Protesters object to use of City Park Golf Course for a stormwater plan.

Opponents: Golf course plan fixes nonexistent issue

Critics of Denver’s plan to improve the flow of stormwater toward the South Platte River voiced their concerns Saturday about the city’s push to create a stormwater detention area at City Park Golf Course.

About 100 people gathered at the golf course to protest the plan, which calls for a number of other measures aimed at increasing drainage and providing greater flood protection in Denver.

Opponents said it exclusively benefits development-rich communities in the Platte Valley and seeks to address a problem that doesn’t exist. “The Platte to Park Hill project is all about Platte Valley development,” said Kimberly Morse, a spokeswoman for Denver neighborhoods. “These longstanding historic neighborhoods are bearing the burden.”

A Denver Public Works news release said the decision to move forward came after 90 public meetings with nearly 1,700 community members. The detention area is intended to capture water and release it slowly during storms. The release said the location is a naturally occurring low point that collects stormwater.

Nancy Kuhn, a Public Works spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail that adding detention areas to golf courses is common nationwide. “Two local golf courses that have effectively integrated water detention areas into their landscapes include Lakewood Golf Course and the CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora,” Kuhn said. “Implementation of water detention at City Park Golf Course will be respectful of an urban setting, incorporating the work of wastewater and golf course design experts.”

But some community members are concerned because construction will shut down the golf course for two years. It will also require removing 150 to 280 trees and demolition of the clubhouse.

“I’m not a golfer, but golfers deserve their course,” said Park Hill resident Louis Plachowski.

Besides the detention area, there are three other major components in the Platte to Park Hill project: a larger outfall on the river at Globeville Landing Park; a new mile-long open drainage channel along East 39th Avenue from Franklin to Steele streets, lined with 12 acres of new open space that directs storm runoff toward pipes leading to the outfall; and the creation of a second detention area on the northeast corner of Park Hill Golf Club, to slow the flow of stormwater northward.

Protesters also criticized the plan’s connection to a venture that would widen Interstate 70 to increase flood protection. Much of the community pushback has focused on ties to the I-70 project. Although the highway project includes an additional drainage system, the city and the Colorado Department of Transportation struck a cost-sharing agreement for both projects last summer.