Contentious Platt Park rezoning heads to Denver City Council
When Brendan and Katie Harrison spotted the Denver property at 1630 South Ogden Street in 2022, they felt like they had found the solution to being the parents of three young children and having aging parents of their own.
"We see this, and that's it," said Brendan Harrison, referring to the first time they saw the property. They bought the 6,240-square-foot lot and planned to build a duplex, with their parents living on one side and them living on the other side.
"For us, it just seemed like the answer," he said. His wife Katie said, "our goal is to be here together."
Three years later, their idea of building a duplex has received a chilly reception from some neighbors. City planners recommended that their rezoning request be denied and neighbors raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest in the approval process. The attorney the Harrisons hired to help them with their rezoning request, Caitlin Quander, is also chairperson of the Denver Planning Board, which makes key decisions in rezoning requests.
"I personally think it shouldn't happen in our government," said John McKenna, who lives next door to the Harrison's South Ogden Street property. While some neighbors have signed letters in support of the rezoning, McKenna and numerous neighbors have opposed it, citing increased traffic, less parking, and a potential change to the character of the neighborhood.
"This is a single-family density area," McKenna said.
When McKenna and other opponents attended a Denver Planning Board meeting last November, where the rezoning would be considered and voted on by the board, McKenna said, "we were really blindsided."
At the Nov. 6, 2024 meeting, they saw that Quander -- of the powerhouse Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck law firm, the Harrisons' attorney who signed their rezoning application -- was also the chairperson of the Denver Planning Board.
"That doesn't seem right," McKenna thought. To him, it appeared to be a potential conflict of interest. "We didn't realize at the time the lawyer they hired was the head of the Denver Planning Board," said McKenna.
At the meeting, city planner Fritz Clauson addressed the board, saying planning staff had reviewed the Harrisons' rezoning request and was recommending the rezoning for 1630 South Ogden be denied. He said a zoning change was "not in the public interest."
Quander recused herself from both the board's subsequent discussion and their vote, per ethics rules. The volunteer board voted to support the rezoning request. It will now go to the Denver City Council on Monday.
Alexandra Foster, communications program manager for Denver's Community Planning and Development Agency, said the planning board considered about 60 rezoning requests in 2024 and this was the only one "where staff recommended denial and Planning Board recommended approval."
McKenna acknowledged Quander removed herself from the discussion and vote, but he called the process "really troubling," saying it undermines his confidence in local government.
Quander declined to be interviewed on camera, but told CBS News Colorado in a written statement, "As part of our training, we familiarize ourselves with the Denver Ethics Handbook. If a matter comes before Planning Board where one of the members is involved, we disclose that and then recuse ourselves and do not participate in the hearing or vote. I am confident in those instances that the other Planning Board members make independent and reasoned decisions based on the applicable rezoning criteria."
Foster confirmed that Quander and other planning board members have previously recused themselves from discussions and votes when they had clients whose cases were being considered by the planning board:
"Yes, Caitlin Quander has represented applicants in the past", wrote Foster. " Other members have also had associations with cases before. The city recruits Planning Board members with related professional experience and local subject matter expertise, so occasionally, there are cases they have direct or indirect connections to. The board's code of ethics sets forth standards and expectations for these situations, and they recuse themselves."
The Harrisons say they chose Quander to represent them after they heard her on a podcast and she sounded "super smart."
"We just felt like she was a good fit," Brendan Harrison said. They said she disclosed to them early in the process that she was also chair of the planning board. "I didn't think it was a big deal," Brendan said.
McKenna maintains having Quander represent clients and simultaneously chair the planning board is "a huge conflict of interest."
Denver City Council will have the final say on the controversial rezoning case.
