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Board Statement from June 25, 2021

Dear Central Park Neighbors, 

Recently, a family of color in Beeler Park received an anonymous, harassing postcard that used discriminatory language toward them. Less than two weeks earlier, another resident of color, also in Beeler Park, experienced an incident in which he was questioned about whether he lived there and whether he owned the dogs he was walking. This is strikingly similar to yet another incident in which another resident of color was asked if he was walking a dog that had recently been reported as stolen. These events are not new in this community or elsewhere. 

In each incident of this nature, our neighbors are made to feel targeted and unwelcome in their own community. We seek to stop this pattern through identifying it as harmful, spreading awareness, and building a more supportive environment for all people, especially persons of color.  

We—the Central Park United Neighbors (CPUN) Board —wish to state in the strongest terms possible that we stand firmly against exclusion, hate, harassment, bullying, and any other actions that make any neighbor feel unsafe, watched, and unwelcome. Sending anonymous letters and subjecting our neighbors to suspicious questioning are behaviors that stand in stark contrast to what we aspire to be as a community and are not in line with the founding principles of our neighborhood.

When conflicts or good-faith disagreements between neighbors arise, CPUN advocates for open communication, and professional mediation when necessary. Letters and questioning like this, however, cannot be tolerated and must be called out. The anonymity of the letter, in particular, shows that the author did not want to be connected to their own behavior. As a community, we must do better than this. 

CPUN would like to provide programming on how to better support our neighbors and discuss difficult topics. If you would like to participate or get involved, please fill out this interest form to connect with the CPUN Diversity and Inclusion Committee: https://forms.gle/5xpQXZL68qxqo5iB9. Join us in coming together to support our neighbors and uniting to make everyone feel welcome!

Sincerely,

The Central Park United Neighbors Board of Directors

Board Approved Slate of Candidates for May 2021 election April 

The CPUN Nominations Committee was comprised this year of Board Members Carol Hunter, Jeff Ederer, and Amanda Allshouse. For the eight board seats open this year for election, the committee recommended re-electing board Members Jamie Hodgkins, Geoff Horsfall, Regina Jones, Mark Mehringer, Bryan Penny, Brad Revare, and Jack Seward.

As all of the nominated candidates are current board members, bios for all of the candidates can be found here. If approved by the community, these board members would serve full two-year terms.  One vacancy will open on the board as of the May 2021 meeting, and the CPUN Board invites interested community members to come to our monthly meetings if they are interested in joining the board.

Board Statement from March 25, 2021

Over the past two weeks, our community has found itself grappling with several disturbing acts of violence. Among them:

On March 11th, a homicide occurred at Central Park Blvd and 40th Ave., one of three that occured within hours of each other.
On March 12th, the body of our neighbor, Jasmin Cigarroa was recovered in a case of suspected domestic violence.
On March 16th, there were shootings at three spas/massage parlors in Atlanta, killing eight people. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent.
On March 22nd, the mass shooting at a King Soopers in Boulder claimed the lives of ten people, including Officer Eric Talley, the first officer to respond to the call for help.
All of these senseless acts occur at the same time as the country, including in Denver and across Colorado, is seeing an increase in hate crimes, particularly against Asian Americans.

On behalf of Central Park United Neighbors (CPUN), the registered neighborhood organization for the Central Park Neighborhood, the CPUN Board offers our heartfelt condolences to the families of those who have lost loved ones. We also acknowledge the enduring mental and emotional trauma suffered by those touched by these events.

In moments like this one, a community can be an invaluable source of fellowship and support. We encourage residents to reach out to their neighbors and ask how they are doing. Work toward solutions that protect the health and safety of all of our neighbors, especially the most marginalized. Stand firm against any form of violence against women. And let us all recognize and celebrate our Asian American neighbors as integral parts of our community. Let’s be good to each other.

Central Park United Neighbors is committed to making our community safe, inclusive, and welcoming for all people. If you have information or resources you would like to share that can help us to further our progress towards this goal, please contact us at [email protected].

