The new timetable would push action on the code by City Council to February.
By Christopher N. Osher
The Denver Post
Posted: 07/29/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 07/29/2009 01:24:20 AM MDT
A task force that drafted a citywide zoning overhaul urged the Denver City Council on Tuesday to delay consideration of the plan until 2010, a potential setback for the council’s goal of passing a new code this year.
Steve Kaplan, co-chairman of the panel that met for at least three years with city planners to craft the plan, wrote a memo to council President Jeanne Robb saying more time is needed before formal City Council consideration.
“Task force members who have attended the public meetings are unanimous in having heard ‘loud and clear’ the call for additional time for deliberation,” Kaplan wrote. “Neighbors, developers, architects, and others, are all calling for a bit more time.”
The council previously pledged to pass a new zoning code this year. Under the timetable Kaplan proposed, final consideration would be pushed back to February.
Kaplan, a lawyer, said more time is needed to reach out to key stakeholders, such as the American Institute of Architects, the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, the Urban Land Institute and the Denver Board of Realtors. He added that the City Council also needs to hear directly from constituents before formal hearings begin.
Robb, also a member of the task force, supports pushing the deadline back too.
“We could hurry up, only to end up having to slow down in the end,” Robb said.
At least one council member thought a delay might not be necessary.
“Like, people haven’t weighed in already?” Councilman Chris Nevitt exclaimed. “. . . Oh, Lord, now they’re talking about February.”
He added: “We have done a ton of work on this, and in the absence of major problems, if we stay at it hard, I think we can still get it done by the end of the year.”
Robb said her decision that more time is needed doesn’t represent a lessening in her commitment to pass the proposed zoning overhaul. Rather, she thinks more public outreach is needed.
Robb said she plans to meet with her council colleagues soon to decide how to proceed.
The push for a slowdown follows a round of public meetings that city planners held across Denver to unveil details.
Peter Park, manager of the city’s community, planning and development department, was out of town and did not return telephone messages seeking comment.
Supporters of the overhaul, which affects all property in the city, say current zoning laws were adopted 53 years ago at a time when planners pushed automobile-friendly developments inconsistent with current thinking. Detractors fear that the zoning overhaul will lower property values by restricting development in certain areas of the city to single-family housing when duplexes and multiplexes currently are allowed.
Councilman Rick Garcia said he is interested in discussing with other council members whether he should separately rezone areas he represents. He added that he’s concerned that the proposed overhaul doesn’t do enough to address how high and how big developers can build single-family housing in the city.
Robb said she doesn’t favor a piecemeal approach and pointed to Miami, which she said saw efforts to overhaul its zoning laws delayed by such an approach.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
Filed under: Long-Term Planning, Neighborhood Stability, Residential Living Tagged: | zoning
