Resident of Denver's Globeville neighborhood continues multi-year battle for green space
A lot near Interstate 70 and Washington Street in Denver's Globeville neighborhood has sat dusty and vacant for decades, and neighbors want something done about it.
"Honestly, it's disappointment for the city that we all pay taxes for," said Joseph Herrera, who lives nearby.
He's been fighting for years to get the lot turned into green space.
"Trees to help us fight pollution, and grass to get all this dust to stop blowing into our home," he said.
He says the dirt from the lot blows directly into homes nearby and invited a CBS Colorado news crew into his backyard to experience it.
"When the wind is hitting east, we get all that dust. So, my house is always dusty. So, I have to clean it every day. I can't open my windows. I've been told not to," he said.
Herrera started digging into the matter years ago and found the previously trash-filled property was owned by the Colorado Department of Transportation.
"I got all the way to the Federal Highway Administration … they made CDOT come and by law come and clean this property twice a month. So that was one step."
He says from there he pushed CDOT to sell the property to the city of Denver and shared with CBS Colorado emails from 2022 where he requested a meeting between CDOT, the city of Denver, and the Globeville community.
"CDOT did offer the property to the city of Denver. They had three months, yes, 90 days to think about it, and they said no. They didn't want it."
Eventually Denver did purchase the lot for $30,000 in February of this year. Herrera hoped the city would turn the land into green space, and said Denver Director of Real Estate Lisa Lumley implied that was the plan.
The city declined a request to interview Lumley but told CBS Colorado that they "knew there was strong community advocacy, so the city stepped in to preserve this land for a future public use."
"She needed to put bids for this land, and then she was going to get together with the community," said Herrera. "But she also said that four years ago, that once she acquired this land, she would get together with the community and see what the community wants. What we have already spoken is that we want green space. One because of the highway right next to our home, and this is all dirt (and) dust that keeps getting into all our neighborhood."
But now Herrera believes the city is shopping the land around for a buyer.
When CBS Colorado asked the city about a potential sale, no direct response was given. Instead, they said, "The site does have a number of challenges that limit its viability that the city needs more time to work through. Right now, the city's focus is on completing the investments already underway in the surrounding area from Denver Parks & Recreation and DOTI."
After hundreds of emails and years of work, Herrera says what keeps him going is his neighborhood.
"My community, the love of Globeville."
Herrera told CBS Colorado his fight to get the lot turned into a space to benefit the community has left him so frustrated that he decided to run for city council to represent District 9.