To help people in distress contact Colorado Crisis Services (1-844-493-TALK (8255)),
To support victims of trauma, please recommend the Trauma survivors network.
For children struggling with trauma please recommend The National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
If you know of a resident experiencing domestic violence, please visit SafeHouse Denver or call their hotline at 303-318-9989.
Report all hate crimes to the Denver Police Department, the FBI Tips Center, and stop acts of hate against people of Asian American and Pacific Islander ancestry.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Low-income legal services
Fact sheet on sexual violence and women of color
Facts about violence against women
Preventing violence against women
2019 Hate Crime statistics

ARTICLES

https://www.denverpost.com/2021/03/17/atlanta-spa-massage-killings/
https://lgbtqcolorado.org/hate-crime-reports-spike-74-percent-in-colorado-in-2019/
https://time.com/5947626/atlanta-shooting-hate-crime-legal-explanation/

Sincerely,

The Central Park United Neighbors Board of Directors

Denver Police Department Resources:

For updates on the I-70 project click here:

https://www.codot.gov/projects/i70east

Three development updates from the 1/12/2021 ZAP meeting

ZAP is the zoning and planning committee of the citizens advisory board (CAB).  Jim Wagenlander is the chair of CAB.  Developers must come to a community meeting to present the project and allow the community / committee to respond.  Target audience: residents, people with children, shoppers.  

Runway 35 south development. Location: (40^th & CPB – Between Fuzzy’s Tacos and i70)

• Status: Evergreen has closed on the property. 16 acres. There are 200K cars a day on I-70. Parcel access is dictated by existing curb cuts
• Timeline: closed in December, regrading with the city, grading and water/sewer lines/power will begin in the first quarter and take a few months.  Will be delivered to users as early as this summer for them to build out. 
• Quick Trip fuel station planned for SW corner, has closed, their Denver regional offices will be on-site in a separate building, gas station will have some grab-and-go food options.  There is an obligation to begin construction within a year and complete within 2 years – this obligation will not extend to the office space site. 
• Three lots north of the gas station along CPB: Two fast food with a drive thru, and one bank (also with a drive thru)
• North center parcel: two sit-down restaurants. Interest in these has persisted despite covid.
• Possible kiosk coffee shop in the center.
• East-center: “an entertainment user” (no further details)
• Northeast corner: under contract, Fairfield inn and suites planned.
• Southeast corner: tunnel car wash tunnel operation (like hello carwash)
• Center south lots along 40^th ave: coffee, desert-type uses have been interested. 
• Note: to the east, Echo park is being redeveloped separately by confluent development. With Echo Park, there is common access, common parking. 
• How is urbanism being incorporated? Suggestion: move parking so that none is along CPB.  Each end user will eventually come back for review. 
• Discussion during Q/A
• What is the distance between the fuel pumps and the daycare to the south? 350 ft.
• Each user will have EV charging stalls, bike parking, and there is pedestrian access
• CAB chair request: Evergreen should come back with feedback without parking along CPB

Runway 35 north

• 12 acres SW corner 46^th and CPB. Evergreen will close next month, and will start infrastructure development. 
• CPB road reconfiguration:

o   Left-in turning option (Access from CPB) signalized with median modification. Will be timed with signal at 46^th.  Ped crossing at sidewalk will also be signalized. 

o   Will also modify the median at 46^th place & Yosemite to allow full movement. 

• Users:
• Northeast: sit-down restaurant user, breakfast
• Below the breakfast restaurant: a plaza
• Center East: Financial institution (no drive thru)
• East edge south of turn-in from CPB: three national chain fast food, “high profile”
• Center southern edge: 30K sq ft anchor, negotiating, currently under confidentiality agreement.
• Bike/ped connection to the trail on the south
• Bottom left (north of retention pond) Church and a daycare – 2 buildings, will share parking.
• North west corner: cannot be a hotel because of a clause with Drury Inn’s contract, no user identified.
• Center north: Medical clinic (similar to Rose in Eastbridge).

Control tower - east

• 2.2 acres immediately east of punch bowl (between MLK, CPB, and 32^nd ave)
• North lot (SW corner of CPB and 32^nd) Natural grocers 13K sq ft grocer (Leetsdale / Glendale is the closest location). – Evergreen will build the building, entrance will be on the south side, with bike parking.  Will include on-site farming – around the size of a shipping container decorated to look like the building.  Hydroponics and computer controlled, lettuce and greens sold in the store will be grown here on site. 
• South lot (corner with MLK and CPB) – will have zero edge, will share parking with Natural Grocers. Unknown user so far.  

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