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For more than 15 years, Denver’s comprehensive plan, “Blueprint Denver,” has taken a binary view of neighborhood change—either a neighborhood should expect to change, or it shouldn’t—but it’s looking as though that practice might soon end.  The current system, under which every City lot lies within an “area of stability” or an “area of change,” now seems likely to disappear in favor of a four-tiered categorization developing as part of the “Denveright” long-range planning process.

A bit of background: under Blueprint Denver, the City aims to funnel development into “areas of change” that comprise roughly one fifth of Denver’s land area.  The plan’s complementary goal is in turn to limit growth in “areas of stability” that cover the balance.  Denver development pressure has to some extent followed that vision crafted in 2002, especially as new projects have advanced along
Continue Reading Denver to Take More Nuanced Approach to Growth Planning

As Denver’s housing market continues to thrive, so, too, do the development-related concerns of existing residents.  The rapid pace of development in many City-close neighborhoods has at times pitted residents desiring attractive, pedestrian-oriented communities against developers responding to high demand for urban housing options.  On Monday, August 22, 2016, the Denver City Council passed a pair of City-wide development moratoria aimed at addressing parking and architectural issues.  CB16-0498 concerns use of the City’s small zone lot parking exemption.  CB-16-0541 places a one-year moratorium on use of the Zoning Code’s Garden Court Building Form.  Both bills passed with a unanimous vote of Councilmembers present and took effect August 25, 2016. 
Continue Reading Denver City Council Passes Pair of Development Moratoria

As the outcome of Reed v. Town of Gilbert hangs in the balance, another case challenging a local sign code has been filed with the Supreme Court. This week, the plaintiff in Central Radio Company, Inc. v. City of Norfolk filed a petition for writ of certiorari seeking review of the Fourth Circuit Court of…

For the second time in two years, a negotiated settlement will prevent the U.S. Supreme Court from deciding the validity of disparate impact claims under the Federal Fair Housing Act.  The governing body of Mount Holly Township, New Jersey, voted November 13 to approve an out-of-court settlement in the case of Township of Mount Holly …