by Mark Smiley | Aug 1, 2014 | Glendale City News
by Marco Cummings
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
The summer weather isn’t the only thing heating up this time of year. The month of August also ushers in the heated competition of the Serevi RugbyTown Sevens (SRS) tournament, which will take place in Glendale on Aug. 15-17 at Infinity Park.
Rugby 7s is a faster paced version of the traditional 15-a-side rugby union, which is a sport that will debut at the Olympics at the Rio 2016 Games.
“It’s competitive, fast and skillful,” Glendale Raptors head coach Andre Snyman said of the competition. “We as a team like to play at this high level of competition, as it gives our players a great way to measure themselves against some of the best players out there.”
The Raptors will be participating as tournament hosts, having invited a variety of world-class rugby teams to RugbyTown, USA.
Glendale’s tournament offers high stakes. Seventeen teams from seven coun
tries (including three national teams) will be competing for the winner-take-all $10,000 purse as well as an automatic bid to the 2014 Bayleys Fiji Coral Coast Sevens, in the homeland of Serevi founder and rugby legend Waisale Serevi, the “King of 7s.”
In addition to the national and club teams, each branch of the United States armed forces will be fielding a side. Each military team is made up of active duty and reserve servicemen.
The United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard won’t be the only military presence at the SRS tournament. The Royal Air Force Spitfires will also make the trip from the U.K. This year marks the Spitfires’ third visit to the City of Glendale.
“Our best moments have to be the awesome welcome we get from the city and its residents every time we visit RugbyTown, USA,” remarked Royal Air Force manager Steven Mills. “The facilities and the commentary team are awesome too!”
Long travel times have not deterred many of this year’s entrants to the SRS tournament. Bermuda will endure over eight hours of travel time before training and competing at the Mile High altitude, where the team will make its second appearance at the Serevi RugbyTown Sevens.
Bermuda will be one of two Caribbean participants in this year’s edition of the Serevi RugbyTown Sevens. Team Bahamas will make its inaugural appearance at the SRS tournament.
However, the teams from England and the Caribbean may not be the most exotic, nor the most well-traveled in this year’s tournament. The Republic of Georgia Rugby Club Academia is also scheduled to make an appearance. Hailing from a country nestled in the Caucasus region, which marks the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, the Georgian team is comprised of 13 ruggers and four coaches and trainers, many of whom are involved with the Georgian National Team.
Of course, one needn’t leave the defending SRS Champions out of the conversation. The USA All-Americans will look to defend their 2013 crown by making a visit to this year’s tournament. The team is comprised of many of the best collegiate talent from across the United States. Despite only being founded in 2011, the All-Americans already have many accolades on their résumés.
In addition to last year’s SRS Championship, they were SRS plate winners in 2012 and champions of USA Rugby’s All Star 7’s Cup that same year.
The All-Americans are just one of multiple former SRS champions making a return to the tournament in 2014. The USA Falcons, 2012 winners of the Serevi RugbyTown Sevens Championship will also make an appearance at this year’s tournament.
The Falcons serve as the development team for the U.S. Eagles National Sevens Team and one of multiple teams in the SRS tournament that boast players in the USA Men’s Eagles Sevens National Team player pool (including the Raptors).
Another SRS team loaded with up and coming talent on its roster is the Northeast Olympic Development Academy. The Northeast Rugby ODA has been sanctioned by USA Rugby as the official Academy in the Northeast USA and a designated pathway to USA Eagles selection.
Rounding out the American teams is the Texas-based Negro y Azul. The “Black and Blue” were Serevi Invitational Plate Champions in 2013 and are hoping to add a Serevi RugbyTown Sevens Championship to their trophy case in Austin.
While the United States will certainly be well represented at SRS, the Americans’ neighbors north and south of the border will also have teams in the hunt.
The Lionheart Elite 7s out of Edmonton will represent the Canadians. The globetrotting team earned a championship on home soil at the Vancouver 7s tournament in 2012, but holds hardware from as far away as Dubai.
