Centennial adds seats to urban renewal board to align with state law

The Centennial City Council on Dec. 17 approved resolution 2024-R-51 to amend the composition of the Centennial Urban Redevelopment Authority (CURA), expanding the board to 13 members so the authority will be positioned to consider future urban renewal projects in compliance with state law enacted in 2015.

Neil Marciniak, the city’s economic development director, told council the change implements state urban renewal requirements passed in 2015 that require additional community representation on URA boards when undertaking new projects. Marciniak said the change is precautionary — the city does not have an imminent new urban renewal project — but staff recommends having the governance structure in place so the city will not need to reconstitute the authority at short notice.

Marciniak described the four additional seats required by statute: an appointee of the county board of commissioners, an elected school board member from the local school district that will be affected, a representative of a special district that levies a mill levy within the urban renewal boundary, and a mayoral appointee. He said staff had conducted outreach to about 60 taxing entities and had discussions with both Cherry Creek Schools and Littleton Public Schools on which district should fill the school-district seat. For the present, staff recommended Cherry Creek Schools because it serves the area where urban renewal activity is most likely.

Marciniak identified several individuals who will fill the new membership roles or who were present and willing to serve, including Arapahoe County Commissioner Jessica Campbell, Cherry Creek Schools Board President Angela Garland, a South Metro Fire Rescue board director Rich Sokol and resident Meryl Poitier. Mayor and staff also recognized former council member Mark Gatto in the audience, whom the mayor later thanked for agreeing to participate in the expansion of the authority. Staff said the expanded CURA board would likely convene in February and that a quorum for the 13-member body will be seven members.

Council voted to approve the resolution as presented. Staff said that because CURA has been minimally active outside of a single Southglen project, the initial tasks for the expanded board will include orientation, consideration of bylaws and a review of whether and where urban renewal tools make sense for the city in the future.