Once again, Denver voters will be asked to weigh in on the fate of the last large remaining green space in the city, and once again, the city may (or may not) agree with the will of the voters.

 

In 2021, Denverites overwhelmingly voted 63% to 37% to preserve Denver’s last significant undeveloped expanse that could be a badly needed park for an underserved neighborhood: the former Park Hill Golf Course. Faced with his stunning rebuke at the polls, representatives of the Hancock administration secretly met with Westside Development and a powerful lobbying firm to scheme out how to thwart the will of the voters.

 

First the city and its development “client” came up with a concocted “prevailing vision,” which purported to show what people wanted on the land. Who needs a vote when you can do a survey? Then they got City Council to rezone the property. Who needs the protection of a conservation easement when you can vote to develop? Then they got City Council to rezone the land - without even having it appraised. And now they have a measure on the ballot that promises trees, parks, housing for the homeless and a grocery with “healthy foods.” Only a developer could claim that building high-rises on park land is good for the environment.

 

The golf course sits in the most polluted zip code in the U.S. The area lacks a tree canopy, adding 10 degrees to summer temperatures. Creating a park on Park Hill land would fix that, but the city ignored these facts in its “small area plan.”

 

Meanwhile, the city has been stockpiling tens of millions of dollars a year through a parks and open space sales tax to improve and expand Denver’s parks. That money should be spent making the golf course a park.

 

The developer promises more homes for the homeless and parks for the neighborhood. These promises are hollow. The “affordable” housing promised will be on a new tax district that will nearly double the taxes on the property to fund the $84 million in infrastructure the project requires. (The Denver Post has done an admirable job in exposing how these districts milk residents.) And affordable housing? It’s already being built nearby.

 

Vote no on 2O.

 

Maybe this time the city will understand that no means no.