City Council

Tuesday, February 18, 2025, 3:30 p.m. (Denver time), Cathy Reynolds City Council Chamber 1437 Bannock Street, Room 450

Video of the meeting

On the agenda

Roll-call votes

Documents

Summary

The Denver City Council met on February 18, 2025 for a consent agenda, a proclamation, and three required public hearings. The Council amended and ordered published a rezoning bill (CB 25-0086) and a noise regulation ordinance (CB 25-0044, passing 12-1 with Councilmember Flynn voting no over a commercial trash collection start time change), postponed a supportive housing contract resolution over an $8 discrepancy, and adopted a proclamation honoring retired Detective Robert Simmons. The Council then held a public hearing and passed a rezoning of 4507 North Rifle Way in Gateway/Green Valley Ranch (13 ayes announced). After an extended hearing with roughly 29 speakers, the Council passed the gas station text amendment (CB 24-1866/24-1867, 12 ayes announced with one no) despite testimony overwhelmingly focused on the May 13, 2024 retroactive grace-period cutoff date. Finally, the Council amended and passed a campaign finance/Fair Elections Fund ordinance update (CB 24-1676, 13 ayes).

Transcript

0:06 Welcome to your Denver City

0:08 Council.

0:13 Please stand by full coverage

0:15 of your Denver City Council.

0:18 Kids now.

0:29 It afternoon, everyone.

0:33 Thank you for joining us.

0:34 Tonight's meeting is being

0:38 interred interpreted into Sam,

0:38 would you please introduce

0:39 that our viewers enable

0:43 translation on their devices?

0:44 Yes, course. Thank you for

0:47 having us. Hello, everyone. My

0:48 name is Sam Guzman with the

0:52 SEALs And along with my

0:53 colleague on the humble, we

0:54 will be interpreting today's

0:56 meeting Spanish. Now given

0:57 instructions on how to access

1:01 interpretation. When a status

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1:40 that the coming But I can to

1:40 put up with it as coach of

1:42 Knicks play now. Which is

1:43 assistant. Thank you very

1:45 much.

1:51 Thank you very much, Sam.

1:53 Welcome to the Denver City

1:57 Council FEBRUARY 18th 2025

1:58 council members please rise is

1:58 you are able and join

1:59 Councilmember Watson in the

2:01 Pledge of Allegiance.

2:03 I like it it. States

2:10 America. The Republic which

2:13 got indivisible with liberty

2:21 and justice for all.

2:23 Council members please join

2:24 Councilmember Watson as they

2:24 lead us in the Denver City

2:28 Council and acknowledgement.

2:30 The Denver City Council

2:30 honors and acknowledges that

2:33 the land on which we reside.

2:34 It's a traditional territory

2:36 of the Cheyenne and Arapaho

2:38 peoples. We also recognize the

2:41 48 contemporary tribal nations

2:42 that are historically tied to

2:42 the lands that make up the

2:46 state of Colorado. We are.

2:48 There's past present and

2:50 future and those who have

2:52 stewarded this land throughout

2:54 generations. We also recognize

2:56 that government academic and

2:57 cultural institutions were

3:00 founded upon and continue to

3:00 enact exclusions. Racers of

3:04 indigenous peoples. Made his

3:05 demonstrate a commitment to

3:08 working to dismantle ongoing

3:11 inequities and recognize the

3:11 legacies of oppression and

3:12 current and future

3:13 contributions of indigenous

3:18 communities in Denver.

3:19 Thank you. Councilmember

3:27 MADAM Secretary, Real The just

3:30 here, Gilmore contestants care

3:32 himes here. Cashman here.

3:36 Louis resident. Parity here,

3:39 Rivera Campbell, here. So

3:43 we're get tourists. Hear what

3:48 MADAM PRESIDENT chair. 13

3:49 members present. There are 13

3:52 members present council has a

3:54 core the minutes. Are there

3:54 any corrections to the minutes

4:02 of FEBRUARY 10th? Seen none.

4:04 announcements are there any

4:04 The minutes stand Council

4:05 council announcements this

4:10 afternoon? COUNCILMAN Gilmer

4:13 start us off. Thank you,

4:16 council. PRESIDENT Sandoval.

