by Mark Smiley | Jun 28, 2018 | Main Articles
Huge Tax Hike Crushing Dreams Of Small Business Owners
by Glen Richardson
Art Activist: Paula Colette Conley, Owner and Director of Arts at Denver on Old South Gaylord, is looking for the easiest expenses to cut so she can stay in business.
Socked with huge tax hikes this summer, uncertainty is swirling among neighborhood business owners, many concerned they may not be able to afford their increased tax bill plus rising rents. Additionally, community advocates worry the hikes will increasingly destabilize many of the Valley’s established neighborhoods.
The median projected commercial property value increase in Denver is 20% as the residential property tax rate has been reduced under the Gallagher amendment to 7.2% for the property tax years 2017 and 2018. Commercial property taxes, unlike those for most residential properties, are passed on to tenants. When commercial buildings are sold for big profits as in Denver, property taxes increase. Plus a substantial bump in the value of one property can raise the cost of business for a company occupying another building — even if it’s across town.
The bottom line: while the average commercial property value shot up 20%, many individual property assessments plus increased rents are doubling, tripling, or quadrupling. That’s encouraging many business owners to unload properties, adding to the already ferocious upward price spiral.
Growing Tax Gap
Taxes on commercial spaces are from four to 10 times higher than residential. In Cherry Creek, for example, the owner of a $2.5 milli
Crafting Change: Dramatic property tax increase is among reasons Show of Hands Gallery is moving after 18 years in its current location, Owners Katie Friedland and Mandy Moscatelli firmly believe keeping gallery in Cherry Creek is vital to their success and are relocating later this month.
on home pays about $3,500 in taxes. The tax bill for a small one-story commercial building in the district is more than $33,000. That’s an enormous difference.
Most Denver leases stipulate that the landlord will pay the taxes and then bill the tenants for the expense. Usually the monthly rent bill includes base rent plus an estimated amount for taxes. Once the landlord receives the tax bill for the previous year, they reconcile it and either refund or collect the difference between the estimate and actual taxes due. In recent years, values and taxes have been going up so fast that there are never refunds, but only more taxes due.
Colorado properties are reassessed every odd year based on the prior two years sales. The last couple of years have seen huge appreciation gains throughout the Valley. Those gains are now flowing through as the latest assessed values. These increases are massive for a small business already facing the challenge of rent, red tape, parking and online competition.
Impact On Gaylord
On Old South Gaylord — the second ol
Cost Composition: Arts at Denver — ranked second among 93 Denver galleries — has seen cost of retail space increase 48% this year; 22% due to property tax increase plus a 26% jump in the rent.
dest shopping district in Denver — retail on the street is being replaced with home desig
Cozy Craft: Show of Hands will display one-of-a-kind art, unique gifts and handmade art in a smaller store beginning mid-July. Craft shop is relocating to mixed-use retail space between 2nd and 3rd Ave. at 250 Columbine St.
n, financial services and other monetarily productive businesses. Moreover, spaces along the street are turning over far more frequently.
Arts at Denver — ranked second among 93 art galleries in Denver last year — is one of the street’s most popular retail shops. The gallery exhibits only original paintings, specializing in representational work in impressionist, traditional and contemporary styles. Art lovers will find landscape, still life, animals and figurative works. Most of the permanent gallery artists are established painters with strong show, award and collector biographies.
Paula Colette Conley, Owner and Director of the Gallery, tells the Chronicle rent for her space has increased 48%; 22% of that increase is from the property tax plus a 26% jump in rent. Since she moved into the space nine years ago her rent has increased 105%. To cut costs and stay in business she is looking for the easiest expenses to cut.
Bulldozing Building: The new owner of this Old South Gaylord bike shop wants to bulldoze the building and build a two-story corporate headquarters for financial firm in this favorite Wash Park neighborhood.
“I ended my window washing service plus a few others like trash service. I’ve also eliminated or decreased some of my favored customer discounts. Plus, I also decreased my only employee’s hours a bit.” She notes, however, that Ray Lucero and his son Daniel who have been taking care of her windows since she opened are still cleaning them as a thank you for having employed them for so many years. “They are great guys she says,” and recommends them for anyone needing a window washing service.
Business Takeover?
Just as the historic district lures shoppers, the casual neighborhood where employees can take walks, find parking, have coffee and lunch is attracting businesses. That lure already has one Cherry Creek-based financial firm seeking to put down roots on Old South Gaylord’s historic street.
The new owner of a former bike shop along Old South Gaylord — near the corner of Gaylord and Tennessee — wants to bulldoze the historic building and build a new two-story structure. Martorello Holdings LLC paid $1.4 million for the lot that bike shop owner Brian Isakson paid $400,000 for in 1999.
The LLC is registered to Raphael Martorello, managing partner at LotusGroup Advisors, a Cherry Creek financial firm. According to a Lotus web post, “We are in the midst of building a new HQ in the heart of Denver’s favorite neighborhood. There will be an open floor plan, energy efficient construction, many spaces for collaboration, and improved parking over Cherry Creek. We plan to open our new doors in Q2/2019.”
Crunch In Creek
In the Cherry Creek North shopping district, Show of Hands Gallery is downsizing and relocating this month after 18 years in its current location. Why? Because they can no longer afford the space they are in.
“After six years of endless construction, a down sales market, and a dramatic increase in property taxes, which gets passed onto us, we can no longer afford to remain in the space we are in,” owners Katie Friedland and Mandy Moscatelli announced on their website.
Like most locally owned businesses, Show of Hands isn’t just a store; it’s a fun place where shoppers can find that unique gift or card for someone special. The products are not mass-produced, shipped from overseas, or the same item you see in every other store. Instead, items sold are made by Valley artists as well as craftsmen from across the USA. Mid-July the store is moving from the 6,384-sq.-ft. space at 210 Clayton St. to a cozy but much smaller 1300-sq.-ft. location at 250 Columbine, Suite 145.
Concerns Bubbling Up
Changing Landscape: Property tax boost is altering Valley neighborhoods. Along Old South Gaylord — the second oldest shopping district in Denver — spaces are turning over frequently and retail is being replaced by financially productive businesses.
In localities such as Congress Park, Capitol Hill, Cherry Creek, the Golden Triangle, Wash Park and so many more, concerns are bubbling up. Shoppers in these popular areas prize their walkability. They enjoy having easy access to a variety of restaurants, services and shops, especially those that are unique and locally owned. Many if not most of these smaller ventures likely cannot survive faced with higher and higher property tax rates plus rising rents.
When property taxes go up, homeowners can find other homeowners willing to fight for relief. Big businesses, too, can flex their muscles. But small businesses are often left behind, mainly because they are, well, small.
Neighborhood advocates offer this word of warning: “This tax increase will affect all property owners and their tenants and drastically alter neighborhoods where many owners are unable to absorb the huge increase in cost. This will lead to large transitions of neighborhoods throughout the metro area.”
by Mark Smiley | Jun 24, 2018 | Editorials
Plato
In the 4th century BC, Plato wrote the highly influential treatise The Republic. Plato was no fan of democracy — either direct democracy where every eligible citizen would have the opportunity to vote on legislation or representative democracy where eligible citizens would vote on representatives who would in turn vote on legislation. He postulated that the best system would involve rule by “philosopher kings.”
He envisioned that a special class of people be given a specific education, available to few, which would include men and women as philosopher kings and queens. Out of this collective elite only the most virtuous and capable would become rulers. They would live simply and rule benevolently for the common good.
While his treatise has been widely read and praised for over two millennium no one has actually sought to institute rule by “philosopher kings,” at least until now. Here in Colorado we have begun to adopt a form of rule by philosopher kings that would have thrilled Plato.
Federal District Court judges in many ways resemble Plato’s ideal. They have a very specialized education (law) that is available to only a few. They live simply as federal court judges presently make only $169,300 annually. Like kings they are appointed for a life tenure. Among this class of philosophers (i.e. lawyers) federal district court judges are chosen by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the US Senate for their purported knowledge and virtuousness.
In Colorado we have seven regular philosopher kings (with one present vacancy) and five senior philosopher kings. They are almost evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans and include both men and women as desired by Plato.
To placate the Colorado masses, we have both pretend direct and pretend representative democracy but that is largely window dressing. Any time the masses do something egregiously stupid any of our philosopher kings can change it for the good of all of us.
Back in 2006 the Colorado hoi polloi in their atavistic ignorance and bigotry voted to have “their” state constitution define marriage as union of a “man” and a “woman.” Luckily philosopher king Judge Raymond P. Moore struck down that ridiculous bit of direct democracy as his legal wisdom was recognized as being correct in the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Obergefell v. Hodges.