The Mexican National Team (Mexico Serpientes) will visit Glendale from south of the border. Formalized in 2003, the Mexican Federation of Rugby, B.C. (FMRU) is relatively new on the stage of world competition, but “Los Serpientes” are beginning to make noise. Most recently, Mexico’s U19 team finished as 2014 NACRA Cup Champions held during the third weekend of July.
In addition to the rugby action, Glendale will host a Bruises and Brews beer fest on Saturday, Aug. 16 and a Taste of Glendale on Sunday, Aug. 17. The beer fest will feature unlimited tastings from 20 local craft breweries and distilleries while the “Taste of Glendale” will offer meals and treats priced at $5 or less from a selection of local eateries.
So whether you’re a newcomer or an avid rugger, there’s sure to be something you’ll enjoy at this year’s Serevi RugbyTown Sevens.쇓
by Mark Smiley | Aug 1, 2014 | Editorials
James Carville, Bill Clinton’s campaign manager for his successful 1992 presidential run, is famous for his quote of “It’s the economy, stupid” when trying to explain to his campaign workers that there was a simple solution to winning the seemingly very complicated presidential race. Similarly there seems to be the feeling these days that solving the endless scandals over prisoner abuse at the Denver city jail is extremely complicated.
Denver Safety Director Stephanie O’Malley has declared, “The question that continues to present itself is, ‘Is there something we’re missing?’” To answer that question, the city is about to embark on one more highly costly independent review. Actually we can save the city of Denver quite a bit of money as the answer to her inquiry is, “Yes. It’s the city’s lawyers, stupid!”
The Denver Sheriff’s Office of course has an honest method by which prisoners can file complaints against their jailers most of which, but certainly not all, will be bogus and the complaints must be fairly investigated, which has not previously occurred.
But most important of all is that something should actually happen when a police officer or sheriff’s deputy is found to have engaged in criminally wrongful behavior. Shockingly only a single criminal excess force charge has ever been filed against a Denver police officer (Charles Porter) or sheriff’s deputy in this century by the Denver District Attorney or the City Attorney. It points out the real culprit in the jail house scandals is in fact — the city’s lawyers.
By all accounts Denver Sheriff’s Deputy Gaynel Rumer helped run drug and pornography rings at the jail and had prisoner
s torture and administer beatings to inmates who displeased him.
But what did the City Attorney’s Office do about it? The lawyer(s) ran a phony investigation with the help of the Internal Affairs Bureau of the Denver Police Department to intimidate and tamper with witnesses to Rumer’s crimes.
What did the Denver District Attorney’s Office do about it? It refused to bring any criminal charges against Rumer with its entire justification for this outrageous decision being a hastily hand-written sentence on a standard form. Gaynel Hunter remains a sheriff’s deputy to this day free from any concern that the city’s lawyers will do anything about it.
Every city is confronted with charges, claims of excessive force in their law enforcement offices, but few have the massive level of indifference and malfeasance in their city attorney and district attorney offices that Denver has.
Federal District Court Judge John Kane is calling for the United States Attorney for the District of Colorado to investigate Denver’s law enforcement agencies. But what is the point of investigating the law enforcement agencies concerning how they addr
ess excessive force complaints in a city where the City Attorney and the District Attorney refuse to ever bring charges even in the most egregious cases. Moreover our City Attorney’s Office actively corrupts the investigations themselves.
Until the egregious cultures at the City Attorney’s and District Attorney’s Offices change, the corrupt culture at the Denver city jail will in fact never change. That is the simple fact that Ms. O’Malley and the mayor of Denver are apparently “missing.” Playing musical chairs with the position of Denver Sheriff will not accomplish anything. But perhaps all of Mayor Hancock’s commotions concerning the scandals at the city jail are simply as Shakespeare noted, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
— Editorial Board
by Mark Smiley | Jun 20, 2014 | General Featured
Ben Todd’s Business Pitch Scores
by Kirsten Kreiling
Benjamin Todd — a 5-ft., 11-inch, 210 lb. flanker for the Glendale Raptors rugby team — has scored on his first try. Not in a rugby game where grounding the ball in the in-goal area is known as a try, but rather when ABC TV’s hit reality show Shark Tank held a casting call at Infinity Park May 30.
