We are Denver YIMBYs for GOOD and we say: No Upzoning Recommendations in Denver!
We are a diverse group of residents who live in Denver including the East Area of Park Hill and Montclair. Some of us have owned our homes for decades, some of us are new. Some of us own some of the larger homes in the area, but most of us own the smallest, most affordable single-family homes, because that is what we could afford. But what unites us is that we all bought our homes with the existing zoning in mind.
Denver's East Area Plan proposes to change the area's zoning recommendations to allow for higher buildings. That is simply not right – they cannot change recommendations or zoning without approval of the residents who already live here. They don't have our approval. We've been to the city meetings and discussions surrounding the East Area Plan, and there were hundreds of people who LIVE in our neighborhood who were upset and do NOT approve of ANY height increase recommendations. The current zoning and recommendations are plenty sufficient for more than enough growth. We have been paying our property taxes, including the much higher taxes that have been forced upon us for years, for some, decades. Yet, the city planners whom our taxes pay salaries for are not listening to us, they're listening to developers with dollar signs in their eyes.
We bought our homes here because we value these historic houses – even if they are small or outdated. We bought our homes here because we value the open spaces, large yards, trees, and the diverse and abundant landscaping of our neighborhood. We bought in this neighborhood because we wanted to live in an established, quiet place. We did not buy in these neighborhoods so that we could be bombarded with never-ending construction zone and to have the zoning recommendations changed on us.
This is unacceptable. Denver city planners have heard our voices online and in city meetings, and the vast majority of residents who actually LIVE in these neighborhoods DO NOT want any increased height recommendations or upzoning.
Denver, Listen to your constituents, your tax-payers:
You do NOT have our permission to increase height restrictions along Colfax.