by Charles Bonniwell | Sep 30, 2022 | Main Articles
Zoning War Possible Between Cities
by Charles C. Bonniwell
High Density King: David Tryba, Principal of Tryba Architects. His firm has submitted a “Concept Site Plan” for an area that borders Glendale along Cherry Creek Drive South that includes 15 and 20 story apartment buildings. In 2016, his firm proposed buildings to be constructed in Glendale that would have been the tallest in the state. Glendale officials rejected the concept.
Site Plan: The concept site plan submitted to the Denver Planning Department by Tryba Architects includes five buildings along Cherry Creek Drive South and East Kentucky Avenue with buildings 4 and 5 bordering Glendale and totaling 20 and 15 stories respectively.
Tall Buildings: The red lines in the above photo illustrate how tall the proposed buildings would be if approved by Denver’s Planning Department. They would be 157 feet and 210 feet respectively and block out any views East along Cherry Creek Drive South from Glendale.
The massive density along Cherry Creek within the City and County of Denver appears to be continuing unabated with the creek being canyonized by tall buildings. High density developers’ favorite architectural firm, Tryba Architects, has submitted a “Concept Site Plan” for 5250 East Cherry Creek Drive South to Denver Planning and Development that has surrounding neighborhoods and the City of Glendale in an uproar.
David Tryba, the head of Tryba Architects, had come along with Dana Crawford, to Glendale City Hall in February 2016, to convince city officials to allow a massive tower of luxury apartments/condominiums. The building would have been potentially the tallest building in Colorado and located along 3.8 acres acres of land owned by the proprietors of Authentic Persian and Oriental Rugs on Colorado Boulevard. At his meeting with Glendale officials, Tryba
Continued on page 4
Continued from page 1#
noted how landowners could make a great deal more money the more density they can squeeze on a property. He stated that they had come to Glendale because they were “frankly interested in having more flexibility than they could have in Denver in terms of being able to go vertically.”
Community And Glendale Objections
Glendale was not impressed and did not approve the concept, but Denver in the waning days of the Hancock administration has become more “flexible” than it was previously. The Glendale City Council directed its staff to oppose the 5250 East Cherry Creek Development due to its extreme density and asked them to point out “the serious negative impacts to traffic, parks, and the surrounding lower density Denver and Glendale neighborhoods, and encouraged a development that is “more compatible adjacent zoning and density.”
Glendale did not object to a redevelopment of the present site which has 328 units and a density of 28 units per acre. Glendale notes the redevelopment would drastically increase the number of units to 1,232 with 196 units per acre — a fourfold increase. The redevelopment would be comprised of five buildings with the two tallest being 15 and 20 stories and back up to one and two-story buildings in Glendale. In one property in Denver, there would be 40% of all residential units in Glendale combined.
Both Cherry Creek Pediatrics and the Board of the Cedar Pointe Condominiums have sent objection letters to the Denver Planning Department pointing out many of the problems that the size and mass of the buildings could effectively destroy the existing landscaping in Glendale.
Parking And Traffic
Glendale in its correspondence noted the enormous parking and traffic problems that the project would bring. Denver allows as little as 1.5 parking places per unit while Glendale requires much more plentiful parking but does not allow on street parking. Adjacent Cedar Point Condominiums has 573 off-street parking for 270 units. The overflow parking from the project would therefore be forced into Denver’s Virginia Village neighborhood streets and overwhelm them.
Proposed Site: Creekside Apartments, which has 328 units, currently sits on the property that is most likely going to give way to a massive development sprawled over 11.632 acres.
Traffic created by the redevelopment would create bottlenecks on Cherry Creek South during rush hours and double the traffic on East Kentucky Avenue. The redevelopment does not provide a full signalized intersection with pedestrian crossings. Glendale points out that the redevelopment is not consistent with the 2010 Blueprint Denver which provides for low to medium residential development for the area.
Rezoning And Possible Zoning War
The property had been zoned R-2-A with height limitations but in 2006 rezoned to R-3 with no height limitations. To obtain the rezoning the property owner, Apartment Income REIT Corp agreed to waive its unlimited heights rights to protect the R-2-A Denver property to the south but no protection for any Glendale property to the west. The setback on the Glendale side is proposed to be only 20 feet dwarfing the Cherry Creek Pediatric Center in Glendale. Denver appears to be allowing massive density adjoining Glendale properties. This could result in Glendale in turn rezoning its properties along the Denver border with massive density.
Such a zoning war would hurt both cities, but Glendale may have little choice given Denver Planning Commission’s seemingly willingness to badly damage Glendale.
by Charles Bonniwell | Sep 28, 2022 | Editorials
We now know that Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is planning to leave the City and County of Denver for Miami, Florida, at the end of his 12 years of wreckage. It also appears that large sections of the Denver business community have decided to abandon the city as well. The Denver Post reported on August 23rd of this year that restaurants are leaving Denver due to rent hikes and labor shortages. A report from the Downtown Denver Partnership shows the downtown workers are refusing to return to work, with only half the number of office workers coming to downtown compared to 2019, thereby badly hurting Denver’s business district.
