Community Planning and Housing Committee: Rezoning & Housing Policy Update - February 24, 2026
Community Planning and Housing Committee Meeting: Rezoning & Housing Policy Update - February 24, 2026
The Community Planning and Housing Committee of Denver City Council met on February 24, 2026, to consider a rezoning action for the Denver Spur property and receive a briefing on the Expanding Housing Affordability (EHA) policy. The meeting included a consent calendar, public testimony, and detailed discussion on both items.
Consent Calendar
- Three consent items were approved without objection.
Public Comments & Testimony
- On the Denver Spur rezoning, two public comments were received: the Montbello 2020 and Beyond Registered Organization submitted a letter in support, citing the applicant's community engagement and public amenities (school, park, affordable housing). One neighboring resident submitted a comment in opposition, expressing concerns about traffic, loss of green space, and public safety from additional multi-unit housing.
Discussion Items
- Rezoning for 1760 East 56th Avenue and 4991 North Telluride Street (Denver Spur): Staff planner Libby Glick presented the request to rezone two parcels (totaling 74 acres) from CMU-10 and CMU-30 (former Chapter 59 code) to SMX-5 (up to 5 stories/70 feet) and SMX-8 (up to 8 stories/110 feet), both mixed-use districts. The property is in Council District 11 (Gateway Green Valley Ranch). Key project components include: 17 acres sold to Denver Public Schools for a future K-8 school; dedication of approximately 6 acres for a regional park (adding to 3 existing city-owned acres); a regional trail; and a High Impact Development Compliance Plan requiring 12% of residential units at up to 60% AMI, 10% at up to 30% AMI, and at least 70% of income-restricted units having two or three bedrooms. The rezoning went through Large Development Review and was recommended for approval by Planning Board on January 21, 2026. Council discussion focused on whether housing is guaranteed (the applicant, Peter Wall, explained the horizontal mixed-use plan includes three separate residential areas, with commercial fronting Telluride and 56th Avenue), green space details, and community engagement. Councilmember Alvidres inquired about the community process, which included surveys and collaboration with Montbello 2020, leading to increased retail acreage and the school site. The item was approved.
- Briefing on Expanding Housing Affordability Policy Update: Laya Mitchell (HOST), John Colorelli (HOST), and Emily Collins (CPD) presented outcomes since adoption in June 2022. Key data: 60 EHA-eligible projects (10+ units) in pipeline; 42 signed affordable housing agreements (24 recorded); expected to produce ~6,400 total units, with 570 income-restricted units (9% of total). Approximately 28% of projects use height/density incentives. Fee-in-lieu projects: 8 projects (mostly townhomes) opting out, expected to generate $10 million (paid at building permit issuance; only one project has paid so far). High-impact developments (sites over 10 acres or with public financing) include 6 projects (5 signed/recorded) producing substantial affordable units. Linkage fee investments (from smaller developments and non-residential) totaled $48 million since 2022, funding over 1,000 affordable units across 21 projects. Council discussion: Council President Sandoval noted the extensive policy history and requested projections and heat maps for incentives. Councilmember Sawyer raised concerns about prevailing wage applicability to city-funded projects ($48 million) and requested data on pre-EHA affordable housing agreements. Councilmember Alvidres requested breakdowns of fee-in-lieu sources and a map of high versus typical market areas. Councilmember Torres asked for mapping of linkage fee investments and clarification on how fee-in-lieu funds will be reinvested (currently used to reimburse CPD for incentives). The briefing was informational; follow-up items were requested.
Key Outcomes
- Denver Spur Rezoning Approved: Councilmember Alvidres moved approval, seconded by Council President Sandoval; the motion passed unanimously.
- EHA Policy Update Received: No formal action was taken. Councilmembers requested follow-up data including: a map of projects using height incentives; a breakdown of pre-EHA affordable housing agreements and their status; maps of fee-in-lieu projects, high market areas, and linkage fee investments; and clarification regarding enforcement of prevailing wage requirements on city-funded affordable housing projects.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the community planning and housing committee with Denver City Council. Your community planning and housing committee starts now. Wow. Oh. We have one. Two online. Two online. Perfect. Hi. Good afternoon. I'm Diana Romero Campbell, and we are here for the community planning and housing meeting today. We have an action item, a briefing, and a few items on consent. And we are gonna start with introductions. I'm gonna start to my left. Great. Good afternoon. My name is Ronald Vitres, and I represent Lucky District 7. Hi, Amanda Sawyer, District 5. And I believe we have some council members online. Maybe Cora for Dover District. Three. Chanta Luis, District 8. I hear you. And I did not announce for my district either. So Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver District 4. So let's go ahead and get started. We have a rezoning for 1760 East 56th Avenue and 4991 North Tellurde Street. I'm gonna turn it over to you, Libby. Awesome. Thank you. Libby Glick with Community Planning and Development, and I'll be presenting the rezoning for 4991 North Telly Ride and 1760 East 56th Avenue, also known as the Denver Spur. So first I'll go through the request, then the location, the process, and finally the review criteria. The applicant is requesting to rezone this property at 56th Intellide from CMU 10, which is a mixed use district with conditions and CMU 30 with waivers and the adult use overlay to SMX 5, which is a mixed-use zone district and SMX 8, as also a mixed-use zone district. So as stated previously, the applicant is requesting SMX 5 and SMX 8. You can see where each of those districts are proposed on the map. But the SMX 5 allows for up to five stories or 70 feet in height, and then SMX 8 allows for up to 8 stories or 110 feet in height, and they both allow the drive-thru building forms as well as general and shop front. So now we'll go through the location and the context. This is in Council District 11 in the Gateway Green Valley Ranch neighborhood, just east of Pena Boulevard. So as stated previously, the current zoning is CMU 10 with conditions and CMU 30 with waivers and the adult use overlay. So both of these are zoned districts in our former Chapter 59 zoning code that allow for a variety of their mixed-use zone districts. So they're uh close to some single unit districts, as well as other mixed use and then the DIA district. So the current uh land use is vacant, but it's adjacent to some single unit properties and multi-unit, both to the east. This shows these existing building form and scale with the subject property on the top, and then you can see an example of some of the single unit homes down below that are directly east of the site. So this property submitted for the large development review process, and it was deemed to be applicable because it's larger than five acres. Um there's specific guidance in the far northeast area plan about using the LDR process. A rezoning was proposed. There's also infrastructure improvements that would be required through an infrastructure master plan as well. Um there's also urban design standards and guidelines that uh are applicable to this area. So they are about street design, site planning, architectural design, landscape design, signage, and lighting, and the intent is just to make sure that the built environment is as an appropriate scale. They have also are they are entering into a high impact development compliance plan with host.
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