by Mark Smiley | Sep 29, 2014 | Main Articles
$500 Fine For Cars On Driveway Overnight
by Glen Richardson
Polo Club North is a gated community with winding streets, open spaces with a stream, small ponds and waterfalls flanked by evergreens and aspens at South University Boulevard and East Alameda Avenue. A clubhouse contains an indoor swimming pool and outdoor tennis courts. Polo ponies cantered over the terrain here at one time. Owners paid immense sums to have garages instead of stables in this converted polo field. But the subject of automobiles has the well-to-do neighbors at each others throats with threats of lawsuits in the air.
The HOA Rules Committee in Polo Club North has proposed an astonishing new rule: To ban resident cars from being left in driveways overnight. The Committee attached a fine of $500 per violation after the second night. The HOA board looked poised to adopt the rule at a board meeting on September 23. However, due to outrage from occupants, the package of proposed rules changes was returned to the Rules Committee for additional deliberation.
John Leather who is helping to lead the opposition told the Chronicle, “If the sample of public opinion delivered at the meeting meant anything to the Rules Committee members present, they will drop the enforceable structure.” In addition to potentially major penalties, owners also worry that the rule would impair the marketing of Polo Club North homes to families, especially those with three cars. According to the Denver Neighborhood News the average sales price of a home in Polo Club area is just under $1.9 million.
Property Rights
In the apparent opinion of the members of the Rules Committee automobiles in driveways are a visual blight to their community. Automobiles are not allowed to be parked overnight on the private roads of Polo Club North. The opposition believes that the Rules Committee’s view of aesthetics is excessive and overblown with one irate homeowner blasting the Board declaring, “We are a community, not a commune.” Moreover, opposition owners believe these pad plazas or driveways are their property; and use of a driveway is a property right.
Upshot: In their view taking away the use of the driveway is taking away property. That, they argue would violate the Colorado Constitution. The HOA Rules Committee has three Colorado lawyers among its seven members, however, and apparently finds no role or weight for Section 14 of the Colorado Constitution’s Bill of Rights as it applies to private condemnation of a property’s use and benefit.
Section 14 states: “Private property shall not be taken for private use unless by consent of the owner, except for private ways of necessity, and except for reservoirs, drains, flumes or ditches on or across the lands of others, for agricultural, mining, milling, domestic or sanitary purposes.” None of those constitutional exceptions apply to the driveway ban, opponents believe.
Whether or not the constitutional exceptions apply, concerned neighbors note that a resident with a two-car garage — most everyone — but with three cars would immediately be impacted, and they will have to run fast from the $500 nightly hit. Ditto anyone with a vehicle too big to fit in the garage, or who has two cars but has used one bay of the garage for a workshop or other use. As one homeowner told the Chronicle, “The driveway use restriction can no more be justified than telling me I cannot use my patio after 9 p.m. Where is the HOA’s authority for taking part of either limited common element?”
Matter Of Beauty
A few residents — and rumor has it that at least one Board member — believe the Committee should consider restricted driveway use as a matter of “beautifying” the community, similar to use of no-plastic-patio-furniture. These beautification proponents say all aspects of driveway parking personally offend them.
“Thus far the Rules Committee is also clinging to the notion an overnight resident parking ban is without legal significance, and entirely defensible because its members think the result will look better,” stated opposition leader Leather.
The opposition also blasted the HOA board for limiting the hearing on the entire matter to only 15 minutes. They claim it was a rush to judgment to prevent discussion and debate.
There is no date set by the HOA Board for a re-hearing on the matter.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 29, 2014 | Main Articles
Construction Of Towers Into Historic Six-Acre Site Seen By Activists As Giving Area And Denver Another Black Eye
by Glen Richardson
Country Club Gardens — the historic 1940s five-building three-story apartment complex located in a six-acre landscaped garden environment adjacent to the Downing Street Parkway — is about to get hit with a pair of huge apartment houses as densification of the Cherry Creek and Country Club areas continues on unabated. The Broe Group is demolishing two existing garden apartments and replacing them with two overwhelming 30-story towers near the intersection of Downing St. and Ellsworth Ave.
