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Will ‘abundance’ hold sway or height limits carry day in Denver suburb?

Castle Rock vote postponed as town shareholders weigh in

Castle Rock Delays Height Limit Vote
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Key Points

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  • The Castle Rock Town Council postponed a vote on a proposed ordinance that would cap new downtown building heights at four stories, down from the current maximum of six stories.
  • The council referred the matter to the Downtown Development Authority to gather more input from residents, business owners and other stakeholders.
  • Concerns raised at a recent hearing included property rights, parking impacts and potential negative effects on future business investments.

A Denver suburb is stepping back from recent trends toward loosening restrictions on development and putting off a vote about building heights as it gathers more input from stakeholders in the local community. 

The Castle Rock Town Council initially planned to take up an ordinance on Tuesday that could have established a uniform maximum building height in parts of downtown; the council instead decided to forego discussing the matter and referred it to the Downtown Development Authority with the direction to get more opinions from residents, business owners and other locals before the ordinance is put before the council again, the Denver Business Journal reported. 

The move comes as cities and states across the country rethink regulations on development, with California leading the way most recently with adjustments to a longstanding environmental law that added hurdles and costs to projects. https://therealdeal.com/la/2025/07/03/ceqa-liberation-hits-ca-builders-unevenly/

Currently, the north and south portions of Castle Rock’s downtown area allow building heights of up to six stories, with developers having the option to request additional height. The proposal caps new development at four stories — an idea councilmember Mark Davis came up with after residents complained about the height of buildings downtown. 

Councilmember Max Brooks said the body “would benefit greatly by enhanced stakeholders and participation from the business community,” according to the Business Journal. 

Mayor Jason Gray agreed that more investigation into the matter with input from Castle Rock locals would be beneficial in determining whether to advance the measure.

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“I ran for private citizen rights and private property rights and business property rights. That’s very important to me,” Gray said. “But at the same time… it’s not bad to have a conversation about it.”

At the July 1 hearing, residents expressed concerns about property rights as well as the impacts on parking and potential business investments the ordinance would have. 

“As a business owner, when we’re making a decision, lots of times those decisions have to be thought out in the future, and we have to be able to predict that,” Castle Rock property and business owner Nate Ormond said. “When the town acts erratically, it makes it harder to do that and you can throw a wet blanket on future business investments.”

The Downtown Development Authority will lead the effort to get additional feedback from business and property owners before presenting their findings to the town council. A timeline for the effort wasn’t disclosed. 

Chris Malone Méndez

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