The Denver City Council on Monday approved the Sun Valley Homes Urban Redevelopment Plan.

The move creates an urban redevelopment area, complete with a property and sales tax increment area. The total project budget is $47.7 million, and $10.3 million of that will come from revenue raised by the taxing district and be used by the Denver Housing Authority for infrastructure improvements. 

The council voted, 11-1, to approve the bill, with Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca being the sole “no” vote. 

Several community members joined the public hearing to speak in support of and against the plan.

“The urban redevelopment plan will support a project that will help provide the infrastructure framework needed for this area to accommodate a dense and diverse supply of housing, including a significant portion of affordable housing opportunities,” Jeff Bader, Denver Urban Renewal Authority’s senior redevelopment specialist, said.

Colfax Avenue and the Bronco’s Stadium marks the Sun Valley neighborhood to the North, Sixth Avenue to the South, the Platte River to the east, and Federal Boulevard to the west. Known for its disconnected street grid, the community became home to concentrated poverty and isolation from economic opportunity, according to the Sun Valley Redevelopment Plan webpage.

Redevelopment of the Sun Valley neighborhood began in 2016, when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) granted the Denver Housing Authority $30 million. 

The Denver Housing Authority had already redeveloped some of the neighborhood, completing four apartment complexes. Two properties, Greenhaus and Thrive, were built as affordable housing complexes.

But this effort drew the ire of David Roybal, who lives in Sun Valley.

“The city created this neighborhood with all the poor people in here … Now that it’s mixed-income, now that there’s Teslas in the neighborhood, you want to improve it,” he said. “This ain’t for the people, y’all.”

Roybal said the city council has failed the Sun Valley community for 67 years and pleaded with councilmembers to understand that changing the neighborhood will not improve it.

As an example to make his point, Roybal cited the redevelopment of Lincoln Park, something he said failed and should serve as a cautionary tale that the council should heed before approving the plan.

“So, what makes you think that this is going to work?” Roybal asked. “This is not a representation of the people.”

Jeanne Granville, the Sun Valley Community Coalition President, said a majority of coalition members voted in favor of the redevelopment plan. Only one member voted no, while five abstained, she said.

“We’re pleased to support this resolution,” she said. “It creates a mechanism for property tax increment financing to generate funds to build the roads, sidewalks, storm water drainage and other infrastructure critical to realizing the vision of DHA’s choice neighborhood plan.”

Run by HUD, the Choice Neighborhood Program’s objectives include supporting locally driven strategies that address struggling neighborhoods. The approach seeks to revitalize distressed HUD housing and address challenges facing an area.

“I think what’s going to be important for Denver Housing Authority is how you play a role in helping rebuild community,” Councilmember Jamie Torres said. “And community is not just housing. It is their bonds, their relationships between one another, and for many folks, they’re returning to something that doesn’t look the same.”

Though she didn’t say publicaly why she voted against the measure, when asked by the Denver Gazette Tuesday CdeBaca said “tax increment financing banks on gentrification.”

“Denver Housing Authority does not pay taxes on the properties it owns, so any money they are counting on through this tool will come from the future equity of market-rate units.”