Zoning was never meant to be static

Zoning is one of the most powerful and misunderstood tools shaping the future of our towns. It determines what can be built, where, and how.

Yet, somewhere along the way, many communities began to treat zoning maps as sacred documents, rather than living frameworks. The truth is that zoning was never meant to be static. It was designed to evolve as our communities’ needs, values, and realities changed.

A framework, not a freeze-frame

When zoning was first introduced in the early 20th century, it was intended to bring order to cities that were rapidly transforming under industrialization. The original purpose was to protect health and safety, keeping homes away from smokestacks, or preserving access to light and air. But zoning has always been an adaptive tool. It reflected the problems and opportunities of its time, not a permanent verdict on how land should be used forever.

Fast-forward to today: Estes Park and communities like ours are facing very different challenges. We no longer need to separate homes from factories in the same manner; instead, we need to ensure that our teachers, nurses, hospitality workers, and park rangers can live near their places of work. Our challenge isn’t pollution — it’s displacement. It’s the erosion of local housing options that sustains the fabric of our community.

Zoning, if used correctly, should be a partner in solving these problems—not a barrier.

The myth of “set in stone”

Over the decades, zoning has too often been treated as a promise to preserve the past rather than a plan to build the future. But the world doesn’t stay still. Our economy changes. Our workforce evolves. Our population ages. Our land supply becomes more constrained. To assume that a zoning code written decades ago can still meet today’s needs is to assume the world hasn’t changed. 

Estes Park is a perfect example. The housing needs assessment completed in 2023 made it clear that our workforce housing supply is far behind demand. We’ve added jobs faster than we’ve added homes. And yet, much of our zoning still reflects an era when the community assumed that single-family homes on large lots were the ideal and affordable for most residents. That’s no longer reality.

Static zoning, in effect, locks in scarcity. Let me say that again, STATIC ZONING LOCKS IN SCARCITY. 

Evolving zoning is a sign of health, not weakness

Some people fear that changing zoning means losing control or inviting unwanted growth. But the opposite is true. Updating zoning is how communities retain control by aligning their rules with their values, instead of being governed by outdated assumptions.

When we adjust zoning to allow accessory dwelling units, duplexes, or modestly higher densities near existing infrastructure, we’re not abandoning our character, we’re investing in our resilience. We’re saying that our community should be accessible to those who make it function. The employees who keep our schools open, our parks maintained, our restaurants running, and our hospital staffed.

Change isn’t chaos. It’s stewardship.

A local lens: Estes Park’s opportunity

Here in Estes Park, we’ve taken important steps forward. The passage of the 6E lodging tax extension, the creation of the short-term rental linkage fee, and the growth of local housing partnerships are giving us new tools to address our housing crisis. But tools alone aren’t enough if the underlying rules make it impossible to use them effectively.

We must continue to evolve our land use code so that it aligns with our community’s vision— not the vision of 1985, but of 2035 and far beyond. This means thinking creatively about mixed-income neighborhoods, adaptive reuse, infill development, and clustering homes where existing infrastructure is already in place. It means acknowledging that zoning is not a wall, it’s a framework for a living, breathing community.

Planning for people, not just parcels

Zoning reform isn’t about density for density’s sake. It’s about ensuring that the people who make Estes Park special can remain part of its story. Every zoning decision, no matter how technical, is ultimately about people: who gets to live here, who gets to belong, and whether the next generation can build a life here.

If we want Estes Park to remain a real community, and not just a postcard, we must be willing to let our zoning evolve. Because what we’re really doing when we adapt our rules is something much deeper: we’re protecting our future, our workforce, and our shared sense of place.

Scott Moulton is the executive director of the Estes Park Housing Authority.