When construction in the city of Denver was booming before the Silver Crash of 1893, many migrated east of the city center to establish an upscale residential neighborhood. This was when many prominent residents like Henry Brown, George Ransom Swallow, and Ellen E. Ramsdall bankrolled development in the area.
Since many of Denver’s most ornate and opulent homes are in City Park West and Uptown, the area has been designated a National Historic District.
City Park West is bound by 23rd Avenue on the north, Colfax Avenue on the south, York Street on the east and Downing Street on the west. It is an area of mainly single-family homes, smaller apartment buildings, and a very big hospital complex. The medical facilities of Presbyterian/St. Luke's Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, and a number of other medical office buildings and related facilities are rapidly growing in the center of the neighborhood.
Yet, the area of City Park West is still changing. East Colfax is showing evidence of new vitality and investment among this important commercial corridor, with great potential for additional infill projects. There are a number of smaller, multi-family projects being built on vacant or underutilized lots among the mature landscape and classic early-20th century homes for which the neighborhood is known.
City Park West Rezoning
On October 27, 2003, City Council unanimously approved two new overlay zone districts for the City Park West neighborhood. Portions of the neighborhood are now zoned R-3/OD-9 and R-4/OD-9. These overlays will help to protect the existing neighborhood character by controlling height, bulk, setbacks and parking for new construction. City Council also unanimously approved the R-4/OD-1 for a portion of the neighborhood where higher-density redevelopment is more appropriate. All four overlay applications implemented recommendations from the City's land use and transportation plan, Blueprint Denver.
Why does City Park West need to be rezoned?
Most of the City Park West neighborhood is zoned for high-density residential and office uses, with R-4 and R-3 zoning. Although this zoning has been in place since the 1950’s, most of the neighborhood has retained the scale of the single-family homes that were built 100 years ago. Denver’s land use and transportation plan, known as Blueprint Denver, and the Uptown Neighborhood Plan both found that the R-3 and R-4 zoning allow development that is inconsistent with the existing neighborhood structures and that is inappropriate for the long-term stability and health of the neighborhood. The plans direct that the zoning be changed. The overlay zone districts were found to be the most direct and effective tool for addressing the problems with the existing zoning
What is the OD-9?
Overlay District 9 (OD-9) was created specifically for blocks within City Park West. It was applied to the portion of the neighborhood between Colfax and East 17th Avenue at Humbolt Street in 1999. The OD-9 limits new building heights to 35 feet, imposes a more restrictive bulk plane for new construction, requires that parking be located on the back half of the lot, requires that 25% of the lot be left as open space, and requires that the front setback be the average of the adjacent structures, or 15 feet, whichever is more. The OD-9 language includes a specific provision that the overlay regulations only apply to structures built after the adoption date of September 1, 1999. If a structure was built before then, the new regulations do not apply.
