denver. Our goal has been and continues to be to build a true mixed use development that will provide the community with a gathering place much needed restaurants, shopping, office, residential and a hotel. We actually had an architectural competition and ultimately ended up retaining two very talented architectural teams to help us create our vision. We're excited about the partnerships that have been developed and the conversations we've had with so many along the way to get to this point. I would like also like to thank the community and neighbors who have taken an active role in the development of this project and helping further our quest for rezoning. I'm here to answer any questions you might have. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Chairman Sekou. You got to go in here. Okay, here we go. Chairman SEC, who likes our action movement. Also the next United States Senator. 2020. Here we go again. The vote on this one is going to be 13. The two who stop playing games up here. Because this is the way it goes down down here. You scratch my back, I got your back. There is no moral turpitude whatsoever in the game. It corrupt thoroughly. Mr. Speaker, I would point to our decorum rules. Please follow them. Do it now. If you could please follow our decorum rules. What did I do now? You are not to question the motives of the council members. Speak to the issue. I did not question the mode of the city council. All right. Continue is apparent and evident how we have to do that. Your history speaks for you before you even walk in the room. Here we go. Now. Who is this bull? Who spoke. And as you go about doing the development and getting and hiring the subcontractors who don't work, that no black people guarantee. White, brown, maybe. But guaranteed white workers can't be doing this. So once again, as a city develops, they leave us out conveniently under the as someone once said. Unintended consequences. Oh, yeah. Get real slick with the language. So as we go on, we move this thing down the road. You're going to do what you're gonna do. And black people have got to be put in another category call endangered species. Like doo wop, who they are and the world and the tree and the beetle, because they give more consideration than we do as a human. Being in this town. And that's been going down for 67 year. And the ball keeps bouncing. And the faces keep changing and the song is still the same. So what was the real change go down here? It wasn't a changing of the guard or the regime. No, it wasn't. It was game changing faces. Same rules, same regs. Just different folks doing it. Lying about their. Intentions and not wanting their end. I didn't. Question How can you sit up there and tell me it's against the rule to question? I'm sorry, but your time is up. Next up is Robert Forester. And we have I'm going to call the next five up, Jesse Paris, Rita Henry, Matthew Hubbard, Jennifer, New Haven and Brooke Webb. Go ahead. Hi. My name is Robert Forrester. I live at. 2461 South Holly Place to Denver mailing address. But it is Arapahoe County. I'm about a mile from the project and I wanted to come speak on behalf of this zoning request. It's a beautiful project that I think will enhance the area. Its closeness to you. And the light rail resonates with what the community needs. It's. Really a lot of thought has been put into it. There's been community input. There's been an effort to reach out to people in the area to answer concerns and questions. I think the project is. The best use of the area. I think it will. Enhance. Values for everyone concerned and I would like to ask the council to approve it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next up, Jesse Paris. Good evening. Council President Clark, members of the council, members of the audience, those watching at home. My name is Jesse Larson, Paris. And I ran for city council while large with almost 15,000 votes with no money. And I'll be running again in 2023 to be your next mayor, Mr. Pierce. Do you have something germane to this issue reside? And can you see the Backus District Court, District nine? And I am speaking against this proposal tonight. I was at the last meeting when you guys deliberated on what you were going to do in regards to this. And I asked the developer straight up, what was the ammo level for this. I was told that only 10%, ten units out of. 360 were actually going to be affordable? Or was it more like ten units out of 500? Either way. It's a joke to say that this isn't even remotely close to affordable. It's 80% at my level and only ten other units are qualify for the tax credits. So really, who are you building this for is my question, because you keep screaming out, we can do better. We have a housing crisis in this city and this town. But yet you keep building honest luxury housing for who and what community spoke in favor of the still white afloat community. Really? This is honestly a joke. But you're going to do what you're going to do. As has already been stated. You already made your minds up before you come into chambers. So I had a few questions that I want to answer. I wanted to know if there was going to be a traffic study done on this area, because currently the traffic is atrocious in this area. And as a pedestrian walking in this area. You're putting your life in or at risk. You have to play Frogger. I know because I used to work in this area when I was selling direct TV for Amazon Satellite, which is right next door to where this proposed development is going to happen. So I would like somebody to please answer those questions because you keep ignoring my question. So I would like somebody to please answer that traffic question. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Rita Henry. I am Rita Henry three, three, three, three is Florida Avenue, Denver 80210. And I'm here to say that I really like the design for Colorado and Evans, and I think people hear 12 stories, but that's misleading since it's only a small portion of the project. That's 12 stories. The other parts are open and green available to the community for their use, and that's seven or 8000 square feet on the ground floor that will be open to the sky. And I asked if they had done. The Sun tests. They said they did and it will not be shady any time of the year. So I like the upscale design. That area right now has derelict corner vacant. Nothing there. So and I like the glass restaurant that spans the bridge connecting the two buildings with an outdoor patio. So I think it makes it very desirable. And I like the idea of a boutique hotel with 120 to 130 rooms. And I have heard that. Do you parents coming from out of town have limited options? And the residencies are, I've heard, 125 units. And it's such an improvement of what is in progress being built that's allowed without any questions asked. Five stories, zero light line apartments that if that's what can be done on this property with no questions asked, then I think. Definitely needs to change because that project is pretty bad looking. Everybody's talked about that and that's 350 units and they say that's what you could do on this property without going for a zoning change. So. And I do think parking is a problem and people can't ride their bikes. And I think it's probably right about that busy intersection. And I don't know how that will ever change because it's not going to stay undeveloped. So I think a subway system is really the answer, but that won't happen either. So I feel like people move to Colorado to be outdoors. So I think by limiting parking, you're not going to get people to just. Take the light rail to Broadway and downtown. It's got to be more coming. So I would say that's probably. Something to work on which is difficult. Thank you. All right. Next up, Matthew Hubbard. Hello. My name is Matthew Hubbard. I'm a resident at 515 Franklin Street in Denver. I'm here to speak in support of the Evans and Colorado Project. I believe the design of the project will bring some much needed architectural interest to this part of the city. My wife and I own a modern bungalow, a custom almost furniture store located just down the street in you hills. We have been there for 15 years. I was