December 2025 Zoning Committee Updates
It has been a busy time in the zoning committee! The following are some updates surrounding recent work by the committee on neighborhood issues.
50 S Bellaire Street – Encroachment into City Right-of-Way
Approximately two years ago, the owners of 50 S Bellaire Street built retaining walls with a fence, without a permit, into the City Right-of-Way. It is not uncommon for people to misunderstand where their property lines are, assume that they own the land all the way to the sidewalk or curb, and install landscaping into this area. In fact, property lines in Hilltop are often quite a distance back from the sidewalk or curb. This should have been realized in this case as the owners had recently done major construction. They built the walls 5’ into the S Bellaire Street right-of-way and 3’ into the E Bayaud Ave right-of-way. When the City realized this, they ordered the owners to remove the walls. At the time, the Hilltop Neighborhood Association wrote a letter supporting the City’s position.
The case worked its way through various City agencies, with the owners ultimately proposing they remove the wall just at the intersection and build a diagonal retaining wall with the goal of improving sight lines. They requested an Encroachment Permit for the remaining sections of the wall. We were asked to review this proposal. We visited the site and surroundings and discussed the situation with neighbors.
Our final position was to accept the encroachment into the S Bellaire Street right-of-way as long as they completed construction of a sidewalk (which would terminate at the intersection). We also accepted the proposal to remove the walls at the intersection and building a diagonal retaining wall. However, given that E Bayaud Ave is: an extremely narrow street at this block, that there is no sidewalk, that it is a designated City Bicycle Route, that it is one block south of Graland School and three blocks east of RTD bus stops on Colorado Blvd., and that pedestrians and others frequent this block, the Association requests that the encroachments along E Bayaud Ave be removed. Any wall or fence should be located at the property line. The Zoning Committee Chair met with Councilperson Sawyer and representatives of the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. Councilperson Sawyer supports our position. This position has been communicated to the owners.
445 N Dahlia Street – Request for Zoning Variances
The owners of 445 N Dahlia Street have proposed building a second-story addition that would encroach 1’-9 1⁄2” into the 5’ setback along their north property line and 2’-10” into the north bulk plane. Their “Justifying Circumstance” is that their house, built in 1936, pre-dates the current Zoning Ordinance and was built at this location; they were proposing to match the existing setback encroachment with the addition. They filed a Zoning Variance Application for this work.
Members of the Association Zoning Committee reviewed the rules and the drawings prepared by the applicants. We also met on site and with neighbors, as is our standard on any zoning variance appeal. All five neighbors we met with opposed the variances, and the Association wrote a letter supporting this opposition.
During a meeting of the Denver Board of Adjustment on December 2nd, the BOA ultimately voted, by a 3-2 majority, to approve the proposed encroachment into the side yard setback but not to approve the encroachment into the north bulk plane. The applicants will revise their design accordingly.
Board of Adjustment Updates
Your Association continues to be notified of issues around our neighborhood regarding various cases before the Board of Adjustment. These cases include fences, garages, additions, etc. that have been built without a permit or are being proposed to be built and/or/would violate the Zoning or other City Codes. The association will generally find themselves mediating between neighbors and the City, although we typically support the Code. To avoid the headaches and heartaches involved in these cases before the BOA; Please always get a permit before building anything on your property!
