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Denver wants to avoid sprawl at Southmoor

John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 31, 2007 at midnight

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The city of Denver wants future development around the Southmoor light-rail station in southeast Denver to avoid the "random, piecemeal" sprawl that exists along nearby Hampden Avenue, Peter Park, the city's manager of planning and development, said Tuesday.

Neighbors bitterly oppose a plan many glimpsed recently for the first time. They fear the plans could add about 2,000 people in a dozen five-story apartment buildings on the site near Hampden Avenue and Interstate 25, which currently includes a King Soopers, small shops and parking lots.

Catherine Cox Blair, principal city planner, said the plan would allow about 800 units on the site, while the current zoning would allow about 1,000 units, with affordable housing.

Cox emphasized the concept plan, which is in its infancy, would take a long-term approach. For example, she said it would include guidelines on what could be built on the King Soopers site, if the grocer decided to sell it in 10 or 20 years.

Park said the idea is for developers ultimately to create something similar to the town center at Stapleton, with perhaps three-story buildings, sidewalks and green space.

Fred Jorgensen, the past president of the Southmoor Park Homeowners Association, said the plan many residents saw showed big buildings that are out of character for the neighborhood and that many believe the plan would increase traffic and hurt nearby property values.

"We're not anti-growth. We just want to see less density," Jorgensen said.

He said he expects a huge crowd to attend the city's transit-oriented development meeting about the Southmoor station that starts at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Hamilton Middle School, 8600 E. Dartmouth Ave.

Architects in the neighborhood also are developing their own plans.

Mark Sidell, president of Gart Properties, one of the largest landowners in the area, was critical of the first drawing he saw.

"It lacked retail and did not create a sense of place," Sidell said. "The bottom line is that this provides a real opportunity to develop something substantial, meaningful and appropriate for the neighborhood that would enhance nearby property values. We would like to play a significant role, as we're a significant stakeholder."

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