OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Community Planning and Housing Committee Meeting - April 21, 2026: Annual Workplan Briefing and Consent Items

Council Committees — Tuesday, April 21, 2026
BodyDenver, Colorado
SessionCouncil Committees
DateTuesday, April 21, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 53:10

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Introductions of Council members, and I will start to my left.

0:04

Man is sound of Northwest Denver District One.

0:07

Flora Alvidres, Lucky District 7.

0:09

Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3.

0:12

Wonderful.

0:13

And do we have any council members online?

0:16

Okay.

0:17

Go ahead and introduce yourselves.

0:22

Councilmember Lewis.

0:30

Okay.

0:30

We will have Councilmember Lewis.

0:32

Hi.

0:33

Wonderful.

0:34

Wonderful.

0:35

Glad you're here with us today.

0:36

Okay.

0:37

Well, we have a briefing from CPD to talk about the annual work plan.

0:43

So I'd like to invite you up.

0:50

Hello.

1:07

So if you could just introduce yourselves and then whenever you're ready to get started.

1:11

Good afternoon, uh Council members.

1:13

My name is Brad Buchanan.

1:14

I'm the executive director with uh community planning and development.

1:18

Hi everyone, I'm Sarah Schulwalter, uh one of the deputy executive directors for CPD.

1:25

Hello, everyone.

1:25

I'm Andrea Donnegan.

1:27

I'm also one of the deputy executive directors at CPD.

1:31

Just to be clear, that's all the deputy executive.

1:36

Don't let anybody think we have like six.

1:43

Great, are we ready to jump in?

1:44

Uh yes, I could just like to offer.

1:47

Hi.

1:48

Sorry, I was late.

1:49

Solaire.

1:50

Thank you for joining us.

1:52

Please.

1:52

Great.

1:53

Thank you.

1:54

Um, so we'll just start out uh just really quickly on the high altitude overview.

1:59

CPD is responsible for visionary city planning, historic preservation, development review, and ensuring safe and sustainable buildings.

2:08

And we do that in a lot of different ways, and we're going to talk about that today.

2:12

Um we're going to dive into these sort of four buckets of our agency goals.

2:19

Um, continue the fundamental shift in permitting led by the Denver Permitting Office and improving customer service.

2:27

Implement regulatory reform to improve the development process and development outcomes, advance neighborhood planning and catalytic developments across Denver, and promote a climate-resilient Denver.

2:39

And we have a number of strategies and outcomes for 2026 in our work plan.

2:50

Yes.

2:53

Thank you.

2:57

So our major projects for 2026.

3:01

First of all, uh two plans in the neighborhood planning initiative near Northeast and Far Northwest, the Burnham Yard uh small area plan and associated entitlements, the people's budget, the cycle three of the people's budget, uh Denver Resilient Landscapes project we're working on, unlocking housing choices, regulatory reform, an update to the Denver Energy Code, and a number of uh permitting improvements, all geared towards launching Prop 123 affordable housing fast track permitting processes.

3:39

The near Northeast neighborhood plans, the first one we're gonna focus on.

3:43

This is in council districts eight and nine.

3:47

And uh with a public launch uh this spring.

3:50

In fact, the kickoff meeting is on May 21st.

3:54

Anticipated council consideration and hopeful adoption in 2027.

4:04

The second neighborhood plan uh starting in 2026 is in council district one, the far northwest neighborhood plan, public launch this summer and anticipated council consideration adoption in 2027.

4:23

A lot of work being done, obviously as well in the around Burnham Yard.

4:28

Step one is the small area plan.

4:30

It is underway.

4:32

This will guide the redevelopment, the eventual rezoning, the infrastructure master plan and other land use associated processes around all of Vernon Yard, but first is considering the bigger picture and the influences acting on and within uh Burnham Yard.

