After close to a year of work, Golden City Council got its first look at the Phase 1 Draft Rezoning Map, part of a larger plan tied to the City’s comprehensive zoning code rewrite.

Because of the extensive legal review required, the project was divided into two phases.

Golden Director of Community and Economic Development Rick Muriby walked councilors through Phase 1, which map explicitly addresses the residential (R1, R1A R2, and R3) aspect of the proposed zoning code rewrite, as the City’s current residential moratorium will expire mid-May.

Phase 1 does not include RM, which defines zoning for mobile homes.

Phase 2 will address nonresidential portions of the zoning code.

In a weekly public broadcast with Golden Mayor Laura Weinberg, Muriby said the expansive multi-year project was triggered back in 2018-2019 when the City saw several land use cases, especially in the community’s core, where new development was incongruent with existing development.  

It was also not congruent with the City’s vision for its future self.

So the City embarked upon a complete rewrite of its zoning code.

‘What we did was work with a consultant and do this intense analysis of the whole community, and what’s there now, and how it evolved over time,” Muriby said. “And from that, we would have a better understanding of what the future should be.”

Muriby noted that public involvement with the project has been beneficial.

So what might residents see that’s different?

Limiting the size of some new homes, for one.

“Current zoning code does not limit the square footage of homes,” Muriby said. “Our current zoning code is many decades old, and it didn’t forecast that we would want bigger and bigger homes over time.”

Muriby said for the first time, if approved, the city code will limit the square footage of the actual structures to prevent new development from becoming too much for neighborhoods to handle.

“No longer can you grow the size of the building to the size of the lot,” he said.

Other changes include incentivizing the break up of larger multi-family dwellings into smaller units to create a more cohesive look and feel within a specific neighborhood.

Muriby added that the City could offer more flexibility within the new code for developers and builders that preserve existing structures and maintain street-level character.

There will be a public hearing on the new draft zoning code on May 24, 2022.

More information can be found on www.guidinggolden.com.

“It’s been a long road, but I think the results are going to show that it was worth all the effort and everyones’ patience,” Muriby concluded.