CCHN is now in District 5 which is led by Councilperson Amanda Sawyer.
Complete the District 5 Annual Survey
Every year, District 5 conducts an Annual Survey designed for our valued residents to participate in. This serves as a golden opportunity for you to express your thoughts regarding the evolving dynamics and obstacles within our neighborhoods. Her office kindly requests a moment of your time to complete this survey, as our input significantly aids them in formulating a strategic plan for the upcoming year. Please note that the survey will conclude on December 31st. To participate, click here.
Denver Water’s contractor, T. Lowell Construction, Inc., will begin a water main installation project on East First Avenue in late July. The project will last through November 2021. Working hours will typically be from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The project will occur primarily on East First Avenue, from University Boulevard to Marion Street.
During construction, there will be daily lane closures on East First Avenue in this area. Motorists should expect delays. Local access to residences and businesses will be maintained throughout the project.
Other project work will include impacts in the following areas in the coming months:
– East First Avenue from Clayton Lane to University Boulevard
– Speer Boulevard from North Downing Street to North Washington Street
Denver Water will provide updates throughout the project via email and the social media platform Nextdoor. For questions directly related to this project, please contact Will Englehart at 248-935-2443 or will@tlowellconstruction.com. For general questions, please call Denver Water Customer Care: 303-893-2444, Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Residents and businesses in the construction zone will receive additional notifications with information about specific impacts they may experience.
Thank you to the 70+ CCHN neighbors who met with Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) on Tuesday, July 6th to discuss concerns about the proposed 3rd Avenue Bikeway Project. On August 25th, DOTI’s Interim Executive Director, Adam Phipps, sent a formal letter to the members of CCHN thanking us for our involvement in the planning and design of 3rd Avenue.
Mr. Phipp’s noted that after careful consideration of the data and the local community feedback, DOTI has determined that the 3rd Avenue bike project will move forward as a conventional bike lane between Downing and Gilpin St. This is a big win for CCHN and means that there will be no paint and posts installed along 3rd Avenue. This will, however, require “repurposing” parking on the south side of the 3rd Avenue to provide space for the bike lanes. DOTI said they are currently refining implementation schedules and anticipate the project being installed as early as 2023.
Thank you to District 10 City Council Representative Chris Hinds who attended the July 6th meeting with DOTI and has advocated on behalf of CCHN to preserve the historic nature of our neighborhood.
Our CCHN neighbors were very united in their opposition to both the bikeway and bike lane. The letter from Mr. Phipps is posted on CCHN’s website for further reference.
To see a detailed outline of the proposal, CLICK HERE.
Forget Me Not (227 Clayton) is the new cocktail destination that includes a small-plate menu and live music. Colorado Rockies: The baseball team is allowing fans at 25% capacity. Colorado Avalanche: Hockey is for in-person watching too! Denver Nuggets: They’ve been on fire much of the season! Catch them now and hopefully into the playoffs. Denver Art Museum: From Paris to Hollywood: The Fashion and Influence of Véronique and Gregory Peck (until July 18th). The Pecks were influencers of their time. Denver Botanic Gardens: Tulips are blooming in April! Two art exhibitions-
Dreams in Bloom – Fares Micue (until May 16); Radiant Season- Kevin Sloan (until July 11) Denver Center for Performing Arts: Until The Flood, a fictional piece about the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death (enjoy this for free and on-demand until Fall 2023) Denver Museum of Nature and Science: SUE: The T. Rex Experience (through April 25th); Stonehenge: Ancient Mysteries and Modern Discoveries (until September 24) Denver Terrors Ghost Tour: Despite the name, this family-friendly attraction weaves its way through nine to 14 different haunted sites around Capitol Hill while telling historical and spooky stories (denverterrors.com) Permit-less Hikes (no permits required to enjoy these outdoor escapes)
• Flat Top Wilderness
• Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness
• Lost Creek Wilderness
• Indian Peaks Wilderness
Denver’s City Council voted 11-2 to pass the Group Living Text Amendment on February 8th, 2021. The Text Amendment seeks to update Denver’s zoning codes and make housing more inclusive and equitable. The CCHN board voted unanimously against the Group Living Text Amendment initial draft based upon the results of a neighborhood survey in which the vast majority of residents opposed the draft.
After much city-wide deliberation and compromise, the Group Living Text Amendment was revised to stipulate:
A maximum of 5 unrelated and related adults can live together, with an unlimited number of minor children. Previously, 2 unrelated persons with unlimited adult and minor relatives were allowed to live in a single-family home. Multigenerational families may still live together as previously allowed.
All residential care facilities (senior living, homeless shelters, community corrections, etc) were reclassified under one definition and their zoning is regulated primarily on size. Community Corrections facilities of any size will not be allowed in single family neighborhoods, including CCHN. Other residential care facilities are restricted in single family neighborhoods, including CCHN, depending upon their size. Facilities with 10 or fewer residents are limited to 3 total facilities within a 1-mile radius (in contrast to the original draft, which allowed an unlimited number of facilities with 8 or fewer guests in single family districts, with the exception of shelters which were not previously allowed in single family districts).
