A final fix for the ‘Fax? Voters to decide recovery district for Aurora Colfax corridor

AURORA | Over the past several decades, East Colfax Avenue has undergone numerous pitches and plans for redevelopment and revival.

None have brought the city’s original downtown and business beginnings back to the life and luster so many of the shelved plans had promised.

Through these efforts, the city has utilized opportunity zones, urban renewal districts, special improvement districts, created an arts district, dozens of targeted programs and even a special downtown Aurora special business organization.

The efforts haven’t all been in vain. They’ve resulted in a solid public library, successful arts and entertainment venues and a handful of businesses that have thrived without depending on patrons who are trying to pawn something, sell plasma or take out a loan on their paycheck.

For all the success these programs have created, however, city officials say the area still suffers from high business turnover rates, more crime than anywhere else in the city and, more than anything, an unfavorable reputation.

Now, the city is considering something new, but they have to persuade very local voters to go along with it: creating the Aurora Downtown Development Authority.

PUMA, a national redevelopment strategy firm hired by the city to research options, says that the DDA, if approved, will not start from scratch with new concepts, but rather build on years of planning and create a synthesis of previous analyses, projects, and plans to develop a comprehensive map toward clearly defined goals.

Residents of Aurora have seen the success of the Havana Business Improvement District, which has drawn new life to dozens of businesses along the Havana Street corridor on the west side of the city.

In an effort to apply a similar concept while incorporating the local residential community and tax increment financing, the city is asking voters, only within the blocks-long district, whether they want to establish a Downtown Development Authority to achieve similar benefits to those seen from the Havana BID.

“I think this is a really effective tool that we can utilize to address some of the public safety, transportation and other issues that we’ve continued to hear about in the Colfax corridor from both businesses and from residents,” Councilmember Curtis Gardner said.

Downtown Development Authority

If approved by voters, the DDA would be responsible for implementing the Colfax Community Vision and Action Plan, a 10- to 20-year plan to improve the East Colfax corridor. 

It would focus on goals such as public safety, supporting small businesses, access to services, wealth building, housing and neighborhood stability. It will also focus on arts and culture, cleaning and maintenance and improvements to public spaces. 

Funding would come from the TIF district. Essentially, the system creates a baseline of taxes currently collected in the district. When new taxes are collected “above” the baseline, those funds go toward projects targeted by the district leaders.

Crime prevention and public safety improvements in a DDA can include environmental design upgrades, both on public and private property, according to Naomi Lacewell, senior associate at Progressive Urban Management Associates, the company responsible for guiding the DDA process for East Colfax. 

This could include opening up a space by removing a wall where people might hide to engage in illegal activities. 

Lacewell said that other DDAs have achieved success by collaborating closely with the police department’s safety ambassadors, who can address non-emergency safety concerns.

Business support and access to goods and services for small businesses in the area could include the DDA helping with promotions, marketing and campaigns for our small businesses. They could also help fill some of those empty storefronts and help attract more community-desired businesses, along with offering opportunities for property ownership to businesses for longevity, and offering access to grants and technical assistance for them, Lacewell said to city council in July.

Improvements to housing and neighborhood stability can include enhancing the quality of existing housing and helping to preserve it, Lacewell said to city council. Another improvement could be adding a variety of new housing options in the area, providing access to wealth-building tools, homeownership resources and opportunities for employment and economic growth.

Cleaning and maintenance along the corridor, as well as general beautification efforts, include maintaining a tree cover that provides shade, incorporating flowers and enhancing landscaping.

“These services are above and beyond the baseline of what the city will continue to provide,” Lacewell said to city council. “So these are extra supplementary cleaning and trash services, such as power washing along the corridor.”

The DDA would also work to advance the arts by working with the Creative District on branding and promotions, and partnering with other small, non-arts-related businesses to create cohesive economic opportunity and affordable artist housing and spaces.

Finally, the development authority would enhance public space with significant long-term and near-term infrastructure projects, including the activation of parks and plazas, improving signage, alleys, navigation through the area and other outdoor amenities, Lacewell said. 

The Aurora DDA could be governed by a board of five to 11 members, who would be appointed by the mayor and then approved by the city council. These members must be local business owners, residents and property owners within the DDA boundaries, which would include the area between East 14th Avenue and East 16th Avenue, from Yosemite Street to Oswego Street, if approved.

