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Park Trust urges citywide push to close Denver’s parkland gap and protect the South Platte corridor

Denver City Council — South Platte River Committee · January 14, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Rocky Pero and Frank Rowe of the Denver Park Trust told the South Platte River Committee the city has a current parkland deficit (about 1,300 acres) relative to a 13‑acres‑per‑1,000 benchmark, flagged river water‑quality and land‑use concerns, and recommended area‑wide strategies (overlays/districts), pilot projects and university partnerships to identify park and open‑space opportunities.

Denver Park Trust representatives told the South Platte River Committee on Jan. 14 that the city faces a significant parkland shortfall and urged a coordinated approach to conserve and add green space — particularly along the South Platte corridor.

Rocky Pero, a retired planning director and presenter for the Park Trust, said a Game Plan analysis and follow‑up work identified about a 1,300‑acre deficit under a 13 acres per 1,000 residents benchmark; if the city maintains current patterns, Pero said the cumulative deficit could grow to roughly 3,800 acres in future decades. "Game Plan identified a gap right now of 1,300 acres in the city," he said.

Frank Rowe, cofounder and executive director of the Denver Park Trust, said the organization’s mission is "to add parks where none exist," and…

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