UPDATE - September 2024: Our opening brief has been filed. The County and the other defendants have until Sept. 20 to file answer briefs. DWNA then has two weeks to file a reply brief. After that, it's in the hands of the judge with no deadline for a decision. It will likely take two to six months.

DWNA Appealing County Rezoning for Massive Multi-Family Development

In January, DWNA and two neighbors filed an appeal of the County's approval of a rezoning to allow 67, three-story townhomes on a property surrounded on three sides by mostly single-family homes. The property is on W. 7th Ave., just north of the Curling Center and had been zoned for single-family homes and duplexes.

Why DWNA Appealed Townhomes Approval...

Two Jeffco commissioners believe this is compatible right next to single-family homes in our neighborhood...

For comparison, here are nearby houses. (Use the cars to compare the scale.)

Why the Appeal

There are several reasons why DWNA appealed the approval. Although these appeals are difficult to win because they have special rules and the courts do not like to overturn the decisions of elected officials, it is clear to us that the decision by the County is legally flawed. The County needs to know that it must follow the rules and not make decisions based on the personal agendas of two commissioners. Yes, there is a serious housing shortage in Jeffco and the metro area, and our commissioners should be working to fix that. That does not mean County and state laws can be ignored when making rezoning decisions just for the sake of putting high-density housing anyplace in the county. If we let this approval go uncontested, the two commissioners will feel emboldened to approve high-density housing elsewhere in our neighborhood and throughout unincorporated Jeffco.

The Laws Must Be Followed

Here are those four criteria

• Compatibility with the allowed and existing uses around the site - As the photos above make clear, what was proposed is not compatible with the existing uses...mostly one-story, single-family houses that are nothing like what would be built. The approved density is 19 housing units per acre when the surrounding area has a density of just four to five homes per acre. And a quick search on Google Maps didn't find a single roof top deck on existing houses.
• Conformance with Jeffco's Comprehensive Master Plan - The Jeffco Planning Commission found that it clearly does not conform. The CMP is a planning document with recommendations of what kinds of development should happen at locations throughout the County. The CMP's recommendation for that area of our neighborhood - made most recently in 2011 - is that almost all of the houses between Eldridge and Indiana should be cleared away and replaced with retail, offices and research and development facilities. And when that happens, there should be residential development on the east side of that area, with single-family homes closest to the Eldridge side and multi-family farther west. A campus of 67 townhomes is multi-family development and the county is placing it along the east side, where the CMP says it shouldn't go. Obviously, the retail, office and R&D development has not happened. The CMP clearly states that if development does not happen as recommended, then any zoning changes can be made only "when all property owners in the area agree with the change." That condition was ignored.
• Mitigation of adverse impacts - The applicant and planning staff stated adverse impacts would be mitigated, but didn't say how and were not challenged by two of the commissioners on that claim. There was no evidence provided that overflow parking from the townhomes will not clog streets in the surrounding neighborhood, or how having 60+ rooftop decks will not create an invasion of privacy or disrupt the serenity of the neighborhood, or how sending 500+ car trips through the neighborhood every day can be prevented from adversely impacting the safety of those living in the neighborhood.
• The effects on the health, safety and welfare of local residents - The commissioners, applicant and staff never said how placing a massive, multi-family development - with the added noise, commotion, light pollution, parking issues and traffic - right next to single-family homes will not impact the health, safety and welfare of our neighbors.

"Spot Zoning" is Prohibited in Colorado

We believe there are several other serious flaws in the approval that should be reviewed by the courts. Among the most obvious is one known as "spot zoning," which is prohibited in Colorado. A highly regarded Colorado law books says, "The test for determining whether a particular action constitutes spot zoning is whether the action is designed to relieve a certain piece of property from zoning restrictions in spite of—rather than in conformance with—the jurisdiction’s comprehensive plan." We believe this rezoning easily passes that test since, as we explained above, this is out of conformance with the CMP and is not compatible with surrounding uses.

The Planning Commission spent more than an hour challenging staff's conclusion that the proposal met all five criteria and staff failed to make its case. Yet two of the county commissioners somehow never challenged staff's findings despite overwhelming evidence that those findings were not supported by the facts. It's now up to the courts to decide whether the rezoning will stand. Everyone in our Daniels Welchester neighborhood has a stake in this.