The twin skyscrapers will be the tallest buildings outside of downtown Denver and will be equal in height to the One Tower Center on 17th Street, the 15th tallest building in Denver. By comparison, Plaza Tower One — one of the tallest towers in the Denver Tech Center — is only a 22-story building. The two towers will contain a total of 533 apartment units and several floors of structured parking. The two buildings will be mirror images of one another and top out at 322 feet in height.
The two towers, along with the existing 22 story building at 1001 East Bayaud also constructed by Broe, will block the view of the mountains for much of the Cherry Creek area.
The latest plan is in response to a hostile historic designation effort undertaken in 2007. In response to those hearings Broe agreed to retain the three northern buildings at the Gardens in exchange for the right to build out the balance of the site. Area residents however are not pleased or content with the recent Landmark Planning Commission (LPC) decision to approve the two massive residential towers. They tell the Chronicle that the development-oriented Broe Group has been jabbing away at their neighborhood icon for 20 years and the proposed massive two-tower complex represents the k
nockout punch.
Residents Up In Arms
How will the twin skyscrapers impact the unique character of this celebrated neighborhood? “It will be devastating to the historic significance, charm and personality of Country Club Gardens,” said Karen Mansfield. “No one likes to have dark circles under their eyes but we’re like the kid that got hit with a shiner and we are fully expecting to have two black eyes soon.” The tower design, they say, tries to put the historic area on a pedestal with a snooty, rock star look. “We’ve been hit with a catchy hook that’s simply not a good look,” said Mansfield.
Kristian Jeichler noted to the Chronicle, “This is going to drastically change the Denver skyline and life in the Cherry Creek area.” The concern is that the two buildings will indelibly alter many Cherry Creek neighborhoods for better or for worse, depending on the perspective. Residents make the case that the towers take the trajectory of the historic area in a direction that falls short. “They will forever change the Valley skyline while damaging the unique layout of the buildings, internal courtyards and connecting open space within the Gardens,” said Jonathan Pierson.
Along with concerns about the mass and scale of the towers, the Landmark Planning Commission has also expressed unease about the project’s impact on the historic courtyards and landscaping. “Preservation and compatible development of the landscape and courtyard are critical to retaining the character of Country Club Gardens,” according to the LPC report. The commission is waiting on a pending arborist report. The LPC is also providing a design review over the demolition and construction activity directly related to the project outside of the boundaries of the Country Club Gardens Historic District. This includes improvements off of Bayaud St. adjacent to the historic landmark Norman site.
Broe’s Reputation
Over the years, Developer Pat Broe has garnered a reputation as a ruthless tough negotiator who is personally despised by many people but admired for his ability to make money. Don Elliman, the former director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, described Broe as “a complex guy who rubs some people the wrong way…” While Tom Clark, when he was executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., declared, “We counsel our clients that they will not face a more challenging negotiation than they will with the Broe company.”
When asked whether he would even do business with Broe, Elliman said he would, “But I’d have my hand on my wallet and I’d have a damn good lawyer with me.”
Excavation Impact
The fight isn’t entirely over yet, Cherry Creek Garden activists say, noting that the Landmark Planning Commission’s recommendation for approval comes with conditions. The LPC report says the mass and scale must be consistent with the development agreement and the axial views and open space preserved and reinforced. Furthermore, approval is conditional on new plantings respecting and reinforcing historic patterns. Additionally, parking is required to be screened on all sides and integrated into massing of the new structures. Few believe that any of those requirements has the possibility of derailing the project.
The Broe Group will begin work this fall to raze the parking garage and portions of two of the apartment buildings where the twin towers are to be built. Construction of the towers themselves is set to begin in early 2015, with completion in late 2016.
When questioned about the impact of construction on people living in the Cherry Creek Gardens area, a spokesman for Broe told neighborhood groups that during peak excavation a dump truck would be coming or going from the project site approximately every 10 minutes. The spokesperson added that construction staging and other activities would be performed away from the site to limit disturbance. Also workers are to be bused to the area to reduce the congestion of trucks and other vehicles within the immediate area.
