Lakewood Zoning Attorney

Find the right Zoning Planning & Land Use attorney in Lakewood, CO

Zoning Planning & Land Use Law in Colorado

The laws governing how land can and cannot be used in Lakewood, Colorado are fairly confusing, and can be confusing to laypersons. This should provide a basic overview.

Local governments will typically divide the city or town into sections, called "zones," each of which is designated for a particular use, such as residential homes, commercial businesses, agriculture, manufacturing, etc. This process is known as "zoning."

There are a lot of rationales and purposes for zoning laws. In general, they're based in common sense: chemical plants shouldn't be constructed next to daycare centers, pig farms should not be constructed in the middle of a residential neighborhood, and other simple principles similar to that. Zoning laws, by keeping conflicting land uses separate, make life easier for all parties, ensuring that property values will be preserved, and that necessary industries can be conducted where they will not bother anyone.

On the other hand, zoning laws recognize and attempt to accommodate the necessity of factories and other industrial activities. They simply seek to ensure that such activities are performed in a way that they don't conflict with the rights of adjacent landowners to use and enjoy their property in peace.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Lakewood, Colorado

Zoning laws are frequently quite extensive and meticulous, and it's quite possible that your property in Lakewood, Colorado contains some minor zoning violation that you don't know about. If this happens to you, you have substantial legal protections.

First, and perhaps most apparently, you can correct the violation. If the violation is relatively minor, and correcting it would not cost you much or be a substantial burden, this might be the best way to go.

However, it isn't always practical or affordable to correct a minor violation of a zoning law. For example, suppose you have just spent a large amount of money and effort remodeling a house to turn it into your dream home. You thought you were in total compliance with local zoning laws when you did this, but find out that there is some small, technical violation of Lakewood, Colorado's zoning laws. In these cases, you have recourse in the form of a variance. You are entitled to petition the local zoning board to grant you a variance, which is an official decision not to apply a particular provision of a zoning law to a single violation. These aren't always granted, but usually have to be granted if the violation doesn't interfere with anyone else's use of their property, and doesn't thwart the purposes of local zoning laws.

Moreover, zoning ordinances cannot be applied against you retroactively. For example, suppose you built a 3-story house on your property, and your property was zoned to allow 3-story houses to be built at the time of construction. And then, years later, the area you live in is re-zoned, to only allow 2-story houses. Can the local government force you to remove a whole level of your house? Of course not. Applying a law retroactively is unconstitutional. On the other hand, any future changes you want to make to your property will have to comply with the applicable zoning ordinance as it is currently written.

What Can A Lakewood, Colorado Attorney Do?

If you want to make improvements to your property, apply for a variance, or contest a zoning regulation as being applied to you retroactively, you have a right to do so, including some constitutional protections. However, your chances of prevailing in a zoning conflict will be markedly improved if you hire an efficient Lakewood, Colorado real estate attorney to help.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Lakewood

Lakewood, Colorado is the most populous city in Jefferson County, Colorado. It has a population of about 142,000 people, making it the fourth most populous city in the state of Colorado.

Lakewood is home to several historical landmarks that give the city some of its local character, including the Old Lakewood School complex, which was built in the 1920s.

Lakewood is also home to the Denver Federal Center, which is the largest concentration of federal agencies outside of Washington, D.C. This makes the federal government one of the largest employers in Lakewood, Colorado.

These federal agencies employ a large number of people with legal training, especially Lakewood, Colorado lawyers.

However, the vast majority of Lakewood, Colorado attorneys work in private practice. This means that if you need legal services, it's very likely that there's a Lakewood, Colorado lawyer who can help.

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