Roughly a quarter of the office building space is empty and there are even proposals to turn office buildings into apartment houses. Denver police report that arrests are down 64% over 14 years but crime is up by 50%. The homicide rate is on track to break Denver’s all time high of 100 homicides set in 1981. According to the real estate firm Redfin (and reported in the Denver Business Journal) one in every four Denver homeowners are looking to relocate out of the Denver metropolitan area. Over half of that relocation was due to concerns over, crime, as well as cost of living, taxes, and quality of schools.
Quality of schools is always a key indicator of the future health of a city. There was white flight out of Denver in the 1970s and 1980s over the school issue. The business community began to becom
e involved in Denver School board races so that the teachers’ union was not the only voice in an election. Denver began to start and implement charter and specialized schools which were highly popular with Hispanic and Asian communities. But several elections back the business community stopped funding races. As a result, the Denver School Board and the Denver schools are a mess as reported by Glen Richardson on the front page of this month’s Chronicle.
Denver’s 710 KNUS radio host Stephan Tubbs has declared that Denver is “irretrievably lost.” We are not quite so pessimistic. But we do believe that the mayor’s race this spring is, however, absolutely critical. The truly horrific Michael Hancock is finally term limited. If the choice is between a destructive social justice warrior or another high-density whore like Michael Hancock, then Denver will be in real trouble. The business community (sans high density real estate developers) needs to coalesce behind a candidate that actually cares about the many wonderful Denver neighborhoods (and not just how to destroy them); cares about downtown Denver (and not just how to make it a homeless encampment); cares about the parks and open space (and not just how to blow them up for high density projects); understands that ever increasing fees and taxes make the city ever more unaffordable to live in; understands that many Denver cultural institutions are worth preserving; and, most of all, will cause all Denverites to feel welcomed and not just always dividing everything into identity politics.
Is there such a candidate in Denver and will the business community support him or her? The future of the city is depending upon it.
— Editorial Board
by Charles Bonniwell | Jul 22, 2022 | Editorials
Phil Anschutz
The extraordinary party primary season wrapped up on June 28, 2022. In Colorado, practically only the Republican Party continues to hold contested primaries. When a political seat opens many Democrats will enter but by the time of the primary only one candidate runs in the final primary. There are exceptions of course. In Congressional District 3 there was a battle to take on Republican and current Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, which was won by Adam Frisch, and in State House District 6 radically progressive Elizabeth Epps nosed out run of the mill progressive Katie March.
But the Republican primary is the only contested game in town for many positions, so everyone plays in it from Republicans to Democrats to unaffiliated voters and donors. If you are an unaffiliated voter in Colorado, you get both Republican and Democratic primary ballots but can only vote one.
The unaffiliated voters are the biggest group in the state, dwarfing Republicans and Democrats. It used to be that the unaffiliated voted more often in the Democrat primary but in 2022, with few actual choices in the Democrat primary, they flooded into the Republican primary. In some counties there were more unaffiliated voters in the Republican primary than Republicans. In the 3rd Congressional District over 3,000 Democrats re-registered as unaffiliated so they could vote against Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, and for teacher union’s favorite Republican, State Sen. Don Coram.
Earlier in the primary season at the assembly level, grassroots Republicans routed the establishment Republicans funded by Colorado’s richest man, billionaire Phil Anschutz. Republican leaders like Congressman Ken Buck and State House leader Hugh McKean almost didn’t make the ballot. Other leading establishment Republicans simply paid canvassing firms to petition to get on the final primary ballot as allowed by Colorado law.
The Republican grassroots candidates seldom have any money while the establishment candidates have the millions of dollars Phil Anschutz is willing to contribute. But this year, money poured in for grassroots Republicans from national Democratic groups on the theory that the Republican grassroots candidates would be easier to beat in the general. Never in the history of Colorado politics had so much money been spent for primaries.
On primary day with unaffiliated voters flooding into the Republicans, it was a Phil Anschutz wave. Virtually every establishment candidate won, and every grassroots candidate lost, often by narrow margins. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert who was endorsed by Former President Donald Trump won but she had long made peace with the establishment when she went to Washington.
Normally Republicans must depend on their volunteers to help get out the message and the vote, but many of those people are grassroots. For Anschutz no problem. He has indirectly gotten Victor’s Canvassing out of Colorado Springs to hire people at $15 to $30 an hour to go door to door this election cycle.
