A bill for an ordinance relating to the Denver Zoning Code to establish new zone districts that implement the objectives of the adopted 2015 National Western Center Master Plan. Approves a text amendment to the Denver Zoning Code to establish four new zone districts referred to as Campus-National Western Center-Core (CMP-NWC-C), Campus-National Western Center-General (CMP-NWC-G), Campus-National Western Center-Flex (CMP-NWC-F) and Campus-National Western Center-Riverfront (CMP-NWC-R) in furtherance of implementation of the National Western Center Master Plan and Globeville and Elyria and Swansea Neighborhood Plans in Council District 9. The Committee approved filing this item at its meeting on 7-30-19.
I. Madam Secretary, closed the voting and announced the results. 11 Eyes 11 eyes council bill 724 has passed. Councilman Herndon, please put Council Bill 752 on the floor. Yes, Madam President, I move that council bill series 2019 075 to be placed upon final consideration and to pass. It has been moved and seconded. The combined public hearing for Council Bill 752 and Council Bill 753 is open. Speakers may offer comments on either or both items after the conclusion of the public hearing. Council will vote separately on each. We have the staff report. Good evening. Councilmembers Brad Johnson, Senior City Planner with CPD. I'm here and excited to bring to you the Denver Zoning Code Text Amendment Number five, which would create four new campus National Western Center zoned districts and rezoning proposal 2019 AI 104, which would map the Zone District in a large portion of the area encompassed by the National Western Center Master Plan. This combined text and map amendment was initiated by CPD, but also in partnership with Mayor's Office in Western Sydney. So I'd like to just quickly, I'll do the rest of the presentation, but invite tigers to come say a few words quickly. Good evening remembers the council will take as Holloway executive director of the mayor's office National Western Center. Just really a couple of high notes. The National Assessment Team has worked hand in hand with community planning and development to bring this key and critical rezoning forward. As you know, this provides for a level of flexibility and allows us to activate the site to meet some of the key goals around supporting connectivity, the activations of of activities on the site, but then also the riverfront engagement. And so again, being relatively new into the position, we've got quite a few people from the team here that I'll obviously defer to and with Brad on some of the more specific questions, but we're really excited about moving this forward. Thanks. Yeah. Thank you. So just some housekeeping. Here we are in Council District nine. In the Elyria, Swansea City School neighborhood. So when we referred to the campus as a whole, we're generally referring to this area that's outlined in black here, so bounded by the South Platt Race Court, Brighton Boulevard and I-70, obviously with some pretty notable exceptions , particularly the Coliseum site. That area, of course, is bisected by the BNSF Railway. And that's generally synonymous with the National Western Center Master Plan area. The area we're here to talk to you about tonight is this area shown here, which is pretty much everything west of the BNSF rail tracks. And so that's generally synonymous with phases one and two of the campus construction we did. There are two notable gaps in this area that I want to point out. We did receive some questions, A, why wouldn't you rezone all of those properties? Right. One of them is fresh in your mind. Of course, the gap in the northern portion is is dry property currently. You know, there's ongoing litigation, no negotiations. Coordinated with that property. And so we thought at this time it made more sense to sort of not jeopardize or disrupt those those negotiations by rezoning the property at this time. If when that property comes into ownership of the city, of course, it'd be a good candidate for for this for these zone districts down to the south, a couple of other properties quickly. One, the largest piece is the McDonald Farms property that is currently in ownership of an industrial property owner, and they're operating their business there now. If we were to rezone their property at this time, they would become a non-conforming group, non-conforming use, and that the zoned districts that we're proposing are more restrictive than the industrial be that governs those sites right now. There also is a small sliver of BNSF Railway. They're probably too small to develop anything on, but it is also BNSF Railway property that would not be resolved at this time. So we're definitely here to talk about the zoning tonight. But I just want to show this slide as as a reminder of some of the big moves. Associated with construction of phases one and two and. We obviously talked about rail consolidation and relocation today. Wastewater pipes, major wastewater pipes along the river front buried. This allows an ability to establish a new street work in Betty Cram and National Western Drive, connecting in with the existing roadways. New facilities constructed, some of them as long as 1100 feet in length. So major, major construction of new buildings and event event venues bridges to Globeville to the West. An RTD rail stop soon on its way, and a pedestrian bridge that will get you from the campus over to that rail platform and vice versa. And then finally, construction of a riverfront open space community with the movement of those rail lines and the sewer mains. This is a look at the National Western Synod process as a whole, going back, starting with the master plan and I know there was a lot of work before then, but this is only how much I could fit on the on the slide and make it still legible. So starting with 2015, with the master plan and bringing us to today where we're getting close to our deadline via the framework agreement for having the zoning in place, particularly for the CSU properties on the site. So you see that little connection between the framework agreement and a few weeks from now, October one, 2019. The zoning work is outlined there in green and you see that sort of in place within the overall larger timeline of the project. So this zooms in on the zoning work itself as well as the design standards and guidelines work that's been conducted and developing that document. So we've been at this for a little over a year, lots of meetings with Citizen Advisory Committee along the way. We published a zoning strategy back in January, which is a pretty comprehensive sort of preview of where the zoning was going and but a little bit more accessible in the way that it was written. The idea is that someone would have an early opportunity to weigh in on the zoning proposals before it gets into the sort of legalese, red line language that you have before you today. Obviously, it's been a busy summer as we've made our way to this adoption hearing. So starting with the text amendment, I just want a couple hit on a couple of framework ideas behind the zoning. One is the streets are important in the way that development is associated with streets. And the way that they contribute to public space is critical. And it's no. Most critical on those portions of the street network that are connecting Globeville through the campus over eventually to Elyria, Swansea, as you see those portions of the Street Network outlined in green. Secondly, the river is to be respected. That means being careful about what uses we're allowing in close proximity to the river, ensuring that if buildings are built near the river, that they're set back sufficiently to maintain opportunities for circulation and things of that nature. And where a building is also built along the river that it actually engages the river, that means real architecture along the wall, not a blank wall up against the river, but transparency. Windows. Actual articulation. So to get out those framework ideas, what we're proposing in the text amendment is for new campus national Western Center Zone Districts and the Corps General Flex and riverfront. And you see those mapped here. This is the map that you'll see in your packet. It looks a little bit different than the one that I like to show. And the reason is that for the packet we have to