The Denver City Council approved a contentious rezoning late Monday, but it also crafted a compromise that will allow a property owner to go forward with a multiunit housing project despite the change.
The council debated the topic until well after 11 p.m. An 11 to 2 majority, led by Councilwoman Carla Madison, finally supported the rezoning for a portion of Park Hill.
An amendment to the rezoning had passed earlier in the night on a 9 to 4 vote. That amendment allows property owner Chad Anderson to proceed with a controversial development for nine townhomes.
The wider rezoning would prevent similar multiunit development in the 21.5 acres bordered by East 16th Avenue, Batavia Place, Albion Street and Dahlia Street. It would change the zoning from R2, a category which allows duplexes and multiplexes, to an R1 zoning category, which places more restrictions on density and limits new development to single-family residences.
Anderson pleaded with the council to allow his project to go forward, saying he had invested more than $1 million and faced bankruptcy if his plans were denied. He said he had bought out an earlier partner, developer Greg Thomas, who had angered residents by pushing a bigger plan for 40 three-story townhomes.
Rezoning debates have been among the most controversial subjects for the council to tackle, and this one proved no less volatile. Tensions were high throughout the night, with both sides saying their property rights were at stake. Most neighborhood residents favored limiting development to single-family homes.
Rezoning opponent Mere dith Carson told the council that a developer had planned to buy her lot with a small bungalow. The rezoning proposal scared that developer away, she said, and her property is now worth $150,000 less.
“That’s all I’ve got,” she said of the home she owns, her voice trembling. “I’m a single parent. I raised my children in that house.”