More than 200 entrepreneur hopefuls came to Infinity Park to give their pitch at the site where the rugby playing field is also known as a pitch. To score in this competition contestants were given only 60-seconds to try for a winning pitch to producers. The show that was renewed for a fifth season in 2013 features business pitches from aspiring entrepreneurs to a panel of six multimillionaire “sharks.” The sixth season will start this September.
For an infusion of cash in exchange for a stake in their business, contestants face long odds and multiple screenings to present their business concepts. Nevertheless, a few days after his first attempt at goal, Todd received an
email divulging that he had scampered past 180 others and had made it to the second round. “I am so excited. I had to submit a 5-10 minute video to them by June 13. If the producers of the show like it, I’ll be invited to come and pitch to the Sharks for real,” he tells the Chronicle.
Sharp Shark Skills
“I’ve been watching Shark Tank since 2008. I remember the first time I saw it, I immediately knew that I wanted to pitch ideas to investors. I usually come up with about three new business ideas per week. I’ve had 27 jobs throughout my life,” Todd admits. One of my college mentors often said entrepreneurs have trouble working for other people because they keep coming up with better ways to do things, he recalls, “Some call it being a control freak, some call it marching to the beat of your own drum. I like to call myself terminally entrepreneurial.”
Todd jumped at the chance to participate in pitching his idea to the Shark Tank associate producers, taking the whole day off from work. He even brought donuts to the field for contestants that had arrived earlier than he did. “I was pumped and ready to go. I arrived at 7:30 a.m. and was nervous all morning, practicing my pitch-points. Then the producer came out and told everyone they would only get 60 seconds to give their pitch. We all freaked out. It was time to really hone in on what was important about our ideas.”
His winning pitch is for a business he has started calling Mobile Menu. It’s an iPhone app (Android as well) that allows the user to browse a restaurant’s menu visually with a full-screen professional photo of every single menu item. “It’s been well-received over the last four years,” he reveals. But, he adds, “I’ve decided it’s time to scale the business up and grow exponentially instead of one spot at a time.”
Mix Of Shark Bait
Start-up business contestants at the Infinity Park casting call — one of three locations selected for the nationwide search — presented a full gamut of products, including a disposable cardboard device that women can use to stand up and urinate, to a multi-temperature “barbecue booster,” and a cheerleader-training device. A Colorado Springs couple auditioned for their SALUS Natural Body Care, a business that has opened its first store in Manitou Springs. One enterprising entrepreneur even camped out at Infinity Park selling umbrellas for $20 each to the crowd, many who came unprepared for the light showers that fell in the morning.
“We were delighted to be asked to host the casting call for Shark Tank and looked at it as a wonderful opportunity to show off the Infinity Park campus,” says Infinity Park Event Center General Manager Bobbi Reed. “The ABC casting crew was wowed by the Event Center’s ballroom production technology and loved the Shark Tank logos that were ‘swimming’ around the ballroom.” She adds that the Stadium was the perfect site to stage the applicants as they waited to be called to the tank for their presentation.
Business owners who have appeared on the show say the exposure is invaluable, even without a shark’s offer to invest. Meg and Matt Meyer, owners of The Bear & The Rat in Denver, came away empty after appearing on Shark Tank in 2012. But when the episode about their business selling cool treats for dogs (an alternative to ice cream) aired for the third time in repeats, it caught the attention of some dog-loving investors in New York. After negotiations, the investors put $130,000 into the business to be used for salaries, marketing and distribution of the frozen goodies. “We doubled our sales last year, and I’m anticipating we will at least quadruple this year,” reports Meg Meyer. “The exposure is huge. Every time the episode airs, it’s in front of six to eight million people, which is pretty awesome.”
by Mark Smiley | Jun 20, 2014 | Glendale City News
by Michael Husson
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
Rugby 7s, the quicker variation of traditional 15-a-side rugby union, is on the fast track to popularity in the United States. Long enjoyed by the rest of the world, 24 nations compete annually in tournaments in nine countries in the HSBC Sevens World Series. The USA Sevens tournament in Las Vegas has grown to be the largest rugby event in North America, drawing more than 60,000 fans over three days in February. The debut of rugby 7s at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro should serve as the tipping point for the sport stateside.