4:19 I wanted to sincerely thank

4:20 so many city agencies that

4:23 came out too district Eleven's

4:26 10th annual town hall last

4:28 Thursday evening. It was a

4:29 little chilly, but we had a

4:32 very full house. We had over

4:34 100 community members who

4:36 joined us very honored also

4:38 have COUNCILWOMAN Gonzales

4:42 Contiendas there in person and

4:45 know that councilmember parity

4:46 also help to sponsor promote

4:47 the event as well. And so it

4:51 was great to have our at-large

4:53 councilmember supporting

4:53 district councilmember and

4:56 that important reminder that

4:58 really everyone in Denver has

5:00 3 elected representatives on

5:01 council, both of the out large

5:05 is and then your district

5:05 councilmember. And so make

5:07 sure you're reaching out to us

5:10 about issues in the community

5:13 and then my second

5:14 announcement is over the

5:16 weekend. There was an article.

5:19 Published in Westward. That

5:22 was really interesting.

5:23 Article and it talked about

5:23 the 10 White U.S.

5:25 Neighborhoods in Denver and

5:30 then it also ran down the 10

5:31 most diverse neighborhoods and

5:34 should've been flip-flop

5:34 amber and so I really think it

5:37 because I think the diversity

5:38 in our city is really our

5:42 strength and our vibrancy and

5:43 if they would have done that,

5:46 headline would have been

5:47 Montbello and Green Valley

5:51 and 2.

5:51 Ranch. Our neighborhoods, one

5:54 For the most diverse.

5:55 Population in the entire

5:59 city, which is so so important

6:00 and a great sense of pride and

6:03 it's also an honor to

6:05 represent the Montbello

6:05 neighborhood as well with my

6:08 colleague COUNCILMAN Lewis,

6:09 who represents half of the

6:11 portion of montbello and so

6:13 it's super important that we

6:14 bring that forward because

6:18 folks want to know that we've

6:19 got their back and that we're

6:21 hearing their concerns and

6:22 it's important how we show up

6:25 in that way. And so would hope

6:27 that they do better next time

6:29 and how they represent the

6:30 important diversity in our

6:31 city. Thank you, council.

6:34 PRESIDENT Sandoval.

6:38 Thank you, Nic. Step the

6:40 the thank you, council I just

6:42 wanted to take a moment. I

6:43 didn't call out the cdc

6:44 contract for the La Paz

6:47 community in district.

6:48 Today we have gotten our

6:49 questions answered and I

6:50 wanted to share that and thank

6:51 the mayor for being out in

6:55 community today. Overland to

6:56 talk to some community leaders

6:57 about just wanted to take a

6:58 moment acknowledge that. Thank

6:59 you. Council PRESIDENT, thank

7:05 you. Comes temper Americana.

7:06 Thank you, MADAM PRESIDENT, I

7:09 just wanted to remind the

7:11 district residents of the

7:12 residents of District 4 that

7:13 we are sending out our

7:15 community survey.

7:16 And you've received you

7:16 received it, you received it

7:19 on your phone if you didn't

7:22 get it on your phone, contact

7:23 our office, our Web site, and

7:23 we can send it to you by

7:28 email. We can text it to you

7:29 for those who want a hard

7:29 copy, we will print it out for

7:30 you to be able to take the

7:33 survey as well. So if you

7:35 received on on your phone,

7:37 it's not spam. It's And please

7:38 take time to fill it out.

7:39 We've actually had a pretty

7:40 good response in the first

7:42 week. Thank you, MADAM

7:42 PRESIDENT.

7:45 Thank you. Councilmember

7:46 Watson.

