Petitioners asked the zoning committee to rezone a long-vacant house on West Colfax from Urban Neighborhood 1 to Urban Flex to allow small professional offices such as mental-health therapy, mediators, accountants and small professional suites. The owner’s representative said the property had been vacant for more than four years, had experienced unauthorized occupants and exterior damage, and that the owner intends to invest in exterior repairs and landscaping.

Why it matters: staff and petitioners said the proposed limited commercial use would activate a long-dormant property and remove an eyesore, but neighbors and at least one councilmember raised concerns about loss of housing stock in a legacy residential block and asked for limitations in written commitments. Petitioners submitted written commitments that would restrict allowable uses largely to professional offices and personal services and would codify design standards intended to preserve neighborhood scale. Staff told the committee the commitments would run with the property but could be modified or terminated by the plan commission at a future public hearing.

Details of the petition and commitments: the petitioner’s representative described the intended uses as small-office professional services; she said there would be no residential occupancy and no mixed-use dwelling. The written commitments limit the field of allowable uses, specify height and design controls, and narrow the range of uses otherwise permitted in Urban Flex to align the building with neighborhood context. Committee members asked specifically about signage allowances under Urban Neighborhood zoning (a freestanding sign up to 32 square feet is permitted in the zoning code) and whether the petitioner had engaged neighbors; the petitioner said she had spoken with some immediate neighbors but not the neighborhood association and that several neighbors had expressed concerns.

Public comment and outcome: no members of the public testified at the committee meeting; several council members expressed that the case was difficult because the site sits inside a stable residential block near the cemetery. The committee voted to forward the petition with a favorable recommendation (committee tally recorded as four yays and one nay). Staff and petitioners agreed to notify neighbors and to return with clarifications if needed at later hearings.