In January of 2005, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper appointed a community-based Zoning Code Task Force to guide and oversee a multi-year code-fix effort. With this step, Denver kicked off a five year effort to rein in the crazy quilt we've called our zoning code for the last 50 years. On June 25th Denver's new context- based zoning code became a reality, with a unanimous City Council vote. The first step for most of us is to begin to understand how the new code will affect our biggest investment.The city has created great tools to help you understand the new zoning code. Check out the What's My Zoning' tab on the Community Planning and Development page of http://www.DenverGov.org. There you'll be able to enter your address and see where you fall into the alphabet soup that is the new code. How to decipher that info is on page 2.9 of Using the Code' (there's a tab on the same http://www.DenverGov.org page.) The chart there will help.
For example, I'm in Sunnyside and my new code is U (urban) - SU (single unit) - C (minimum lot size 5000 ft) 1 (accessory dwelling unit allowed). U-SU-C1! I could build an Urban Context, single family home, with one detached accessory dwelling unit.
Once you've determined your new zone, you can dig further into contexts, forms, and uses in the 1024-page document (if that's your idea of a good time). The rest of us will probably try to learn a little about what this allows us (and our neighbors!) to do with our homes. And we'll all wait to see what this new code will do for our home values. Stay tuned.
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