Unfortunately, Judy was unable to attend last night’s Council meeting, and therefore she missed a big triumph for District 9 — the adoption of the 41st and Fox Station Area Plan. It was a long slog to hammer out this plan, but the entire District came together and got a result that will be great for the city, and great for the local neighborhoods too. One constituent wrote her this morning, “It was a shame that you weren’t able to be present at the culmination of such a long effort. Without your support, your finding of extra money for the Study, and your persistent attention, this excellent result would not have occurred.”
Judy did send over some remarks to be read into the record last night. Here they are:
I’m sorry I can’t be with you this evening, but I’d like to express my strong support for the 41st & Fox Station Area Plan and share with you some of the reasons why I believe this plan is good for Denver.
Since beginning the planning process in 2008, numerous meetings were held for the purpose of engaging the local community in order to develop a vision for the station area and to identify the opportunities that will present themselves as the station is built out. Over the course of approximately two years, community members representing businesses, developers and residents worked with city staff to complete this process and develop the plan concepts.
First of all, this plan creates a flexible framework to guide future development around the station. The feature I find most important in the plan is that over time it will significantly improve pedestrian connections to the station, along major corridors, and between Sunnyside, Highland and Globeville — three District 9 neighborhoods that are poorly connected now in large part due to the existing built environment. The pedestrian improvements proposed in the plan move the area toward a walkable, healthy, and enjoyable community in which we can add more housing, jobs and services for the surrounding neighborhoods. This is very important because 41st & Fox can potentially offer more affordability for housing, business and retail than some of our prime downtown real estate located conveniently just one rail stop away at Denver Union Station.
As Tom Hoaglund has pointed out, he made sure that the plan carefully looked at the built environment from a health perspective so that it includes ideas for great biking and pedestrian amenities. In the same spirit of the Living Streets Initiative, the plan focuses on people happy places, not only on car-convenient places.
The plan also offers suggestions for amenities that would add to the character of the community such as the incorporation of plazas, parks and open space throughout. The plan’s very flexible approach to adding parks, plazas and/or open space amenities is not simply about creating enjoyable window dressings, but these amenities could serve to enhance neighborhood livability by providing positive orientation, buffering, recreation, and storm water management.
Further, the plan identifies possible partnership benefits with important existing area businesses such as the Regency Student Housing by suggesting ties between academic institutions, student populations, and incubator employment uses. I am especially proud of the work we’ve been able to accomplish through this planning process with the help of neighborhood groups, property owners and other agencies, and I am looking forward to coordinating with them as we move forward in shaping the development of area surrounding the 41st and Fox commuter rail station.
This morning, Tom Hoaglund of the Planning office sent out some remarks as well. They are right after the jump:
Last night, the 41st and Fox Station Area Plan was adopted by a unanimous vote of Denver City Council. I would like to extend my thanks to those of you who attended last night’s meeting to see the plan through to adoption!
Over the coming years, the 41st and Fox Station Area will experience exciting opportunities for growth and change with the coming of the Gold Line and Northwest Rail. With the completion of FasTracks, the 41st and Fox Station will connect area residents and businesses to the entire metropolitan region. It will be the first stop outside of Downtown on the Gold Line –only a five minute ride from the regional hub at Union Station.
As described in the plan’s vision statement, we hope that with these opportunities the 41st and Fox Station Area will develop over the coming decades into the focal point of a diverse, transit-supportive, and environmentally sustainable urban center where many new residents and businesses are drawn to the convenient location close to Downtown and near some of Denver’s most vibrant urban neighborhoods.
However, adoption of the plan is not the final step. The plan is a living document. We now move to the challenge of implementing the plan recommendations. Your continued involvement will be necessary to make the plan’s vision a reality. In the coming months and years, the City will be working in partnership with the plan stakeholders to ensure the land use and infrastructure recommendations are carried out.
If you have questions or would like more information, please feel free to contact me at Thomas.hoaglund@denvergov.org or 720-865-2930. As always, the plan document and other exciting information on the opportunities of transit oriented development can be found on our website at www.denvergov.org/TOD.
Congratulations, and thank you, to everyone in District 9 who worked so hard to get this plan approved!
