W e blogged a few months back about blanket downzoning taking place in the West Highland, which is moving toward Washington Park West. This downzoning does not allow the scraping or demolition of single family homes to make way for multi-family homes such as duplexes.
A group of citizens in the Highland is now taking aim to limit changes in the character of their neighborhood by starting the process to have their area designated an official historic district. This status will preserve the nature of the area and not just limit the number of dwellings per lot. They’ve currently received a $28,000 grant from the Colorado State Historic Fund to research and document the few blocks in question, which is bound by 29th to 31st Avenues, and Lowell and Irving. This grant must be matched with $9,000 from the community by October 1st , 2008 (For information or to make a contribution, contact Tom or Marilyn Quinn at 303-534-2121 or email West31stAve@msn.com).
The North Denver Tribune recently ran an article about a meeting held to discuss the designation process and how it will affect the community. Representatives from Historic Denver and the Denver Landmarks Preservation Office attended to answer questions and present the advantages and disadvantages of becoming a historic district.
The most obvious advantage is that it will preserve the character of the community. Some studies have also shown that historic designation causes property values to increase at a greater rate. The greatest drawback is that external modifications require a design review and city approval. There are some questions on how "greening" a home conforms with this designation since window replacement to high efficiency models and solar panel installation has been found unacceptable in some districts.
I’m an advocate of sustainable living and part of walkable urbanism requires increased density. The Highland Square area and 32nd Ave are great commercial centers that our community is centered around. By downzoning and not allowing denser development, we make it more difficult to attract quality businesses to our area, which is full of boutique shops and restaurants. It is sad when our old, single story homes that are packed tightly together are overshadowed by a three story behemoth that doesn’t fit into the character of the community. Creating more historic districts do preserve the character but don’t allow for responsible, denser construction for people to move closer to urban nodes and take advantage of our lifestyle where we can walk to shops and bike downtown to work or enjoy a Rockies game.
Leave a comment and share your thoughts on preserving character, lower or higher density development, property rights, and perhaps how we can balance all these factors to maintain a great community.