What Of Historic Significance Is Being Destroyed?
Constructed in 1940, Country Club Gardens was an excellent example of the International Style exemplified by the overall horizontality of the composition. Fisher, Fisher and Hubbell Architects — a leading Denver firm at the time — designed the buildings. The firm’s principals were Arthur Addison Fisher (1878-1965), his nephew Alan Berney Fisher (1905-1978), and Edward L. Hubbell. Nicholas G. Petry (1883-1950) was responsible for construction. He came to Denver in 1921 after building the Frontier Hotel in Cheyenne. Petry built many Valley buildings including Sherman Tower, the University of Denver apartments, and several Fitzsimons Hospital and Buckley Field buildings. With both residents and passersby in mind landscape architect M. Walter Pesman planned the landscaping with meticulous detail.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 29, 2014 | Main Articles
Complaints Flood City
The low slung masonry building at the corner of East Virginia Avenue and South Colorado Boulevard has been a Glendale landmark for over a half century, originally housing Club Monaco, and later such iconic businesses as Andy’s Smorgasbord, the Bavarian Inn, and, since 1982, Shotgun Willie’s adult nightclub. Today, however, the abandoned and graffitied building is an eyesore which has drawn complaints from businesses up and down Colorado Boulevard as well as residents of Glendale and Denver.
In November 2013, Shotgun Willie’s moved out of the building to the adjoining lot on which it had constructed its own new building. The City of Glendale condemned a portion of the land to provide a right turn lane due to the increased traffic generated by the adjoining Super Target. The old Shotgun Willie’s building and lot is owned by the Anthony Marino Family Trust.
After complaints at City Council meetings, the City threatened the Family Trust that it would declare the property a nuisance and tear down the building itself and bill the Family Trust its “applicable share.”
On August 15, however, Glendale and the Family Trust entered into a formal agreement whereby the City of Glendale granted a temporary construction easement for two months and will pay $10,000 toward the demolition of the building by Dave Stefanich, Inc. d/b/a All Demolition Excavating Company, a contractor of the Family Trust.
While the agreement does not mandate the demolition by any certain date, the two-month temporary easement would appear to require the destruction of the building by no later than October 15, 2014.
Marcus Rice, who went to a Glendale City Council meeting to complain about the abandoned building stated, “It is good news that building will be coming down in the near future. Glendale is turning into such a great place but the property was hurting the image of Glendale as well as that of Colorado Boulevard.”
Debbie Mathews, the majority owner of Shotgun Willie’s, noted, “We loved that old building while we were a tenant for decades but nobody is happier to find out that the City and the Anthony Marino Family Trust have come to an agreement to clean up the corner which our new building is directly behind. Sounds like a win-win for everyone involved.”
by Mark Smiley | Aug 1, 2014 | Main Articles
Wine, Ales On Rails And Dinner Excursions
You’ve seen the signals: Freeway traffic, construction slowdowns, plus long hours at the office. It’s summertime and as that old Cole Porter tune seems to sugge
st, now’s the time to Get Out of Town!
Here’s a cool thought: How about a sojourn through time, natural beauty and a railroad experience that you won’t find anywhere else? The Georgetown Loop Railroad is the encounter you’ve dreamed about while waiting through those Denver traffic delays — beautiful backcountry splendor you can view while relaxing over wine or dinner. Not only is it close to home, but you can choose from a number of unique packages and programs that will help you quickly lose track of time.
One of the most popular is the Georgetown Loop Dinner Train departing from Silver Plume at 6:30 p.m. (6 p.m. in Oct.), and heading down to Georgetown during the first course. After a brief stop at the Devil’s Gate station, you’ll enjoy dinner atop the Devil’s Gate high bridge overlooking historic Georgetown. Along with a complimentary glass of wine during dinner there is a fully stocked bar. Dessert is served during the travel back to the original st
ation. Dinner trains are offered most Fridays and Saturdays through October.