Back in Glendale, Raptors Head Coach Andre Snyman, himself a former 7s star for his native South Africa’s national team, has already moved on from Glendale’s stinging one-point loss in the Pacific Rugby Premiership (the top U.S. rugby 15s competition) final in May, and is looking forward to the Raptors 7s summer tournament season. “We’re already practicing with the focus of finishing strong at all three qualifiers,” says Snyman. Glendale will compete regionally at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City on June 21, in Kansas City, Mo. on July 12, and in Omaha, Neb. on July 26. The top two clubs will move on to the national Men’s Club 7s Championship tournament Aug. 9 and 10, site to be determined.
Snyman joined the Glendale staff in 2011 in time to coach the 7s squad and has since assumed head coaching duties of the 15s side (PRP), in addition to a recent appointment as the USA Men’s Eagles Sevens defense coach.
7s rugby is played seven-a-side on the same size field as 15s (approximately 100 meters — or 109 yards — from goal-line to goal-line) in seven-minute halves (one-minute halftimes). Snyman knows, “You need to be very fit, fast and skilled. If you’re lacking any skill on offense or defense, you’ll stand out and the other team will take advantage of that.” The Raptors may play up to six matches in each regional qualifying tournament, making for a dramatic day of stops and starts, 15-minute bursts of energy followed by short periods of recovery.
Last year, the Raptors went into the third regional qualifier needing to come out on top to advance to the national championships in Pittsburgh. They ran off five straight wins, including three versus clubs who had beaten Glendale earlier in the season. The final was against crosstown rival the Denver Barbarians, also needing the win to advance. The Barbos squeaked by on a late try, 14-17, ending the Raptors’ club season but not their 7s summer.
Glendale has hosted August’s annual Serevi RugbyTown Sevens international invitational tournament since 2012, and the Raptors have fielded a team each year. In 2013, the Raptors went 2-1 in pool play, and beat the Northeast Rugby Union and French Armed Forces to advance to the Cup Final, but fell to the USA All-Americans collegiate all-star squad. It was, however, the top finish for a club team in SRS history and a jumping-off point for this season.
The 2014 Serevi RugbyTown Sevens, Aug. 15-17, promises to be the best yet. Seventeen teams from eight countries will be competing for the winner-take-all $10,000 purse, including four national teams looking to break onto rugby’s big stage. All five U.S. military branches will participate again, as will the 2012 champion USA Falcons, made up from the USA Men’s Eagles player pool, and the aforementioned USA All-Americans.
The Saturday beerfest will take place again this year. “Bruises and Brews” will feature unlimited tastings from 15 craft breweries (mostly local) and three Colorado distilleries, all adjacent to the rugby action for a perfect view with your perfect pour. This year, attendees may purchase larger pours in order to explore the stadium and enjoy the live music up close.
Friday will conclude Serevi’s youth camp in the morning and lead in to the tournament’s kickoff and a Friday Afternoon Club with discounted admission before 3 p.m.
Sunday debuts “A Taste of Glendale,” where more than 10 local eateries will offer meals priced at $5 or less. Diners will be able to enjoy the tournament’s playoffs from the Festival Plaza overlooking the rugby pitch.
In addition to the cash prize, the Serevi RugbyTown Sevens champion will receive an automatic bid to the 2014 Bayleys Fiji Coral Coast Sevens, in the homeland of Serevi founder and rugby legend Waisale Serevi, the “King of 7s.”
