City Council - Jeanne Robb, District 10

The proposed ordinance has been discussed by both the Land Use, Transportation, and Infrastructure Committee and by the Health, Safety, and Education Committee as well as presented to the Homeless Commission.   Council held a two-hour courtesy public hearing just this Monday evening and voted 9-4 to publish the ordinance and Councilman Albus Brooks moved to postpone final reading until May 14.  If the ban passes, it will not go into effect until the end of May.

 

I supported the camping ban.    Many decisions we cope with on Council are controversial – few as controversial as this one – and the decisions are tough.  We weigh the pros and cons and may decide that the pros outweigh the cons – say 52%, but we must vote 100% .  One of the factors weighing in favor of  the ban for me is our $57 million investment in Denver’s Road Home.  We have developed 2600 units of housing for the homeless, assisted 900 seniors and families out of homelessness, served 5700 families and individuals with eviction assistance, and housed 1600 people through Denver’s Street Outreach Collaborative. And, I also believe that we are being expected to solve a problem which is a responsibility that goes beyond Denver but so far do not see our metropolitan area as well as other parts of country stepping up to do their part.

 

I would not support this ordinance without its requirements for both written and oral warnings as well as assessment for medical and social service assistance, and intervention by a human services outreach worker.  Colorado Springs  has had a similar ordinance since 2009 and there have been no arrests for camping.  

 

We know that banning camping prohibits a behavior but does not end homelessness.  We are not giving up on our Housing First model.   But  this controversy and ordinance create and demand a renewed community commitment metro wide.   Already we are garnering dollar commitments for more outreach workers and making arrangements to extend emergency shelter beds.  I met just yesterday with neighbors and service providers to talk about the CHUM Women’s Homeless Initiative to house 20 women one night a week in 7 different churches, transportation provided.  The Homeless Commission has been re-appointed and must meet regularly to assess the effects of this ordinance and efforts to provide shelter as well as create permanent housing.   If you are one of my constituents who opposes the ban, I know that you will continue to fight for safety and shelter; and if you have advocated for this ordinance, please join me in increased efforts to address this problem.

Both the October and November issues of Life on Capitol Hill have chronicled the Sembler Company’s proposal to redevelop the former Health Sciences Center at 9^th and Colorado, and I wrote about it in my column in June. As the prospect of near-term redevelopment of the site by Shea Companies slowed with uncertain phasing and no final sale arrangement, the University of Colorado entered into a contract with Sembler for sale of the site. Sembler is a retail development company based in Atlanta.

 

Sembler first presented their initial concept for “large format” retail, a natural grocer, other small and medium sized retail shops, and a restaurant row along Eighth Avenue at the July meeting of the Colorado Boulevard Health Care District (CBHD). CBHD is a consortium or steering committee of neighborhood representatives from Bellevue-Hale, Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods, Congress Park, Hilltop, and Mayfair and institutional representatives from the hospitals in the area. Sembler is also proposing multi-unit residential on the east side of the property, as Shea Properties had. Also as Shea did, they have agreed to preserve the Nurse’s Dorm and the Quad. Representatives of the Community Planning and Development (CPD) office, neighborhood representatives, and Councilwoman Susman and I worked with Sembler to make modifications to the plan – such as more buildings along Colorado, more building frontage along 9^th Avenue, more pedestrian connections, preservation of street trees, and on-street parking. 

 

Council has no official decision-making authority in this process. The zoning under the old code (Commercial Mixed Use (10) along Colorado and Residential Mixed Use to the east) is in place, and we cannot mandate uses or amount of office, residential, and retail use. CPD did determine that the General Development Plan which lays out the placement of buildings, open space, and street placement/connectivity needed to be amended as different streets are going through the site now and the open space is somewhat re-arranged. CBHD approved the amendment last month, and CPD is taking public comment.  The deadline for public comment is December 1 but if you send comments to me by Monday, December 5, I will be sure that the Development Review Council sees them.

 

1.       Link to powerpoint presentation on proposed 9^th and Colorado redevelopment.                http://denvergov.com/Portals/76/documents/9+CO%20CBHD%20site%20plan.pdf

2.       Link to GDP Amendment and conceptual renderings of proposed 9^th and Colorado redevelopment.                    http://www.denvergov.com/cpd/Planning/tabid/429947/Default.aspx

3.Link to Sembler Site Plan 

**NOTE: Due to space constraints on the map, Colorado Blvd is at the top of the map depicted as East/West rather than North/South; 8th Ave (on the left side of the map) is depicted as North/South rather than East/West.

4. Links to Interim Site Plan for former Gove Middle School site.

Phase 1

Phase 2