by Glen Richardson

Leetsdale Meeting 11-14For families living in the Virginia Vale and Hilltop neighborhoods it’s a nightmarish flashback to a development scheme that dates back more than 50 years. It involves a three-acre plot of land along Leetsdale Drive directly across the street from George Washington High School where developer Paul Naftel of Emerald Properties LLC is now proposing a Jimmy John’s be built where years earlier he proposed a McDonald’s.

Saga of the disputed property goes back to the 1950s when development of the southeast Denver neighborhood was just beginning. Back then neighbors say many Denver high schools had small parks across the street — a legacy of Mayor Robert Speer’s City Beautiful campaign — and it was speculated then that the property was intended as a park.

In the 1950s Denver Public Schools founded KRMA as an educational TV station. By 1987 the station and the school district ended their affiliation and as part of that transaction the three acres along Leetsdale was given to the station. Almost immediately the station wound up in a dispute with the local neighborhoods when it won approval for rezoning, and the developer proposed a McDonald’s on the site.

Deal Stopped Earlier

Ironically back then angry residents in Virginia Vale, led by President Deb Ward, blocked the development. Paradoxically, a realtor named Paul Aceto, who now purports he is President of the Virginia Vale Community Assn., signed off with the Planning Board on the latest plan. Aceto posted a small sign at McMeen Elementary School six days prior to scheduling a meeting and used a five-year-old email database to send announcements. He hasn’t, however, provided minutes or attendance information. Aceto says the previous Virginia Vale board and the current vice president extended the presidency of the neighborhood group to him in 2008. Nevertheless, several alarmed Virginia Vale residents testified against the plan at a hearing before the Planning Board in the Webb Municipal Bldg. on Sept. 3.

“I am disgusted by the lack of notice to anyone in our neighborhood regarding this re-zoning. I only became aware of it when I happened to see the small notice posted two weeks ago. No one on our own or adjacent streets were previously notified,” Holly Brooks told City Planners. “Seven years ago many of us and our neighbors spent nearly a year in meeting rooms crowded to standing room only to reach a compromise with the same developer on use, lighting, landscaping and barriers protective of our neighborhood,” she recalled. “The developer’s latest proposal is everything we fought against last time, fast-food,” she angrily retorted.

Aceto told the Chronicle at press time that “in lieu of the potentially serious consequences now apparent, the Virginia Vale Community Association is taking a different position on the development and sending a letter to Kyle Dalton at the Planning Board revealing the group is altering its support.” At the Oct. 15 City Council Meeting, however, Senior Planner Kyle Dalton told Council members and attendees that the VVCA by no means rescinded their approval. Rather, that he received a letter that said some of the people in our neighborhood had surfaced opposing the plan.

Ward Speaks Up

Former President Ward, who still lives in Virginia Vale but is no longer affiliated with the Community Association, tells the Chronicle that when Naftel originally tried to develop the triangular Leetsdale property, “we refused to allow a mixed use zone, only allowing a very specific PUD, which is why he is having to jump through hoops once again.” She recalls that Naftel’s spokesperson made it sound as if the community association was accepting rezoning at that time. “We most definitely were not,” she declares.

The spunky Ward also says, “I would think that it would benefit all neighborhoods with these little odd bits of open land to not allow mixed usages, but stick with PUDs so that neighborhoods can maintain some control of what they will accept. Once a mixed use is allowed — especially the broader zones — I believe neighborhoods lose control for good,” she warns.

The latest redevelopment plan also caught the attention of Reuben Drebenstedt, President of the South Hilltop Neighborhood Assn. Because of interest and concerns by Hilltop neighbors regarding the proposed zoning and development plans for the property he scheduled a meeting on Oct. 13 to discuss the proposal with the owner-developer and his architect.

Traffic Concerns

Drebenstedt expressed neighborhood concerns about high traffic on and off of Exposition and into adjacent neighborhoods. “School kids crossing Leetsdale through traffic, not using crosswalks; it will be a danger to them and autos,” he said. Drebenstedt also suggested too many businesses are being located on the small plot. A total of four spaces — the largest being 2,400 sq. ft. — are proposed on the property. Several attendees at the Hilltop meeting also articulated concerns that there would be a sharp increase of parked cars on Exposition plus increased loitering. At the South Hilltop meeting developer Naftel indicated a willingness to consider the options being suggested at the meeting. Nevertheless his architect Michael Rudd, who also attended the meeting, expressed doubt the City would give approval.

Given that the current Mayor and city staff generally support developments rather than parks, it’s not surprising that the Planning Board staff recommended approval (only changing the PUD from 584 to PUD-G 10). Senior City Planner Kyle A. Dalton wrote, “The land or its surrounding environs has changed or is changing to such a degree that it is in the public interest to encourage a redevelopment of the area or to recognize the changed character of the area.”

Changes identified in the surrounding area by the developer’s application include the redevelopment of Lowry, suggesting it created an increased demand for neighborhood commercial service uses, such as retail and restaurant. “Since the time of the previous PUD adoption, a mini-storage facility has been built, development trends have changed, and a new zoning code has been adopted,” the application states. Virginia Vale resident John Sturtz notes that despite Planner Dalton’s support of the developer’s argument that business in Lowry is reflective of the Leetsdale project, “it is blocks away and doesn’t reflect either this community, the environment around George Washington High School or our traffic issues.”

The Denver City Council is tentatively scheduled to vote on the proposed development November 17.

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