Do not think that a dutiful philosopher king like Raymond Moore bothers himself with simply hotly contested issues. Recently in the case of Holland v. Williams he went after another bit of voter approved idiocy concerning campaign state finance reforms. In his wit and wisdom Moore decided he didn’t like the fact that private attorney generals (everyday citizens) could just bring claims against candidates or their campaigns without the claims being vetted by someone so he struck that provision down as unconstitutional.
It was the perfect case for a modern philosopher king where the plaintiff, Tammy Holland, and the defendant, Secretary of State Wayne Williams, both adamantly disliked the campaign finance laws in Colorado and so neither argued for it. Moore refused other parties who do support the campaign finance laws from entering into the case. What is so cool about the case is that since both plaintiff and defendant don’t like the law neither will appeal Moore’s decision to the Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit so that Moore’s ruling can’t and will not be reviewed by anyone.
The best thing about being a ph
Judge Moore
ilosopher king like Moore is you can be as lazy as you want to be at times. Moore was too special to say how you vet the campaign finance complaints, just somebody should do it.
Secretary of State Wayne Williams is widely viewed as an establishment Republican hack who protects at any cost other establishment Republicans like Bob Beauprez and Walker Stapleton. He has now declared that he will simply do all the vetting of any complaints himself. Obviously, the voters of Colorado did not want politicians like Williams being the gatekeeper, but who cares what the voters want. The philosopher king can’t be bothered to decide and in in his absence the politically avarice Williams fills the void.
Other Colorado federal judge philosopher kings have also been active in their benevolent rule. In order to be placed on the primary ballot in Colorado, Colorado statutes provide one of the ways to obtain a sufficient number of signatures is to have petition gatherers who are Colorado residents. Six-term Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn could not be bothered with getting Colorado residents for petition gatherers and he was in danger of not making the ballot. First, he went to state court and lost all the way up, including the Colorado Supreme Court.
Luckily Federal District Court Ju
Judge Brimmer
dge Phillip Brimmer somehow decided that having Colorado residents collect signatures was a stupid idea that he didn’t like so voilá, he declared it unconstitutional and the Republican Congressman was back on the ballot.
Federal District Court Judge William J. Martinez recently decided he didn’t like parts of Amendment 41 which made it harder to change the state constitution by voters. He simply found significant portions of the constitution amendment to be unconstitutional.
These are but a few of many wonderful decisions by Colorado’s federal district court judges that make it clear dem
Judge Martinez
ocracy is largely a thing of the past here in Colorado.
Mark Twain sagaciously declared: “If voting made any difference they wouldn’t let us do it.” We here in Colorado can vote and approve directly or through the legislative process anything we want, but it really doesn’t matter. We have evolved into a form of Plato’s ideal of rule by philosopher kings. Hopefully our experiment will continually be improved upon and we can dispense with the cost and annoyance of the pretend direct and representative democracy. We can then just directly petition our philosopher king federal district court judges to direct all aspects of our lives. It has taken almost 2,500 years to recognize that we need to live under the rule of philosopher kings as outlined by Plato but we here in Colorado have finally gotten it right and it will only get better and better over time.
by Mark Smiley | May 25, 2018 | Glendale City News
by John Arthur
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
GLENDALE, CO – MAY 21: Saint Marys vs Lindenwood during the USA Rugby College 7’s National Championships at Infinity Park on May 21, 2017 in Glendale, Colorado. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
GLENDALE, CO – JUNE 3: Life West vs Raleigh at Infinity Park on June 3, 2017 in Glendale, Colorado. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
Tournament play has long been a staple at Infinity Park, the Glendale venue hosting some of the largest and most prestigious competitions in the country. Known as RugbyTown USA, Glendale has been a hotbed of national rugby activity for more than a decade. Starting in mid-May, tournaments returned again to the nation’s first rugby-specific stadium, kicking off with the USA Rugby Collegiate 7s National Championships. June 2-3 will see the USA Rugby Club National Championship competition, and August 24-26 Infinity Park’s signature annual event will again be in Glendale: RugbyTown 7s.
An increasingly popular rugby discipline, participation in Sevens play skyrocketed following the 2009 announcement of its return to the 2016 Olympic Games. A variant of rugby union play, Rugby Sevens is a faster-paced version of the sport, with smaller teams and considerably shorter game duration. Instead of the usual 15-player teams playing 40-minute halves, Rugby Sevens features seven players to a team and seven minute halves. The abbreviated game play places an emphasis on conditioning and endurance, and means that an entire tournament can be played over the course of a weekend.
