A proposed residential-retail development along East Colfax Avenue has neighbors and the city locked in a debate over whether it should be given a new zoning designation that eases parking restrictions and allows for the building to be as high as 65 feet.
If the parcel at East Colfax and Madison Street is rezoned, it would be the first to get the new “Main Street” zoning designation.
The specialized zoning was approved in September to lure more pedestrian-friendly and mixed-use development to East Colfax.
South City Park and Congress Park residents will argue their case before the planning board today.
Neighbors say the rezoning would contradict assurances the area would be developed with low-density projects.
And, residents fear, the approval could pave the way for more high-density projects along the stretch of Colfax, known as the Bluebird District, between York Street and Colorado Boulevard.
“The neighbors are standing with our jaws hanging to our knees saying, ‘Wait a minute,”‘ said neighbor Tom Rutter.
City planning staff recommends the board support the zoning. If approved, the matter will go before the Blueprint Denver committee and then to the City Council.
“We have a situation here where neither of these situations is ideal, but the (rezoning) is closer to good than the (current) version,” said Anna Jones, co-chair of the Colfax Stakeholders Committee.
But one of the problems with having to make this choice, neighbors say, is that the area hasn’t been mapped under the new Main Street plan to reflect development goals.
Neighbors say they were told the Bluebird District would be zoned to allow structures only as tall as 38 feet.
“That is the part of Colfax that was supposed to be lower density,” said Kathleen Hynes, president of Congress Park Neighbors Inc.
“At the time that was true,” said Peter Park, Denver’s manager of community planning and development. But, he added, the nature of the project provided a different opportunity and the need for flexibility.
Developer Len Goldberg said he changed the design, as advised by city planners, and delayed the 39-unit project six months. “This is something the city asked me to do, and I did it at great expense to myself.”
City planners argue the rezoning helps keep the bulk of the development on Colfax and not on Madison, which is lined by single-family homes.
Staff writer Elizabeth Aguilera can be reached at 303-820-1372 or eaguilera@denverpost.com.
