Denver adopts a new Denver Zoning Code

Denver just adopted a new zoning code. For next six months, both the old and new code will overlap so if you have something in the works, you should check to see if the changes affect your property. The new code brings together the ideas from Denver’s comprehensive plan, BluePrint Denver and feedback from neighborhood meetings. The code itself looks good.  It can seem a little cumbersome but it’s actually pretty simple.  Built around the concepts of zoning appropriate for the context of the neighborhood, the new code is much more concise than the previous code.
If you live in Denver and want to check out your new zoning, click here.
My two biggest concerns are that many properties have been down-zoned in a way that will decrease investor interest and second, there continues to be a buffering issue in some neighborhoods.
Down zoning is an issue for investors or homeowners that had plans in the next 5-10 years to sell or develop a lot that was/is a scrape candidate. The new zoning code turned many triplex lots into duplex lots and duplex lots into single family home lots. This makes sense in some areas. In others, not so much.
Just as a reminder, investors don’t scrape nice homes. They scrape small inefficient properties that they can pick up cheaply in order to build something that will make a profit. This down zoning was done mostly in ‘nice’ areas where some loud mouth residents were concerned about the redevelopment going on in their neighborhoods. Decreasing what a developer can build means they can’t make a profit.
Eventually this will reach an equilibrium. But there is an immediate effect on the current values of the land effect by the changes. Eventually though, the surrounding homes will simply become more expensive. Downside of that is that less people can live in nice homes in Denver thus contributing to sprawl.
Some residents were concerned that the character of some 1930′s neighborhood’s were being harmed. What a shame, in 30 more years will we be clamoring to save the 1950′s ranch neighborhoods from being scraped because the are a great examples of post war modernism? NO..of course not. So why would planning cave in to demands from a few home owners that want to save a few knock-off versions of craftsman homes, inefficient and drafty in order to make a few people happy.
I have also noticed that the way the Denver zoning code has been applied thus far has been in a blanket manner that doesn’t buffer single family residences from nearby businesses. This is especially surprising in looking at the zoning around planned transit oriented developments.
The streets one block in from major arterials share the same zoning as properties 5 or 6 blocks into the neighborhood. That makes sense in the suburbs but in a blocked city, it doesn’t.
Cities, much like ogres, are like onions, they need layers. Business/Industrial/Arterial Roads, followed by higher density residential, then single family residential. If you skip a layer, the properties caught in the middle will never achieve their highest and best use.
Developers don’t want to get tied up in the red tape of trying to get a property rezoned. They really shouldn’t have to if planning does their job. Hopefully, the current zoning map will continue to evolve to meet these need.