7:49 Thank you. MADAM Wanted to

7:50 welcome neighbors district 9

7:52 for a monthly community

7:53 meeting. That's going to be

7:57 this Friday. The 21st from one

7:58 to 02:15pm, in the afternoon

8:03 at the nola Tavern. 22 22 east

8:06 Bruce Randolph Avenue. We do

8:06 this on a monthly basis,

8:08 provide an informal

8:09 opportunity for neighbors to

8:11 come by and ask any questions

8:13 from my office or from any of

8:14 this city agencies. So thank

8:16 you so much for showing up

8:19 each month once again this

8:21 Friday, the 21st from one to

8:22 02:15pm, at nola Tavern of

8:25 Food will be served by my

8:27 team. Thank you, MADAM

8:27 PRESIDENT.

8:30 Thank you. Councilmember

8:31 Hines.

8:31 Thank you, MADAM PRESIDENT

8:32 of 3 things. First, I want to

8:34 thank you to the more than 130

8:35 people who registered for a

8:37 public safety town hall last

8:41 week. Hope it was useful and

8:43 an educational for those who

8:45 attended public safety

8:47 obviously means or police. It

8:50 also means many of other city

8:54 agencies committee agencies at

8:55 the provide public safety

8:56 support that is not pull not

8:58 our police. And so we had the

9:01 police represented. We also 10

9:03 for health and and many other

9:04 organizations that assist us

9:06 with public safety there as

9:09 well. The second just wanted

9:09 to touch high touch on our

9:12 district. Annual survey. We

9:14 are interested if you live

9:15 work and and or play in

9:16 district 10, we'd like love to

9:18 hear your thoughts about

9:19 district 10 and our

9:20 priorities. If you want to

9:22 take the survey, just go to

9:24 Denver. Perfect 10 dot com

9:26 slash survey. Finally, we have

9:29 a in addition public safety

9:30 town hall we had last week. We

9:32 have a coffee and

9:34 conversations are monthly

9:36 committee coffee. It is this

9:37 Thursday at populous the new

9:39 hotel. It's between City Hall

9:42 and the Webb building and it

9:43 has any time between 12, 30 to

9:48 30 MADAM PRESIDENT, thank you.

9:52 This sad this Friday,

9:53 Denver's North High school's

9:53 music department is proud to

9:55 present their annual

9:57 fundraising event. The Jazz

10:00 Cabaret. It was this Friday at

10:04 06:00pm Doors Open at 5.30, at

10:08 24 75 West 26th Avenue. It

10:11 features a honor choir and

10:11 North High school's jazz

10:12 bands. If you're into jazz,

10:15 they're really, really good.

10:16 Say you should check them out.

10:18 You can get information by

10:21 looking at the North and or

10:22 that go to the North High

10:25 School Web site. So thank you

10:28 all. Given that there's no

10:30 community presentations,

10:30 there's no communications.

10:31 There's no proclamations being

10:33 read this afternoon. MADAM

10:34 Secretary, please read the

10:36 Bills for introduction.

10:39 Finance and governance

10:41 committee. 25 Dash 0, 1, 2, 6,

10:41 a bill for an ordinance

10:43 approving and providing for

10:44 the execution of a proposed

10:45 grant agreement between the

10:47 city and county of Denver.

10:48 And the state of Colorado

10:51 concerning the u. Yes, I am.

10:55 Why 24 program and the funding

10:56 thereof and authorizing the

10:58 purchase of capital equipment

11:02 items from the s I fy 24

11:05 special Revenue Fund budget.

11:07 25 Dash 0, 1, 2, 7, a bill for

11:09 an ordinance authorizing

11:09 expenditures in the general

11:11 government Special Revenue

11:12 Fund based on a letter of

11:15 intent from the United States

11:16 of America to award funding to

11:17 the city and county of Denver,

11:18 Denver for the Denver. Great

11:22 Kids Head Start and why 2025

11:26 to 2026 program. 25 Dash 0, 1,

11:28 3, 1, a bill for an ordinance

11:28 approving a proposed second

11:31 amended and restated Denver

11:32 downtown Development Authority

11:35 plan of Development

11:36 cooperation agreement between

11:36 the city and county of Denver

11:37 and Denver. Downtown

11:38 Development Authority in

11:42 Council district 10. And the

11:43 land use Transportation and

11:44 infrastructure committee. 25

11:46 Dash 0, 0, 8, 6, a bill for an

11:48 ordinance changing the zoning

11:50 classification for multiple

11:51 properties in Chaffee, Park,

11:54 Sunnyside, Highland and

11:55 Jefferson Park, 25 Dash 0, 1,

11:57 2, 0 of Bill for an ordinance

11:59 amending sections. 39 Dash.

