Serving the community since 1926
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 27, 2025
VOLUME 98 | ISSUE 13
$2
Denver taps the brake on new gas stations New law affects projects already proposed BY KYLE HARRIS DENVERITE
A map of the proposed pickleball courts at 1523 North Lincoln St.
COURTESY OF STANTEC ARCHITECTURE
Pickleball courts may come to Civic Center area Denver considers plans for six pickleball at corner Lincoln Street, Colfax Avenue BY MERYL PHAIR SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Pickleball may soon come to Denver’s Civic Center as the city considers plans for installing six courts for the popular pastime at the corner of Lincoln Street and Colfax Avenue. The empty lot is owned by the Cheeseman Family Trust and is leased to the Regional Transportation District (RTD), which has since constructed the remodeled Civic Center Station on part of the site. The transportation agency has longterm plans for the use of the empty lot but nothing for its immediate future and pickleball has worked its way up to one of the possible uses of the site in the interim. Evan Dreyer, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Mike Johnston, said the plans are still in the concept phase but they are trying to move as quickly as they can. “I hope that this fall, the project is complete and people can play pickleball on what has been a vacant, underused piece of
property in the heart of downtown,” Dreyer said. Whether plans will be actualized in that time frame remains to be seen as the city works through the approval process. During the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mayor’s office said that the city was addressing public safety and public health-related challenges in the area, including at Civic Center Park and the Lincoln Veterans Park across the street. “As we worked to address and try to solve those challenges, we also started to think about if there was a way to positively activate the vacant lot,” Dryer said. Through an outreach process to stakeholders including the Mayor’s Office, the Downtown Denver Partnership, City Councilmember Chris Hinds, the Civic Center Conservancy, RTD, a public visioning session was hosted by the city in January 2024. Ideas for the use of the site ranged from basketball courts, a state park, dog park, food trucks, tennis and an urban garden. “Of all the ideas that were put on the ta-
CALENDAR: 9 | VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 12
The Denver City Council on Feb. 18 blocked the construction of gas stations near train stops, low-density residential neighborhoods and existing gas stations. The sponsors say the ban will open up more land for housing, restaurants and other uses. “Gas stations consume a large amount of land for the purposes of vehicle parking and maneuvering, and are known for low‐wage retail jobs,” a report from the city planning office stated. But commercial real-estate developers objected to the new law as an unconstitutional overreach that would stifle development in Denver. City Councilmembers Diana Romero-Campbell, Amanda Sawyer and Paul Kashmann sponsored the bill. It passed on a 12-1 vote, with Councilmember Flor Alvidrez opposing it. Where gas stations are now banned
ble, the one idea that rose to the top was pickleball,” Dreyer said. “It seemed to generate the most interest and excitement.” The city has since contracted with engineering firm Stantec Architecture, Inc., which has drafted a concept design for the site. The site would utilize the existing shade structure, placing six pickleball courts with amenities like seating, a central kiosk for a pickleball attendant and storage and landscape improvements such as trees. One complication to construction is the lot is on a slope and would need to be graded for courts to be installed. The site is also used to collect stormwater runoff and drainage in the busy intersection, and Dreyer said the detention pond would be required to remain on the west side of the property. There’s also the question of who would maintain the site with the city either subcontracting a pickleball vendor or having Denver Parks and Recreation run it.
The code change prohibits the construction of new gas stations: • Within a quarter mile of an existing gas station. • Within a quarter mile of a rail transit station platform. • Within 300 feet of low-intensity residential zone districts, dedicated to single- and two-unit buildings. Existing stations also could face new limits if they fall into those categories. They could be blocked from adding more gas pumps, though they could add electric vehicle chargers and replace existing gas pumps. The law would still allow the city’s zoning administrator to waive restrictions if the new gas station is coupled with large grocers and other retailers. The new law wouldn’t apply to non-public stations,
SEE CIVIC CENTER, P8
SEE GAS STATIONS, P5
DENVERHERALD.NET • A PUBLICATION OF COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA