Denver’s northeastern corner has some of the last development-ready acreage in the city. On Monday night, the Denver City Council approved a broad picture for how the area will change over the next 20 years.
The city’s corner has been a suburban frontier, but it’ll become “the middle of a larger eastern suburban metro region” as development fills out near Denver International Airport and in neighboring Aurora, according to the new area plan.
This will be a test case for other suburban stretches of Denver: Residents have larger lots and homes, but it’s difficult to get to retailers and jobs without an automobile.
It also is a trial of a new citywide planning process that could be affected by turnover on the council. While Monday’s vote went smoothly, Councilwoman-elect Amanda Sawyer has signaled some density concerns about a similar upcoming plan that includes her eastern Denver district.
Generally, the 200-plus-page plan for far northeast Denver calls for low-density neighborhoods to preserve their “existing residential character,” although it does hint at new residential development at the current sites of churches and other institutional buildings.
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In the existing Montbello neighborhood, that could mean removing traffic lanes from some roads while adding bike lanes and improving sidewalks.
New development
Most of the area’s new development would arrive in green fields and along busier commercial corridors such as Peoria Street. The area plan suggests a new commercial center at Peoria Street and Interstate 70 and also the redevelopment of existing centers. It also details a bigger project, “FreshLo” — a nonprofit-backed venture that hopes to build a grocery store, a cultural center, affordable housing, office and retail, perhaps at the old RTD parking lot near Peoria Street and Albrook Drive.
But the major new development zone would stretch through the empty lots between Peña Boulevard and Tower Road, with the plan showing buildings up to eight floors. That area also could be served by a new A-Line station at 72nd and Himalaya.
“Rather than just getting more single-unit residential subdivisions, people expressed support for higher-density, mixed-use development,” said principal city planner Courtland Hyser. “Right now, it’s about 80 percent single-family and about 20 percent multifamily. That would start to change as these undeveloped areas redevelop more densely, which creates more customers for those stores that everybody wants to see.”
The document translates some of the big ideas of the citywide Denveright plan into a more specific, smaller area. Its goals will take years to put into action, but some smaller projects are already in motion. Bond money will pay for a new indoor pool in Green Valley Ranch. Denver Public Works is studying flood drainage systems in the area, including the idea of replacing Montbello’s concrete channels with naturalized outlets. The city also has money for pedestrian and intersection improvements along Peoria.
The two-year planning process was overseen by 20 people who were appointed by council members Stacie Gilmore and Chris Herndon. The plan was approved unanimously; council members Albus Brooks, Wayne New, Rafael Espinoza, Paul López and Jolon Clark were absent or did not vote.
The city eventually will create these documents for 19 different areas. Next on deck are the neighborhoods along East Colfax Avenue.