Larger facilities will still have a cap of 20 people in single family districts and will now be restricted to parcels previously used for a civic, public or institutional use (e.g. churches, schools, government buildings), which are not in CCHN.
Spring this year feels even more special as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to lift. We’ve been up to a lot since I wrote last, and if you want a deeper dive into the work my office has been doing for all of District 10, I hope you sign up for our monthly newsletter at denverperfect10.com/signup.
One lovely sign of the pandemic lifting is that our libraries are starting to re-open! There will still be out-door service options, like curbside pick-up, but you can now visit inside Ross-Cherry Creek with COVID precautions in place. Thanks to our library staff who kept us with reading material during the darkest months of the pandemic.
I also want to give a huge thank you to constituent Chaun Powell and the other Country Club neighbors who quickly put together a virtual town hall meeting with Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen, Mayor Hancock, Denver’s District Attorney office, and me to discuss February’s serious security matter. Several homes in Country Club were broken into – including while families were at home. Mr. Powell jumped into citizen action mode after his own home experienced a break-in. He helped organize a large virtual meeting – with over 100 attendees – so neighbors could discuss and get advice on what they could do to keep safe. The good folks from Denver Police District 3 discussed basic safety, how to start neighborhood watch and, the best part, they believe they caught the perpetrator within a week, thanks in part to help from all of you.
There have been several police-related policies to help our officers have more time to devote to the prevention of these crime issues. Unfortunately, during the pandemic we saw a rise in crime around the country in addition to other concerning issues – like homelessness – that frequently involve police time and attention. The STAR program and co-responders are two of the ways we’re working with social service providers to ease the burden on our police. We’re seeing very positive results from this approach and, with the lifting of the pandemic, we are encouraged that crime rates will decline and that we can help Denver’s unhoused with more appropriate outreach. That will free the police to focus on matters that really require a police response.
When spring arrives, you might be thinking of spring cleaning. Our friends at the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure are getting ready to start sending out street sweepers. Did you know in 2020, Denver street sweeping crews swept 163,385 lane miles and collected 57,479 cubic yards of dirt and debris? That’s a lot of material that otherwise ends up polluting our air. Thank you, DOTI street-sweeping crew, for helping us keep Denver’s air clean.
Speaking of streets, keeping them free of snow is a big operation in Denver. And, we saw some serious white stuff during the big mid-March snow event! If you are curious about how DOTI prepares for and responds to snowstorms, have questions about how to safely shovel, remove snow from trees, need bike riding tips, and, especially important to me, how to report sidewalks and curb & gutter that needs to be shoveled, there is a ton of great material on DOTI’s snow webpage. There’s even a live plow tracker that you can watch. Just search “snow” on Denvergov.org.
If you don’t have the ability to clear your sidewalk and curb & gutter, Denver has a great volunteer program called Snow Angels that can help. And, if you have a bit of extra time and can aid someone in need during a snow event, Snow Angels would love your help. You can find more about Snow Angels on DOTI’s snow page.
As the weather warms, we’ll be seeing a lot more folks walking, biking, and rolling around. I recently brought in some yard signs that remind folks to “Drive Like Your Dog Lives Here” featuring a certain Council Dog. If you’d like a free sign, contact my office.
Speaking of activity in the streets – did you happen to catch Director of DOTI, Eulois Cleckley, speaking about both the 5280 Trail and Shared Streets during the District 10 Cabinet in the Community meeting in late February? You can view that meeting recording, including a presentation about how we’re addressing homelessness, at Facebook.com/DenverPerfect10.
To keep up with all the work we’re doing, I recommend signing up for our monthly newsletter and checking out denverperfect10.com, which features weekly, up-to-date blog posts and information items from city departments.
After a series of home intrusions and burglaries throughout late February, over 100 participants joined a video conference on March 3rd organized by CCHN resident Chaun Powell to address security within CCHN. Our neighborhood residents joined Mayor Hancock, Councilman Hinds and his team, and many members of the Denver Police Department. (the “DPD”).
An arrest was made in early March and the DPD shared their gratitude for all who contributed video and photo evidence that allowed them to string together details to charge the individual with five different felonies.
The goal of the March 3rd video conference was to debrief on recent events, provide the good news about the arrest, and create the following plan of action:
1. Public Support of Increasing Funding for the DPD
Denver City Council allows public comment during a portion of each of their monthly meetings. Councilman Hinds shared that virtually all public comments through March were proposals to decrease funding for the DPD. Here are some statistics to justify the rationale for an increase in funding
– Denver’s population has grown 20% since 2010
– Since January of 2020, crime rates are on the rise (Overall crime rates are up 26%; Auto thefts are up 53%; Property Crimes are up 14%).
– The DPD is staffed with the same number of officers since 2012.