map the new zone districts over existing conditions. But if you look at these maps, what's important is that they show the new street network that's going to be established out here. And that was a big influence of the zone districts that are before you so quickly walked through these first to start with campus national western center core. This is Main Street in phases one and two of the National Western Center. And so the zoning reflects that objective. You'll see many of the requirements that you would see in a main street zone district elsewhere in town. So transparency requirements, having buildings lined along the street. Active use requirements and prohibition of parking in close proximity to the street. So it's all about creating a walkable, pedestrian oriented corridor. There. Moving to the northeast, you have the campus nationalist from Center General District. That's an area that's going to accommodate some of those very largest facilities, like the one I mentioned, and that is close to 1100 feet long. And the livestock center, as well as the equestrian center in the plaza, that sort of runs through the middle of those two projects. Street Edge characters still important in there, and that it has frontage this area has frontage on National Western Drive, but more flexibility certainly with respect to land use, considering the type of activities that will courrier campus National Western Center flex. This is a zone district designed to accommodate those more support and service oriented uses that are going to be necessary to ensure that the campus can operate smoothly and efficiently in this area, you're going to see more sort of outdoor focused activities. And by that I mean the stockyards, for example, is in this one district, primarily outdoor activity space, the maintenance and operation facilities, storage, storage areas and things of that nature that sort of support the core of the campus. And then lastly, a campus National Western Center riverfront. This is synonymous with the areas that are planned to be open space amenities both for the campus and the neighborhood. The concept and intent behind this zone district is that it is intended to maintain this area as an open space community. It does allow limited development, but the idea behind is that any buildings that would be built there would be visually subordinate to the open space itself. So you see height limits and lot coverages are excuse me, building coverages and things of that nature. Science. I'll show you a map in a minute. Some of you may remember in 2015 there was a campus National Western Center Zone district, an initial one mapped in some areas of the what's referred to as the triangle. So east of the BNSF Railway. What we did for sign regulations was we borrowed the sign regulations from that original campus National Western Center district and apply them to these new zone districts. However, we also, with this tax amendment, establish a mechanism by which an applicant in this case probably a NewCo and or the authority, would prepare a district sign plan that would allow flexibility above and beyond what's allowed in those baseline sign requirements in the zoning, provided that they prepare a district sign plan in that district. Same plan as approved by the Planning Board. Parking. We got some questions about this, I. I heard on the one hand. Why don't you do some parking minimums? There's not maybe not enough parking. And I heard on the other end of the spectrum, maybe we should have parking maximums. There might be too much. The answer to those questions is kind of it's complicated. I'll give you the short answer. And it's that the demand for parking at the National Western Center is changing every single day. It's changing week to week and it's changing event to event. So we explore the idea of having parking minimums and maximums when we haven't eventually looked at the numbers and landed on the idea of having neither maximums or minimums. Part of what helps out with that is that the National Western Center Authority will be in place. They will be the single entity managing parking on the site. And so this this approach allows them the ultimate flexibility really to manage parking on the site, as well as access to the site and parking opportunities potentially off site. So, you know, we'll get into the map amendment and you'll start to see some of the slides you are used to seeing. Um, so the mapping memo, as I mentioned, would map these four new zone districts. It should mention that the billboard overlay you oh two, as it's called, is mapped on these properties today. And we would retain that as as it is in place now. So quickly through the existing context. Existing zoning on the site is via industrial light IP, which is that heavy industrial and industrial mixed use five storey. Historic structures. There is, of course, the Armory Administration building, very handsome building here that will ultimately become the centerpiece for the the campus in the surroundings, of course, the 1909 stadium arena across the tracks over in the triangle area. There are currently no design standards and guidelines our design review. But this text amendment would enable design review for these districts and we have prepared in coordination with new code design systems and guidelines those that document is drafted and is available for review and has been for for some time. That design review process would be administered by CPD administratively and it is important to consider the zoning. In light of the design standards and guidelines. Another tool for ensuring high quality design and character. Existing land is out there on the side. It's probably changing quite a bit. There's vacant properties, there's parking, there's office and retail and the livestock exchange building, of course, and there's some industrial uses still operating there. Surroundings are generally industrial, more parking and then some of the entertainment and cultural uses associated with existing facilities that accommodate the structure. Building foreman skills generally this kind of low slung industrial utilitarian buildings, as you see in the picture in the top. There are some exceptions. I mentioned the livestock exchange building, quite a jewel there on the campus, shown in the picture in the middle. This is a rezoning. So I just want to take a minute as a reminder that the rezoning doesn't allow or permit any specific development as projects come through. Under this zoning, they will still have to go through the SDP site development plan review process and be any number of items looked at during that process. Freight rail and potential safety issues related to that is one of those considerations that may be relevant out here. And of course, traffic impacts and. Roadway infrastructure and things of that nature will be looked at as well as projects come through. These are the three credit criteria that we consider for a legislative map amendment like this and a text limit. So I'll go through those now. First is consistency with adopted plans. These are the five plans that. Correspond to this area. Starting with Play 2040. We found the rezoning to be consistent with it and that it will create or allow for the creation of a vibrant mixed use center and a people oriented place and will advance cultural tourism goals. The neighborhood context is urban center. Again, we found it consistent with this item in that there is rezoning will facilitate a significant employment area that will result in good street activation and connectivity. And of course with the pending rail line coming online will be served with high capacity transit. The future place type is a regional center and supports a high mix of uses. The rezoning would result in structures that are generally corresponding and framing those public spaces that there along and the heights that we're allowing in. All but that riverfront district I showed you are up to 150 feet in the river riverfront district. We're talking 40 feet max. So we think that's in keeping with the goal for taller heights in this place type. The street types. When Blueprint Denver assign the street types to this area, they assigned it to the existing roadway network, which makes sense from their perspective. Now, as we look at the campus, we have to consider also the Future Street