Opinion: Show Us A Plan

Suggestions For The Park Hill Golf Course; We Must Remember What Keeps Denver Unique

By Wellington E. Webb

Special to the GPHN

Denver was once known as a city within a park, but that image has faded over the last 20 years as unfettered development has consumed the city and her leaders.

As our city has grown, the need for housing has increased, changing neighborhoods and redefining communities.

Baby Boomers work to keep their homes while Millennials are faced with exurbanite rents and buying a house is out of reach for most. Our city has changed over the last 20 years, bringing in more people, new business, and yes, more development. But with this change we should not lose sight of what makes Denver unique: our parks, open space, and beautiful mountain views.

In November, Denver voters overwhelmingly supported keeping the former Park Hill Golf Course—which is currently protected by a conservation easement—from being turned into 155 acres of concrete.

Yet despite the election results, the city has begun to plan the development of the property, all while keeping key members of the community excluded from the process.

The city seems intent on ignoring the conservation easement (which they need a court order to remove) as well as the voices of Denver voters, which were heard loud and clear last November.

Interestingly, the city commissioned its own study of the Park Hill Golf Course land, which found: “An analysis of existing park acreage shows that all three statistical neighborhoods, Northeast Park Hill, Clayton and Elyria-Swansea, are far below national and City averages for park acres per capita.” (Environmental, Parks, Open Space and Recreation Technical Assessment, April 2021)

Yet, despite these conclusions, the city has engaged in a process driven by developers and staffed by people who do not live in Denver, to develop the majority of the open space.

During the campaign to gut the existing conservation easement, the developer, Westside Investment Partners, promised affordable housing and 60 acres of parks and open space.

But the devil is in the details. Westside refused to define what type of affordable housing they would build and whether the park would be a contiguous piece of land or 1/4-acre plats parceled across the development. And Westside would not say whether those 60 acres included the 25 acres of the detention pond that is not usable for youth athletic fields or activities.

In November, those neighborhoods identified in the study voted more than 66 percent in favor of open space and opposed the complete removal of the conservation easement. The city should listen to and value the opinions of the communities surrounding the former golf course, which are reflected in its own study.

I’d be willing to bet the city will propose having an election in the spring of 2023 that drags this process on, and meanwhile the land is drying up and continues to be used as an off-leash dog park.

Here are my suggestions:

1. Westside works with the community to develop a plan to submit to the public, which is then vetted through public meetings throughout the city – this must include discussion about the conservation easement;

2. No less than 110 acres of contiguous open space separate from the 25 acres of detention pond;

3. Any and all Community Benefit Agreements must be attached to the land and cannot be changed if parcels of land are sold to other developers;

4. A definition of affordable housing must be written into the plan and include family housing so that our teachers, fire fighters, police officers and their families can live in the city in which they work.

We know Denver needs more parks and open space and the study commissioned by the city confirms it. We also know we need more affordable family housing.

Westside show us a plan, and in the meantime, water the grass at the Park Hill Open Space.

Wellington Webb was mayor of Denver from 1991 to 2003.