VOLUME 36 | ISSUE 11
WEEK OF MARCH 14, 2024
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State Rep. Hernandez speaks on Debate over significance of Chicana/o license plate industrial
rezoning heats up in Commerce City
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BY LONDON LYLE SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
ing their Chicano heritage as well as investing in up-and-coming generations of Chicanos in Colorado. “It’s born out of a place in a community that is bigger than me and Julie and (former House sponsor) Joe (Salazar),” Hernandez said. “We really just tried to be voices and advocates for people.” According to Exploratorium, a public learning laboratory in California of science, art, and culture, “Chicano” or “Chicana” is used to describe someone who “is native of, or descends from Mexico and who lives in the United States.” Others use it to express political beliefs that stem from “pride in a shared cultural, ethnic, and community identity,” according to Exploratorium.
What was once a pig farm and looks like an ordinary parking lot at 6601 Colorado Blvd. caused quite a stir at the Commerce City Council meeting on Monday, March 4. The land is not permitted for an outdoor vehicle storage lot, a use that is not in compliance with its zoning designation. Because the land was a pig farm for over 100 years (predating the existence of Commerce City), it was zoned as agricultural land and light industrial use, but it is no longer used as such. It’s now surrounded by industrial zones in Commerce City. Greenwood Village-based civil engineering firm Galloway & Company Inc. created a limited liability company and bought the land two years ago as part of a strategy to rezone and develop the land into a 32,000-square-foot warehouse and office space. Their proposal, given in a video presentation to the city council, claims that their plan is in alignment with the city’s master plan for economic growth and industrial expansion and aims to enhance aesthetics while creating jobs and bringing increased tax revenue. At the public hearing on Monday, Galloway sought to pass an ordinance rezoning the property from an agricultural to a mediumintensity industrial district. An approved zone ordinance change would allow for outdoor storage and bring its current use into compliance.
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Rep. Tim Hernandez was chosen to fill a vacancy in the House’s District 4 in 2023. BY JACKIE RAMIREZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
After two previous unsuccessful attempts, a license plate celebrating Chicana/o heritage is a step closer to reality. State Sen. Julie Gonzales and Rep. Tim Hernandez saw the approval of the “Creating the Chicano Special License Plate” bill in the House Finance Committee. It still has a way to go, however, with a review in the House Appropriations Committee before moving to the Senate. Similar efforts were rejected in 2016 and 2018. Hernandez was moved to see support from the Chicano community in Colorado as they reached the minimum requirement of 3,000 signatures in just 48 hours after an-
nouncing the bill. “Realistically, we were really inspired to bring it because we know that it speaks to a couple of different things. It speaks to Chicano heritage that is very deep in the state of Colorado,” Hernandez said. “(The bill) did die in 2016 and 2018,” Hernandez said, “largely because of a Republican-controlled Senate. Senator Julie Gonzalez and I really started to talk about it last year when I won the vacancy because we’re both really deep advocates for the northwest side of Denver, which historically had cruisers down Federal Boulevard and on 38th Avenue.” Not only does the license plate design highlight a history that might go unnoticed, he said, but it creates opportunities for those who are interested in preserving and celebrat-
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