Northwest Denver Downzoned! How do I feel about it?
As you may have heard, the Denver City Council had a marathon session on Monday night – rumor has it that it finally broke up at 3am! I say “rumor” because I gave up around 9pm – I’m a lightweight when it comes to political events. 
The topic at hand? Whether to approve a request to “downzone” two sections of my beloved Northwest Denver neighborhood in Sloan’s Lake and West Highland. “Downzone” means, in this case, to change the zoning of an existing property from R2 to R1. Why downzone? To stop the destruction of existing single-family homes and the subsequent construction of multi-family homes, specifically duplexes and triplexes. In Denver, R1 zoning means that you can build ONLY a single-family home; R2 allows multi-family.
For those who live here, you know that in the last few years, there has been an explosion of such multi-family development in an area that has always been predominantly single-family. Is this development a good thing? A bad thing? Of course, it depends on your perspective. If you live next door to a new 5000 square foot duplex, you probably think it’s a bad thing. I know I would. But many support and appreciate the new development, and I’m not just talking about the so-called “greedy developers.”
I initially came out against the proposed downzoning for all the reasons discussed (for hours) on Monday night. But now that it’s over, I’m okay with the outcome. That surprised me. But, truth be told, after listening to both sides of the argument, I can truly sympathize with those who support the downzoning. There IS an ambience to our neighborhood that is threatened by the development. There ARE serious inconveniences to those living near the construction sites and subsequent multi-family buildings. As much as I love modern architecture, some of it does look kinda silly mixed in with our Bungalows, Tudors and Victorians.
However, had the decision gone the other way, I’d have been happy, too. Our neighborhood needs more family-friendly homes. People want to live here, but for many, a 1000 sqft Bungalow just doesn’t cut it, nor does everyone want to deal with the sloping floors of the larger Victorians. I would love to live in one of the new duplexes along Sloan’s Lake and I’m a little disappointed that there won’t be more built to accommodate ME when I’m ready to buy one.
So… I’m ambivalent. Unusual for me – I tend to rather opinionated on most matters. But I’m content. Life here will go on, real estate will continue to be built and exchange hands. I’ll continue to rollerblade around Sloan’s Lake and run to Sunflower Market for my lunchtime sushi. And, no, I won’t be able to sell my 1927 Bungalow to a developer and retire. Ah well. Again, life goes on.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
You can say that “life goes on”, but are you having to be saddled with a major financial hit? What about dealing with the zoning that you agreed to when you moved in to the area? I realize that some of the building can be out of character, but lets deal with things in a better way. The way this situation was handled was very ugly. Denver is aiding in pitting neighbor against neighbor. The major proponent of the downzoning, Jude Aeillo (I think it’s spelled?) has by far an uglier building than would be built they like to call “McMansion.” Nobody brought it up in the TEN HOUR council meeting. Why, when the building is new is it a “McMansion” but when it’s old and HUGE and ugly and blocks the sun of the neighbor’s it’s just… well whatever? It’s fine if I have mine… too late, you can’t have yours.
Clearly there was favoritism shown to the proponents when $40,000 worth of fees were waived. So guess who gets to pay for the manpower it took to work this thing out? US. Clearly the proponents had direct access to city council members in order to influence them. The fees are there for a reason… so people can’t just change zoning on a whim. Get ready… it’s comin’ to your neck of the woods. Denver doesn’t care about both sides of the story. Just those who use the “we need to save our history” argument to further their own selfish causes.
Trust me. It’s selfish. People who want to accomplish things for the greater good aren’t mean about it. These people were mean about it.