Rugby 7s, a variation of the game invented more than 100 years ago, appears tailor-made for the modern sports fan’s tastes. From New Zealand to Hong Kong, the newest Olympic sport has never been hotter, and Glendale and the entire Denver metro area are in for a treat this summer as the Raptors pursue a national championship, and national recognition in the three-day celebration known as the Serevi RugbyTown Sevens.
by Mark Smiley | Jun 20, 2014 | Travel
Denver Botanic Gardens has presented the Rocky Mountain Region’s first major outdoor exhibition of artwork by celebrated American artist Dale Chihuly. The exhibition is on view at the York Street (1007 York Street in Denver) location until November 30, 2014. Informed by nature, each installation responds to surrounding plants, flowers and architecture.
The exhibit has gotten a mixed reception to date. The Denver Post managed to both condemn and praise the display in separate parts of the paper. In its “Ärts and Culture” section it blasted the exhibit as “invasive” and “fake” while over on its editorial page the paper hailed it as a “visual tour de force.”
Chihuly’s sculptures — ranging in size and style from small water floats to a 30-foot tower — have added bold colors to the Gardens’ 24-acre urban oasis. Site-specific sculpture installations are presented in 12 locations throughout the Gardens. A looping video features a comprehensive survey of his work and process. “I would say his work is pretty organic in nature and that would be the way he approaches things,” said Britt Cornett, the head of the exhibition.
Shop at the Gardens offers a retail gallery of original Chihuly works. No artwork will be on view at Mordecai Children’s Garden or the Chatfield site. “We are thrilled to welcome Chihuly to Denver Botanic Gardens,” says Brian Vogt, CEO of the Gardens. “This special opportunity brings an internationally recognized artist to the Denver metro area and the Rocky Mountain West. The iconic artwork enhances the Gardens’ living collection in a powerful, yet graceful way that is at once familiar and other-worldly.”
Born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Dale Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the University of Wisconsin. He continued studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for more than a decade.
In 1968, after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, he went to work at the Venini glass factory in Venice, Italy. There he observed the team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly cofounded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington. With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art. He lost an eye in an automobile accident in 1976 in England, and he now sports a rakish looking eye patch.
His work is included in more than 200 museum collections worldwide and Chihuly is one of three living American artists to have a solo exhibition at the Louvre in Paris. Chihuly does have his critics some of whom claim his artistic repertoire tends to be rather limited in nature
The Denver Post Fine Arts Critic Ray Mark Rinaldi stated, “It’s hard to say why the garden would let an invasive species like Chihuly take over so completely. Why put fake flowers next to real ones? It’s tempting to connect it to the number of tickets it will sell, offering quick thrills over that thoughtful throughline that can make art and nature copacetic.” He was not through, “It’s all competition for the plants and flowers and disruptive to the paradise so many of us run to when we need to escape the urban clutter.” He went on to trash the new construction projects at the Gardens indicating that “greenery might be a better option.”
Apparently in fear of what city officials, Botanic Gardens administrators and Chihuly fans might say, The Post prepared a somewhat unique editorial underneath another editorial call for more gun control. In it the Editorial Board opined, “And take it from us.” [And apparently not from The Post’s Fine Arts critic.].”Far from being a distraction from the main core attractions . . . the Chihuly sculptures fit niftily into the landscape, often with stunning results.” The Editorial Board went on to fulsomely praise all the new construction projects on the premises.
The controversy should draw great crowds to the Botanical Gardens this summer and fall with folks wanting to see what the hubbub is all about and determining which side of the dispute they fall on.
The Denver Botanic Gardens’ summer hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Weekdays and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, visit their website at www.botanicgardens.org.
by Mark Smiley | Jun 20, 2014 | Editorials
The Chronicle has received scores of emails and telephone calls relating to our June editorial “Task Force’s Solution For Cherry Creek’s Parking: Of Course Provide Even Less Parking.” Most of the communications from residents and businesses praising us for bringing forth the apparent absurdity of solving Cherry Creek North’s parking and traffic problems by approving massive height and density while at the same time providing a fraction of the needed parking, a point every other news outlet ignored or failed to mention.