Wines, Ales & Mines
Also extremely well liked are the Wine and Hors d’oeuvres Trains that received rave reviews last year. Thus this year new and exciting wines from vineyards across the world have been added to share with travelers. These are matched with a selection of light culinary accompaniments to please the palate. Enjoy this while sitting in enclosed coaches atop the Devil’s Gate High Bridge above beautiful Clear Creek.
There are also evening trains known as Ales on Rails that are offered throughout the summer and fall months, and are a fun and casual way to enjoy the Rocky Mountains. Voyagers enjoy dining on light culinary fare paired with Colorado micro brew beers.
Adventure trips such as the Tunnel to Another Time mine tours are available. From now thorough the end of September explorers can enhance their train rides with an optional walking tour of the Lebanon Silver Mine, located at the halfway point on the railroad. The tour takes you 500 feet into a mine tunnel bored in the 1870s. Guides will point out rich veins of silver and tell you about early-day mining. The temperature inside the mine is a constant 44 degrees Fahrenheit, so bring a jacket or buy one in well-stocked gift stores. The tour also includes visits to the manager’s office, the miners’ change room and the tool shed. Information: 888-456-6777 or www.george townlooprr.com.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 1, 2014 | Main Articles
Attorney David Lane Calls Settlement Little More Than ‘Hush Money’
by Mark Smiley
The City of Denver announced the largest civil suit settlement in the municipality’s history at $3.25 million to former city jail inmate Jamal Hunter. The settlement appears to have made Hunter and his attorneys Rathod|Mohamedbhai LLC happy, but few others. The settlement has received federal court and City Council approval. Federal District Court Judge John L. Kane preconditioned his approval to a myriad of reforms, all of which the City of Denver has agreed to perform.
As more videotapes have been revealed showing more sheriff’s deputies abusing inmates at the city jail, the settlement has been met with little enthusiasm. Well-known litigator David Lane blasted the city saying the settlement was little more than hush money and declaring, “They will pay any amount to avoid the embarras
sment of exposing their officers to public scrutiny.”
Critics indicate it is not just the police officers and sheriff’s deputies that the city has to be embarrassed about and cover up, but now it is also their city attorneys and district attorneys. Veteran Assistant District Attorney Stuart Shapiro was caught running an apparently fake investigation on one of the sheriff’s deputies for the purpose of witness intimidation and tampering utilizing two Denver police sergeants from the Internal Affairs Bureau.
Court watcher, Linda Pierson, noted, “An entire criminal witness tampering and intimidation scheme was being run out of the City Attorney’s Office — and not a single charge of any kind has been brought to date against the assistant City Attorney, the Denver police officers or even the sheriff’s deputy they were supposed to be investigating. Unbelievably sad.”
The unfolding scandal has, however, resulted in an ever increasing number of self- imposed external reviews of the various legal and law enforcement agencies. Rec
ently demoted Sheriff Gary Wilson had four task forces underway to give recommendation while the Denver Human Services is reviewing the Sheriff’s Department’s policies and procedures. Mayor Hancock got into the act announcing his very own independent review of the Sheriff’s Department by a yet to be determined entity. City Attorney Scott Martinez in turn announced an independent review of his entire office, including himself, by a local law firm to be determined by “competitive bidding.”
Observers were quick to dismiss the sudden scurry of investigations. Trish Abbott noted, “It is standard operating procedure when you are in damage control mode. Governor Chris Christie employed it in his Bridgegate scandal and Hillary Clinton did the same for Benghazi. They will all be whitewash reports wrapped around a scam settlement within the original sham investigation.”
Abbott went on to note, “As part of the whitewash there will be dozens of recommendations from a myriad of reports that will be enthusiastically adopted by the City Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff’s Department and the Police Department none of which will make an iota of difference. Nothing will change. Scott Martinez will get to repeat his almost comical mantra that attorneys at the City Attorney’s Office are held to nothing but ‘the highest of professional standards.’ Mayor Hancock will get to hug whomever is his latest choice for sheriff and call him the ‘best sheriff in the country’ just like all of his other sad sack choices for the same position. Plaintiffs’ attorneys will continue to make millions while every egregious mega settlement will be characterized as one more chance for ‘Denver to move forward.’”