impressed that the developers reached out to us directly. They shared their project motivations and design. They asked for honest feedback and before asking us if we'd be willing to speak in favor of the project. That's the first time that's happened in 15 years. Density is good for small business. Innovative design is good for the soul of the city. This project offers both. With that said, I would like to support what Jesse Paris said about pedestrian traffic, and I would add cycling traffic along Colorado. That would be a really nice upgrade to the area. And with that, thank you for your time and thank you for your service to our city, especially Councilman Hines from my home district, District ten, thank you very much. Thank you. Next up, Jennifer, New Haven. Good evening. My name is Jennifer New Hoffman. I live in the University Hills Norris neighborhood. Although I'm a co-president of the Hills, Norris Community are an oh who already provided a support statement in support of this rezoning. This statement is mine and should not be interpreted as a statement from the board. I also support this rezoning. He Hills North has been going through some dramatic changes over the last five or so years and it's obvious there will continue to be development in the northern portion near Evans Avenue. Hundreds of new townhomes have either recently filled or will complete construction soon. We're about to see a 350 unit apartment building open to renters in just a couple of weeks ago, another 360 unit apartment building broke ground. Well, I'm not against density there. In fact, I think it's the exact right place for density. I have concerns about how quickly the density was preceding the zoning for this property. The southeast corner of Colorado Boulevard and Evans currently allows for yet another five story apartment building, paying the linkage fee for affordable housing and like the five plus storey building immediately to the south, they would not have to look to the access to the existing businesses or residents to gather feedback and opinions. Although we may ultimately have more of those developments, the neighborhood needs more than just housing. Bringing in a development that consists of a diverse mix of tenants will help activate the community around it. This also gives Denver extra time to provide better infrastructure to support future density. As we know, the Evans corridor struggles to manage its current traffic off traffic levels. When I heard what the owners and developers wanted to do with that property, I became excited. Excited to have an architecturally interesting building at the Northwest entrance to University Hills, excited that someone had vision enough to design something that would provide the same amount of density a use by right build would get, but supplying so much more to the community. Excited at the prospect of having an open outdoor community gathering space, a new desirable restaurant, a new dessert shop to walk to on a hot summer night. I'm excited to think there might be something in our neighborhood that instead of bringing more residents, it would bring a destination for all our existing and incoming residents to go to . I am most excited for there to be a place between the hundreds of single family homes and the transit station. To better activate the transit station, give the residents a reason to head to the station on foot or meet friends coming in from the light rail for a social outing. I'm grateful the owners kept going to the drawing board to find a concept that would benefit everyone. I fully support this rezoning and hope you will too. Thank you. Thank you. Next up is Brooke Webb and I call the next five up to the front. Pamela Whitney Walsh, Ryan Morrissey. Lori Bissell, Max Everett and Barry Rosoff. Brooke Webb. Hi. I'm Brooke Webb. I live at 5382 East Colorado Avenue in Virginia Village, which is about a mile from the project. I'm involved with Ellis Elementary School as the parent teacher organization president. And one of the reasons I'm speaking in support of the project is because we need to attract and retain families in Virginia Village. I like the many of the points that have already been brought up, so I'll just reiterate the fact that this is a legacy project for the corner of Colorado and Evans, that it's very close to the light rail station, the Colorado station, and we want the Colorado station to become more of a destination station like some of the other light rail stations throughout the city, where right now it's more of just a commuter station. This would help improve the Colorado station tremendously. I really liked when I met with CU Factor, the accessibility that they talked about as well as the wide sidewalks. I think that that's an imperative part of this project for the pedestrian and cycling concerns that have been brought up. I really like the fact that it's a luxury, high quality project that other areas of the city have seen and our little neck of the woods hasn't really benefited from quite yet. And the hotel, the housing. And currently it's just a defunct site with a really old building there that has had no use for us. So from what it is to what it is going to be, I think it's very beneficial for the community. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Pamela Whitney Walsh. Did he mean? And Pamela Walsh and I. Reside at 1316 South Elm Street. And I'm here tonight in support of the redevelopment project. I'm very excited about the opportunity that this represents for our neighborhood. Specifically, if free zoned to be mixed use, we could have a greater mix of amenities like broader choices of restaurants that we see in other thriving neighborhoods like Walsh Park and Platte Park. Currently, that area is dominated by fast food restaurants and chains and would be would rather prefer to have a range of healthy choices from fast casual to more sophisticated dining that you might find in other great cities like San Francisco and New York. And it would give local restaurateurs the opportunity to create something really special in their own communities. It also promises greater access to what is currently a concrete wasteland. By carving out open space for public use. And finally, I was really relieved and furthermore inspired when I heard from the outcome of each family about their desire to build a legacy project on the southeast corner of Denver. I believe that it will bring a level of visceral, visual sophistication and appreciation for design to the neighborhoods so that it really elevates our community rather than having it blend in or worse, diminish the beauty of our neighborhood. So again, as a neighbor within walking distance to this promising new development, I hope you will consider approving the rezoning that will enable the project to create something that maximizes its full potential for our community. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Ryan Morsi. Good evening, council members. My name is Ryan Morsi. I live at. 3434 South Claremont Street in the New University. Hills neighborhood. I'm here tonight in support. Of CU Factor and Z Portfolios. Application to rezone the corner of Colorado and Evans as a nine year resident of University Hills. I've seen a lot of changes. In our neighborhood. Not every project allows us. The opportunity to discuss. The proposed development with the developers or owners. Q Factor and Z Portfolio. Have taken the time over this past year to meet with our neighborhood. We've been able to discuss. And view the proposed building and mixed uses of space. It is clear that they have spent a great deal of time wanting to create a building that will bring a unique architectural design. To our neighborhood. And not just a planned structure that we often see built. Because of this, I believe the building will become a center of gathering that our community has been lacking. By creating a variation in height and density, they will be providing a plaza with open spaces and amenities not seen by any current development. Providing this mix of uses, we will gain shops, restaurants, offices and living spaces all in one location. This will allow both walkability. And. Vibrancy that the future of our