Motion for the June INC Delegates meeting – Denver Deserves Sidewalks
Posted 05/30/2022 9:08:38 AM
As announced at the INC Delegates Meeting on May 14, 2022, the INC Transportation Committee has unanimously recommended that INC make a motion of support for the Denver Deserves Sidewalks item for the November 2022 ballot, for consideration by Denver voters. This motion will be considered at the upcoming June 11, 2022 Delegates meeting.
Motion for the INC Delegation:
INC supports the Denver Deserves Sidewalks ballot initiative, to refer to Denver voters the question of removing the responsibility for repairs from adjacent property owners and placing this responsibility on the City, and establishing a dedicated fee to fund this work. INC urges all member RNOs to support this important issue.
Background:
For 16 years, INC has adopted positions calling on the city to replace the current policy of making each property owner individually responsible for sidewalk installation and maintenance with a citywide program. In our Delegation-adopted INC Transportation Platform, the first three items in the Walkability section are:
4. Walkability
4.1. The pedestrian network is fundamental to making all other modes of transportation possible, including transit and biking.
4.2. Denver should adopt measures to preserve and complete sidewalk networks, including flagstone sidewalks where that is part of the established character of an area.
4.3. Denver should replace the current city policy that makes individual homeowners responsible for the cost of installing or repairing walks with alternative sources of funding. Leverage the city’s negotiating power to get the best value on sidewalk installation and maintenance.
INC’s Zoning and Planning Platform also calls on the city to move to a new citywide funding mechanism for sidewalks:
7.2 Sidewalks — Complete, well-maintained and safe sidewalk networks are critical. The city should pursue a new funding mechanism to install and maintain sidewalks city-wide as called for in the Pedestrian Master Plan.
Following many years of inaction by our elected officials, and despite direct communications from INC to the Mayor and extensive discussions with councilmembers, it has become clear that the city has no plans to bring forward a comprehensive plan to take care of our ever-worsening sidewalks.
Over the last several months many residents serving on mobility, health, and equity community organizations, including many regular participants at the INC Transportation Committee, with the leadership and coordination of the Denver Streets Partnership, have developed the Denver Deserves Sidewalks ballot initiative. This proposal closely matches what INC has been calling for, directly asking voters for support in transferring responsibility for sidewalks to the city, and funding a cost-effective program with a dedicated fee based on each property’s street frontage length and context.
Full details about the ballot initiative are available at www.DenverSidewalks.com
Full details about the ballot initiative are available at www.DenverSidewalks.com
This topic has been presented at-length at both the May 12th INC Transportation Committee (recording) and the May 28th INC Zoning & Planning Committee (recording) meetings. Those presentations with extensive Q&A are available on the INC YouTube channel, which Delegates are encouraged to review.
Motion at the INC Transportation Committee meeting:
Following the presentation at the INC Transportation Committee meeting on May 12, 2022, Michael Henry moved and Luchia Brown seconded the following motion:
I move that the INC Transportation Committee recommend to the INC Delegation that INC should support the Denver Deserves Sidewalks initiative, and urge all of our member organizations to participate as loudly and strongly as they can for this important issue.
Of those voting at the committee meeting, the vote was 15 in favor, 0 opposed
@Fred, why do you think it will kill trees? Even when the tree lawn is narrow the sidewalks can curve around them.
Come to Congress Park & see 911 Madison. I posted about it on twitter here:
https://twitter.com/BryanByBike/status/1571166155443957760?s=20&t=-SlNmCJYTGwr7JMMuBTmQA
Poor neighborhoods & neighborhoods of color are also disproportionately impacted. I think the inverted-L is visible on the map.
https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Citywide-Programs-and-Initiatives/Vision-Zero/Dashboard
Deleting comments I see, very democratic of you
This will kill so many trees and also adds a lot of impervious ground where less vegetation can be planted. I have been hearing that poor neighborhoods were the target of less tree planting so it creates more heat in those areas not having trees and shade. Well this would prevent even more trees and also provide a surface that gathers and retains even more heat.
This is called Pathological Altruism, I know you mean well, but you are helping kill the environment