Network, right. So there were two two streets. Well, two street types, I guess. First, Franklin Street, a suburb of it there, was identified as an industrial connector, which allows for kind of flexible placement of buildings and zoning, of zoning that would allow those types of building placements. So in the campus National Western Center Flex, we're certainly in line with the objectives of an industrial collector. I mean, look at Race Court and 46 Avenue identified as a mixed use collector. I think we're somewhat consistent with that. We meet the intent of an east west street that is a mixed use collector, but it doesn't happen as much on those streets as it does on the new streets that are going to be constructed with the campus. And that's very crim and nationalist from drive north. Growth area strategy is a regional center. So this is an area that's to accommodate lots of employment, growth and housing in this phase. Employment growth obviously is a big part of that. Walking through the plans. The Globeville neighborhood plan doesn't cover this area, but comes right up next to it. Along the river, it was very clear about objectives for connecting from Globeville to, uh, to the National Western Center and eventually over to Elyria. Swansea. Certainly the zoning will help to allow for those connections to be made. So we found that to be consistent as well. We found the result to be consistent with Illyria Swansea Neighborhood Plan. Its land use concept for the site is entertainment, cultural and exhibition. It calls for promoting heritage tourism, certainly in line with that says to establish maximum building heights to support arts scuse me, to accommodate redevelopment of the nationalist center. And then again, you hear this again. Improved neighborhood access and connectivity to the river. And lastly, the National Western Center Master Plan. I mean, this is our our guide for the campus. This sets the vision and objectives for the campus. And I think this rezoning is is one small step in achieving all of these objectives. I'll just point out to that are a little bit more direct in that the zoning will support engagement of the river and nature by the community as well as integration. Again, looking back to that original diagram I showed you that prioritizes those connections that go from Globeville through the campus. Elyria. Swansea. Further, the rezoning would result in uniformity of district regulations and would further the public health, safety and welfare of the community. So with that concluding presentation, we recommend approval of Text Amendment Number five and Rezoning Proposal 2019 i104. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Brad. We have five individuals signed up to speak this evening. If I could have folks leave that front bench open. And if I could remind folks to make sure and state your name and city of residence. We have Lance Nadin, Paul Andrews, Jocelyn Hill, Brad Buchanan and and Elizabeth. Mr. Nadin. Go ahead. Thank you. Members of council, for being here tonight and those in the audience. I'm sure everybody is either giving up Bernie or the opening game of the Broncos. So that speaks to your passion. Thankfully, I only get to speak 3 minutes, but I can't see. You will have to see the clock as as is my. I live a born in Denver, lived here my whole life. I'm currently residing in Greenwood Village. I'm a managing managing member of 4700 Brighton Boulevard, which is the future home of the Denver Police Museum, which I'm very, quite passionate about. My father died in the line of duty in 1971, so that's extremely important thing to me. Following the progress of the National Western complex over the last many years, it's very exciting opportunity for for not only the immediate business community around the national Western, but just the city as a whole. I don't think we clearly understand and I don't think I did until recently, the global impact that that that the national western complex will have in conjunction with the associated development in Rhino and down Brighton Boulevard. Its proportions is it's monumental, it's larger than than really I think any of us realized through its completion and it will have a global impact with the changes in our society really over the last. And you know, by the way, I for one think good changes with how we we we train, interact, recognize deficiencies of the past and move forward. Being more theoretically of a political national political climate wouldn't indicate that at all. But things like the MeToo movement, as a one good example, I think that that we can't not ignore that that doesn't that doesn't impact development. We have a lot at stake here and smart, responsible, community oriented outreach development. And that's really what the National the Police Museum stands for. It's really outreach, outreach, how to align the community around it with the police museum. And that is in line with, I think, in my opinion, that all development should happen. I'm a big obviously a big supporter of the National Western redevelopment and all that it has to offer. But I don't want you as leaders of the community who have been so great in support of that initiative with the mayor, the current council and previous council members. I don't want it to get lost in how great this is in this vote tonight of 7 to 6 was absolutely stunning to me. On one side, it shows that democracy is in good hands. In Denver, Colorado, when you have something as powerful as the national western complex, come down to a 76 vote, which I, I can see both sides, by the way. I'm not taking one one opinion on the other. But but it just, again, emphasizes that things aren't just a given, that they're going to happen, but they should happen and they should happen the right way. And a community development responsible type way that leads this development project of enormous magnitude to be all that it can be, both to the world, the state and our local community. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Paul Andrews. Thank you. Madam President. Thank you. Members of council. I'm Paul Andrews, the president and CEO of the National Western Stock Show. We reside at 4655 Humboldt Street in Denver. As you know, the Western Stock Show Association is one of three equity partners in the nation of Western Center campus. We are on track to meet our financial obligations to this project. Those commitments include $50 million in cash committed to the project and $75 million in land value, which is land the stock show acquired over the last 100 years. We paid our first 15 million last November and next May we will deposit 35 million to complete our cash commitment. We're also planning to build our own building on campus called the Legacy Building. We will buy the land and build the building all with private funds and expect completion in June of 2023. The rezoning under consideration tonight is a critical part of the overall master plan that the Council adopted in 2015 and the voters overwhelmingly passed in November of 2015 as ballot measure to see. In January 2020, we will be hosting 114th National Western Stock Show. Early entries are strong, with more than 40 states already committed to attend an anticipated economic impact to the Denver metro area this year of more than 115 million from January 11th to the 26th. I also want to share with you that we have started a new Denver specific college scholarship program called the National Western Denver Scholarship Program . And we're looking forward to the continued involvement with the neighborhoods and communities surrounding the nation of Western Center as we choose future students. The nation, western stocks. You and our partners. Thank you for all your support of the National Western Stock Show and the Nation Western Center Project. And we ask for your support in the rezoning tonight. Thank you. Up next, we have Jocelyn Hill. Thank you, Madam President, and members of Council. I am Jocelyn Hill. I am Senior Director of Sustainability and Denver Programs for the Colorado State University System. Our office is located at 475 17th Street in Denver, and I also live in Denver as one of the partners in the National Western Center redevelopment. Over the next three years, CSC will build three buildings focused on the themes of water, food, animal and human health and sustainability. These