community will need. With easy access and use of Colorado station. This mix of uses will allow the outreach for others to enjoy enjoy. Not just our neighborhood. Please support the growth of. Our neighborhood and community by approving this. Project to move forward. We will all enjoy the strong precedence this building will make in our community and hopefully will encourage other developers to follow suit. Thank you again for the opportunity to discuss my support in this development and rezoning. Thank you. Next up, Laurie Bissell. Yes. My name is Lori Bissell. I live at 2167 South Belcher Street and I am probably the closest neighbor to the project and I've lived in the neighborhood for 24 years, so I've seen a lot of changes. I was community president when Light Rail went in and Colorado center development and all that and I think this is a really good project is bringing excitement to the neighborhood because it's kind of been just sitting there for a long time and I thought, How come this isn't being developed like Highlands Ranch? I'm like Highlands or that. And finally the development is coming and I think this is a good development. It's well thought out. The developers were willing to talk to the community. These six blocks are going to be developed and how they develop is really important to the community because I've traveled in, you know, in Europe, like I'm sure some of you have, and you'll see that the train stations are a place where people go, they go to buy their cheese, their wine, pick up their laundry and have a really nice meal or meet people from another that come from another station. And you meet there at the station in Zurich. I remember my friend said meeting where the singles meet and I go, What the hell are you talking about? And she goes, Yeah, we have a place where people come, where singles meet, and then families meet in a different place in the station. So I think as Denver develops as a metropolitan area, it's really a good thing that we get out of our cars and have the option to take light rail to places like I took light rail down here tonight, so I don't know how many of you did that in, but I did. And I think that's a great option to get people out of their cars. Even though I drive for Uber and Lyft, I think that that's going to help us in the future to be able to do that. So I hope that you vote for this. I'm for this project, and I think it's going to be good for standards, set standards for the development of these six blocks that are right there. So thank you. Thank you. Next up, Max Everett. Max Everett. All right. Very brassed off. And then I'll call our next group up. If you could make your way to the front bench. Sam Muir of Sharon Pearson. Elizabeth Davis. Kyle Exner, Kimberley Tyson and Paul Leone. Go ahead. Excellent. Good evening. Members of members of council. I'm very proud to preside at 333 South Monroe Street in Denver, Colorado. Although I've only been a member Colorado resident for about 12 years, I've seen an incredible amount of development all through the city. Living in Cherry Creek, I've kind of looked at LoDo, LoDo, the Highlands, Reno, all these areas popping up with incredible, vibrant destiny, areas that have become destinations. Sitting in Cherry Creek, we look at this and say, You know what? Where do we want to go? Where can I go? The University Hills area really has, and it is really just a wasteland of just information of a transportation corridor from I-25 down to Hamden. It's kind of it's a wonder why this area hasn't developed. And I think this this project is an unbelievable way of bringing an incredible amount of diversity and development to the area. And I'm incredibly excited to see this to see this this area develop. I think the project that that that's put forth is really, really an architecturally amazing thing, which is which is also really interesting because I'm tired of driving by another big box of just plain box and irresponsible development. This does a really nice job of combining what the community needs in a very in a visually pleasing way. And I give my unconditional support for the project. And thank you for your time. Thank you. Next up, Sam Mira. Good evening. My name is Sam Europe. I own a business on Monaco and Evans is triple-A. Swing and vacuum. I've been there since 1985. And I must tell you, I've seen a. Lot of changes. During the time I've been. There. And when they approached me. With this project on Monaco and Evans, I'm. In Colorado and Evans, as of now. I do a lot of driving in that area. And every time I see that corner. I just shake my head because all I. See. Is people frying in a green chili. Some people selling sunglasses on the corner. Uh, and I've seen. People, you know, I mean, all kind of stuff, and it would attract gravity. And it's really sad to see that corner like that. So when they told me about this project, I really felt excited and I really wanted to give my $0.02 worth about this project. And I. I appreciate if you guys will give it consideration to approve it. It's a it's a great thing for the city. And like I said, I've been there. For almost 35 years. I'm very excited about it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next up, Sharon Pearson. Hi. My name is Sharon Pierce, and I've lived in the neighborhood for 20 years. I'm about six blocks southeast of the project. I think the points I'm going to make are with all the development that encroaching on your neighborhood. This is the first group that's really come to us with vision and looked at it as How can we improve your neighborhood instead of just plopping a building down in the middle of it? The project that was just built just south of their building is not anything I think any of us are proud to look at every day. And the idea that someone is bringing something to us that's going to produce some architectural interest and bring new things to our neighborhood is refreshing. And my major point would be I hope they set a precedent for the three other developers that are currently on the north side of our neighborhood going after their projects. So get out there and make your plea to those other guys. So I am strongly in favor of this project. Thanks. Thank you. Next up, Elizabeth Davis. Thank you. My name is Elizabeth Davis and I live at 2575 South Cherry Street in Denver with Jenny. I'm co-president of the University Hills North Community. R.A. I'm speaking today to represent my personal support for this project. As a resident of this neighborhood for over 20 years, I see this project as an opportunity and an investment in the future of our area. I'm committed to working for smart development in a safe, walkable and vibrant future for University Health North and all along the Evans and Colorado Boulevard corridors, the developers and owner in this project have proactively engaged the community. They've been accessible, they've listened and responded to feedback. Although the increase from five stories to 12 stories sounds steep, they have agreed to design to match the equivalent of five story density and have included open space and retail at this property. They have also agreed to active engagement in an implementation of transportation demand management strategies. These elements are important to me and to our residents and are captured in the Good Neighbor Agreement that people have referenced already. For all of these reasons, I am in full support of this project, and I hope you will, too. Thank you. Next up, Kyle Exner. Evening. My name is Kyle Asner. I live in University Hills. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight. I'll try to keep this short because to keep it from getting too repetitive, a few bullet points. I think it's an exciting mixed use project that isn't your standard five storey apartment building that a lot of people have spoken against tonight. The developer is local and has a history of successful projects in the Denver area. This has been mentioned before, but they've made a significant effort to engage the community and gather feedback and that the project helps increase density near light rail and all the jobs at Colorado station. And those are the main points I want to highlight tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Kimberly tests. Yeah. You're not going. I apologize. How you doing? It's too. I live in University Hills, and I've been there for over a decade. And before that, from 2000 to 2008, I was in five points where I also enjoyed living. But I actually went over to that area because it seemed like I had more yard and. There were things that were going. To be exciting and happening there. And as I've been watching it grow over the last ten years, I can say that this group has been very good about cooperating with the community. They have scheduled one on one appointments with anyone who asked. They have scheduled tons of meetings where anyone has been able to come. It has been well advertised. And I find it, as a resident of University Hills, a little. Disturbing that the two people have spoken against it. I had not seen it a single meeting or participated at all. So I believe all the people who have stood up and spoken so far have been at the meetings and they have been very well and engaging. And like they've spoken. The architect has just been so thoughtful and they've. Answered all of our questions. We brought up the concerns about traffic and pedestrians. They told us how they were looking into that. They did studies. They were opening up that lane for the cars to pull in more. There have been thoughtful in every way and they've answered every question and they've been nothing but cooperative. And as you can see, the support by the people actually live in that area is immense. So I really hope you guys go all the way for it. Thanks. Thank you. Next up, Paul Leone. Good evening. My name is Paul. Excuse me. Good evening. My name is Paul Leone. I live at 4225 east. I live which is the Observatory Heights Development in. It's about a block diagonal southeast of the development we're discussing. I wanted to say that I relocated to the area from North Central Westminster specifically to be near the transit. I haven't lived in the area for over 11 months. I consider myself the unofficial gentry representative to the University Hills North Community as I appear to be the only one living in a slot house development that comes to the meetings. And so I have done so out of a commitment to avoid the conflict that we've seen in other areas like Rhino and Highlands and other parts of the city. Um, sorry. Uh, due to. Do not come out from. I just repeat what some other people say. The applicant's commitment to a legacy building is important and important. The applicant's commitment to vertical density over horizontal density is important. And I wanted to bring up one point that was not brought up by the staff or by any of the commenters that the applicant has committed to permanently remove the billboard and adult use zoning overlays that currently govern the part of the property. I'm a firm believer in First Amendment rights to adult operations, if that's what they want. But I wanted to bring that up for the record that that's part of the deal and that I personally welcome that commitment. Otherwise, I implore the Council and Councilor Black to continue to bring infrastructure improvements to our neighborhood, including sidewalks. Sidewalks is a big issue around the city. It's an issue in our neighborhood. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes our speakers tonight on this item. Are there any questions from members of council? Well, there we go, Councilman Torres. Thank you so much, Mr. President. QUESTION You know, the president. Of the Auno was here. If I know you spoken on your behalf. But I wonder if you could just answer a couple of questions about the Arno Gina. Just for a clarification. The DNA is directly with University Hills. North Community. Arno. Yes. Were you already in Arno? I'm sorry. If everyone C-3 prior to this agreement or did that. Come as kind of seeking. Out the DNA? I don't think we're. 523 So you're not a 523? No. Sorry. Let me. In Virgina, it states that. University Hill's Arts Community, a Colorado nonprofit corporation. That's not accurate. No. Okay. I am sorry. There is legal speak in the DNA that I didn't recognize. I was just making sure that the points that the residents in the neighborhood wanted to be met, like the transportation demand management plan and the reduced density for the 12 story max. Those things were being met there. Maybe. Can I have somebody from Z portfolio? Hi. How are you there? Can you introduce. Yourself real quick for the record? Sandy, how come of it? Thank you. Sandy, do you know the answer to that? The DNA that I'm looking at states that UNHCR I'm sorry, you agency. Is a right and this is an I.R.A. It's been in existence for quite some time. It did not become an R.A. because of us at all. A nonprofit. Because of this. They're nonprofit. No. Who signed the Good Neighbor agreement then? As far as Z portfolio I did on behalf of the neighborhood who signed now I as the co-presidents of the R.A.. Okay. I'm not an attorney, so I don't know if this is even matters, but it states that you're in a5a1c3 nonprofit in here. So I don't know if that. So are you. Do you know if you're five or 23, which are okay? All right. You might be because. I'm sorry. We have lots of folks watching on TV. So if you're responding to the question, if the council would like to pull you up, you have to come to the microphone. I think that they might be is that the organization has been there since like the early fifties. So and we vote presidents and as a community and, you know, around Denver, each community has a council, most of them have a council. So that's the way that we can talk to you. And I do believe so there's a it's a nonprofit. Sure. I think there's a difference between registering as an R.A. with the city and registering as a. Nonprofit entity with the state. Yeah, but I think it's it's more of the community council's that's been there for years and years and years and years. I would just encourage you to be very sure. About what that means, because there's also language in here that is a transaction of money for possible. Legal fund, legal. Legal needs, should the R.A. need them. So just be very sure what you're signing. Right. Yeah. And that's. Yeah, I think. I think we have our attorney trying to chime in here. And. Figure it out. Kirsten Crawford, Legislative Counsel. Apparently this is a similar question that was asked and another evening that I was not here, an unusual time when I was not here. But there are various ways to incorporate. And so, you know, I don't advise the Arnaud's, but you know, it doesn't have to be a nonprofit 501c3 model to qualify as a Colorado nonprofit corporation, if that's the question. And that's fine. I'm just stating, I think what I'm reading here in the DNA. That you HNC. A Colorado nonprofit corporation. And that doesn't sound like familiar. Language to the R.A., so just wanting to make sure that you're you're signing something that's sure to stay on that question. Okay. I will definitely look into that. I can't speak for Sandy, but I'm willing to sign a just an identical DNA if we correct that part of the language. We'll find out for sure what their designation is and we'll change that. The good neighbor agreement, if we need to, to reflect that. Okay. And I recognize you probably. Have more trust than. Than I'm aware of, but. I think that's a significant thing. Okay. No other questions only. Okay. I'll come in later. Okay. Thank you, Councilman Flint. Thank you, Mr. President. Just briefly, the University Hills North Community is a Colorado nonprofit corporation. It was articles of incorporation were filed in 1978. And so but it's just simply just as Kirsten Crawford said, it's just not a they never saw 2513 tax exemption, but it is a nonprofit corporation. Okay, Scott, I'm curious if you could run me through again. Or run through for me, not run me through. Holy cow. The reasoning for the exception to the general guidance in blueprint on building heights because community corridor in this location the guidance is up to eight storeys but this zoning allows a 50% increase over that to 12 . And I did see in the staff report the citation to some of the guidance and blueprint that I that I called