What's New.....
March 15 2007:
If you haven't yet walked along 32nd Avenue just west of Osceola, go for a stroll and see the current status of the Bill
Moore/Sprocket Design steroidal show. It will take your breath away! And may cause other physical reactions.... If you haven't
already, read the earlier bit about West 32nd Avenue here.
Remember: The greenest house is the one already built!
March 26, 2007
We've added the little slogan along most of the header pages saying "The greenest house is the one already built!"

It's a deliberate dig at the local developer opponents of our efforts who have used the slogan "Think Green" on their construction
site signs and yard signs.

We, naturally, thought their slogan referred to the unusual profits they were scrounging off estate sales, but not so!

They were actually suggesting that  scrape-and-replace-with-stick-and-stucco was a superior, environmentally positive solution
for urban housing. Superior to the renovation/re-hab/re-use of our existing housing stock. Well, that was strange since all the data
says otherwise. So we added the bit at the top of each page.

We are, of course, shameless thieves. Credit for the phrasing must go to Jim Lundberg, another citizen of fair Denver and
another mule in the same field. He lives in Platte Park and works hard to find stabilizing solutions for our "being-mangled"
neighborhoods.
16 April 2007
Several of us met with Kent Strapko of the Denver Community Planning and Development agency and
Councilman Rick Garcia to discuss the status of the applications to re-zone submitted in November of 2006
and Stapko's letter to us regarding the fees required to proceed. He acknowledged a key unanswered
question and other unclear items in his letter of 23 February 2007. Molasses has nothing on these guys!
Perhaps we'll receive a follow-up letter by mid-summer....

Following that meeting, this letter was sent to Councilman Garcia.
April update:
March updates:
October/November/December updates:
19 October 2007:

FEES WAIVED!!!!

Finally, after months of discussion and a final push for petition signatures, on October 19th, CPD officially
notified the right-zoning applicants that the fees would be waived and the applications would be submitted to
the Planning Board and then to Council for action!

As is par for the course, however, there will be first yet another "community meeting" hosted by the Planning
Department and Councilman Garcia. This will allow all interested parties to speak and ask questions of the
Planning staff regarding the issues and practicalities and impacts of the potential rezoning.

That meeting will be announced by first class mailings to all property owners in the application areas as well as
all owners within 200 feet of the boundaries of the application areas.

After this, no developer should be able to show up at a council hearing and claim:  "Well, nobody told me
about this! It was all done behind closed doors!"
19 December 2007:

Planning Department recommends Approval of our right zoning applications! (Click here to read.)

Unfortunately, the Planning Board members couldn't agree less and chose to continue their deliberations on
January 16th, same time and place... After they have time to consult more deeply with CPD staff... The four
most senior members of the Board seemed to choke on the notion that Blueprint Denver actually means what it
says about supporting neighborhood stability or, amazingly, that a built-out R2 district would be qualitatively
different from a built-out R1 district.

And these folks are the mayor's hand-picked experts on zoning issues!!!!
January update:
16 January 2008:

Well, that was special. The mayoral appointees on the Planning Board, after reviewing so carefully the data
presented (wink/wink) by Peter Park and the CPD staff on the correctness of the right zoning applications,
stuck with their initial positions from December and voted 9 to 1 to deny approval.

You hadda be there.... Turns out that Blueprint Denver is not to be taken "literally" (Aldrete); that even 51%
in favor is "too low a bar" for consideration (Delanoy); that the Planning Board's role is not to follow the
guidelines of Blueprint Denver, but to exercise their own judgment of what is good or bad for the city (Chair
Kelly and others); that "single family residential" is essentially the same as "single family/duplex" (Corn); etc,
ad nauseum. What self-serving, arrogant ignorance!

Only Jeff Walker supported the applications. This is a pattern of at least two years standing: Walker being
the single vote any time homeowners contest with developers on an issue. Sad.

Next up: The Blueprint Denver committee of Council gets to wrestle with the future of Denver neighborhoods,
to choose between the community based vision of Blueprint or the self-serving "judgement" of the developer
cabal now in full-throated, cornered animal mode.
February update:
19 February 2008:

Remember the "Language Amendment" that would make existing multiplexes conforming in R1/R0 zone districts?
It's described on the tab "And Multiplexes?" on the left.

It was passed by the Planning Board a year ago and had been held at Blueprint Denver committee of City
Council until last month when it had first reading. The public hearing and vote was scheduled for the City Council
meeting Tuesday night, 19 February.

Oopsy daisy; no can do! Council voted 7-5 to continue the debate until 17 March because, uh because, well
because.... Those voting to continue had one major stated cause: insufficient notification of affected
homeowners. (And a case can be made for that.)
27 February 2008:

The rezone applications for Sloan's Lake and West Highland will be considered by the
Blueprint Denver committee of City Council at 1:30 in Conference Room 391 of the City and
County Building.

Committee members are Robb, Chair; Madison, Vice-Chair; Boigon, Brown, Garcia, Johnson,
and Montero. Citizens may observe, but it is NOT a public hearing.

Have you sent in your letter or email of support yet?
But the real reason was that it's now clear to Council that if the Blueprint Denver proposed new zone districts are
going to be implemented, this amendment (or something very like it) will be necessary. And there is a vocal
minority on Council that opposes actually stabilizing by zoning the existing single family neighborhoods
of Denver. They know they are not a majority!

That minority is in thrall to the real estate and developer interests.

Another minority is strongly supportive of homeowner interests, but there is as yet no majority watching out for
the interests of Denver homeowners and the promises of Blueprint Denver to protect and conserve our
neighborhoods!

March 17th!? OMG! That's St Paddy's day and night!
11 February 2008:

On the West Highland page, we've added the latest plywood gem on Stuart St.  See it Here.
March/April update:
It's Blueprint Denver's Birthday!

Blueprint Denver was adopted as Denver's comprehensive transportation and land use plan six
years ago (2002) this month. Since then, it has served as the basis for RTD planning for
enhanced bus service, justification for rail transit plans, and for the massive up-zoning required
to support the East Coast level density of residential projects and mixed use projects across the
city in "Areas of Change".

What it has not been used for is to drive the rezonings and design standards required to stabilize
Denver's mostly single family urban neighborhoods, designated in Blueprint as "Areas of
Stability".

This month, for the first time, a wide area rezoning has finally and successfully negotiated two
years of hoops and made it onto the City Council agenda!

It should never have taken this long and it should never have required citizen effort. It should
have been done by city staffers, by the Council, and by the Mayor simply implementing
Blueprint Denver: the comprehensive plan we all approved six years ago! But they have been
too busy making sure Denver was "Open for Business". And they forgot that Denver exists to
serve the citizens, not suburban-based two-bit developers who see the rules as opportunities to
scam, not spirits to treasure.
28 April 2008:
Denver City Council voted 11-2 to right-zone the areas in question from R2 to R1 after 10
hours of public comment.

Only CB & Faatz voted "No"...

Thanks to everyone who helped bring the issues forward, clarified the points of debate,
and brought the residential Areas of Stability side of Blueprint Denver to a decision!

Now, for the rest of our neighborhoods!