However, we also received communications from various members of the Cherry Creek Zoning Technical Task Force and its supporters informing why we were wrong. We reproduce in full, three of the more articulate critiques of our editorial from two members of the task force (Brooks Waldman and Wayne New) as well as a leading candidate to replace Jeanne Robb as the councilmember for District 10 which includes Cherry Creek (Roger Sherman).
Each of the individuals is an articulate spokesman for the work of the Task Force. In addition members of the Editorial Board have met in person with each of them and each evidenced a real concern for the well-being of the Cherry Creek neighborhood and the people who live and work in the area. Nevertheless, it is not easy to defend the indefensible as they valiantly try to do.
Various members of the Editorial Board have been part of developer teams and/or have represented developers before city boards and city councils. We know that most developers almost always underestimate the amount of parking that their projects need and demand that the public fix the problem on the public’s dime after the project is completed. Case in point is the highly successful City Set project in Glendale recently completed at the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Cherry Creek Drive South.
The developer Stonebridge Companies based in Englewood demanded that the city approve the development plan with 20% less parking than required under the city’s regulations and ordinances based on a misleading parking study. Now that the project is a success the entire development is constrained by the lack of parking Stonebridge refused to provide. As is standard operating procedure Stonebridge wants the city to solve Stonebridge’s self-induced parking problems by giving the development 70 dedicated parking spots along Ash and Exposition streets. In the end, Glendale will undoubtedly be helpful and give Stonebridge what it wants with some modest modifications.
The problem with the recommendations by the Task Force is that they are so extreme in favor of developers that any future attempts to remedy them will be impossible or so expensive that they will bankrupt the area, its residents and small businesses. With that caveat in mind, here are the responses to our editorial without edits or deletions:
The opening statement in the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle’s editorial of June 2014 is: “Notwithstanding the general popularity of the Cherry Creek area, the reasons some people give for not wanting to visit Cherry Creek North include the lack of off-street parking and, more recently, traffic jams.” This is probably accurate, as far as it goes, but just one piece of a much larger story behind the BID/rezoning Task Force’s work.
The Cherry Creek Business Improvement District (BID) and the Cherry Creek area in general is experiencing a surge of residential growth, predominantly multi-story rental housing, which reinforces the “regional center “ designation identified in the 2012 update of the Cherry Creek Area Plan. Traffic and parking were a big part of the 2 year community discussions leading up to the approval of the plan. Currently the surge in building and infrastructure construction (University out-fall storm sewer) has contributed to the validity of the opening statement in the editorial. However, the much larger and overlooked story that should have been told is about the start of implementation of a vision for Cherry Creek as a multi-modal and transit connected town center with much more reliance on biking, walking and transit connectivity. Indeed, Transportation Solutions, the area transportation management association, has worked with Glendale, Cherry Creek, and RTD leadership toward that goal.
The charge given the Rezoning Task Force, by Councilwoman Robb, was to create a new zoning district that encourages and supports the plan vision. The parking recommendation from the Task Force is equal to or higher than minimum suburban parking ratios in the 2010 Denver zoning code (though slightly less than what the Urban Form Study recommended for retail/ restaurant parking). In discussion, the Task Force realized that with viable and inviting alternative modes of movement people are making transportation choice less dependent on automobile ownership. In fact, the recent growth in Cherry Creek of B-Cycles, Car2go and other alternatives are rapidly changing the equation. An explosion of new residents, living, walking, working, shopping and playing in CC will help support the lower parking ratios. I would bet that nearby Glendale will find themselves moving in the same direction in years to come. Thank you for the parking piece, but more complete coverage of the larger story would be appreciated.