up to review here as well. And so why why was the exception? Why was it why is it being recommended for approval here? Is it the adjacency to the Colorado station, to Colorado Boulevard, to Evans? Yes. So there's the guidance and blueprint is general height guidance. And this has generally updated stories, but it says building heights identified in this plan provide a general sense of scale and are not intended to set exact minimums or maximums. So and then the plan provides further factors to consider in saying should it be higher or lower than the. And I see there are six bullet points here in Blueprint that suggest, you know, when we can vary from that. And I'm I guess I'm curious, you might not know the answer to this, but if you do, that would be helpful to me. Are have there been other rezonings or are there other applications you're looking at right now where where these where the general guidelines are are being modified with with these specifics? Or is this sort of our first case at this? Well, the one you approved earlier tonight had general guidance up to eight and you approves the next 12. So similar situation. Right. I think these may be the first two. But that that was an existing structure that that's already five. Correct? Right. Yes. So I think as far as I'm aware, these are the first two that have gone through. Okay, I'm going above the gentleman. I'm just wondering about the precedent setting nature of this and how broadly these exceptions might be applied so that the general guidance doesn't really apply anymore. Yeah. So to get back to your original question of why we think 12 is appropriate, right. I think it is the things you mentioned, you know, there are six factors, but one of them is proximity to other allowed heights are building existing building heights that are taller than that, which as I mentioned, this has 20 storeys zoning directly across the street to the north with. So there's not a 20 storey building there. Not immediately to the. North, but a little. Bit further north on council center, that's 12 storeys. It has taller than 12 storeys, I believe. Okay. But it's also zoned for 20 storeys there. So that whole area north of north of Evans is zoned for 20 storeys. Serving as the transitions of that. 20 storey zoning to the north, five storey zoning existing to the south, 12 storeys serves as a transition and then yes, proximity to transit. So with the current station light rail stop just across Evans to the north. And then bus. Service on both Colorado and Evans at the intersection of two major arterials. Right. We felt. That this met those factors to go above that general height that say. Thank you. That's almost present. Thank you, councilman. Next up, Councilman Central. Thank you, Mr. President. I have a question for the developer. Thank you, Councilwoman. Thank you. So tonight, several speakers have talked about the architecture, and I'm pretty familiar with good neighbor agreements and I'm pretty familiar with zoning. So tonight, we're only approving the entitlement. And tonight, there's an executed grid neighbor agreement. But within that document, it doesn't talk about the architecture. So talk to me about how you ensure this project to the people, because a lot of times bait and switch happens. I'm not saying that that happens. You're going to do that. But it's reality in development, right? So can you just talk to me? How come you didn't add architectural language to the Good Neighbor Agreement? So architecture language is not added to the Good Neighbor Agreement, Councilwoman, because we felt that the design was still in such an infant phase of the process. Right now, first and foremost, however, we did tie the overall design of the project to the Good Neighbor Agreement and really to the overall development through the 8% of private open space that we did commit to, as well as a form of mass reduction. That's a zoning code allowable piece. And even though it wasn't able to factor into any other document here in front of us tonight, we did paper those two with the with the in the good neighbor agreement. And so through what you did here, spoken to by the community, was a representation regarding the amount of density that we're crafting on the site. And even though there is the overall and overarching request for TMX 12 density here or actually sculpting with that amount of density is comparable to that, which is that of a five storey project. Because you're taking the massing and moving it around and that's how you're going to address that architecture in more easy language. Is that what I understand? Yes. Yes, ma'am. Okay. And then are you building? I couldn't figure. I couldn't find it. I'm sorry if I missed it. Are you building in your hotel? But are you doing rental or for sale product there as well? Currently, we do have residential as a long term residential as a component of the project. However, it's it's a minimal component of the overall project right now. So, yes, in addition to hospitality use that's been discussed here, we do have a a lesser component that will be planned for right now long term rental. So, yes, multi-family rental. And so one more question with that. Will you be doing the on site affordable or will you be paying out the linkage fee? So as it currently sits right now, we would be. Paying the linkage fee for the entire project. And that linkage fee is calculated under the 2019 rates is in excess of $600,000. And so while that's not to be denoted as a significant impact to the to the overall project, it's definitely notable. However, regardless of whether there's the the other components of the project, be it. Commercial. Office or hospitality, would be required to pay that linkage fee no matter what. So it would be our intent to pay that linkage fee as of today. Yeah, I get that. The commercial, there's the three buckets, right, that commercial. And so I just always questioning whether developers are going to build the on site and help our affordability issue crises that we have in Denver or they pay the linkage. So thank you for answering that. Yes, thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Cashman. Thank you, Mr. President. Vinny, thank you. How many? Thank you for staying there. Thank you, Councilman. How many residential units are you envisioning at this point? Currently, at the time at this time, we only have about 86. Units. Currently planned in the project. Okay. And how how big is the open space and square foot? I mean, you said 8%. I don't do math. Afternoon. Understood. We're currently looking at a total open space of about 15,000 square feet. When you say total, is that that one space in the middle that that. So the one space in the middle is is actually terraced. So there's multiple levels of this open space. The technical definition of open space per the zoning code requires it to actually have dirt all the way to the center of the earth, essentially. So that is where we come to a smaller square footage number in this 78,000 square feet. Okay. Thank you. That's all, Mr. President. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Hines. Thank you, Mr. President. Since you're there, I have a question for you. So in a similar vein to Councilman Sandoval, this I guess this is a little strange for me because, you know, I can't really say that I'm new for much longer. But this is one of the first rezoning applications that doesn't include affordable housing. So I'm. Was that something that you considered or how did. You know, how did you get by with not having an affordable housing requirement? I guess it's part of my question. So that is my question, actually. Yeah. Councilman Hines, thank you. And I appreciate the. The question there. And I can totally understand where it's coming from. As as mentioned and as Councilman Cashman asked, we currently only have 86 long term rentals currently planned for the project right now. So over two thirds of the project. Is really dedicated to other uses. And at this infant stage of the project, we're really trying to reserve optionality for the project. The needs of. The project may need to pivot to additional commercial. Office. The hotel user may see the need for additional hotel keys there. So as it stands. Today, the residential component, the long term rental component is so minimal that we didn't feel it appropriate to. Tie this or this project to an affordable housing commitment. Is there a if you say that in its infancy and, you know, currently you're planning 86 units, if some if you say, you know, this these were great ideas, let's just throw it out and start over, you know, is it would there be another comment period? The I mean, I I've heard from a lot of the people who came here tonight that they were very happy that you engaged the community, that you were very proactive. I really enjoyed that. I'm glad that you as a developer chose to engage the community also. I don't I don't know if the the phrase bait and switch, that's a little I don't think that you would do that necessarily. But people do do that. And so I guess I'm asking a similar question. I, too, feel a little uncomfortable saying we're going to go to 12 storeys and it be open and wonderful and then it be a 12 story box with a million units. None are affordable, you know. So. And is there any other way outside of it? Can you can you help us feel better about the project and that it'll stay? It really will be in the spirit that you are describing to us. Absolutely. And so I think, Councilman Hines, I think it's important to remember that. We do have an executed good neighbor agreement with the registered neighborhood organization that was discussed. As part of that. Good neighbor agreement. There is mass reduction, so it's currently not allowable for us to build the entire site out to 12 storeys. There is a commitment that we have to to further the. Overall design of the project in. Alignment with what we've currently shown. And as. We as you heard from the. Community, we listened to the feedback that was provided to us. And so pieces of the community's desires for this project, for this location are things such as retail and restaurants and open space. And so those are the pieces. Of the project that we're. Committing to and that we've executed with the neighborhood. Okay. Thank you. Did you have something you want to. Get in the good neighbor agreement? It has the owner obligations. So a lot of these questions you have are addressed in the Good Neighbor Agreement. We've committed to not going more than the what the total density would be for the five storey building. So we're putting it at different levels though. Even though we're asking for TMX 12, there's only one of the buildings would actually be 12 storeys. The rest of it would be scaled down. Well, as it's currently proposed in its infancy. Yes, that's true. Okay. Thank you very much. And just one comment about Colorado nonprofits versus 501c3. Maybe this has already been addressed, but Colorado nonprofit is in the state of Colorado and 51c3 is a federal IRS designation. So there you can have one and not the other. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilman. All right. Seeing no other questions. The public hearing for Collinsville 1058 is closed. Comments by members of Council Councilwoman Black. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you all for being here. It was very, very nice of neighbors to come up on a very cold December night. And I want to thank the development team. When I was first elected in 2015, one of the first people I called was Sandy because I heard a rumor that she wanted to develop that corner. So this was four years ago, and she's right. There were a lot of people coming to them for a drive thru liquor store, drive thru restaurant, all a lot of things that nobody wanted. And I just kept meeting with her and we kept talking about what would be nice for the neighborhood. And so it's mean so much to me. I've lived in that area most of my life and just I know you are also a Denver native and everyone's right. It is not an active part of town. They're just transportation corridors. And it's such an incredible opportunity to have an active light rail station. And there are some new things coming to the actual light rail station that are positive. This is going to be incredibly positive for the area. Everyone is concerned about transportation and safety. I'm so happy to see Stewart in the audience along with Bill James and Chris Nevett. The city also cares about getting people to the station safely and making it more walkable. And so Public Works is trying to get an Evans Corridor study done and Colorado Corridor study done to plan some improvements. I worked with Stewart before the 2017 was it 2017 bond on some improvements around the station, which hopefully those will get started, but there's much more to be done. But everyone knows about it and everyone cares about it is a priority. I really appreciate that you all came together for so many, many meetings and got to a point where you all thought this was a good idea. And I really appreciate you doing the good neighbor agreement, the affordable housing. I would like to address you are doing what the law allows you to do. So you're not getting any special favors. You are paying the linkage fee that was set forth in the ordinance that many of us voted for. But there are other things going in there that are going to be really a benefit to the community. And I hope then that good things spread from there around the station east on Evans, South on Colorado Boulevard and north on Colorado Boulevard. And that we get Colorado Boulevard to be more of an active transportation corridor, getting people move, moving outside of their cars. So a BRT or something. And I think with that, that is all I wanted to say. Jenny and Liz, you guys have been incredible. President of your neighborhood organization. Thank you so much for leading. And thank you all for this. It sounds like I'm going to support it. And I am. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Torres. Thank you so much. And thanks for the clarification, everyone, for the R.A. status. That's helpful. The comment I wanted to make, there was a public commenter who remarked about previously on This Lot. There had been Green Chili Roasters. And so as this starts to take shape, please come to District three for your green Chile. All along, federal boulevard. We have plenty of options for you. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilman Cashman. It's tough to follow up. Green Chile Roasters who will say that? This is really interesting. I hate to see any piece of ground built on without affordable housing. This is a small piece of ground. This is a very small piece of ground. And the $600,000 hopefully will will go towards financing affordability elsewhere and the design. I came into this job while I'm still concerned about height of structures. When you see that five story rectangle immediately to the south of this project, just south of the southeast corner of Evans and Colorado, you realize that that it's about design, I think is what everybody's flipping out about is the crap that we see being built in some areas. You know, and what this does have is, is exceptional design. And I know that's always a matter of taste. And I think to Councilman Hines is quite a line of questioning. I'm from from what I read in the agreements. I'm convinced that the requirements of massing prevent a giant box, that the 12 stories will be minimal. So what does concern me and it's not about this development really is the reality of our city right now. And the reality of the Evans corridor is, as Councilwoman Black said. So we've got to we approved the development of three 500 units down by the highway last week. We'll have a couple hundred more townhouses at Holly and Evans in the next couple of years. We'll talk later about the proposal for 800 more units up at the old see that site and all this to say we're we're acting right now in the way we are about what we give out incentives as if we have a real life mass transit system and we have a skeleton of the mass transit system that we need. We're giving out parking incentives. We're expecting we're we're allowing height, encouraging height, which we should buy by transit stations. But we're all watching the same thing with our our primary transit agency, reducing service