Ilan Salzberg’s decades-long dream of building a private swim club in his neighborhood came to an abrupt end Monday after Denver City Council voted down a rezoning proposal for the project.
Salzberg, a developer and West Highland resident, bought 3719 Wolff Street in the West Highland in November 2023 for about $2 million. The 33,000-square-foot parcel of land currently sits vacant, nestled between homes and across the street from a Sprouts grocery store.
Salzberg wanted to build a members-only pool
Concept plans included a 25-yard outdoor lap pool, as well as a clubhouse with an indoor pool and an event space. People would only have access to the facility if they bought into the club and paid annual fees.
“The initial buy-in would be less than a new car, [would] be around a used car, between $15,000 and $30,000,” Salzberg told city council Monday. He is a longtime resident of the area.
To build on the lot, Salzberg had to get council members to rezone the property. The site is currently zoned for single-unit housing.
Before the vote on Monday, Salzberg had gained the support of the West Highland Neighborhood Association, as well as the city’s Community Planning and Development office and dozens of neighbors.
“We are optimistic the operator will be successful, and the pool will be an amenity for the neighborhood while being respectful to the immediate neighbors,” wrote Eric Rymarz, chair of the West Highland Neighborhood Association’s Land Use and Planning Committee.
But the city council ultimately rejected the rezoning, with some members expressing concerns about whether a private pool was an equitable use of land.
Neighbors came out against the rezoning
A letter signed by over 100 residents of West Highland called for council members to reject the rezoning proposal. Signatories cited concerns over how the private club would impact the neighborhood.
“As of this writing, the developer has failed to propose any meaningful mitigation measures for the expected impacts of excessive noise, traffic and parking that will result from the proposed swim club,” the letter said.
During the public hearing Monday, several critics asked whether the club would be too elite and pricey.
“I'm an old-fashioned liberal from New York and grew up believing in empathy for others and doing no harm to neighbors,” said Richard Rosen, who lives behind the site of the proposed pool club. “I do not believe a private luxury pool club catering primarily to well-off rich people belongs in a diverse neighborhood of working class, young families and retirees, many who cannot afford to join.”
Rosen and the letter signatories argued the property should instead be used for housing that “serve the broader community, not just the elite.”
Council said the pool wouldn't be equitable
City council members said they were not convinced that the rezoning aligns with the city’s land-use goals and ultimately voted 11-1.
"If the idea is that it is equitable to add a private facility that only the wealthiest people in a neighborhood or the city will be able to utilize, and thereby they will opt out of public facilities and leave everybody else to use the public facilities, that is the kind of thinking that led to the collapse of public schools and public pools and the public sector across the segregated South. And so that is not equity," said Councilmember Sarah Parady.
"I disagree with the the idea that you do what you want on private property. We have endless laws and zone districts and policies that govern what you're allowed to do on private property," said Councilmember Paul Kashmann. " ... We get calls weekly, if not daily, about it's too expensive to live in Denver. That's all we hear about. This does nothing to address that. It takes us in the opposite direction."
Councilmember Kevin Flynn made a different argument, saying that it simply didn't fit the criteria of the zoning code.
The lone supporting vote came from Councilmember Amanda Sawyer, who said while she “hated” the idea of a private swim club, she felt others on the council were being blinded by the concept of the proposed use of the site instead of whether it meets zoning criteria.
“I certainly understand the frustration of the idea of the use that might be not in line with our equity goals, but that's not the decision we get to make,” Sawyer said. “Private property owners get to do with their property what they want, even if we hate it.”
With the vote on Monday, the property’s current zoning remains: U-SU-C1.
Instead of a pool, Salzberg is talking about affordable housing now
In a phone call with Denverite, Salzberg pushed back on the idea that his proposed swim club was inequitable, arguing the alternative is just as, if not more, inaccessible to the public.
“The only thing that's allowed on that site is million-dollar homes,” he said. “I thought a much better use would be a fun community amenity.”
With his proposed swim club shot down by council, Salzberg is exploring options for the property, one of which his critics really might not like, he said.
“It's zoned stupidly as [single unit housing], but it's directly across the street from a Sprouts and next door to two multifamily apartment buildings …, and I could see running this through as a test case for affordable housing, as workforce housing,” he said.
Salzberg is skeptical that affordable housing would gain support from neighbors or city officials. Blueprint Denver, the city’s comprehensive land use and transportation plan, classifies the area as a low-density residential neighborhood, and does not include support for transitioning it to a higher density area.