Other observers note that one of the main problems is that no one has ever been held accountable or acknowledged error within the City and County of Denver. City Attorney Scott Martinez began his press conference on the settlement insisting that the multi-million dollar payout was not an admission of liability or wrong-doing. Mayor Hancock demoted Denver Sheriff Gary Wilson while emphasizing he did nothing wrong and it was his department as a whole that had let him down. Not a single Denver sheriff’s deputy or police officer has been charged with excessive force in this century.
It is expected that the multi-million dollar settlement will result in a significant number of new lawsuits being filed. David Lane is scheduled to take to trial in September the wrongful death case of homeless preacher Marvin Booker killed in a jail house scuffle with sheriff’s deputies, but that too is expected to settle for millions of dollars.
In June alone the number of jailhouse complaints has risen over 30 percent. “It is time to take the Brink’s truck up to City Hall and empty out the city treasury,” declared Abbott. “Everybody and anybody the sheriff’s deputies have kicked around at the jail over the last few years is going to sue and collect, and every indication is that the number of such people is going to be quite high. The sheer incompetence and venality of the Sheriff’s Department, the Police Department, the City Attorney’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office is staggering. Every attorney in the plaintiff’s bar is licking their lips to get in on the action.”
Attorneys indicate that the key to getting a multi-million dollar settlement out of the city 
will be to try to obtain the internal e-mails over the last seven years between the City Attorney’s Office and the Internal Affairs Bureaus of the Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department.
“Those documents are pure gold,” stated Scott Brock. “The fact that Judge Kane might order their production is what brought the city to its knees in the Jamal Hunter case. No one believes that Stuart Shapiro is the only one in the City Attorney’s running what appears to be a criminal operation. There are present and former members of the City Attorney’s Office all over Denver that are very concerned. The multi-million dollar Hunter settlement will look like peanuts in a few years. There are going to be a lot of very rich former city jail inmates running around this city, not to mention their lawyers.”
by Mark Smiley | Jun 20, 2014 | Main Articles
Calls City’s Actions A ‘Sham, Disgraceful’
Will A Federal Investigation Reach Up Into The City Attorney’s Office?
In Courtroom A802 in the Alfred A. Arraj Federal Courthouse an amazing battle is taking place in which longtime federal district court judge John L. Kane is taking on large portions of the government of the City and County of Denver. His actions make it abundantly clear that he believes that the Denver’s Sheriff’s Office is corrupt along with the Internal Affairs Bureau of the Police Department. He also appears to believe little that is told to him by the City Attorney’s Office of Scott Martinez and he clearly plans to do something about it.
The case before Judge Kane was brought by Jamal Hunter, a former inmate in the city jail against the city and two sheriff’s deputies he claims brutalized him and incited other inmates to beat and torture him. Hunter was in the city jail on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge when he was placed in a pod with a group of gang members from the Bloods organization. They decided that he must be a snitch and with the help of a shockingly corrupt sheriff’s deputy, Gaynel Rumer, they decided to viciously retaliate against him by beating and scalding his genitals with hot water. Hunter brought suit against the city and taped interviews by Hunter’s attorneys brought shocking, additional allegations against Sheriff’s Deputy Gaynel Rumer who it was alleged to be drunk on the job and helped gang members run a black market involving drugs and porn at the jail.
In response, the Denver Police internal affairs started an investigation ostensibly about the deputy’s misconduct although it is unclear why the Sheriff’s Department’s own internal investigation unit was not used. The tapes of the interviews of witnesses eventually made public appear to show that the police investigators were attempting to silence and intimidate the witnesses from testifying in the civil case and not to investigate wrongdoing by the deputies.
The City Attorney’s office and private attorneys hired by t
he city fought furiously to keep the jailhouse tapes and the taped interviews by Denver internal affairs officers from going public. Legal experts indicated that Denver’s legal pleadings to the court on the matter verged on the incoherent. The city also sought to go on a public relations gambit relating to the actions of its employees.
