Public Engagement Kickoff - Golden Building Blocks

Greetings Community of Golden! It is time for the City to kick-off the public engagement effort for the Zoning Code Rewrite with a fun, new community-driven exercise titled, Golden Building Blocks. The City is asking you, the residents of Golden to help identify elements of the built environment that you feel best represent the community of Golden and its character. Over the next several months we want you to take pictures of buildings, roadways, city blocks and any other elements that can help City staff better understand the community's perspective on this topic. Through this understanding we will be better able to preserve the character of Golden through future city initiatives and specifically, the code rewrite.

Is it a roof, a yard, a porch, a building’s orientation? Is character best reflected by the sum of all the houses along a city block? Is it the landscaping? You tell us!

Click on the link below to be taken to the main Golden Building Blocks page for more information. In addition, If you click on the image below, you can download a flyer that has more information about the project.

Golden Building Blocks Webpage

The Zoning Code Audit Report Is Now Available

Over the past several months the consultant team has been hard at work analyzing the existing City of Golden Zoning Code for deficiencies and areas of improvement. As this process is now coming to a close, the consultants are required to deliver a report of their findings to City Council for discussion. The audit document, titled the Diagnostic Report, is now available on Guiding Golden. On May 21st, the consultant team discussed with City Council and Planning Commission the findings of the report as well as the tasks for the rewrite of the City of Golden Zoning Code. A copy of the slide deck from that presentation is available in the document library on this page. You can also review that discussion in full through the City of Golden Website.

Please see our FAQ for more information related to the audit and rewrite of the City of Golden zoning code.

*Due to issues with the current pandemic of COVID-19, it is possible that this meeting will be rescheduled to a later date.

Next Steps

• Please read the report and provide your comments and any questions, below.
• City Council and Planning Commission will hold a joint study session on May 21, 2020 to review the Code Audit Report
  • Council will discuss and finalize the scope of the planned Code Rewrite, including the priorities and tasks of the rewrite and the public engagement process
  • On May 21, 2020 or soon after, Council will make the formal decision on when and how to move forward with the Code Rewrite
  • Once the scope of the rewrite is agreed upon, a more complete timeline will be available and posted here on Guiding Golden. There will be a number of opportunities for public input during the rewrite phase of the project, and those will be shown within the timeline and promoted via the City web site, social media and other communication methods

Code Audit Description

The City issued a Request for Proposals for firms qualified to conduct a zoning code audit and zoning code rewrite. Four submittals were received and, after an interview and background check process, staff selected a consultant group comprised of Pel-Ona Architects and Urbanists, Peter Park Planning and Design, and Metta Urban Design. Staff met with this team in the first week of September to discuss the scope of the project in more detail, and then with members of City Council and Planning Commission to share and discuss the draft scope before moving forward with approval of the project contract.

The zoning code audit is the initial phase, and is essentially a diagnosis of the current code and its shortcomings, before then moving on to the code rewrite process. The intent of the audit and rewrite of the zoning code is to streamline and modernize it, make it more user friendly, and bring it into better alignment with GV2030, the Comprehensive Plan and neighborhood plans, as well as the recently finalized Transportation Master Plan.