Ending a four-month moratorium on large residential developments in Golden, city council passed Phase II of changes to the Golden Municipal Code by a six-to-one vote on July 25.

Councilman Jim Dale voted no, citing disagreements with some of the restrictions.

Phase II concerns lot design regulations; vertical bulk plane encroachments such as solar panels or swamp coolers, for example; and Special Use Permits (SUP) that allow multifamily developments in commercial zone districts.

City council decided to remove rooftop deck regulations from the proposed changes, as they were deemed to be too restrictive. These will be further discussed at a later date.

Minor subdivision restrictions

Each lot in a minor subdivision application will be limited to six total lot lines to comprise the lot’s front, rear and side lot lines. This means the property will be restricted to “simple lot shape configurations that are consistent with the established lot layout of the neighborhoods they occupy,” states city documents. This will prevent oddly configured lots resulting in multiple lot widths and setbacks.

SUP’s for 100% residential in commercial zoning

Any project in commercial zoning that proposes more than 75% of the development be residential must obtain a Special Use Permit through Planning Commission. This process will not change.

The code changes, however, will ensure that those developments follow the standards — height and bulk, respectively — of the R-3 zone district.

For these developments in portions of the downtown core, additional standards related to setbacks and open space from the Community Mixed Use (CMU) zoning regulations will put in place to “ensure that residential development within the downtown area better conforms to the character of this more pedestrian focused environment,” states city documents.

The moratorium

Prompted by Golden residents voicing concerns about large development projects not matching neighborhood character, Golden City Council implemented a 120-day moratorium on March 21.

On June 13, city council voted unanimously to pass Phase I of the code changes. These included lot and bulk standards for residential developments in the R-2 and R-3 zone districts, which are both residential zoning.

Phase II was the final implementation of the code changes.

Recap of Phase I changes

The maximum height for buildings with one dwelling unit in the R-3 district is 30 feet. Buildings in the R-3 district that have more than two dwelling units and located on a lot that is more than 10,500 square feet in area are allowed to be 35 feet in height.

A two-family household building and its accessory building in the R-2 and R-3 zone districts may not exceed more than 50% of the total lot area. An exception is if the building has an unenclosed front porch that is a minimum size of 48 square feet and a minimum depth of five feet.