The Denver City Council on Monday ended up sidelining consideration of a special district near Coors Field that would levy fees on property owners in the area to build a park.
The council on Monday was scheduled to vote on the plan after a public hearing, but the chief proponent, Amy Harmon, ended up asking the council to withdraw her application. The council had to vote the proposal down on procedural rules.
Harmon, a member of the board of the Ball Park Neighborhood Association, said she’s not sure whether she will resurrect the plan.
“It’s all up to the universe at this point,” Harmon said.
She said the creation of the district would have been the first step toward advancing the long-term goal of creating a large public park in the area.
Harmon said the idea was to start small and finance a few initial improvements through the creation of the special district. The district also would finance a planning document for the proposed park before tackling the long-term goal of creation of a park, she said. She added that backers of the district hadn’t yet determined the proper boundaries or the proper levy to charge property owners in the area.
The push ended up generating significant opposition when notices went out, prompting Harmon to cancel the public hearing.
“It had a lot of support, but it caused some concern among some people,” Harmon said. “We are where we are, and I don’t have any other option at this time other to acknowledge that there was some disappointment in this idea.”
In other news, the council delayed until next Monday consideration of a request from the city’s Department of Human Services for $525,000 in general fund money to bolster outreach services to homeless youth and adults.
Council members Jeanne Faatz and Charlie Brown said the city can’t afford to subsidize the homeless outreach program when it faces a $120 million deficit in the general fund over the next 17 months. Council members Doug Linkhart, Paul Lopez and Carol Boigon said the money would end up reducing spending elsewhere by keeping the homeless off the streets and out of hospitals. The council is scheduled to meet in committee today to discuss spending on homeless programs.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