4:50

The current phase we're in right now is a community engagement and a visioning process and uh anticipating city council adoption in late 2026 with additional follow-up land use uh processes in early 2027.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing███████████████████████████27%
Community Planning█████████████████████████25%
Land Use Zoning██████████████████18%
Environmental Protection████████8%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████5%
Data Management███3%
Small Business Opportunity███3%
Signage Regulation███3%
Historic Preservation██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Community Planning and Housing Committee Meeting - April 21, 2026: Annual Workplan Briefing and Consent Items

The Community Planning and Housing Committee of the Denver City Council met on April 21, 2026, at 1:30 PM in Room 391 of the City & County Building. The committee received a briefing from Community Planning and Development (CPD) Executive Director Brad Buchanan and his team on the 2026 Annual Workplan, covering key initiatives in planning, permitting, regulatory reform, and climate resilience. The committee also approved four consent items related to contracts for HIV/AIDS rental assistance and data sharing agreements. Council members engaged in extensive discussion on neighborhood planning, affordable housing, sign code updates, food truck regulations, and other topics.

Consent Calendar

  • 26-0525: Amended a contract with Vivent Health, Inc. to extend the end date to May 31, 2026, for rental assistance and supportive services under the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program, with no change to contract capacity. Approved by consent.
  • 26-0526: Amended a contract with Colorado Health Network, Inc. to extend the end date to May 31, 2026, for similar HOPWA services, with no change to contract capacity. Approved by consent.
  • 26-0527: Amended a contract with Urban Institute to update the program data sharing agreement for the Social Impact Partnership for Results Act (SIPPRA) evaluation services, with no change to contract term or capacity. Approved by consent.
  • 26-0528: Amended a contract with Denver SIPPRA LLC to update the program data sharing agreement for better data flow between City agencies and program providers, with no change to contract term or capacity. Approved by consent.

Discussion Items: Community Planning and Development Annual Workplan Briefing

Brad Buchanan, Sarah Schulwalter, and Andrea Donnegan presented the 2026 workplan, organized around four agency goals: improving permitting through the Denver Permitting Office, implementing regulatory reform, advancing neighborhood planning and catalytic developments, and promoting climate resilience.

Key projects highlighted included:

  • Near Northeast Neighborhood Plan (Districts 8 and 9): Public launch spring 2026, kickoff May 21, 2026, with anticipated council adoption in 2027.
  • Far Northwest Neighborhood Plan (District 1): Public launch summer 2026, adoption anticipated in 2027.
  • Burnham Yard Small Area Plan: Currently in community engagement and visioning phase, with council adoption expected late 2026 and follow-up land use processes in early 2027.
  • People's Budget Cycle 3: Fully funded with $1 million for citywide projects and $1 million for near Southeast NPI planning area projects, to be completed by end of 2026.
  • Denver Resilient Landscapes: Consolidating landscape regulations across departments. Community symposium on April 25, 2026, at CSU Spur. Council adoption target August 2026.
  • Unlocking Housing Choices: Community engagement in March and April 2026, phase one following, with council adoption targeted by end of 2026.
  • Regulatory Diagnostic of Zoning Code: Phase one scoped, aiming for council adoption in early 2027.
  • Denver Energy Code Update: Submittals collected spring 2026, stakeholder committees to vote in fall, draft winter, adoption early 2027.
  • Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance (ERCO): Rules drafted, public comment in May 2026, web-based compliance tool.
  • Prop 123 Affordable Housing Fast Track Permitting: Launching spring 2026, building on the Denver Permitting Office's 93% on-time record (17 consecutive weeks above 90%) and a 4% reduction in permit volume year-over-year.

Council members raised several issues:

  • Councilmember Torres thanked CPD for improved morale and performance, asked about completion of remaining neighborhood plans (estimated 5-6 left), the need for a plan for the Mile High Stadium site, and supported pre-approved plan concepts for ADUs starting with West Denver Renaissance models. She also stressed the importance of anti-displacement policies.