Brooks Waldman
Past President, Cherry East Association
Vice Chair, Cherry Creek Steering Committee
Member, BID/rezoning Task Force
The Cherry Creek Area Plan was adopted two years ago and there has been considerable effort to implement the plan since then. The Cherry Creek Steering Committee and the Zoning Technical Task Force are to be commended for accomplishing one of the plan’s most important recommendations — recalibrating the C-CCN zoning.
Contrary to your editorial position, the Task Force’s recommendation strikes the right balance on parking requirements. The task force evaluated parking conditions in Cherry Creek North and reached consensus on the appropriate parking requirements for an area that prizes its walkability. Too much required parking can prove to be just as challenging to the prosperity and quality of a district such as Cherry Creek as too little.
Now, it is time to implement the plan’s multimodal transportation recommendations. Enhancing the quality of place throughout Cherry Creek should be our focus — along with making walking, biking, transit and, yes, driving viable options for all our trips in and around Cherry Creek. If you design communities for automobiles, you get more automobiles. If you design them for people, you get walkable, livable communities.
As a candidate for City Council, I know people are rightfully looking to me for ideas on these critical issues, so let me suggest we start with four priorities:
- Improve transit service between Cherry Creek and downtown and along Colorado Blvd. The private-sector and city are rightly looking at alternate funding scenarios as RTD can’t do it alone.
- Designate the Cherry Creek area as a “Pedestrian Priority Zone” and fund additional pedestrian improvements such as raised crosswalks, median crossing islands and sidewalk bulb-outs, which are especially needed along Steele as well as Alameda Parkway and First Ave.
- Install protected or dedicated bicycle lanes and improve connections between Cherry Creek and surrounding neighborhoods as well as the Cherry Creek Bike Path.
- Identify traffic calming measures to lower speeds along Speer Blvd. and 6th Ave. which might include wider sidewalks and narrower travel lanes. Perhaps if we actually reduce speeds, safety would be improved and the photo-radar debate would become moot?
I appreciate your interest in Cherry Creek and enhancing the area’s best qualities. I look forward to continuing a spirited dialogue about this community that we all care about so much.
Sincerely,
Roger Sherman
Candidate, Denver City Council District 10
I would like to state right off the top that I appreciate the Chronicle’s questioning the decisions of both elected officials and community leaders, especially including those of us who are running for office. Transparency and accountability are of paramount importance, and I hold myself to these ideals. I also appreciate your inviolate commitment to these ideals.
In your June 2014 Editorial, you quoted me correctly. I did say that the proposed Technical Task Force zoning parking ratio recommendations fit “very well” (with proposed CCN BID development). The mistake I made was that I did not take the time to explain that, if the parking ratios are not met, then it will require a decrease in building size and density. My support was due to a thorough analysis of the issue and was discussed with CCN residents. It was surely not an overnight decision nor one that was pressed upon me at all by Planning, developers, or any other party.
The parking ratios were thoroughly analyzed and discussed by Task Force members, BID property and business owners, and neighborhood residents who attended our meeting. With professional architect advice I personally analyzed over 40 parking ratio test cases on BID properties to determine parking ratio fitness and building effect. As shown in the parking ratio comparison chart*, there is no doubt it was a zoning compromise but one that should benefit all residential and business parties.
I am confident you realize that these C-CCN District rezoning recommendations were determined through years of volunteer hard work, time consuming research, expensive analyses, discussions, and negotiations with our residents and community leaders. To explain further I am attaching a more detailed description on how parking has been a major concern over the past several years.
All members of the Technical Task Force have worked diligently and thoughtfully to reach the best possible balanced outcomes on C-CCN Rezoning. My only hope is that zoning agreements will be fully enforced and utilize “smart development” — a balanced approach that enhances the quality of residential life while promoting commercial growth and success.
Thank you for expressing your concerns and allowing me the opportunity to explain and emphasize how the C-CCN rezoning was determined and will benefit Cherry Creek North.
Sincerely,
Wayne New
Past President, Cherry North Neighborhood Assn.
Member, Rezoning Task Force
Candidate, Denver City Council District 10
Supporting Documents Submitted by Wayne New:
Document #1
Document #2
