The East Area Colfax Neighborhood Association will conduct a “ritual burning” of a 20-year plan that will guide urban development throughout Denver’s Hale, Montclair, East Colfax and South Park Hill neighborhoods. The plan was adopted late Monday night by the Denver City Council. 

The igniting of the East Area Plan, the name of the policy recommendations document, will be hosted on Zoom Tuesday during the group’s monthly meeting, which starts at 6:30 p.m. The burning will be led by Tim Roberts, ECNA’s president. 

ECNA, along with the East Colfax Community Collective, opposed the plan on the basis that it did not go far enough to protect the neighborhood, which is the least affluent and most racially and ethnically diverse of the four included in the plan. 

The sweeping plan recommends ways to make east Denver more “equitable, affordable and inclusive” by helping local businesses “remain and thrive,” ensuring affordable housing, preserving the diversity and architecture of the area, setting up more trees and open spaces and making it safer and easier to get around. The plan coincides with a major transit project planned for East Colfax Avenue.

The council adopted the plan in a 12-1 vote just before 11 p.m., after two hours of deliberations. Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca voted against the plan, arguing that it would only exacerbate the gentrification that has occurred in communities of color in recent years.