Tennyson Street: A taxing situation

by Elisa Cohen |

BERKELEY – The citizens of Denver approved a bond in 2007 for improvements including along Tennyson St. Whether or not the property owners along the business portion of Tennyson Street from 38th to 44th Avenue in North Denver agree to maintain the improvements will determine if $2,100,000 comes to Northwest Denver in the way of street improvements, sidewalks, lighting, trees, benches, and other streetscape enhancements. A group of Tennyson Street property owners are working to create a Local Maintenance District (LMD) while other property owners along the street are fighting against it. The proponents believe it will create a more vital shopping district. The opponents say the money would be better spent addressing parking.

Before the city will agree to make improvements along the street, the property owners, upon whose land the improvements will be, must approve the creation of a LMD in order to protect and maintain the public’s investment.

An approximate budget of $50,000 per year will be the amount taxed to the property owners along the street. This equals about $600 per year for the average property located between 38th Avenue to 44th Avenue, excluding the area between 39th Avenue and 41st Avenue because those blocks already have a LMD in place.

This budget covers items such as the electrical utilities needed to run the new lights: $2,850; electrical maintenance of the new lights: $3,325; tree and landscape care: $11,875; irrigation system care, including the water costs: $6,175; contingency for replacement costs: $5,225; trash pick up: $13,300; administrative expenses: $2,375; insurance, legal notices, revocable permits, etc.: $2,375; and a city administrative fee: $2,500 for a total of $50,000.

Jeff Laws, a property owner working for the passage of the LMD, says that while these are the current estimates, the existing LMD on Tennyson Street operates at a significantly lower rate. Laws believes the $50,000 annual estimate is the highest amount the maintenance district would face.

Dr. Jeff Young, owner of three properties on Tennyson Street, wants nothing to do with this tax increase. “Why have the government do what you should do yourself? I have trash cans, I have benches. If they are going to spend tax dollars, they should spend more money in the schools, pay the teachers more. This is being pushed by people who want to have the government fund their improvements and then sell.” Young vows to vigorously fight this use of tax money. “These politicians need to start thinking out of the box. Parking is the issue on this street. Where is the diagonal parking next to the park? Why not change the laws to allow a church to rent parking to merchants?” Young repeats the oft-cited concerns of all merchants on the street about the impact increased commercial vitality has on the limited parking in the neighborhood.

Debbie Lease and Eric Satie are long time owners of property on Tennyson Street. They are pushing for this LMD. They say they will continue to live and work on the street, but several parcels of their land on Tennyson Street are currently for sale. Lease believes the increase of lighting and the improvement of the sidewalks along Tennyson will improve the safety of the area for pedestrians leading to a more vibrant area.

Al Stewart, who owns the Green Door Furniture Store at 41st and Tennyson and lives across the street in a home that will be in the new LMD, is fighting vigorously against it. Stewart owns several houses along Tennyson Street and believes that despite the properties’ B4 zoning allowing them to be used for commercial purposes, the homes are residential and can never be commercial because of the four-foot hill upon which they are built. Stewart also questions the need for the improvement at all.

“We have good sidewalks. We have city lights.” Stewart states that this is just a ploy on the part of developers to increase the taxes on the land until the guy who doesn’t have the money or skills to build condos is forced to sell to those who do.

Stewart also says the demand on the part of the city to plant more trees along the business corridor is a mistake. In addition to being a costly budget item for the annual maintenance district, the trees block signage and hurt the business owners’ ability to do business.

A mixture of housing and commercial businesses share frontage on Tennyson Street. Stewart lives in a house on Tennyson Street and would like to continue to live there. Stewart feels that the city wants to increase his taxes to the point where no one will be able to live on the street due to the increased costs.

Laws, Lease, and Satie point to other districts including 32nd and Lowell as examples of the good streetscape improvements can have on the appearance and success of a commercial street.

At least 35 percent of the property owners must sign a petition stating their desire to move this process forward to City Council. The organizers of the petition drive have created a self-imposed deadline of September 18 for collecting the signatures they need to move the process forward. Laws states that he wants to be first in line to receive the bond money as it becomes available for the street. Once the petition comes to City Council, the regular schedule for public hearings then take place. If all goes according to the proponents’ schedule, Tennyson Street could be on track for receiving the improvements starting in the beginning of 2009.

Councilman Rick Garcia advocated for North Denver’s receipt of a portion of the 2007 Bond funds. He explained in an email, “The city views the streetscape improvements as a value to commercial revitalization and in the long run enhances property values for properties that are adjacent to the district. That is why they often require private property owners to also pay for the capital improvement costs and not just the maintenance of the asset once it is created.”

“During the 2007 bond package debates early last year, I argued for fairness in that our smaller neighborhood business districts also needed revitalization and that is why the $2.1 million was put into the package and was supported for Tennyson Street.”

The opponents complain that they have not had input into the projects to be built. According to Denver Public Works employee Kristine Downs the exact nature of the projects selected will occur with public involvement of the property owners on the street. Then the projects will be sent out for competitive bidding to ensure a fair and open process in regards to the expenditure of the funds.

First published in the North Denver Tribune