77 Years Ago
The October 14, 1948 Colorado Transcript announced a public meeting about a proposed zoning ordinance. This was only one in a multi-year series of meetings on the topic.
In the 1940s, after 80 years of yearning for growth, Golden was suddenly inundated with new residents, as returning WWII veterans used the GI Bill to attend the Colorado School of Mines. The newcomers were desperate for places to live, and residents were encouraged to rent out rooms in their houses.
Colorado Transcript – August 31, 1944
MORE HOMES BADLY NEEDED
There are literally thousands of people who would like to live in Golden if they were able to find suitable quarters.
Newcomers were living wherever they could–in tents on vacant lots, in trailers parked inside the CSM Field House, and in repurposed turkey coops. This inspired city leaders in 1944 to propose a zoning ordinance, to protect homeowners from having Hoovervilles built next door.
Many property owners were worried that zoning would infringe on their rights to develop their property, and the proposed zoning regulations were shouted down in one loud and vitriolic meeting.
September 14, 1944
THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT ZONING MEETING
We haven’t met a single person who feels real proud of this meeting. Several have told us they were sorry they went so far….”
Unbridled growth continued, with no regulations on quality or placement of new structures until City Council made a second attempt to introduce zoning in 1948.
December 2, 1948
ORDINANCE IS FAVORED BY PROPERTY OWNERS
Property owners of the south Golden area voiced themselves as being in full accord with the provisions of the proposed zoning law…in fact, many property owners believed that provisions could be even more strict than proposed. This area has been designated by the planning commission as R-1. This provides for single family dwellings only, with garage. There would also be height regulations, minimum height regulations, provisions for front yard, side yard, and back yard….
After a lengthy public input process, the motion passed in April of 1949. Hundreds of zoning-compliant houses were built in the years that followed.