Where does that leave grassroots Republicans? Up the creek without a paddle as usual since Phil Anschutz started playing in Colorado politics decades ago and probably well before. In the general election you can vote Democrat or Anschutz Democrat light or go third party. The choice is yours.
by Charles Bonniwell | Jun 26, 2022 | Main Articles
by Charles Bonniwell
Rich History: The Denver Country Club possesses one of the oldest golf courses in Colorado and the club itself is the oldest country club west of the Mississippi, founded in 1887. It opened in 1905 and was designed by James Foulis, although a number of different golf designers have done renovations to the course over the years. The 18-hole, private course is 7,039 yards at its longest tees with a par of 71.
One of the oldest and most prestigious amateur golf tournaments in the world returns to the Denver Country Club (DCC) for the sixth time on July 6-9, 2022. The Trans-Mississippi Amateur was first played in 1901 and came to the Denver Country Club in 1910. Prior winners of the tournament include Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Johnny Goodman, Bryson DeChambeau, and in recent years, Colin Morikawa and Will Zalatoris. This year’s field is to include 102 of the world’s top 200 amateur golfers, according to Gary Potter,
DU Star: Coloradan Cal McCoy tied for seventh place in the prestigious Trans-Miss Amateur Championship in 2021. He will compete in this year’s tournament as well.
local tournament chair and DCC member.
The Denver Country Club was formed in 1887 and is the oldest country club west of the Mississippi River. Originally located at Overland Park as a club focusing on horse racing, it was one of the original 15 clubs that formed the Trans-Mississippi Golf Association. In 1901 the club changed its name from the Overland Park Association to the Denver Country Club and in 1905 moved its location to its present Cherry Creek location.
The Trans-Mississippi is part of the recently formed Elite Summer Amateur Series composed of seven of the oldest and well-known amateur tournaments in the nation representing 680 years of championship golf. The other tournaments include the North South Amateur, the Pacific Coast Amateur, and the Northeast Amateur.
Local Favorite: Jackson Klutznick was the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Tour Championship winner in 2018. He was also the 2019 Denver Country Club Men’s Champion. He is the son of John and Heather Klutznick, Denver Country Club members.
When the DCC hosted its first Trans-Mississippi championship in 1910 amateurs generally reigned over the world of golf. The DCC also hosted at the same time a tournament for professionals, but it was subsidiary to the amateur championship. Club President Frank Woodward was de-
termined to rule American golf. He felt he had to host the major championships at the DCC’s new course which was touted as one of the best and toughest in the country with The Golfer’s Magazine calling it “one of the best tests of skill and accuracy in the United States.”
Back in 1910, such tournaments were major social occasions with lavish balls held at the club and spectacular parties at private residences. The course proved every bit as difficult as advertised. The Denver Post noted that “players who should have done the course in less than 80 were running up scores of 100 to 120.” Only three holes of that original course remain with parts washed out in a flood in 1912 at the start of the Western Amateur held that year, and partially ruining Woodward’s plans.
The DCC has had a veritable who’s who of golf architects revise the course over the last 100 plus years, the most recent being Gil Hanse, who has also revised various US Open venues such as The Country Club outside of Boston and the Los Angeles Country Club.
One of the highlights of the 1910 Trans-Mississi
Elite Amateur Series: The 118th Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship will be played July 5-9, 2022 at the Denver Country Club.
ppi was the rise of 19-year-old DCC youth Larry Broomfield who made it to the semi-finals against some of the best players in the country. He would dominate golf at the DCC and in Colorado for decades thereafter.
For the 2022 Trans-Mississippi, perhaps the greatest male DCC golfer since Larry Broomfield will be playing, 20-year-old Jackson Klutznick, the son of DCC members John and Heather Klutznick. A sophomore at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, he is the leading player on the university golf team and a finalist for the Jack Nicklaus Award for top collegiate player in NCAA Division III schools. He is a two-time DCC club champion and Kent Denver graduate. Klutznick has won various golf tournaments across Colorado and the United States. He first made the local papers news when at age 13 he drove a golf ball 357 yards at the DCC.
He will be facing such top players as Travis Vick who won the low amateur medal at the recent US Open at The Country Club outside of Boston, and Texas A&M star Sam Bennett. Locally another strong competitor will be Cal McCoy from Highlands Ranch who played for Denver University for three years before transferring to the University of Arizona. He finished tied 7th at last year’s Trans-Mississippi at the Windsong Farm Golf Club in Minnesota.
The tournament will be a 72-hole stroke play with the final two days cut to the top 54 players. The winner will earn points that will be applied to the PGA tournament in the fall in Bermuda.
by Charles Bonniwell | May 20, 2022 | Main Articles
But Is It Really?
by Charles C. Bonniwell
Who’s The Real King? The Denver Post insinuated that Glendale is the Car Theft Capital of the U.S. in order to hide the fact that Denver by almost all metrics is the title holder.
