Over the past three years, developers have been buying small single-family homes in Sloan’s Lake and West Highland to tear them down to build modern, owner-occupied multiple- unit properties more familiar to the tony Cherry Creek area.
All the new construction has sparked a clash in the northwest Denver neighborhoods. Longtime residents living in two-bedroom homes worth $200,000 are looking aghast at the large new construction going up next door, some of which have units that sell for up to $700,000. Others see the modern buildings as adding to the neighborhood and potentially adding to the value of their own properties.
The issue, which has roiled the neighborhoods of Sloan’s Lake and West Highland over the past year, will come before the Denver City Council for a final decision tonight in the form of a zoning proposal that would largely limit development to single-family homes.
At stake is the outcome of a hot-button neighborhood issue that affects 700 structures and could have ramifications for similar fights percolating throughout the city.
Some longtime residents view the new construction as destroying the West Highland and Sloan’s Lake neighborhoods. They decry the loss of downtown views and of affordable housing. They worry whether the development might tap into high water tables and cause an environmental mess.
“As far as I’m concerned, when they are building these things in my neighborhood, my rights have been taken away,” said Jude Aiello, a leading backer of a zoning change that would place new restrictions on development. “They are taking away my sun and my views and my rights to privacy.”
She has lived in Sloan’s Lake for 31 years and cherishes the flowering crabapple trees. She talks of how developers bought up one rental unit, forcing a longtime neighbor to move out to the suburbs.
She has taken to sending the distinctive blond brick used in the 1950s-era homes getting torn down to City Council members with notes attached asking the council to prevent a journey to the landfill.
She and other residents want to bar developers from tearing down single-family homes and replacing them with duplexes or multiplexes.
“Draconian approach”
Another faction, though, says restricting multiunit projects will make their land less desirable to developers. They fear they will see lower returns on their property investments and contend the rezoning plan would still permit development of large, single- family McMansions.
“It’s a draconian approach to a problem that needs to be dealt with in design guidelines,” said Larry Ambrose, president of the Sloan’s Neighborhood Association who lives one block outside the affected area. His group has passed a resolution opposing the change.
Mike Crawford moved to the Sloan’s Lake neighborhood in February 2007, buying a Denver four square and an adjoining lot with a cottage. He had hopes of selling the lot with the cottage about 10 years from now to a developer and viewed it as an investment that would pay to send his daughter to college.
“We’re going to lose $100,000 on our investment if they do this,” he said. “It’s going to kill us.”
The northwest Denver fight has grown bitter with neighbors undercutting one another in various forums. Opponents argued Aiello is hypocritical, considering she violated the city’s rules guiding where air- conditioning units can be installed. Neighbors tried to force her to remove her air conditioner.
The city’s community and planning department is supporting those who want to prevent the duplexes and multiplexes. Planners stress that the rezoning is in keeping with Blueprint Denver, a massive overhaul of development guidelines that is supposed to shape future growth in the city.
That blueprint called for more density in some areas of the city, such as along Colfax Avenue on the east side, and less in others, like Sloan’s Lake and West Highland.
The issue has divided the council. Councilman Rick Garcia, whose district includes the two neighborhoods, is supporting the rezoning, though he also crafted language that would prevent implementation until January to give developers time to finish some projects.
He has hosted meetings on the subject where crowds spilled into the streets outside his district office.
But Councilman Charlie Brown, whose council campaigns have received developer contributions, is looking to kill the proposal tonight.
Normally, a rezoning can occur on a simple majority vote, meaning seven members are needed to approve a change.
This time around, more than 20 percent of the property owners are contesting the zoning change, which means it will pass only if 10 council members approve.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