facilities will have both a local and global focus, attracting visitors to Denver from around the world, showcasing both the heritage and innovation of our city and state with an investment of $200 million. We will create spaces that host outreach and education to K-12 students and families through activities like field trips, camps and hands on education programs. We will support research on the challenges we face, both locally and globally, as well as linking youth to the scientists and policymakers tackling those challenges. We will support training and professional development to introduce Denver residents and visitors to new career and educational paths. Our Denver Extension Office will have a presence offering programs and activities that are responsive to the requests and needs of residents of the city and county of Denver, particularly our neighboring communities. All of this work will build upon. See us use existing collaborations with the schools and organizations that serve the surrounding neighborhoods. We have not been waiting for buildings over the last six years. CSU has built relationships and offered programs that range from an annual community animal health clinic to youth engagement activities to ongoing programs in equine assisted therapy currently offered at the existing stock show complex. In addition, CSU will continue to collaborate with our existing National Western Center partners the Authority, the Western Stock Show Association, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science History, Colorado, Denver Water, and the City and County of Denver to create a platform for learning, arts, culture and convening that can also be used by new partners who join us as the National Western Center evolves. This rezoning is the next step toward meeting our goals of opening all of CSU's facilities in 2022 so that we can offer new programs and host existing programs and a new home. Tonight, I'm here to ask for your support of the rezoning so we can meet that goal, begin this new chapter of the National Western Center, and achieve CSU's goals of enhancing education and outreach in Denver. I would like to thank Community Planning and Development and the Council for their continuing work on the National Western Center and support of the project. Thank you and I will be available to answer questions. Thank you, Brad Buchanan and then analysts with. Thank you. Madam President, members of city council and Brad Buchanan, I'm the CEO with the National Western Center Authority. For those of you not familiar, the mayors of the National Western Center will design and build and have been standing in the gap for the authority for a number of years. The authority was formed last year and I moved to this post last October and were charged with operating programing filling, activating the campus over the next hundred years. I will not be doing it for a hundred years, but for years to come, I hope the the vision and mission for the National Western Center. I just want to quickly touch on those to be the global destination for agricultural heritage and innovation, to convene the world International Western Center to lead, inspire, create, educate, entertain in pursuit of global food solutions. What I think is most important about this next important step of the rezoning is that we've talked about the three partners tonight . I want to talk about the fourth partner. The communities around this project that that were situated within Globeville or Swansea and in the greater community of Denver constituents, even larger community of the urban and rural place that we're trying to connect. These are issues that are before us both and are relevant to our city and our citizens around food justice and food equity issues, but also around saving the planet and talking about global food production, soil health and other regenerative agricultural needs that are contributing to to climate change. There's there's a lot at stake. This is an important next step. You're going to start to hear a lot more from the programing efforts as they come to life here over the next number of years. This is not a typical urban development. It's a it's a once a one of a kind project. And so we're having to recreate new from scratch out of whole cloth at every step of the way. Thus customize zone districts here tonight before you that we think are relevant and important and ask and answer important questions that are important to our city and to the region, to and to the planet. So I'm here to answer any questions, if you have any, and appreciate your support. Thank you. Thank you. Our last speaker is an Elizabeth. Thank you, Madam President. Members of the Council for the opportunity to address this. I would like to speak strongly in favor of these zoning changes, although I wouldn't say that they're being made from scratch or cut from raw cloth. I'm here to bear witness to the fact that there were long and detailed conversations to create the original New Zone Zoning District for the National Western Center that these are also continuing to be accountable for, which is why I support these, because I think it will support the business plan going forward. We do need to be vigilant with some of the flexibilities. One example allowing flexibility by goes above and beyond the baseline sign requirements. I do trust that part of what the awareness is going forward is that the baselines were developed in the original conversations of the larger district. I don't know all this the pre the preceding zoning district that had to do with the the constituency quality of life so that these the signage has the history of behind this has some very good conversation about what is the noise, what is the signage, light controls, what is the environment. And I really have great confidence that the people that are involved in this zoning conversation now do understand that. And the council as a whole, I think, can be unified in paying attention to the project to carry forward in the design with those flexibilities. And it's an ongoing conversation just as there was, just as there has been in many facets. Of. The development, the National Western Center. And as a member of the National Western Center Citizens Advisory Committee, that has been embedded from the beginning, although I'll be moving to a more emeritus position here, I do want to say that this zoning conversation, just like the conversations about the consolidation of the railroads, has been an ongoing, ongoing conversation , broad and deep. With due respect to the council member that said it was the railroad consolidation conversation was limited to the CSG conversations. If you would please when you have time reference the various wants your neighborhood planned that was adopted in 2015. You'll find 21 references to conversations about the railroad. You'll find historically that one of the RE connectivity pushes access to the density of jobs in the neighborhoods. Has to do with remedying the disconnect tivity that's happened with the railroad as historically. So thank you for passing that measure. I appreciate it. And I really hope that I have an opportunity to talk with each of you over time around the prolonged process of what the National Western Center emergence has been. Because I'm not a grassroots person. I'm a I'm an Aspen roots person. Those those those roots are interwoven. They're not individual blades. And I hope that we can get a greater understanding of what this tremendous project is because it will break silos. Think time is out. Can I have you restate your city of residents? Please tour. Globeville, the Near East 45, East 51st and Washington and I have lived at 47th and Brighton in the area as well. So thank you. All right. That concludes our speakers questions from members of Council on both Council Bill 752 and Council Bill 753. Councilwoman CdeBaca. Can you hear me? There you go. So thank you to everyone who's worked on making sure that we clean up this area and rezone out of the industrial uses that have really polluted this area for a long time. Activating the river is also a noble cause. We have recognized that this has been a very dirty river for a long time, and my hope is that this opens up the conversation to make sure we clean it up. I'm not super surprised that there aren't a lot of residents here testifying