To Members of City Council from Tom Morris

The Denver City Charter identifies the branch of government responsible for the city’s land use as City Council.  In 2010 you assigned that responsibility to the Manager of Parks and Recreation.  Several controversies have arisen over that policy.

This latest one involves the Manager approving as a “Park Use” a fecal-matter-to-energy operation adjacent to the Pavilion, the main road in the park and those of us who use Ferrill Lake as a location for exercise.  Inasmuch as the District Court denied a ruling that the city’s Park and Recreation Department’s offices were a legal “Park Use,” for the Pavilion, it would appear that some sort of public process should have been conducted on the question of a plainly industrial use in City Park. 

Since the issue was decided unilaterally by the Manager, Council, as the Charter custodian of city land use, should require a public hearing prior to final approval of this significant land use decision.

Tom Morris

City Park

Denver