Chaun Powell spoke at the March City Council meeting in support of increasing funding for the DPD. If you wish to participate and submit your opinion, please do so by submitting comment at https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Departments/Denver-City-Council/Public-Input/General-Public-Comment. If accepted, you may also provide your input over a video platform so you are not obligated to be in person.
There is a subgroup of residents interested in better understanding the upcoming legislation around property crimes and penalties for criminals. The current processes call for release in 4 hours on a PR bond. Future legislation is likely to change this to property crimes resulting in citations rather than arrest. We will share findings once we have more information.
2. Neighborhood Watch and CCHN Security Email List
CCHN has launched a formal neighborhood watch program and is seeking volunteers to act as block communicators should we have reason to waterfall any communications. If interested in being a volunteer, please email cchnsafety@gmail.com. We would ideally like a volunteer from every block between Speer and 6th and Gaylord to Marion. We are attempting to schedule another meeting with Officer Borquex from the DPD on April 28th from 6 to 7pm.
We are also creating a list of CCHN members that would like to be notified of specific security issues within the neighborhood. Please email cchnsafety@gmail.com to be included in the security and safety specific emails and use the same email address to report any security issues that come to your attention. Please remember, if you have any emergency or active situation (i.e. someone present in your house or car), call 9-1-1.
3. Identify Other Means of Increasing Security
The CCHN Security Committee is also actively investigating the following means of increasing security for our residents: (i) installing Motorola license plate recognition cameras that communicate in real time with the DPP, (ii) increasing the cadence of decreasing the speed of HSS patrols, (iii) closed video networks throughout CCHN. The CCHN Security Committee understands that many of these measures have implications on cost and privacy and will be working with the city to ensure that the path forward is legal and cost effective.
Thank you to our residents for your commitment to keeping our great neighborhood safe! We all have a role in this important responsibility and will continue to vigilantly work to keep CCHN a safe and vibrant community.
Dear Neighborhood Association and/or Neighborhood Association Representative:
Now that voting is done, it’s time to think about what to do with the election signs found in yards and along roadsides throughout the city. Denver Recycles is offering Denver residents a solution for keeping some of those signs out of the landfill. Our Cherry Creek Recycling Drop-Off is now accepting corrugated plastic election signs for recycling through November 17th. Signs must be separated from their stands. Corrugated plastic signs can only be accepted at the Drop-Off; residents should not put them in their purple carts. Directions and hours for the Cherry Creek Recycling Drop-off can be found at https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/trash-and-recycling/recycling/dropoff.html. Signs made from soft plastic, plastic film, or plastic coated paper are not accepted for recycling at either the Drop-off or in recycle carts.
We would greatly appreciate your help promoting this resource to your neighborhood residents through your email lists and online platforms. We will also post recycling information for election signs on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/denver.recycles.fan), which we encourage you to follow and share to your page. If you have questions please contact me.
Thank you for your help and support of our programs.
Best Regards,
Becky
Becky Goyton | Education Program Assistant City & County of Denver
Department of Transportation & Infrastructure | Solid Waste Management 303.446-3641 (w)
City & County of Denver
Dept. of Parks & Recreation
Notice of Public Hearing to Update Alcohol Policy
Notice is hereby given that the Department of Parks & Recreation for the City & County of Denver is proposing to update its Alcohol Policy.
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) will hear public comments on this proposed revision on Wed. October 14, 2020 at 5:30 pm at the Board’s regular meeting, currently being held online through Cisco WebEx platform. Access the meeting at denvergov.org/PRAB (full meeting link listed below).
To speak at the public hearing, email Arthur.gilkison@denvergov.org
A copy of the current Alcohol Policy, along with the proposed revised policy, is on file with the Manager of Parks & Recreation and accessible through the Denver Parks and Recreation website at denvergov.org/ParksandRecreation.
Access the October 14, 2020 PRAB meeting via Cisco WebEx: https://denvergov.webex.com/denvergov/onstage/g.php?MTID=eb3f7743f4ea79efa3968fbb647afc0ba
City & County of Denver
Dept. of Parks & Recreation
Notice of Public Hearing to Update Wheeled and E-devices Policy
Notice is hereby given that the Department of Parks & Recreation for the City & County of Denver is proposing to update its Park Use Rules and Regulations.
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) will hear public comments on this proposed revision on Wed. October 14, 2020 at 5:30 pm at the Board’s regular meeting, currently being held online through Cisco WebEx platform. Access the meeting at denvergov.org/PRAB (full meeting link listed below).
To speak at the public hearing, email Arthur.gilkison@denvergov.org
A copy of the current Park Use and Regulations, along with the proposed revised policy, is on file with the Manager of Parks & Recreation and accessible through the Denver Parks and Recreation website at denvergov.org/ParksandRecreation.
Access the October 14, 2020 PRAB meeting via Cisco WebEx: https://denvergov.webex.com/denvergov/onstage/g.php?MTID=eb3f7743f4ea79efa3968fbb647afc0ba
