By Marcia Johnson, District 5 City Councilwoman
In the coming summer months, the long-awaited update to Denver’s Zoning Code will be rolled at neighborhood meetings around the City for review and comment. Eventually, the old “R1, B4” zoning language will be thrown out in exchange for a more sophisticated and user-friendly code.
I need your help as the City vets the proposed new Code, to make sure that the new code respects the unique character of Mayfair. Mayfair Neighbors will need to select a dedicated community member to attend meetings to learn about the new Zoning Code, to talk to their neighbors, and to share those opinions with myself and City staff. Together, we will craft a new Zoning Code that will last well into Denver’s future. Please contact Scott Babcock, president of Mayfair Neighbors, Inc., if you are interested in representing your neighborhood through this process.
In January of 2005, the City embarked on an effort to overhaul the 52-year Zoning Code. Community participation has been the cornerstone of every step of this process, and this year we will enter the final stages before the new Zoning Code is adopted. The new Zoning Code is a context and form based approach that will provide both neighbors and developers more predictability.
The updated Zoning Code will contain a much-needed fix to our residential zoning categories. Today’s zoning doesn’t take distinctive characteristics into account, and has led to the disruption of neighborhood character in many well-established Denver communities. Even though large sections of Mayfair, Hilltop and Lowry, for instance, share the same zoning classification today, they certainly don’t follow the same form. One neighborhood might have alley-loaded garages, while another has garages that face a street. One may have wide, shallow lots, while the lots in another are long and narrow. Some have sidewalks and some do not. The new Zoning Code will better preserve such contextual differences between and within neighborhoods.
Please feel free to contact my office with your thoughts, questions or concerns any time at 303-355-4615 or marcia.johnson@denvergov.org.
By Carol Boigon - City Councilwoman At-large
Denver is a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family, but not always for aging residents. Denver’s zoning code did not recognize assisted living facilities. These are apartment-type buildings with some daily living services, more services than age-restricted apartments called “residences for older adults” and less than skilled nursing care in nursing homes. Zoning made them difficult to open in Denver, easier to open in the suburbs.
Ordinance Passed
On Jan. 26, 2009, Denver City Council passed my ordinance by unanimous vote to add assisted living as a permitted use in the code in some zone categories as either a “use by right” or by “review of the zoning administrator.” The Mayor’s Aging Matters Task Force, led by Rev. Lucia Guzman, executive director of the City’s Agency for Human Rights and Community Relations, strongly supported this ordinance.
Denver’s senior population is projected to grow by 2.8 percent a year as “baby boomers” reach age 65. In 2005, seniors aged 65 and older were 11 percent of Denver’s population; by 2035, they may reach 17 percent.
Aging Denver residents should not give up friends, shops, churches and doctors to find help with daily living. One of four goals of Denver’s Summit on Aging (November, 2006) is: “Promote housing, development patterns and community design features that make Denver a livable community for people of all ages and abilities, especially our elders.” Plain zoning for assisted living will make it faster and easier to choose acceptable sites and gain approvals to operate assisted living facilities in Denver.
Definitions
The ordinance defines assisted living as residential facilities serving more than 8 adults that offer personal and protective services, social care due to impaired capacity to live independently, and limited medical and nursing care. Assisted living facilities are NOT licensed to serve substance abusers or the mentally ill.
I wrote the law to make sure assisted living could be built all around the City. It now is allowed in high density residential, business, hospital, main street, residential mixed use, commercial mixed use, and mass transit zones. Parking requirements are high to protect neighborhoods.
