28th and Fairfax Land Swap
Denver land-swap deal with developer for park has fans, but critics accuse city of favoritism amid gentrification fears
City Council hears from supporters and opponents of proposal by developer to chip in for small park within project
By Jon Murray Denver Post August 21, 2018 at 6:00 am
An early development rendering for the Park Hill Commons project shows a conceptual view of a pocket park. But Denver’s parks department has since sought community input on desired park features.
A controversial northeast Denver land-swap proposal for a planned pocket park appears headed for City Council approval after fans and critics sounded off on the idea Monday.
The unusual deal — struck between Denver Parks and Recreation and the developer of the block-long Park Hill Commons — involves a simple exchange of similar-sized parcels, both about 0.35 acres, on either side of the 2800 block of Fairfax Street. On the east side, the city would build out the park within a mixed-use development of gleaming apartments, offices, retail and townhomes planned by HM Capital, and the developer would chip in $650,000 toward the park’s cost.
HM would get the city’s land across the street, a former Xcel substation purchased in 2015. HM plans to use that vacant property for surface parking in the short term.
Testimony during a hearing Monday night echoed a long-running debate over the possible look and feel of the park in the evolving proposal, which has spurred charges of favoritism toward the developer.
This tiny public park proposal in North Park Hill has sparked a big conversation about gentrification and transparency
Residents offered mixed views on whether Denver City Council should approve a deal helping to bring a park to the neighborhood.
By Esteban L. Hernadez The Denverite Aug 21 2018 · 10:23 a.m.
Fairfax Street, North Park Hill, Aug. 7, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
The public hearing before the Denver City Council on Monday lingered on a single action with two outcomes: Should the council approve a land swap in North Park Hill and get a park out of it in the process?
The responses on Monday gave council members suggestions for how they should answer. But more broadly, they offered a glimpse of conversations no doubt happening in other neighborhoods in Denver, as the more than 25 residents who spoke offered comments about transparency, gentrification and public safety.
The bill would approve a contract between the city and developers to trade two small square plots of land, turning one into a multi-use development and one into a public park that the developer would help fund.
Members of the public who spoke were nearly evenly split between those for and those against the bill introduced Monday, but 12 of 13 City Council members voted in favor of the bill at the conclusion of the public hearing, with Councilman Paul Kashmann abstaining. (He said he wasn’t a “yes” yet.) The vote is considered a first-read vote and a second vote is expected next week.
Those opposed voiced concerns over what they felt was a lack of transparency during the project’s development, its potential to exclude or even increase the potential for harassment toward residents of colors and continue diminishing the area’s place as a historically black neighborhood.
Again, neighbors and neighborhoods’ voices go unheard….Next May’s Municipal elections can’t come soon enough for this voting citizen and those I talk to.