In mid-May, Infinity Park hosted the USA Rugby Collegiate Sevens National Championships for the second year running. Founded in 2011, the tournament has consistently drawn the nation’s best young talent, producing competition at the highest level. 2018 saw the return of reigning Division I Men’s and Women’s sides from Lindenwood University, traveling from St. Louis, Missouri, to compete. Friday, May 18, through Sunday, May 20, 2018, more than 40 teams from colleges across the nation
GLENDALE, CO – AUGUST 27: Ramblin Jesters vs Fiji (Savu Water) during RugbyTown 7’s at Infinity Park on August 27, 2017 in Glendale, Colorado. (Photo by Seth McConnell)
gathered to vie for National titles in Men’s and Women’s Division I and II play. With teams from Arkansas to Arizona, California to North Carolina, it was truly a national gathering.
June 2-3 will see the next round of tournament action at Infinity Park, as the 2018 USA Rugby Emirates Airline Club National Championships come to town. Featuring club finals for Women’s Division I and II, as well as for Men’s Division I, II, and III teams, the tournament will decide the top amateur rugby talent in the United States. The USA Rugby Club structure divides the nation into two conferences: East and West. Within each conference are four distinct competitive regions (Pacific North, Pacific South, Frontier, and Red River in the West, and Atlantic North, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Southern in the East). The winners of each region advances to the semifinals, which took place May 19-20. The winners of those matches move on to compete at Infinity Park in June.
Every year, summer rugby in Glendale concludes with a bang: Infinity Park’s signature annual event, the RugbyTown 7s (RT7s) Tournament. Attracting scores of teams from every corner of the globe, as well as representative teams from every branch of the U.S. Military, RT7s provides Glendale spectators a taste of rugby’s universal appeal and expansive international presence. Last year’s tournament attracted thousands over three days of play, and with the emergence of professional rugby in 2018 stoking the U.S. fan base, promises to be larger still this August. Alongside the fast-paced competition, attendees will get to enjoy Glendale’s Bruises and Brews Beer Festival, a recent tradition that pairs Colorado’s craft brewers and distillers with the sport of rugby.
Augmenting the already exciting professional debut of the Glendale Raptors, tournaments at Infinity Park offer rugby fans another outlet for exploring the sport — enjoying top-tier play at the collegiate, club, and international level. In addition to the tournaments scheduled this year, fans can look forward to the Major League Rugby semi-finals, a double-header that will take place at Infinity Park on June 30. Long the epicenter of rugby in the United States, Glendale’s professional, club, and tournament play means that in 2018, more than ever before, the city is truly RugbyTown USA.
by Mark Smiley | May 25, 2018 | Feature Story Bottom Left
by Mark Smiley
Gold Medal: The Bull & Bush accepted the Gold Medal for their Big Ben Brown Ale at the 2018 World Beer Cup award ceremony on May 3, 2018. Photo © Brewers Association
Bragging Rights: Gabe Moline, Master Brewer at the Bull & Bush is proud of the recent Gold Medal for Big Ben Brown Ale. He now boasts the best brown ale in the world until the next competition in 2020.
The Bull & Bush Brewery, a staple in Glendale for 47 years, competed in the 2018 World Beer Cup in Nashville, Tenn., and brought home the Gold Medal in the English Brown Ale category at the May 3, 2018, ceremony. It is the fifth World Beer Cup Gold Medal the Bull & Bush has won since they started brewing beer in 1997.
“What’s really important is winning consistently,” said Erik Peterson, co-owner of the Bull & Bush. “Winning an award on a consistent basis is huge.”
“There are a lot of guys in that room just wanting to get something,” said Gabe Moline, Master Brewer at the Bull & Bush. “Everybody works hard on their beers.”
The World Beer Cup is sponsored by The Brewers Association (BA), the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American craft brewers. The ceremony which is held every two years is the largest competition to date; the awards were presented at the conclusion of the Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America® at Music City Center in Nashville.
Breweries from 15 countries received medals and the average number of beers entered per category was 82 (up from 69 in 2016). In 2018, 295 judges came from 33 countries and 72% of the judges came from outside the United States. 28% of the judges came from the U.S. On top of that, there were 101 categories of beer in the competition.
