DENVER — The city of Denver has booted the "Save Open Space Denver" (SOS) group from the Park Hill Golf Course Area Plan Steering Committee. This comes after the open space advocates nominated the mayor's former opponent for a seat.
The city informed them last week of the decision not to include them on the committee.
The city's letter read, in part: "We believe that further participation by SOS as part of the committee would only result in further discord within the community and would not be a valuable use of the committee’s or your organization’s time."
Denver voters rejected a pro-development ballot measure in Nov. 2021 and approved a ballot measure designed to make developing the Park Hill Golf Course property more difficult. The committee is set to develop a vision for the area moving forward.
According to the letter, the city sees the committee's conversations to be "candid and passionate, but they also need to be collaborate and open to exploring compromises."
A representative for SOS said their original pick to sit on the committee had to drop out because of work constraints. They then opted to replace her with Lisa Calderon, who ran against Mayor Michael Hancock in the last mayoral election.
The group said the city removed their seat after naming Calderon.
“This is yet another example of developer driven planning at City Hall," Maria Flora, an SOS member, said in a press release. “It is egregious and repugnant to cancel the voice of open-space advocates from the planning process after Denver residents overwhelming voted to support the conservation easement and open space at the Park Hill Golf Course site, contrary to the wishes of the administration.”
> Watch video above: Denver releases priorities for former Park Hill Golf Course
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