ARVADA — big changes are underway around Olde Town Arvada: constant construction, changing design guidelines and high-density apartments being built with more on the way.
Now residents in the Reno Park neighborhood west of Olde Town have asked the city to change a 43-year-old zoning designation for the city’s oldest neighborhood. The goal is to preserve the story of Arvada as it went from a farming community into a post-World War II atomic suburb.
“Reno Park is representative of a turn-of-the-20th-century western residential neighborhood. It was one of those great neighborhoods that was walking distance to a downtown but still close to farming communities,” said Judy Morley, a historian who has written about the area.
The 55 homes in the four-block area built between 1889 and 1953 are solidly built, modest, well preserved and represent many architectural trends. They also fall under zoning that allows for multi-family and commercial uses.
Neighbors fear it’s just a matter of time before nearby homes are purchased and scraped.
“A little over a year ago, we really started noticing that the houses on market were being bought up right away by people not living here and then rented out,” said Sharon England. “With light rail and everything else, it’s very concerning, and we knew we had to act fast.”
Already, neighbors tell of a home built in 1900 going up for auction earlier this year being flipped for a $40,000 profit, then a few weeks later bulldozed.
Troy and Carolyn Thomas gave birth to and raised their young daughters in Reno Park. They said every house has a rich history. A gentleman named George Williams built theirs in 1915, and the same man also dug many of the basements underneath Olde Town businesses.
“This is our first house,” Carolyn Thompson said. “There’s just far too much history and human investment of people’s stories to let this disappear.”
At a recent City Council study session, neighborhood representatives asked to change the zoning to “small lot residential,” meaning no condos, apartments or commercial uses.
But such a designation or new zoning — if it’s eventually approved — does not ensure the homes’ preservation, leaving open the possibility that they could face significant changes and demolition.
The zoning change would also bump up against the city’s comprehensive plan, which calls for medium density as the area faces development pressure from the close proximity to the
“This does go against our comp plan and would require an amendment to change it,” said Cheryl Drake, a community development planner.
Council directed staff to bring forth an application to rezone the area for further study and public comment. In the meantime, all are in agreement that things have to happen quickly. Mayor Marc Williams said he needs to be convinced it’s really what the neighborhood wants.
“At some point developers may come along and say, ‘This will cost me a lot of money to buy multiple lots, but it’s worth it,’ ” Williams said. “Eventually the dollars may say to someone, ‘I need to take the money and run.’ ”
He added, though, if the neighborhood is truly behind it, then “I can support the city doing a city-initiated rezoning.”
Austin Briggs: 303-954-1729, abriggs@denverpost.com or twitter.com/abriggs