Police Chief Robert White told Channel 31 KDVR prior to any tapes being made public that “I feel very comfortable in saying I don’t think that there’s any improprieties on the part of our investigators as it relates to this particular incident.” It was widely assumed that he could only make such a statement from reviewing the tapes which were readily available to him for months. The statement would appear to imply, if not outright declare, that witness intimidation and witness tampering are a regular part of the pattern and practices of the Denver Police Department. His statement may in the end cost Denver large monetary judgments in the Hunter case and cases to come in the future.
Judge Kane swiftly brushed aside the legal arguments by Denver against public disclosure and quickly ordered the release to the public the tapes and other evidence. Judge Kane was evidently shocked by what he heard on the investigators’ tapes. He called the city’s investigation a “sham” and the police officers’ conduct “egregious.” He declared: “The recording and the transcript of it show a deliberate process of intimidation. …”
He strongly requested that U.S. Attorney for Colorado John Walsh start “an investigation of the pattern and practice of the Denver Police Department and the Denver Sheriff’s Office.” He noted that whether Walsh does so is not “entirely within his discretion” and he would require Walsh to appear before him in public on his decision.
He also took the extraordinary step of ordering all of the city’s depositions of inmates and former inmates to be taken in his courtroom which he would attend, to be sure the city did not again attempt to intimidate or tamper with witnesses.
Kane has had run-ins with the Denver City Attorney’s Office before as he noted “the measures I take to put a stop to this are certainly influenced by previous conduct of the City and County in other cases.”
In 2011 the City Attorney’s Office repeatedly claimed it was unable to provide excessive force complaints against the Denver Police Department pursuant to discovery requests. The city settled one case for $225,000 rather than produce all the records after Kane threatened to fine the city $5,000 a day. Another excessive force lawsuit was brought by a different plaintiff and the City Attorney’s office obstruction continued. In this subsequent case Judge Kane threatened to send federal marshals over to the Internal Affairs Bureau to seize all of its files on excessive force complaints. That case was also settled for purportedly a large sum.
Lawyers from the City Attorney’s Office are reportedly fearful of appearing before Judge Kane with arguments that are to many observers at best specious. The City Attorney’s Office now hires outside attorneys in cases before Kane at an enormous cost to the city based on dubious assertions of conflict of interest.
What is next? Many feel the city will now attempt to settle the Hunter case at almost any cost. It is said that both the City Attorney’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office fear the United States Attorney will look into their lawyers’ conduct in the Hunter case. Both offices were well aware of the criminal conduct of both the Sheriff’s Deputies and Denver police officers yet did nothing and repeatedly refused to bring charges against anyone or take any action whatsoever. Many believe that the corruption at the law enforcement agencies in Denver will never end until the city attorneys are investigated and brought to justice.
While the nexus of corruption may lie at the City Attorney’s Office most believe a whitewash will occur. They point to the 1960s “Robbers in Blue” scandal where over 50 Denver officers were convicted and incarcerated for robbing stores throughout Denver. Not a single ranking officer was brought to justice nor was the City Attorney’s role ever disclosed or even brought up. Historian David Johnson stated: “All the higher ups were protected which is what will likely occur once again and the corruption will continue on unabated.” Other observers note that the plaintiff’s attorneys firm, Rathod, Mohamedbhai, LLC, must negotiate with the City Attorney’s Office for settlements so they make sure that they treat those lawyers with kid gloves.
Jeri Jones, a local historian, declared that: “This is ‘High Noon’ meets ‘Shawshank Redemption.’ In High Noon, Sheriff Kane had to face the bad guys alone as the mayor and town officials leave town. That brings to mind if anybody has seen Mayor Hancock anywhere or making any input on the corruption of his Police and Sheriff’s Departments. In Shawshank Redemption the corrupt jailers beat and allowed prisoners to be tortured just like the Hunter case. Hopefully Judge Kane will bring to justice the many bad guys in this case including the higher ups.”
Judge Kane finished the June 6 hearing with a stirring declaration:
“All I want from them [the inmates and former inmates] is the truth. And I realize that many of them do not trust this institution any more than they do the others, but the fact of the matter is, is that this Court has done nothing to deserve the trust that they should have in it. So if they’ve got any place at all to be, this is it.”
