Denver City Council Approves Three Amendments to Zoning Code
By Robert Davis
The Denver City Council adopted and subsequently implemented three concurrent amendments to the city’s zoning code on Monday, March 22.
The two text amendments and one map amendment were sponsored by Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval (District 1).
Text Amendment #9 establishes a new Active Centers and Corridors Design Overlay zone district (DO-8) and sets a uniform standard for shop fronts across multiple contexts. It also amends corresponding sections of Chapters 5, 9, and 13 of the zoning code.
After adopting the amendment, City Council approved its application for over 450 properties in the Berkeley and Regis neighborhoods. One of the amendment’s goals is to apply more pedestrian-oriented design standards for neighborhood streets and ensure non-residential uses continue in the neighborhood’s commercial areas.
According to a letter Sandoval sent Sarah Showalter, director of Community Planning and Development (CPD), in November 2020, the new overlay district “will ensure that Berkeley and Regis’ historic streetcar commercial corridor retain[s] their vibrant commercial character as they grow.”
For example, the amendment will allow for more commercial development in the neighborhoods, a tactic that will hopefully increase competition for affordable retail, art, or other commercial spaces.
According to SquareFoot, a commercial real estate data website, the average rent for commercial space in Denver is approximately $37 per sq. ft. These totals are above sister cities such as Dallas, Texas, or Atlanta, Georgia, but are far below the average rents in San Francisco and New York City.
Both Berkeley and Regis are categorized by Blueprint Denver, the city’s large-area plan, as part of the “all other areas of the city” growth area, meaning they are expected to absorb around 20 percent of new housing growth and up to 10 percent of new employment growth.
Similarly, Text Amendment #10 establishes a new Bungalow Conservation Overlay zone district (CO-6) in Berkeley. Denver’s zoning code defines these districts as “intended to provide a vehicle to initiate and implement programs for the revitalization or conservation of specific areas within Denver possessing distinctive features, identity, or character worthy of retention and enhancement.”
Amendment 10 is intended to promote the conservation of the one-and-two-story bungalow-style homes that are prevalent in the neighborhood. It also “creates height, siting, and design element standards that result in development compatible with the design characteristics” of the bungalow-dominated neighborhood, according to CPD’s staff report.
To apply the new overlay district, Sandoval sponsored a map amendment that applied the new regulations to 354 residentially zoned properties in the Harkness Heights area of Berkeley.
Sandoval wrote in the amendment’s application that it was “community-driven from the beginning” and that residents were “motivated by the potential loss of character and neighborhood residents.”
However, the amendment does not meet Blueprint Denver’s equity concepts in that it will have no impact on housing diversity, job diversity, access to opportunity, or reducing displacement, the application says.
Still, CPD recommended its passage because it preserves Denver’s traditional built forms.
“Furthermore, the design standards will result in design elements that support walkability by providing visual interest and enhanced visual and physical relationships between the public right-of-way and private residences,” the agency said.