and reduced releasing reduced ridership numbers. So all of this to simply say we really need to get extremely serious as a city very quickly about creating a mass transit system that actually gets people out of their cars in the numbers that we need to. I think this council did a great thing in in the voters in approving the Department of Transportation and Mobility. But we need to make use of it. You know, we just we can't leave it up to any outside agency, be it RTD or something else, or we're going to run into real trouble. You know, and I don't know whether the number I don't know what the number is that creates problems for us on our corridors because we've got problems now. We all know it. You know, people people say we have we have too many people in Denver and we don't I don't believe I mean, you can go get your haircut, go buy paint at Home Depot, change the tires on your car. What? You need to do buy groceries and you check out in a few minutes and you're on your way. But when we get in our cars. So I would ask our new director of Community Planning and Development and our director of Public Works to get real serious about how long are we going to go before we take action that matters in Denver. So I will be approving this tonight because I think it. I think it enhances the community. And but as I say, it just brought up all these concerns about moving people around and we need to do better. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Hines. Thank you, Mr. President. I. I want to thank Councilman Cashman for his concerns about RTD and. And our struggle with getting people around the city outside of a car. 73% of Denver employees or Denver workers commute by single argument vehicle. And, you know, as we move from a cow town in a flyover state to a destination that, you know, our airport has, we're either number one or number two in the most direct destinations of any airport in the US. So as we become a destination instead of a flyover state, we really need to to lower that percentage. And on July 15th, when when we were all inaugurated, there was a reporter that brought the five new city council people together. And they asked, what is the biggest issue facing Denver? And I said, in my wonky way, I said, it's the relationship between land use and transit infrastructure. And so I'm obviously we can't rely on a another agency that is reducing service, increasing fares, has a massive rider shortage who's talking about significant reductions. So I would also share Councilman Cashman's thought about, you know, Denver, we can take a leadership role and and and now's the time for us to do that. We're at an inflection point to this particular project. I heard I'm I really like the the widen sidewalks that you have have drawn in your your plan. I think that that's, you know, one of the key components of making sure that people get out of their cars is to make the non car experience a positive one. And and I've seen a lot of recent development that has a curb for foot sidewalk and then, you know, 12 storey building and that's not conducive. Well, no wonder why people want to drive because they don't feel safe, you know, in this little it's like threading the Death Star or something, except that, you know, there's only one wall and then there's cars on the other side. So I like that. I like that. It's right next to a transit station. That's one of my key components. When I campaigned, I talked about the 20 minute neighborhood as and we should have everything within a 20 minute walk, right. A role and and locating density around transit is certainly in accordance with our adopted plans, but it's also very much in accordance with my personal values. As one of my colleagues said, unlike District ten, District four is not perfect. Councilwoman Black, I'm a little jealous about this this project. This is this is something that would easily fit in District ten. And, and I'm really excited that we're doing more placemaking around transit stops because that's how that's how we get that 73% lower is we have people located near places where they can easily take alternatives to cars . I would say one other thing. One of my staff went to New Mexico over the weekend and since green chilies come up Colorado, green chili is better than New Mexico. Green chili. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Sandoval. Thank you, Mr. President. So I think every neighborhood needs a catalytic project. I remember touring this site as a council aide, working for Councilman Espinosa, and walking around this area and thinking how it was a missed opportunity. And so when we put public information, public dollars, such as transit into areas, I would really like to see catalytic projects take take shape around there and make them destinations. In northwest Denver, we've always had a really robust, eclectic neighborhood, so we didn't really need that. My whole entire life I've spent living there. So but I think as sprawl has happened, we need catalytic projects and just to re-emphasize work, my colleague, Councilman Cashman, said about affordability. I understand that you're paying a large portion into the bucket, and I will just ask you that your future projects. I know that the bottom line everyone has a performa everyone. I come from a small family restaurant. We had a performer and it was really important when health care came to the topic that our place had health care. And so now I think the topic of affordable housing is on the forefront of everyone. And so I just ask you, as a developer in Denver and I'm a resident of North Denver, that next time in your projects that maybe you can pencil them in and not have to meet by law, you are meeting the criteria . Absolutely. And by law, you're meeting the height. Right. And so tonight, we're just approving a rezoning. We don't get to approve projects. That's one of the hard things that I sit up here and feel handcuffed by is that we don't get to approve projects because I like to take deep dives into projects. That's my specialty. But you're getting the density. So just be true to this neighborhood and be true to Denver. So in your next project, just pencil them in, even if it's a couple units paint into it. Yes, you are. You are following the rule of the law. So thank you for doing that. You're not getting any special treatment. You're getting entitlement, but you are. I just want everyone to realize that that you are getting entitlement. So please be good stewards of that land and please make sure that you're thinking about that in the next seven generations . And don't. And I would just also ask that you don't value engineer anything out. I think a lot of times communities are presented projects and then as bids go out, things are value engineered out. And so just do your best to mean true to the integrity of this project, because I really believe it could be a catalytic project for right in that area and that area really deserves it. It's a long time coming. And with that, I will be supporting this project. So thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Ortega. Thank you. So I heard one of the speakers talk about the opportunity for this to be a destination. And hearing her ask for a place where singles can go was, you know, one of those suggestions. And, you know, this is a project that really I think I've been in this area. And to Councilman Cashman's point about the traffic on Colorado Boulevard. We all know what a nightmare it is. Right. So how these projects are done and the fact that, you know, a traffic study will more than likely be needed to address how you move pedestrians across this very busy corridor. We deal with the same problem along the federal boulevard corridor, which is our number one corridor for fatalities. And, you know, the fact that we are seeing so much development in this city, we have to be so thoughtful about how we address these issues on the front end. And we don't get to do that because we don't approve the details that you have to go work on with our folks over at the Community Planning and Development Agency. But I appreciate the fact that you had an opportunity to have this conversation with the community. And the fact that you've