  • Councilmember Alvidrez inquired about the South Central Plan timeline (now anticipated to start in 2028 due to staffing reductions), received updates on community feedback for Unlocking Housing Choices (mixed but generally positive), and raised urgent concerns about sign code and food truck regulations harming small businesses. She also asked about grandfathered non-conforming uses, which CPD acknowledged as a priority.

  • Council President Sandoval emphasized the value of plan guidance (e.g., Near Northwest Plan implementation), the need for job creation near neighborhoods, and the importance of regulatory predictability. She noted that Unlocking Housing Choices may be explosive in Northwest Denver and encouraged education.

  • Councilmember Sawyer pushed back on the sign code update not being a higher priority, citing significant delays for major developments (e.g., Ninth and Colorado, Lowry). She also asked about the Denver Energy Code process (public with commercial and residential committees) and resilient landscapes (incentives for water-wise planting, not retroactive).

  • Councilmember Alvidrez (second round) asked about general grandfathering for non-compliant additions, which CPD said they are working on with Councilman Flynn.

  • Councilmember Torres (final comments) requested that Unlocking Housing Choices also address homeowner opportunities (e.g., splitting parcels, building ADUs) not just developer feasibility.

  • Executive Director Buchanan noted that the current market slowdown presents an opportunity to backfill supply, with market-rate units renting at 60% AMI, allowing the city to focus subsidies on 30% AMI housing. He expressed excitement for Unlocking Housing Choices despite challenges.

Key Outcomes

  • All four consent items (26-0525, 26-0526, 26-0527, 26-0528) were approved by consent without discussion.
  • The committee received the CPD Annual Workplan briefing and provided extensive feedback. No formal vote was taken on the workplan.
  • CPD committed to following up on sign code and food truck issues, and to exploring pre-approved ADU plans and grandfathering policies.
  • The committee adjourned after the briefing.

Meeting Transcript

Introductions of Council members, and I will start to my left. Man is sound of Northwest Denver District One. Flora Alvidres, Lucky District 7. Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3. Wonderful. And do we have any council members online? Okay. Go ahead and introduce yourselves. Councilmember Lewis. Okay. We will have Councilmember Lewis. Hi. Wonderful. Wonderful. Glad you're here with us today. Okay. Well, we have a briefing from CPD to talk about the annual work plan. So I'd like to invite you up. Hello. So if you could just introduce yourselves and then whenever you're ready to get started. Good afternoon, uh Council members. My name is Brad Buchanan. I'm the executive director with uh community planning and development. Hi everyone, I'm Sarah Schulwalter, uh one of the deputy executive directors for CPD. Hello, everyone. I'm Andrea Donnegan. I'm also one of the deputy executive directors at CPD. Just to be clear, that's all the deputy executive. Don't let anybody think we have like six. Great, are we ready to jump in? Uh yes, I could just like to offer. Hi. Sorry, I was late. Solaire. Thank you for joining us. Please. Great. Thank you. Um, so we'll just start out uh just really quickly on the high altitude overview. CPD is responsible for visionary city planning, historic preservation, development review, and ensuring safe and sustainable buildings. And we do that in a lot of different ways, and we're going to talk about that today. Um we're going to dive into these sort of four buckets of our agency goals. Um, continue the fundamental shift in permitting led by the Denver Permitting Office and improving customer service. Implement regulatory reform to improve the development process and development outcomes, advance neighborhood planning and catalytic developments across Denver, and promote a climate-resilient Denver. And we have a number of strategies and outcomes for 2026 in our work plan. Yes. Thank you. So our major projects for 2026. First of all, uh two plans in the neighborhood planning initiative near Northeast and Far Northwest, the Burnham Yard uh small area plan and associated entitlements, the people's budget, the cycle three of the people's budget, uh Denver Resilient Landscapes project we're working on, unlocking housing choices, regulatory reform, an update to the Denver Energy Code, and a number of uh permitting improvements, all geared towards launching Prop 123 affordable housing fast track permitting processes. The near Northeast neighborhood plans, the first one we're gonna focus on.

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