January 14, 2020
Jerry Guida, the president of the IPNA, called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m.
Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval. An intern in Councilwoman Sandoval’s office gave us some updates. Councilwoman Sandoval donated $1,000 to IPNA, for which Jerry thanked her. We were told she was going to have a grand opening of her district office, at 1810 Platte Street, on January 23 between 4 and 7 p.m. Her next community meeting was scheduled at Brew Culture, 3620 West Colfax, on January 24 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Denver Police Department. No one from the Denver Police Department was present at our meeting. Jerry said there had been a series of property break-ins recently, with one suspect being caught.
INC report. Bob Lorenz informed us about the last INC meeting, which was held on January 10 at the Southwest Recreation Center, at 1000 South Lowell Boulevard. The major topic at that meeting was rent control. That meeting featured a panel that included Councilwoman Robin Kniech, the head of INC’s education committee, and a renter who was struggling to pay $800 per month rent for a very small house. The main spokesperson was Joel Montoya, the chair of INC’s zoning committee. Bob discussed living under rent control during World War II, in what is now called West Highlands. He told us that rent control saved his family at a time when the family couldn’t pay market-level rent and that after rent control ended, rents shot up and his family moved to the Inspiration Point neighborhood. The head of INC’s education committee is a landlord, who said that some tenants had to move in order for her to do repairs. She added that, if her family had to sell their 55 units, they would be snapped up by California investors who would scrape them and replace them with higher-cost units. She said that they have to charge what they can in order to make a little profit. She predicted that her family would sell all the units if rent control were enacted.
That education committee chair said that 30 states now outlaw rent control. She noted that 87% of units built in Denver in 2018 were luxury units. California, she added, requires at least a minimum number of affordable units must be built in any development.
One person in the panel told the INC meeting that she’s paying $300 per month for Section 8 housing. Councilwoman Kniech pointed out that, when an abandoned hospital is demolished, every sink in the hospital must be checked for mercury. She said that anyone who is seeking to pay $800 per month rent usually winds up in dilapidated housing that needs repairs. She added that 78,000 people in Denver can’t afford housing at 30% of their income. Bob noted that he drove past a large, congested mobile home park on his way to that meeting.
That was followed by a discussion about the shortage of RTD drivers and RTD’s decision to reduce the frequency of service for buses and trains. Jerry explained what INC does. In response to a question by George Chacon about what the City is doing with the fund it established for affordable housing, Jerry said he did not know. He said the next big development will be south of Empower Field at Mile High. Another resident added that a contract was just signed with a company that promised to preserve the chapel building at West 46th and Tennyson. Bob noted that rent control will be a ballot issue in the next election.
Treasurer’s report. John De Lisa reported that we had 51 members in 2018, 45 in 2019, currently have nine. We had $1,192.77 in the Association’s bank account, after $241.55 was paid for printing the last newsletter. In response to a question from Dave Dickey, John reported that we raised $228 at the August 2019 neighborhood picnic, for which we had $250 in expenses. In 2018, we raised a little over $500. In 2020, that picnic was scheduled for the first or second weekend in August. It will be a potluck. We usually get between 100 and 150 people, with lots of kids and usually with a fire truck at the Park.
Secretary’s report. George moved to approve the minutes from the October 8, 2019 membership meeting. That motion was duly seconded and was approved unanimously.
Board election. Jerry announced that the slate of officer candidates consisted of himself, Matt Ryan, John De Lisa and Barry Roseman. No other names were placed in nomination for other positions in the Association.
All of the officers were re-elected. Jerry thanked all the officers and all the volunteers for the hard work they do. He thanked Frank and Elsie Pomponio for their work with our community garden, Bobbie De Lisa for her attendance and participation in Denver Police Department District 1 Commander’s mtgs, and Jessica Wright for her work on the newsletter. In response to a question from George, Jerry said we can’t publish and distribute the newsletter online, since we don’t have everyone’s e-mail address.
President’s report and discussion. Jerry noted that we have a number of community issues, but that he doesn’t have updates. The playground in Inspiration Point Park won’t be installed until the third quarter of 2021. Nothing has changed since our last meeting. City has asked for support for additional funding for structural wall improvements. Jerry explained that the State Historical Fund has written a letter of support. The awardees will be announced the next month.
