The Park Hill Golf Course in Denver in October 2022. Photo: Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post
Residents seeking to stop development of the Park Hill Golf Course site have found a new recourse.
Driving the news: Advocacy group Save Open Space is gathering signatures for a protest petition that would require a supermajority on the Denver City Council to approve a rezoning application for the Park Hill Golf Course, Axios Denver has learned.
Details: Deploying the rule is uncommon, and would increase the threshold to approve the rezoning from a simple majority of seven to 10 yes votes from the 13-member city council.
Catch up quick: While the city is working with the property owner, Westside Investment Partners, to redevelop the 155-acre site with housing, open space and commercial shops, its future has pitted residents who want to keep the area as an open space against those seeking redevelopment.
Yes, but: Before ground can break, a conservation easement on the property must be lifted, and the land must be rezoned to allow for the proposed development.
- Denver City Council is scheduled to vote on the rezoning at its Jan. 23 meetings.
Zoom in: Penfield Tate III of Save Open Space tells Axios Denver the group has started gathering signatures for the protest petition.
- To be successful, the group will need signatures from owners of at least 20% of the land area within 200 feet of the property proposed for rezoning, city planning office spokesperson Laura Swartz told Axios Denver.
What they’re saying: “We are pushing hard and we’ll see what happens,” Tate tells Axios Denver.
- The group has until noon on Jan. 17 to turn in signatures, which will then need to be verified by the city’s planning office ahead of the Jan. 23 meetings.
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