On March 30, 2015, Friends of Denver Parks filed its Reply Brief in the Colorado Court of Appeals. Friends is asking the appellate Court to declare that Hampden Heights North Park is city park land, which cannot be sold to DPS without a vote of the people that is required by Charter Section 2.4.5. The issue before the court is bigger than one park. At stake is the right of Denver citizens to participate in their city government, as the Charter requires, and whether the court will permit a public trial in which Denver citizens can present their case to a jury. Here is a quote from the conclusion of the Reply Brief:
“Will the Court of Appeals enforce the peoples’ right of constitutional self-governance embodied in Charter § 2.4.5? Mayor Hancock took 10.77 acres from a park that, by Charter, belonged to the people of Denver. City officials denied citizens their right to vote on the taking. The Denver District Court entered a summary judgment that prevented citizens from presenting evidence to a neutral factfinder in a public trial. DPS used the land to build an elementary school in a flood plain below a dam that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers declared unsafe in 2014. Appellants respectfully submit that placing 800 school children in the path of a future flood – without the voter approval the Charter requires – so the Mayor can claim the political benefits associated with opening a domestic violence center is the opposite of constitutional self-government.”
To read the entire brief, click here: Other filed documents can be found here. The full report from the U.S Army Corp of Engineers can be found here
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