Jerry said he’s been getting a lot of complaints about auto repair work being done at a home at West 51st Place and Depew. One resident who lives close to that location had a stolen motorcycle dumped in front of her house at 4 am. Jerry pointed out that we’re looking at this. No one else had any comments about this situation.
Jerry told us that the following day, another aide from Councilwoman Sandoval’s office will be meeting with him to discuss a possible neighborhood plan, which would give us more control over development in our neighborhood. Dave asked whether someone could build a duplex in our neighborhood. Jerry replied that that depends on the zoning; most of neighborhood is zoned for single-family units. He added that a neighborhood plan would give us more influence over these types of decisions. Dave offered to be involved in later activities in connection with a neighborhood plan, especially to make sure that nothing weird happens with the business strip on West 48th Avenue. Jerry pointed out that there are surprises in the zoning code, including homeless shelters as a use by right in every neighborhood. He added that we didn’t understand, when the zoning code was being discussed, that it can lead to a single-family home being replaced by six slot homes on the same lot.
Also, there are two aggregate crushing operations to the west and south of us. Dave said that his property is constantly covered in dust and that he doesn’t know what’s in it. Jerry responded that he has asked has Councilwomen Debbie Ortega and Amanda Sandoval to make sure that our neighborhood has air quality monitors as part of a new grant program. He added that these aggregate crushing operations are located outside the boundaries of the City and County of Denver. He noted that it took about five years to get Denver to ask Jefferson County to send out inspectors to inspect those operations.
Jerry encouraged everyone to renew their IPNA memberships.
One resident asked about road changes that are planned for the Park. Jerry said he didn’t have any new information on that topic. That was followed by a discussion about the need for funding and when that work might be done. One resident said that a number of trees have been marked and that the last time that that happened, the marked trees were cut down.
There was then a discussion about whether the City should reopen the gates in the southeast side of the Park. There are also problems with the toilet door being left open in the Porta-Potty at the northeast corner of the Park. Dave said he’s glad that no one is having sex in the Park. Another resident replied that people were having sex in front of his house and that the City was getting rid of all the parking that worked. Dave defended the closing of the vehicular gates in the southeast corner of the Park. He said that a lot of people feel safe walking in the Park who didn’t feel safe before. A third resident added that we need to keep discussing these issues.
No trees were planted on north side of Park and the City replaced bluegrass in the Park. Dave talked about the fact that three trees died because of lack of water. Paula Guida said that each new mayor has different ideas about what to do. The City, she added, wanted all-natural vegetation. Dave replied that the City just wanted to save money. Another resident discussed having to deal with all the people and the trash in front of his house, and the fact that he has no other access to his house. Jerry said that that Owen Snell will need to give us an update. He added that the City was supposed to have 30% of design work done by end of 2019, but that that wasn’t done.
George asked whether Jerry is opposed to duplexes in neighborhood. Jerry responded that he just wants to make sure that the neighborhood has a voice in these decisions. Dave said that no one is planning to scrape homes in our neighborhood and to replace them with affordable housing. Jerry responded that a neighborhood plan would prevent developers from moving into the neighborhood and doing whatever they want. Paula said that structures like the ones that have been built on Tennyson would destroy the nature of our neighborhood. Dave noted that he learned from the owner of the Shell station at West 48th and Harlan that an environmental law firm bought that property. Another resident said that, according to Google Maps, that property was bought by a church. No businesses have succeeded on that site; an earlier building was torn down, but nothing has replaced it.
George asked whether a roundabout at that intersection is out of the question. Jerry responded that this was studied by CDOT. He said that the westbound exit at I-70 and Sheridan will be changed. There was a hit-and-run at that intersection this last weekend, in which a CDOT worker was injured.
That was followed by a discussion of the future of Lakeside and Elitch’s. Jerry noted that Elitch’s is located in a flood zone, but that the Chatfield Dam helps to control flooding there a lot.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:22 p.m.
Sincerely,
Barry Roseman
Secretary