12:01 What to one of the revised

12:03 municipal code of the city and

12:05 county of Denver regarding the

12:07 schedule for use of

12:08 facilities. Space,

12:10 specifically for the Denver

12:11 Enterprise and the safety

12:12 housing Education and

12:14 Homelessness Committee. 25

12:15 Dash 0, 0, 4, 4, a bill for an

12:16 ordinance concerning the

12:20 regulation of noise. Thank

12:25 you. Council members. This is

12:26 your last opportunity to call

12:29 out item.

12:30 Councilmember Watson, we

12:31 please make the motions for us

12:32 this evening.

12:33 Yes, council PRESIDENT Sent

12:36 a ball great now. Do a recap

12:37 under resolutions,

12:38 councilmember parity has

12:40 called out resolution 25, 0,

12:42 1, 7, 4 for questions and

12:44 comments. Councilmember parity

12:46 in U.S. Have called out

12:46 resolution 0, 2, 0, 9, for

12:49 questions and comments.

12:50 Councilmember Luis has called

12:53 out resolution. 0, 1, to 2 for

12:56 questions and comments.

12:58 Councilmember Flynn has called

13:00 out Resolution 0, 1, 1, 6, for

13:02 postponement and or rule 3.6

13:03 and are bills for

13:04 introduction. I have called

13:06 out Council Bill 0, 0, 8, 6,

13:10 for an amendment.

13:11 Councilmember Farron has

13:12 called out council below 0, 0,

13:15 4, 4, for a vote under fills

13:16 for final consideration. No

13:19 items have been called out and

13:20 are pending. No items have

13:23 been called out. MADAM

13:24 Secretary, please put our

13:26 first item on the screens

13:29 Council resolution 0, 1, 7,

13:29 for approving agreement

13:32 between the city and county of

13:35 Denver. Covington Burling 10 p

13:36 per city representation in a

13:37 congressional inquiry by the

13:38 U.S. House Committee on

13:41 government. And before

13:42 councilmember parity. Please

13:43 go ahead with your questions

13:45 or comments on resolution. 0,

13:50 1, 7, 4, Thank you so much.

13:51 MADAM PRESIDENT.

13:52 so I want to be clear, the

13:56 description of this item.

13:58 Talks about the need for

13:59 representation of the city in

14:00 a congressional inquiry before

14:01 the U.S. Committee on

14:03 government and reform. And

14:04 what we know is that the mayor

14:05 is being asked to go and

14:06 testify in dc in defense of

14:08 the policies of the city which

14:09 were adopted by both the

14:10 executive and legislative

14:13 branches of Denver when the

14:14 city adopted a comprehensive

14:16 set of immigration policies in

14:18 2016 2017, which was under the

14:19 leadership of now

14:21 Councilmember Torres and

14:22 others. We also created a

14:23 Denver Immigrant Legal

14:25 Services Fund. And we as a

14:29 city did that because of the

14:30 just life-altering impact of

14:31 immigration proceedings on

14:32 people who live here and who

14:35 have often come here as asylum

14:35 seekers from really horrifying

14:39 conditions under the general

14:40 protections of international

14:41 U.S. Law that say the country

14:44 have to take people in those

14:46 circumstances. So as of now,

14:47 immigrants are 10 times more

14:48 likely to succeed in their

14:49 case in immigration court when

14:52 they have representation. But

14:54 80% of those who are in

14:56 detention in proceedings who

14:57 are detained in the geo Group

15:01 facility in Aurora aren't

15:03 represented there. Also 77,000

15:04 pending cases cases in the

15:05 federal immigration court here

15:07 in downtown Denver. Most of

15:08 them to my understanding are

15:09 people who are not in

15:11 detention. Most of those

15:12 people also don't have

15:13 attorneys. We are tied for

15:14 last place in the nation as a

15:16 state and the percentage of