Englewood signs off on depot plan, residents announce intent to sue city

The Englewood City Council approved a proposed settlement regarding the historic Englewood Depot at Monday's council meeting, which will give owners Thomas and Patti Parson until 2028 to make necessary changes to the property or the city can reclaim ownership of the property.

The proposed settlement comes after the city sued the Parsons and Englewood Depot Inc. on Sept. 30, 2022, alleging breach of the original contract all parties signed in 2013.  The proposal at the time called for the building to become a letterpress museum, which has never materialized for public use.

According to City Attorney Tamara Niles, the Parsons entered a contract to purchase the site at 675 W. Dartmouth from the city in August 2013, paid the city $30,000, and the city transferred the title on May 24, 2014 to the couple, who then transferred title to Englewood Depot Inc. in December 2017.  

The lawsuit, which is now pending in Arapahoe County District Court, accuses the Parsons and Englewood Depot Inc. of “breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and fraudulent inducement related to the proposal submitted by the Parsons for the purchase, rehabilitation, and operation of a museum on the Property,”  

In its lawsuit, the city requested that the court find Parsons and the Englewood Depot, Inc. had failed to comply with the city’s request to rehabilitate the property and to require the “defendants to renovate the property within a reasonable time or transfer the property back to the city or order defendants to compensate the city for the difference between the amount paid for the property and the fair market value of the property.”  

All parties wished to settle all matters and dismiss the litigation by entering into a contract allowing the Parsons and Englewood Depot Inc. five years to “renovate the property, require the property to be utilized as a museum, clarify the city’s first right of refusal to reacquire the property, require exterior landscaping and maintenance, and other matters.” 

Sam's Automotive site

In the public comment portion of Monday's meeting, Englewood residents Davon Williams and Gary Kozacek, who spearheaded the anti-development petition drive against a proposed 395-unit residential complex at West Oxford Avenue and South Navajo Street, best known as the former Sam's Automotive site, provided a letter of intent to sue the city.  

In his letter to the city Williams said, “please accept this letter as notice of intent to file suit in regards to the actions of the City Clerk, City Council and employees to nullify the prior action of 1400+ citizens who decided that high density housing isn’t characteristic of our neighborhood with the Sam’s Automotive PUD Project.” 

The letter of intent comes after a June 28 decision by hearing officer Kristin Brown that overturned the city clerk's original approval of the petition, which could have forced council to overturn the residential rezoning for the apartments or send the matter to a citywide ballot.

Brown ruled signatures on the petition were invalid after a thorough review in a June 23 protest hearing called by resident David Carroll and a law firm paid for by project developer Embrey Partners.  

This launched a "cure" period that gave petitioners the opportunity to fix any rejected signatures at the beginning of July. During this time, the majority owner of the former Sam’s Automotive site, Mike Chavez, was knocking on doors and asking city residents not to "cure" their rejected signatures on the petition that aimed to derail his family's plan to sell their land to the Texas-based apartment developer. 

In her ruling, Brown said either the city or the petitioners could appeal her decision in Arapahoe County District Court. 

Home where bomb found in spotlight

Finally in Monday’s meeting, various citizens raised concerns regarding the 4945 S. Delaware St. property where a pipe bomb was found after authorities discovered an apparent bomb-making operation, and the danger they feel it poses to the community.  

Various council members invited community members to attend a public meeting on the topic Thursday, July 20 at 6 p.m. at Colorado’s Finest High School of Choice, on the southeast corner of Chenango and Delaware.

In this meeting, representatives from the city and the Englewood Police Department will be present to discuss the current status of the property, the alleged criminal status of those involved and the next steps.