Denver approves redevelopment plans for Park Hill Golf Course

The Denver City Council took another step toward redeveloping the shuttered Park Hill Golf Course by advancing its proposed long-term vision for the area following a public hearing on Monday night.

Efforts to redevelop the area has split the surrounding community in Denver, with one side pushing to convert 155acre plot into open space and the other arguing for development.

More than 80 people spoke during the hearing on Monday night. A majority of them — sixty people — signed up to speak in support of redevelopment efforts. The rest opposed the plan.

The council ultimately voted, 10-3, to move forward with its “small area plan,” which envisions an open space network, affordable housing, mix uses and a new neighborhood main street, and greater access to fresh food and grocery for surrounding neighborhoods.

What to do with Park Hill, which has been closed since 2018, has been a topic of conversation among area residents and city officials for years. In 2019, Westside Investment Partners purchased the land. At the end of July, Westside submitted its preliminary proposal for redevelopment, kicking off the process.

While many support a mixed-use development, which would include commercial opportunity and housing, some did not share that visions. The latter alleged that the city and developer are not acting in the interest of residents.

“The developers of this project are saying all the right things to convince us this is a good idea,” Tyler Drum, a resident of northeast Denver, said. “But that is only because they are trying to take away the promise of green spaces for future generations of Denver.”

Drum and other opponents to redevelopment instead call for the area’s conversion to a large park.

An organization called “Yes for Parks and Open Space,” for example, argued that, in just the last decade, Denver dropped from 11th to 22nd in park land per capita. That has led to “overcrowded parks or non-existent recreational opportunities for families,” the group said.

In 2019, up to 77% of Park Hill residents wanted to see no development, according to Yes for Parks’ website. That Greater Park Hill survey saw just under 300 responses.

A 2021 survey sent out by Denver, in contrast, found 70% of residents who live within one mile of the property want to see some level of redevelopment. The city’s survey had almost 1,300 responses.

Westside, the developer, said the community’s priorities are clear, and it has integrated that feedback into its plan since acquiring the land.

The argument caught the attention of residents like Adrian Davis, who lives across the street from the golf course.

“I sincerely hope that all of you will also support the plan,” he said. “In doing so, it will service the needs of many in the community in different parts, as opposed to serving the desires of a few, who would like to have the waves of the space.”

Others continued to protest, highlighting what they view as a flawed city survey.

“CPD has consistently claimed over 70% of respondents favor development, this is simply not true,” Michael McCumber said. “There was no path for someone who wanted to preserve 100% open space outside of the golf course.”

McCumber said there were only two options on the survey: Keep the land as a golf course — and only a golf course — or allow other recreational uses.

This is because of a perpetual conservation easement on the land, which expressly forbids the use of the land for anything other than a golf course. The easement does allow “unrelated recreational uses,” such as athletic fields and tennis courts, but with the added requirement that a golf course must remain on site.

“The Golf Course Land shall be occupied, used, operated, and maintained as a regulation-length, 18-hole daily fee public golf course with such related uses and activities as may be accessory or incidental to the operation of a golf course,” the easement reads. “No use of the Golf Course Land shall be permitted that would be a detriment to the existence and operation of the Golf Course.”

So, while tennis courts and other athletic infrastructure may be added to the golf course land, the easement requires the presence of an 18-hole golf course, effectively killing the golf course’s potential as a park.

This reading of the easement requirements was also confirmed by a representative of the city attorney’s office.

But more pressing for some speakers was the promise of affordable housing, which they say is desperately needed citywide and within park hill.

Laura Leckband, a resident, shared that view.

“What the developers are also proposing is affordable housing and that is desperately needed in Park Hill. If there was affordable hospital, Park Hill I will still be there,” Leckband said. “It is simply impossible to buy affordable housing for a home for our family in Park Hill. It is so expensive.”

In September, Denver rolled out its prioritization policy, which gives households that have been displaced, or are currently at risk of being displaced, priority access to new housing developments.

There is also a precedent for redevelopment in the area, as explained by Quincy Shannon, a longtime resident of the area

“The reason I’m excited about what can happen is because of the development on the north side of the golf course. They put in a Popeye’s. I go there every Tuesday, and they started to put in some housing developments,” he said. “What we have right now is food inequity in my community ... There should be an opportunity for myself and my neighbors to be able to go to a grocery store at our own convenience.”

Monday’s hearing is not the last step in the Park Hill Golf Course saga. In order to revoke the easement, Denver must vote to approve or deny it. It is not clear whether the question will be included on the April 5 ballot during municipal elections or if it will appear on a November general election ballot.