got residents pretty unanimous in support of this project is is exciting because I know this particular corner could really use some help and be that anchor project for the neighborhood. So. You know, I support the comments made about affordable housing. I was one of the original co-chairs when we did our inclusionary housing ordinance. Wasn't necessarily that. Favorable to developers in in terms of, you know, having to comply. But it was a tool in our toolbox that gave us the opportunity to ensure that we were incrementally addressing the needs of people in our city. And we're seeing our city change so drastically that people cannot afford to live here. And when we start looking at all the development that is proposed along the I-25 corridor and the potential impact that will have on the neighborhoods to the West, if we are not thoughtful about this, in looking at this at the front end, we lose our city. The the the part about what is so great about this city is its diversity, its diversity of the neighborhoods, its diversity of the people, the economic incomes. And I don't want to see Denver become like our mountain communities, where people have to live so far away that we struggle to find the service workers to support the components of many of these developments that build in restaurants and hotels. And when people have to live so far away and they can find jobs that pay the same wages closer to where they live and where their kids go to school, we as a city will struggle trying to figure out how we get workers to work in this city to support different sectors. So it's it's an important component of how as a city, we need to be a lot more thoughtful. And I know that development is expensive. I sit on the board of a nonprofit housing development group that does housing development for, you know, folks that are struggling financially. And it requires a lot more stacking of resources to make those projects pencil out. But if we're not really focused in addressing this problem, I think we start to lose what is so good about this city. And I think we all have to be very intentional about how we move that needle forward. And I think this project, again, is one that will will make a difference in this neighborhood. I will be supporting it tonight. But we have to keep it keep keep at it. And, you know, I know it's a priority issue for this body of council. We've had many, many conversations in our retreats about this this issue. And I guess, you know, this is my plea to our development community. And we have development partners in this city who are private developers who have stepped up to the plate and said, I'm going to do this. You know, this is important. We're going to incorporate it into our project. And, you know, yes, it takes getting your low income tax credits and some of those things that are an extra process that is added, but it adds value to the project in the long run. So I'll stop with that. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilwoman. All right. Seeing nobody else in the queue, I have a few things I'd like to add. One of the advantages or disadvantages to sitting in this seat is you always get two or have to go last. So Councilman Cashman usually beats me to the punch on talking about conformance with our adopted plans when it comes to climate change. And since he didn't steal the thunder, this time I'm going to read not the entire thing, but just a piece of it as we look. And this is this is in our blueprint. This is in our plan. As we look to our future, we recognize that reversing our contribution to climate change is critical. How we plan our city can help us reduce our drain on resources and reduce Denver's carbon footprint to eliminate our collective contribution to the climate change crisis. That commitment must be our overarching guide. And so as I'm looking at these rezonings, obviously we're all looking at that criteria and do you meet that? And I think that we're not talking enough up here about this. I think, you know, you'll hear us talk a lot about affordable housing, which is critical, and you'll hear us talk a lot about transportation, which certainly has climate implications. But talking directly about climate change and the impact of how we're planning and how we're building our city, I think is also critical that we're talking about and we're talking about every chance we get in a hearing like this. And I think what doesn't get covered a lot right now, because talking about density and redevelopment in Denver is hard right now. We are experiencing a lot of growing pains and a lot of communities are feeling a lot of change. And a lot of us like me who got a driver's license when we're 16 and you could get anywhere in Denver in 10 minutes, are grappling with the fact that that's not the same. City that I live in as the one that I grew up in. And so often that is overshadowed that conversation is overshadowed with some of the things that I think we should be talking about like that a project like this that is talking about having a very small portion that is residential housing is still going to build the equivalent of three or four, depending on where you are, five blocks of single family housing into it. And that's a small part of what we can do when we're building dense. Having conversations about the carbon impact of building places where people can live, but also where they work, where they play, where they stay. Like this has a much smaller carbon footprint than a lot of other kinds of development. And as we're looking and having conversations about density that is right on a transit station, right on major transportation corridors, that is, you know, supported by the community, that this is the exact place we should be talking about. How do we build density and what is that impact for our planet and for our species and our ability to continue inhabiting this planet? And we're not talking about that as a way that this is conforming with our adopted plans and meeting a critical criteria for rezoning. So I just wanted to shine a light on that, and that's not to discourage anyone. I really appreciated the speaker who mentioned and called out Plat Park in Walsh Park, two places in my district as great places to go grab food. I also have the other side of federal and maybe we should have a an east west south federal showdown on green Chile. Bring it on. Or whether you're coming to the Little Saigon district to get Vietnamese food. I mean, we've got it all in District seven and hear other communities say, hey, we want to be able to walk. And here's a development that allows us to walk, not to take away from driving to all the awesome places in my district. But that is those are the conversations that we have to be having about how do we build communities where people can walk and get there and can get out of their car? Because we have to be making those changes and we have to be making those changes yesterday. So I know that we've talked about all our wishes and dreams on affordable housing and transportation. Also throughout that, I hope that you will really consider climate. I hope that you'll choose to opt in to our stretch green building code when you get there and when we've adopted it. I hope that you'll outpace your requirements in our green building ordinance, and I hope that you will not put any natural gas infrastructure in for things like gas stoves, which we will have to transition off of long after that. This infrastructure, we're a long outlive our ability to continue using fossil fuels for those things. So with that and for all those reasons, I think this meets the criteria and thank you for the presentation from staff illustrating all of this. I hope we'll also continue to focus on climate in our presentations on how this meets how things like this meet our criteria. I will be happy to support this this evening. Madam Secretary Rocha. Black Eye. CdeBaca I. When I. Gillmor, I. Herndon High Hinds High Cashman. Five. Kenny Ortega. Sandoval, I. Sawyer. I. Torres, I. Mr. President. Hi, Madam Secretary. Please close the voting, announce the results. 1339 as Council Bill 1058 has passed. Councilman Herndon, will you please put Council Bill 1245 on the floor?