There’s no denying that Denver, along with much of the rest of the county, has recovered from the 2008 recession and continues to ride a strong period of economic growth. For those of us in the real estate industry, counting the number of cranes visible from our office windows and the number of neighbors opposed
Denver Replaces General Development Plan Process and Standards for Large Projects
On July 8, 2019, Denver’s City Council approved sweeping changes to the approval process and standards for large development projects. The Amendment to the Denver Zoning Code replaces the General Development Plan (GDP) process and standards with new Large Development Review (LDR) and Infrastructure Master Plan (IMP) processes and standards.
An approved LDR will now be required for projects in excess of 5 acres, prior to proceeding with an IMP, site development plan, rezoning, subdivision, or other project approvals. Existing GDPs may also be impacted, as discussed below. Developers evaluating larger sites and landowners within existing GDPs in Denver should be aware of the new LDR and IMP processes and familiarize themselves with the Code Amendment.
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Lakewood Voters Pass Strategic Growth Initiative
This post was authored by Alexandra Haggarty. Alex is a summer clerk at Otten Johnson, and a rising 3L at the University of Colorado Law School.
This post is an update on three earlier posts about a citizen initiative to limit residential growth in Lakewood, Colorado.
With a near 53 percent majority, voters in the City of Lakewood approved Ballot Question 200, capping growth of residential unit construction by one percent annually and requiring city council approval of projects with forty or more units. The city joins Boulder and neighboring Golden in responding to Colorado’s population growth by capping development.
Proponents of the initiative argue that it will preserve Lakewood’s culture and environment. Specifically, the initiative was pitched as a way to preserve open space, protect single-family development, ensure that infrastructure and services are not overburdened, and curb alleged problems of unmanaged growth, such as crime and urban decay.
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Denver Cracks Down on Short-term Rental Violations
For the second time in a month, Denver made headlines for filing felony charges against a short-term rental “host.” In both cases, the accused had executed a notarized affidavit confirming that the property served as the host’s primary residence, which is a requirement under Denver’s short-term rental regulations. The charges resulted from investigations by
Supreme Court Rules That Takings Claims Can Be Brought In Federal Court, Reversing 30-Year-Old Precedent
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Knick v. Township of Scott, in which the Court ruled that a plaintiff in a takings claim need not first exhaust state-court remedies before bringing the claim before a federal court. The decision, addressing a largely procedural matter, is expected to lead to an increase in federal court litigation involving takings issues, and likely increases the chances that local governments may be required to compensate landowners where regulation devalues private property.
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