in support or against this. I believe we've displaced most of them. Make no mistake this for my colleagues, this is a project that is not for the neighborhoods. And I think it's become more and more clear over time. And while there have been people in the in the audience who spoke to the long and arduous process that residents were involved in, I'm sure you could knock any door in the closest neighborhood and find that people do not feel like they're connected, especially those who we've displaced through eminent domain abuse and are actually going to use their properties for attractions in this event center. I do want us to recognize that these decisions have strategically painted a narrative that is misleading. When we look at the map, and I don't know if we can go back to either the current zoning or the second map that showed where houses are. Councilman. It's the second. Portion of the public hearing that are questions. Do you have a question? Yeah. All right. Thank you. So I'll get to the question, but I'm I'm making a statement right now. So we've painted a narrative about this project that it is connecting the neighborhood to the river. And while we are activating the river, if you look at the bottom right hand corner of this map where the yellow is, that is those are the closest residences that exist. The diagonal line through the middle of of this image is the BNSF railroads. And that is where we're consolidating the squiggly line along the river to be in the future. And so what we've essentially done here is we have in the built form, this project has turned its back against community and we are talking about connectivity, but we don't necessarily have paid for linkages to community within these projects. And so while I support the rezoning because it takes us out of heavy industrial use and into something different, I do want to know if there are any guarantees that there will be funding for connections to community if we're rezoning under the auspices of connecting community to the river. So some of that's probably a good question for newcomers, since they are more focused on on the development. I think if I think I understand what you're saying is is talking about connect connectivity from malarious mines here in the yellow area that you see there, that is going to be determined in the development of the triangle. As you probably know, if you look at the master plan, there's a very clear diagrams that indicate that a roadway will be established and that an underpass underneath that railway that you mentioned that links up to Betty Crown, the sort of centerpiece of phases one into would be established. So under when we talk about these plans or this rezoning being consistent with current plans and we recognize that the new comprehensive plans have equity and healthy communities all baked in, does CPD have any indicators of equity that they look to when they're determining whether or not a reason is in fact providing tools for equity? Yeah well I think that would Denver Blueprint says or Blueprint Denver says is that rezonings of this type of scale would be evaluated for their equity impacts and things of that nature. Of course, this rezoning was well along the way before Blueprint Denver was adopted, so that's why you don't see some of that analysis here, I think . And there are other people from CPD here, I think they could speak to this, but that sort of criteria and the ability to to examine rezonings and different scales of rezonings for equity is sort of under development, and I think you'll be seeing that soon with respect to this one, as I said, sort of like in the pipeline already. So that's why you don't see that specific analysis here. So it may be consistent in built form with what the plans say, but there are no indicators that show it's consistent with equity goals in the current plan. Not that we have in an analysis here. I mean, we'll just say that the a big part of equity, as it's stated in Blueprint in Denver is of course, a lot of that is about access, as you mentioned, the connectivity and access to open space and things like that. So I think those are things that the zoning directly speaks to. There are a lot of other things going on with the National Assessment Center beyond this rezoning that also speak to equity that I won't try to speak to. But of course there are many people here that could. So CPD has no criteria or checkbox to make sure that plans embed equity. Not for this rezoning. Thank you. Good, Councilwoman. Okay. Thank you, Councilman Sandoval. Yeah. So I have a question about, um, Councilman CdeBaca comment about displacement. I'm very familiar with this site. I've been. I worked in Judy's office since 2015. Does anybody know exactly how many people we have displaced? Because I thought we did eminent domain on only four or five homes. So can someone speak to that from the National Western Center or someone? I don't think you can, Brad, but can somebody answer that question? And also if it's possible to talk about it in the pre eminent domain process because they don't all make it there. But I just want to know how many places I know the question I'm looking for. I got someone. Thank you for that question. Brad Dodson, deputy director for the Mayor's Office of Best Western Center. I understand from the team we have acquired 38 properties as part as part of the campus, and ten of those are residential properties. Okay. And when they were with the ten residential properties, it went through the process where it was eminent domain and a market value study was done and they could have come back and rebutted that, just like with every eminent domain process. Is that correct? That's correct. And then did any of them end up in litigation or did all of them settle with the amount that you all negotiated? None of them ended up in litigation. They were all settled. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Councilman. Councilwoman Ortega. Pratt. You might be the best person to answer this question. Yes, this. Brad. Sorry. What? What type of structures would need 250 feet heights on the campus? I would refer. To I would defer to Eric Anderson, our design. Manager, to come in. And answer that specific question. Eric. Can I can I clarify? It's 100. 5150. Okay. I was looking at something that said 250 and I just wanted to clarify that. So thank you for that. Eric Anderson from Centennial. I'm the design manager. For the mayor's office of the National. Western Center. Again. As others have mentioned, this project is truly unique, particularly in the types of buildings that we are building. Although some of. Them are one story, they may be. Much taller than an. Average building because of the uses. And the events that will have to happen here. Things like arenas and barns need. Lots of space. And lots of clearances to make those work. So to. Be able to allow for those. Types of structures that 150 feet has. Been set to be able to allow that. Okay. And any rezoning beyond this particular area. So east of the railroad tracks, south of I-70. Those will come at some future time. That's correct. Okay. I also had a question about the 48th Avenue connection from Elyria to the site. This this this campus has always sort of had a Brighton Boulevard facing entrances, and it will now have a west facing entrance towards the river. And it wasn't until I don't know, I would say in the last couple of months that I learned that the connectivity in Phase one doesn't go all the way to Brighton Boulevard. And and so I share that concern and I've expressed that to the National Western staff. I know that's being proposed as part of what is anticipated with a private partner coming to the table to help, you know, do the build out of the next buildings, the next phases of the campus that are not funded with this first phase. And I guess I'm in comments now, so I shouldn't I should stop, but I just want to share that that's a concern as well. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilman Hines. Thank you, Madam President. Pro tem. I'm a little concerned that there was nothing about equity. I think I'm a little concerned because that's you know, one of the things that we're supposed to do is measure things today, right? We're not supposed to come to any sort of conclusion before today. And as I look at comp plan 2040. Which we're supposed to use as a as a guiding document. It talks about equity. It talks about equity multiple times, actually equitable, affordable and inclusive. It talks about why measure equity. And then also in Blueprint, the number one of the six vision elements is equitable, affordable. Inclusive. So. I'm kind of at a loss because I didn't do as much research on Blueprint or or for this particular item, because I just assume that you met all the goals and that's that's my, I guess, penalty for not being on LUDI and following LUDI closer. I want to give you another chance to like maybe you've come up with something between counseling and setbacks questions. And now that it's really you don't have anything on equity other than eminent domain on 22 houses which not exactly equity and and that you haven't considered equity at all that that's really concerning to me because that is a core tenant on both blueprint and component. 2040. So do you are you sure you're not considering equity at all. For a I shouldn't say we didn't consider equity. What I mean by that is we didn't do an analysis in the staff report because of the timing of adoption of blueprint number and so on. Part of the equity goals that you mentioned related to uh, providing housing opportunity. I want to point out one major difference here between the zoning that we're proposing in this area and what's there today. There's industrial light, and industrial heavy zoning does not allow housing. Right now, the zoning that we're proposing for the site in this portion of the site will open up the site to the potential for housing. That's obviously not in the program and funded portion of phase one and two. But from a zoning perspective, it certainly opens up that opportunity. And I think that's an important thing to note. In addition to the things that we mentioned about access, uh, access to open space, access to neighborhood and so on. Okay. Hi, I'm Sarah Showalter, citywide planning manager for CPD. And I really appreciate the questions that both yourself and Councilman CdeBaca have asked tonight, because you're right on equity. The reason there's a reason why it shows up first in the comprehensive plan is the first vision element, because we heard strongly from the community when we were working on Denver. Right. That of all the vision elements, people really felt that was the one that we needed to commit the most to and double down on if we want Denver to. So be the city that's so rich and inclusive that it is today. So I appreciate you asking these questions and a couple of things I want to clarify. I think first, related to this particular rezoning, there are a lot of components that Brad's hit on that are about advancing equity goals. It is very much part of the plans that were adopted by City Council before Comprehensive Plan 2040 and before Blueprint Denver. So those those more areas specific plans like the neighborhood plan and the National Western Center Master Plan don't have as much as some of our future plans may about equity, but they still reflect a lot of the same values and goals about wanting to create something here that responds to what the community wants and adds amenities for the community, bringing things in that this community hasn't had in the past. Open space is a really big one. So I do want to emphasize it's not the equity is not part of this rezoning or part of the philosophy. It's very much part of what we're trying to accomplish with the rezoning. However, Brad's correct that this process, which is I don't know how long exactly it's been, but it's been very long. A lot of how we're thinking about how we can more formally integrate equity analysis into large rezonings like this starts at the very beginning of the process. It's about the scope of the whole analysis that you would do around what are the things that we might be considering that we wouldn't have otherwise if we don't have equity at the forefront? And like Brad mentioned, we're working on how to change some of our processes, including large scale rezonings and amendments to the zoning code, to do a more formal analysis and more recognition of that key goal. And so the great news is that that will very much influence the triangle component that still is not part of this project, but will be in the future and will go through a rezoning. We should have that process in place and I am really hopeful you'll see a much more kind of formal, like Brad was saying, integrated databases, you know, blueprint. Denver actually has three equity concepts. One of those is about access to opportunity. One is about vulnerability to displacement, and one is about housing diversity and jobs diversity. And in areas like this, we're working on something geographic specific. We plan to look at how an area of scoring in each of those three equity buckets and use those scores and where there's challenges to influence the outcomes. So that will be very much part of what we get to do with phase two around the triangle. And that's even more important because that's the portion of the campus that's closest to the neighborhood and where that can be the most opportunity for connections, as Councilman CdeBaca brought up, but where there's also the most impact to this to the surrounding community. And even more important, to make sure we have more of that equity analysis figured out and know how to influence the decisions that are being made based on that. So I hope that provides a little more background kind of where we're headed and what you all will see coming before you in the future when it's not a rezoning like this, where the majority of the work had already been done at the time those those plans were adopted. But I also want to reiterate, again, feel very confident. These are just like you said, it's part of your criteria. Like one of the biggest ones is are these consistent with our adopted plans? And we feel really, really strong that both the MAP amendment and the tax amendment, especially because they're advancing the neighborhood plan in the master plan, are advancing some key goals around how do we improve equity and access in this area. And I hope we can do even more robust analysis and conversation when we get to the triangle component. Can you or somewhat not necessarily because you didn't give the presentation, but would can we go back to the the slide that talks about the plans you use as metrics, the guides. Oh, yeah. It's very. You know, it's at the very beginning. This one concerns consistency with the adopted plan. So comp plan 2040 Blueprint Denver 2019 are two of the five plans and and that makes sense because city council actually right before we took office approved both plan 2040 and Blueprint 2019 and that was before today. So it makes sense that we're comparing to current plan 2040. I just I just wanted to make sure that it was on your list. So thank you for for having it on the list. I'm a little concerned about just trust us because, you know, eminent domain doesn't really share suggests to me that there's been a commitment to , you know, making sure that the neighborhood people can age in place and people can have access to. So and Denver has had an unfortunate past of not developing in an equitable way. So I'm a little concerned. I really like the the I like the idea. I mean, you know, the National Western Project I really like I'm not certain that I really like just trust us or your answer before of we didn't consider equity when there are two of the plans that that's the number one issue or excuse me the number one criteria. So thank you for your time. And thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Councilman. Councilwoman Ortega. Yeah, I just have one last question. And either Brad or Titus, if you could come up to the podium, I don't want this conversation to be left assuming nothing or no commitments have been made around addressing some equitable issues. So I would like you to speak to commitments that have been made around apprenticeships and hiring goals that will be part of the ongoing construction, the next phase of of building out national western. Talk a little bit about the commitment that was made to the Community Investment Fund, community benefits that are in discussion stages with the community right now. I think it's important to just not presume that those things have been completely