“One reason the DDA was recommended is that it’s a quasi-public agency,” Brad Segal, president and founding partner of PUMA, said. “It has all the same public records and transparency laws that a local government has. So DDA board meetings are public. DDA decisions are public. It’s all very transparent. It’s essentially a sort of localized government.”

Examples of DDAs

One of the better examples to compare the East Colfax DDA to is the more recently created Englewood South Broadway DDA, which began in 2020. The Englewood DDA runs from the Englewood Civil Center along the light rail station across South Broadway near the Gothic Theatre, over to the Wellness District by Craig and Swedish hospitals. 

Segal said they are still new and haven’t raised a significant amount of money yet, but they have already beautified some of the alleys and supported local small businesses. 

DDAs can utilize many innovative ways to revitalize a downtown area at a low cost, especially when trying to make people feel safer and welcome in an area that has become underutilized. In 2020, Louisiana’s Downtown Lafayette DDA convinced the city to build cement “benches” for people to sit in Parc San Souci, an area that had lost vibrancy and was attracting a large homeless population. The DDA was aware that the “benches” would attract skateboarders, so they had them reinforced to accommodate the wear and tear from skaters grinding on them. 

Instead of the city using police to simply drive out the homeless and relocate them to other areas, they utilized the presence of the skaters to attract more people to the area and make new visitors feel safe.  

Jon Wesolowski, a public speaker known as “The Happy Urbanist,” who specializes in urban development, has compared the skaters to a pioneer species in a forest, the first organisms after a fire or disturbance that help revive an ecosystem. 

Ultimately, the concept worked. Parc San Souci and the DDA ultimately built a permanent skatepark for local skaters in Lafayette a few years later.

Funding 

The second question for the targeted voters will be whether to fund the DDA through the TIF, which means that future increases in property and sales tax revenue within the DDA boundaries will be captured and reinvested in the area. 

This means that a TIF in the DDA will not create a new tax or increase existing taxes for residents or businesses.

In the future, the DDA could also have the option to seek voter approval to have unique bonding authority and a potential mill levy for operations, Lacewell said.

The concept for the East Colfax DDA was also explicitly designed to collaborate with a Community Development Corporation to address broader community issues. 

The CDC is not a part of the ballot measure and will not use any of the tax increment funding in the DDA, if established. Instead, it will be independently funded through sources such as philanthropy, corporate and foundation grants, fundraising and sponsorships and a self-sustaining real estate strategy, according to PUMA officials.

The East Colfax CDC would be a community-managed nonprofit organization overseen by a community-based board of directors comprising local business owners, nonprofits and residents. It would also encompass a larger boundary than the DDA.

Decisions for the CDC will come after the election for the DDA.

“These, the DDA, the CDC, could be very impactful,” Segal said. “They’re designed to be community-driven. They’re designed to work in tandem, and they’re designed to operate in a very transparent, open way.”

How to vote

The ballot question for the DDA and the TIFs district in the DDA is a special ballot that will be sent only to registered voters who live, own property or own a business within the boundary.

While the “special” ballot will be mailed to voters residing within the district boundary, business owners and non-resident property owners will need to fill out a separate form. The form must be returned by Oct. 28 to receive a mail-in ballot. 

The form and ballots are being handled by the law firm Spencer Fane. Having a law firm conduct an election for a special district, especially one that spans over two counties, is a regular practice, according to Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association.

Segal also said that the practice was typical and that law firms have been utilized for multiple special district elections he has worked on, involving BIDs and DDAs. 

All ballots will be returned to the law firm, which will then count the votes. The City of Aurora requests that people follow the directions on the ballot to ensure their ballots are sent to the correct location. City spokesperson Joe Rubino said that if people accidentally turn in their special DDA ballot to a regular county ballot box before 7 p.m. Nov. 4, their ballot will be sent to the law firm and their vote will still count. 

Courtney Linney from the Spencer Fane law firm, which is handling the election, is the designated election official and can be contacted for additional questions via email at clinney@spencerfane.com or by phone at 303-839-3778, according to the city’s election website. 

PUMA is also available to explain aspects of the DDA and the CDC, as well as how they could affect people in the community. Segal said that PUMA would be willing to set up additional presentations in the community if community members still need more information. Lacewell has been the principal advisor for the East Colfax DDA and CDC concept and can be reached for questions and additional information at naomi@pumaworldhq.com.

Now that the DDA questions are being taken to voters in an election, the PUMA staff cannot advocate for the DDA or tell voters how to vote. They can only answer questions about the DDA voting procedures, the Vision and Action Plan and the DDA’s various applications.