Glendale brands itself as “Rugbytown USA,” the capital of rugby in the United States. Forty years ago, a book by Jack E. and Patricia A. Fletcher about Glendale was titled “Colorado’s Cowtown.” Today, thanks to a front-page article on “How did Colorado become one of the worst states for vehicle theft?” by John Aguilar, featuring a picture of Glendale City Hall which went national on MSN, Glendale is being called the auto theft capital of America.
How did a town which has relatively few auto thefts from its residents and even fewer cars stolen by its residents become the auto theft capital of America? Easy, stats. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Colorado is the top state for per capita auto thefts with more than 500 vehicles per 100,000 residents. Glendale, in turn, has more auto thefts per resident than any other city in Colorado.
But Glendale, over the last four months through April, 2022, only had 79 auto thefts total which is not even a good night of auto thefts in metro Denver, which according to the Colorado Metropolitan Auto Theft Taskforce (C-MATT) the Denver metro area has on average nearly 100 vehicles stolen every day.
The article does sheepishly admit that the “unenviable designation is somewhat misleading given Glendale’s daytime influx of office workers and shoppers versus its residential population of approximately 5,200.”
“Somewhat misleading?” Glendale has a massive office and retail base compared to a small population. Pre COVID-19 pandemic, over 80,000 to 100,000 people per day came to Glendale according to Glendale city officials. The car thieves come overwhelmingly from metro Denver and steal cars of residents of metro Denver. As a practical matter since Glendale has only two single family homes, a large number of its residents take public transportation or ride shares and don’t even own cars to steal.
Why then stigmatize Glendale? Denver itself is, in fact, the auto theft capital of the United States by most metrics, but The Denver Post does not want to highlight that fact. It, in fact, can’t since it depends on the City and County government for subsidies to keep it profitable. Thus, talk about Glendale and its 79 car thefts in four months and skip over the thousands in Denver over the same period of time.
“It’s nothing new,” said Glendale Mayor Mike Dunafon. “The Denver Post and other media have at times, for decades, used Glendale as the punching bag to paper over any problems Denver is having.”
The mayor went on to state: “It’s not that we are unconcerned about the increase in auto thefts in Glendale and across the metro Denver area, but relatively speaking, car theft in Glendale happens far less than once per day on average. The changes in the state laws have resulted in car theft being viewed almost like jaywalking by some. Until the state rectifies what it has done, the problem will get worse. In Glendale and elsewhere if you are a person of modest means, having your car stolen means possibly losing your job, and making it hard to find a new job. I wish the State legislature and the justice system would care just a little bit more about the victims of car theft.”
Skyrocketing Thefts: Metro Denver saw a 107% spike in stolen vehicles from 2019 to last year.
Commander Mike Greenwald of C-MATT indicated that “97% of the people who have been arrested in the past three years for auto theft have multiple arrests for auto theft.” Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen told The Denver Gazette that: “We arrested one person six times for auto theft in 2021.” He pointed that Denver judges often release habitual car thieves to “personal recognizance” bonds, meaning they have to put up no funds and they just go back on the street and steal more cars.
An analysis of the “Colorado Crime Wave” by the Common Sense Institute in December of 2021, indicates that in Denver alone, personal recognizance bonds increased by 61% over the last two years and $0, $1 or $2 bonds by an incredible 1,879%.
Moreover, legal analyst Scott Robinson told 9News that “judges are reluctant to send car thieves to prison. Unless it’s fourth or fifth time unsuccessfully stealing cars.”
Glendale Police Captain Mike Gross indicates in Arapahoe County the backlog in the criminal system is so overwhelming that prosecutors will simply dismiss auto theft charges stati
Vehicle Theft Rate: Each of the 12 counties reviewed experienced an increase in their motor vehicle theft rate, although the range varied widely. While the motor vehicle theft rate only increased by 1% in Mesa County, it grew by more than 30% in six counties, including 46% in Pueblo, and 51% in Denver. Information obtained from the Common Sense Institute (commonsenseinstituteco.org)
ng they have more serious crimes to attend to.
Moreover, Captain Gross notes that Glendale, like almost every jurisdiction in metro Denver, has a “non-pursuit” policy where the police will not engage in a car chase for auto theft, so car thieves simply leave in the stolen car at top speed.
The Denver Post while acknowledging the complaints of law enforcement, gives strong support to the claims of so-called “reformers” such as Director of Advocacy for the ACLU Taylor Pendergrass, and State Representative Leslie Herod under the heading “Problem runs deeper.”
They blame the world-wide pandemic and problems that run deep in society. Herod stated that, “These things need to be addressed at their root cause.”
Mayor Dunafon laughed saying, “If we wait to address the car theft crisis in Denver and Colorado until we have solved all of the societal problems in the world as suggested by the Post we might just as well hand our cars over to the thieves. It would be so much easier and efficient.”