left off the table because they have been very much part of the meetings with the community and commitments that have been made by National Western Center. So sure, you can take us all away. And I think that also goes to the commitments that are made by the partners as well. I think we heard about what CSU and the stock show, but also what the authority plans to do. You know, I think one point of just a comment and clarification on I think what I'm hearing tonight is not necessarily that the plans that are moving forward did not consider equity, but where are we consistent with? And so I just think that we need to be a little bit clear on as those plans were developed, they got to the zoning, what components are still consistent with the equity platform that we are pushing forward in our neighborhood plans and through the comp plan. And we'll have to come back to that that conversation at some point so that we can, I think, settle up on that. So to the question at hand, yes. So, you know, the zoning side is the play space. That's the sort of the physical, the the mapping of. And yes, connectivity is part of that. And duly noted that the team continues to work on trying to find out additional ways to to make sure that connectivity to and from the adjacent neighborhoods is at the appropriate scale so that we're not having as many people coming to events that are accessing the location via the roadway network that are not the best for that type of travel within the neighborhoods. And so it's a balance and I know we've been looking at that and including with Betty Cram and future phases of how to make sure we're connecting better to the east while we're adding additional connections to the West. And the connections on the campus are complicated. It doesn't answer the question around equity, but because of a lot of the utilities that are on the site, the river separating it, the infrastructure and the clearances that are required often will impact both sides of the roadway. So we're very sensitive of providing enough access, but also not having so many transportation facilities that it limits the use and usability of the site. So fast forwarding into what the commitments are. So the National Western team was one of the first in the city to really push forward in an equity conversation around workforce. And so the horizontal integrated contract was really the first steps for the city and a workforce conversation. And since then we've moved forward into exactly what. You were mentioning requirements around apprentice apprenticeships within the construction phase. And so what we're looking at for our upcoming procurements is adding in that language that has been presented in other major projects in the city with the lead of Dito's Workforce Services and CBO on the small business front. And so there are specific requirements on the construction side. And yes, there is a map that Dito had has created that does focus in on the the inverted EL, if you will. So the west side, north Denver and far northeast zip codes that are in the highest need and demand of of economic opportunity. And so we've partnered with work now as part of this. And Nucor was one of the first sponsors, our first entities to help fund the Work Now program, who has been doing some really good work around training and getting opportunities for individuals. One of the first things that I'm looking at is to make sure that we're focused in on the right things so that those access to opportunities, which is one of the equity components that comes out of the master plan, starts to get the focus in on what we need to do here. I'm learning a lot of great things about what is happening that's positive. And as you and I have discussed, Councilmember Ortega taking that opportunity to look at other ways to make sure that we're increasing that those that are entering into the construction workforce. But I will say that's what's happening today. The other big focus for this campus is what happens in the future. And that's where Brad Buchanan and the authority and Paul in the stock show have been looking at, focused on opportunities where it's career opportunities within the operation and the maintenance of the campus that lasts more than the construction phase. It looks like I'm in the red. Thank you. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you, Councilwoman. And you don't have to follow that. Take us. So that's okay. You keep talking. Councilman Hines. Thank you, Madam President. Pro tem. And I'm sorry, I have a question about apprenticeships. So just as you continue conveniently sat down, I apologize. The you I think I heard you say that in future projects you'll add an apprenticeship component to the contracts. Is that is that what I heard? Yes. Okay. For the construction phases of the livestock center in the equestrian. So there are two last procurements that we have for the animals. And would you also agree to to have those apprenticeships programs be or have the requirement be that the apprenticeship programs are recognized by the Department of Labor? As in there, they're actually approved. Apprenticeship programs already. Are. Yes. Thank you. And so okay, so two other things. One question. If we vote no, that means that this just doesn't go forward and we get another chance to look at this. Is that correct? And that's not necessarily for you. This is a procedural question. We'll go ahead and turn that over to the city attorney, Kirsten Crawford. Or do we have somebody. Like we don't we're not killing? Does the the proposed zoning amendment. We're just saying not today. Kirsten Crawford Legislative Counsel I'm actually going to defer to Nate Lucero because he and talk about the TOS applications and then our code requirements with respect to Blackout and then I can fill in if there's anything else. Good evening, Services and City Attorney. So if you were to vote no on the text amendment and the map amendment, it would essentially send this back to the drawing board and you would be saying no to what's being proposed to you this evening. But we could theoretically even look at this again next week, right? I mean, that's I guess what I'm I'm trying to come up with a way to say, hey, let's give you a week or whatever to go back and, you know, to go back to CBD and say, Oh yeah, we do have equity things. We just didn't have the right people here tonight to address them. You see the nature of my thought process. Councilman Hines This application has been through a very long public process. It's been to the planning board, it's been through the committee, it's been through first reading. And now here they're they're here now for the public hearing. So there's been plenty of opportunity, both in the public and through the processes of the city for questions like this to be answered. And so how come you can't answer it? Well, tonight's your opportunity to vote it up or down. If you're not satisfied that the application doesn't meet the criteria, that's counsel's prerogative. Okay. And the last thing I would say is certainly when in presentations, I would ask that CPD include some of the components, including equity, that are core tenets of the plans that we're supposed to use to judge text amendments and zoning changes. Thank you, Madam President, for them. Thank you, Councilman. Councilwoman Sandoval. Yes, thank you. Sara Showalter. Can I have a question for you? So when map and text amendments come forward and they're voted down, is there not a one year blackout period until the property can come forward for a rezoning? Yeah, good question. There's just discussing with the city attorney. Yes. So you're correct. If you vote no, if city council denies a rezoning, then the typical process is that there's 12 months correct before you can apply for the same zoned district. But as the city attorney was pointing out, this is a little different because that if you also voted no on the text amendment that's creating the zone district to which the application is for, and now that zone district wouldn't exist. So actually probably could come back sooner with that zone district and then ask to apply to it. It's a little different than a typical rezoning where the zoning district is already on the books. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. And I'm sorry, Ryan, I just I really do want to reiterate. I want to be clear on the message. All of the rezonings that come before you when we recommend approval, it's because we feel like we've met all of the criteria and all of the adopted plans. It's a it's a very comprehensive look. When you're thinking about a site like this, we're looking at are we consistent with all of the adopted plans, like in their totality, which, as you can imagine, is a lot to kind of digest when you have five plans like this one. But there are other rezonings that have come forward since Blueprint Denver Comprehensive Plan 2040 were adopted that are also in this. A little bit of an awkward to be frank you know timing thing here where we weren't starting to implement what does it really look like to have a large rezoning go through a more formal equity analysis until we knew the plans were adopted and now we're trying to catch up as fast as we can. But projects like this that have gone through the majority of the work prior to adoption of that new citywide vision are in that awkward phase. But I do really want to reiterate, it's not that we're saying, you know, trust us or that there wasn't any equity analysis done. And it's it's not part of the analysis. It very much is. I think we feel really confident that what this rezoning would do in terms of really changing a very heavy industrial area into a mixed use area that's going to provide a lot of amenities and realize the vision for a community in an area that has really struggled and had all the heavy industrial is very much part of a more equitable Denver and a more equitable future. So we we do feel strongly, even though we may not have the same level of rigor, we will in future large rezonings that it is definitely consistent with the adopt a comprehensive plan and blueprint number. The public hearing is closed. Comments by members of Council and Council Bill 752 and or Council Bill 753. Councilwoman CdeBaca. Thank you. My comments are that I don't wish to stop the rezoning of this project. I think that we have to. I think tonight it would be a mistake not to advance this rezoning. But what I do want to make clear is that council has our eyes and fresh eyes with a new plan on equity and on CPD and on what we're expecting when we say something is consistent with the plan, because if it does not have that primary indicator that if we don't figure out indicators for equity, that we can literally check off, see and understand in. In a way that's going to be manifested not promised. Then they are not consistent with plans. And so for this situation, I do think that we have let the belt form turn its back on this community. But this community has been disconnected from this part of the city anyway. And so what I think this means for CPD and for a NewCo is that you have to pay special attention to what happens to the triangle and there has to be extra attention to undo the harm that may have been created by this zoning and not prioritizing equity. When we do the triangle. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Hines. Thank you, Madam President. Pro tem. So I recognize that you guys have been working on this for a long time. I recognize that you've had many presentations to a lot of people, including Rudy and Planning Board, and now we're here today. I also recognize that that there's some growing pains with with this started before Blueprint Income Plan were approved. We, too, are I mean, there are five of us who are new to council, and we also are having growing pains. And so, I mean, in some ways, I kind of feel like I'm caught with my pants down. They're not out. But, you know, it's a little bit of a concern. Just I would agree with Councilwoman CdeBaca. I think it doesn't make sense for this not to go forward, because I. I believe that that you've had a lot of vetting. I also don't want you to coast through city council and bebop through and think that we're just going to rubber stamp stuff. And I'm not trying to say that that's what's happened in the past. But I don't want I mean, I want to make an informed decision and I'm going to get beat up if. Tomorrow. I mean, you know, I vote for this and people are going to say, well, why didn't you consider equity? You're going to beat me up tomorrow. And and, you know, so I have a constituent who I know is going to email me either later tonight or tomorrow about equity. So. I just want to make sure that we're we're being thoughtful and I assume that you are, but it's not our job to assume. It's to make sure that it meets the criteria. So thank you so much for all the work that you've done. I'm not trying to not trying to beat you up. I'm just trying to make sure that I make an informed decision. So. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman. Woman Ortega. Thank you, Madam President. Pro tem. I just wanted to. I speak in support of the application. And yes, there has been a lot of work that's gone into getting this project to this point. It's it's been around for several years now in the works, trying to get us to a place where we can, you know, get the site ready for new structures to be built. And, you know, I'm excited about the commitments that are made to the workforce, knowing that there are well in excess of a thousand people in the pipeline right now, many of whom are working on different projects across the metro area in the skilled trades that they chose to be trained in. And that's important, especially for people in these neighborhoods who can take advantage of these livable wage jobs and be able to have a solid career path and afford them the ability to stay in the neighborhood if they so choose, if they're a renter, or to potentially become a homeowner, if they're a current renter. And I think that is one very important component. It's not the only social contract, if you will, that is tied to this project. The commitment that's been made to the scholarships, I think is is really important as well. But this is a project that this city made a commitment to a number of years ago, that we want to see this done and see it done right. And, yes, the connectivity is critical. And part of the reason the Eastern connectivity is vital is because that is part of the linkage to the rail stop that's on the campus. And if people from the neighborhood can't get there because there are the right connections, that's a problem. And that's why you've heard me be noisy about making sure that we're addressing that as quickly as possible. So but I think this project is one that is is going to be one that we will all be very proud of. And we've got a great team of people who have been working very hard to make sure that all the pieces are in place and to work to address the community concerns. And does it mean we've gotten everything right? I think we've got a ways to go on some of these issues. But, you know. This phase will actually see some of those those social contracts be materialized. We're not having to wait for phase two through eight to to see those things happen. Yes. When the triangle gets built out and that comes back before us, we will see those very clearly spelled out as well. So I will be voting for this tonight. I think it's important for us to move it forward. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Ortega. And seen no one up in the queue. I will go ahead and make my comments. I appreciate the conversation and the questions of my colleagues. Equity is something that we talk a lot about in the city, but we don't yet have those tools that we can show our constituents and that we can even show council members without, you know, a shadow of a doubt that we have considered all components of equity. And I look forward to those documents that we can actually show how decisions are being made instead of, Yeah, we did it, it's a check mark, but really delve into it and having access around, you know, equity and access to opportunity, transportation and mobility. There's a whole laundry list of what we need to do. And so I appreciate the conversation. And, you know, what my my colleagues had mentioned. That being said, Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 752 place. Black. I see tobacco. Yes. Flynn. I heard it. Hi. Haines. Hi. Cashman. Ortega Yes. Hi. Sandoval. Hi. Sawyer, I. Torres, I. Madam President, I. Madam Secretary, closed the voting and announced the results. 11 Eyes.