8,234 beers from 2,515 breweries entered the competition. Brewers were allowed to enter four beers. The Bull & Bush faced competition from over 90 other breweries and after not winning any medals for the other three beers entered, they knew they had one more chance at a medal before being annou
Best in the World: The Big Ben Brown Ale has been brewed at the Bull & Bush for almost 20 years. It picked up a Gold Medal at the 2018 World Beer Cup in Nashville.
nced the winner of the Gold Medal.
“The competition is getting so big and any kind of award is truly stunning anymore,” said Peterson. Since winning, requests have come in from tap houses to carry the gold medal beer. Big Ben Brown Ale is bottled and sold in local liquor stores.
For more information on the World Beer Cup, visit worldbeercup.org and for the Bull & Bush, visit bullandbush.com. Their brewery is located in the village of Glendale at 4700 Cherry Creek Drive South.
by Mark Smiley | May 25, 2018 | General Featured
Glendale Barnes & Noble Hosts Signing On June 16
The stories of three Colorado authors who found love in midlife when they least expected it are included in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Miracle of Love that will be available in bookstores and online June 5. Cindy Charlton of Lakewood, Lisa Marlin of Denver, and Susan Mathis of Colorado Springs, are among the 101 authors featured in the latest release from the popular book series.
The new book is a compilation of true stories from women and men who have written openly about their adventures in dating and romance, proposals and weddings, lasting marriages and second chances at finding love.
Charlton had resigned herself to being content without a relationship. Her story “Romance Therapy” is about reconnecting with the physical therapist she’d met 20 years ago when she was adjusting to life as a triple amputee. Their midlife lunch date evolved into a new relationship. “When it happened, I couldn’t believe that this was my life,” she said. “When I gave him the story to read, before I even submitted it, he was a bit in awe I think.”
This is Charlton’s fifth time to be published in Chicken Soup for the Soul. “I wanted to share this unbelievable lov
Susan Mathis
e story with the masses,” she said.
Marlin said she’s enjoyed Chicken Soup for the Soul books for years and decided to see what it would be like to write for them. Scanning the lists of topics on their website last year, this one caught her eye. “I’d already written a love story as an anniversary gift to my partner about how I remember us meeting as teens but not getting together until 30 years later,” she said. “So I polished it up and sent it in.”
In March, she got word that her story “Haven’t We Met Somewhere Before?” had been selected. “After I got over the shock, it occurred to me that I should ask my partner if it would be okay to share our story with the world,” Marlin said. He did not hesitate when he told her, “Of course. We’re a good story.”
Mathis said that she too has always liked reading the inspirational books and was in fact published two years ago in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Spirit of America. For this new book she said, “I wanted to share our love story since it’s a story of commitment, hope and enduring love. In a world that throws away relationships far too easily, ‘for better or worse, in sickness and health’ is a much-needed vow.”
Mathis’ story “Live Without Regret” is about how they faced her husband’s health issues before and after they married. The couple has also co-authored relationship books, including The ReMarriage Adventure. Just days before his birthday in May, she surprised her husband with an advanced copy of the new book. “He, too, is happy to be part of sharing our ‘miracle of love,’” she said.
Lisa Marlin
Before the authors knew they had been selected, Amy Newmark, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, knew their stories would resonate with readers. “People tell us that they want to be able to offer hope,” she said. “They want to share this book with a 25-year-old daughter to encourage her as she waits for love or to let a widow or divorcee know that second chances at love are possible.”
With more than 150 books to her credit since she and her husband Bill Rouhana acquired Chicken Soup for the Soul in 2008, Newmark has a sense for what readers want. Sometimes she discovers that by what writers are submitting. That’s how this most recent book came about when a call for submissions for the topics “Step Outside Your Comfort Zone” and “Miracles and More” garnered a lot of love stories that fit into those categories but seemed to need a place of their own.
“As I got stories for the other books, there were all these fascinating ways people wrote that they found love,” Newmark said, adding that she approached her publishing team who all agreed when she suggested they do a book about finding love.
As with all Chicken Soup for the Soul books, this one delivers a message of hope. In this book, that hope comes from real life stories that prove love is possible at any age and often in the most unexpected ways because, after all, that’s the miracle of love.
Marlin and Mathis will sign copies of the book at Barnes & Noble, 960 S. Colorado Blvd., in Glendale, on Saturday, June 16, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Charlton is not available for the event.
