Cracking Denver's new zoning code: vote on proposed land-use guide will impact residents, investors.

• Author: Titus, Stephen
• Position: WHO OWNS COLORADO

For more than five years, Denver's City Council, planning department and hundreds of volunteers and interested hangers-on have been crafting a new zoning code to replace the cobbled-together rule book that currently guides construction and land use in the city.

On June 21, the Denver City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to adopt the new regulations. While few people outside the building industry will ever read this document--besides insomniacs looking for a little late-night sleep aid--it will impact the city's residents longer and greater than nearly any legislation the city has enacted in 50 years.

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"It's a big investment. It's probably one of the most important things we can do to guide the growth of the city," said Peter Park, manager of Denver's Community Planning and Development department. "Having the new code is important to matching the vision of Blueprint Denver."

The new code scraps nearly everything about the old version. It is the final puzzle piece in Blueprint Denver, a sprawling plan for the future of land use and transportation in the city that was adopted in 2002 with the overall goal of making sure that where we live, where we work and where we play (today and 20 years from now) are deliberately linked by appropriate modes of transportation.

But property owners in some parts of the city say the changes have them scrambling to develop their property under the old code at a time when banks have placed a kung fu grip on money and are loath to let it loose, particularly on speculative real estate projects, no matter how promising or well capitalized.

"The economy is what it is, and the changes to the zoning code exacerbates the problem for people who didn't get developed already; it's a timing issue," said Larry Burgess, who has 23 buildings along Brighton Boulevard in an area just north of downtown Denver dubbed River North.

Blueprint Denver roughly breaks the city into what Park describes as areas of stability and areas of change. For purposes of zoning, a "stable" designation doesn't necessarily mean there is no construction going on. Cherry Creek, Highlands and Park Hill are all considered areas of stability. The new code looks at these areas and assigns codes that help support the architectural style and general uses that are there. This seems pretty simple, but with zoning codes, even small changes can make a big difference. More about that later.

Then we have the areas of change. Almost...