In what could be a lesson for Buffalo’s recently adopted Green Code, Mark Johnson writes for the Colorado Real Estate Journal about his experience with Denver’s form-based zoning code, “I sat on the Denver Planning Board in the 1990s and watched the beginning of today’s debates about growth. When we developed Blueprint Denver, the ideas about stability and change emerged through community dialogue.” “While good in concept, this idea has not worked very well. Just because a neighborhood is ‘stable’ does not mean it should never change, and just because an area might ‘change’ should not mean anything goes. Our new zoning code has not calmed the dialogue; instead, the discourse is more divided than ever.” “Should higher densities be allowed? That should depend on the balanced judgment of people, including the neighbors, considering the many consequences of new development. But that does not mean that the immediate neighbors should hold veto power, nor does it mean that land use decisions should go to a public vote, a demand that is frequently made in cities that are even more divided than ours.” “One of the biggest limits to considered debate is our newest tactical fad, fake news. Proponents and opponents both label and assert things that elevate the dialogue from semirational to mostly emotional. Once that line is crossed, those who have turned emotional rarely return to reason—no matter how false the claims may be, their feelings are very real. We can’t let alternative facts enter the decisions that affect our quality of life and the safety and livability of our neighborhoods. We are all in this together so we need to find better ways of working together to protect what we value.”
