The Community Planning and Housing Committee of the Denver City Council met on August 4, 2026 at 1:30 PM in Room 391 of the City & County Building. The committee considered one action item (a rezoning) and received two briefings: a report on the Performance Based Contracting (PBC) pilot by the Department of Housing Stability (HOST), and a programmatic update from Urban Alchemy regarding operations at the Aspen shelter and the Care Team outreach program. All seven committee members were present: Chair Amanda Sandoval, Vice Chair Amanda Sawyer, and members Flor Alvidrez, Paul Kashmann, Shontel Lewis, Diana Romero Campbell, and Jamie Torres.
The committee approved a map amendment to rezone property from U-SU-A to U-MX-2x at 3201 North Speer Boulevard in Council District 1. The property is about 5,500 square feet in the West Highland neighborhood. Will Prince of Community Planning and Development presented the request, noting that the rezoning would enable more commercial uses while preserving the existing building. The applicant, architect Cody Sidaroff (representing the property owner 3201 North Speer Boulevard LLC), confirmed the building will be kept as-is and fully used for commercial purposes. The committee received two written comments of moderate opposition regarding potential future development and one verbal comment of support during the Planning Board hearing. A letter of support was also received from the RO HANAY organization. Councilmember Sandoval noted the U-MX-2x zone district is compatible with residential areas. The motion to approve the rezoning passed unanimously (7-0).
Polly Kyle (Government Affairs Officer, HOST) and colleagues Jeff Kositsky, Kelsey Anton, and Sarah Ledgerowa presented results of the 2026 PBC pilot for seven non-congregate shelter contracts (769 units, over $50 million over three years). The pilot tied payments to four metrics:
Additional outcomes: 22% reduction in 911 calls, 50% reduction in critical incident reports, and 72% guest satisfaction (on a 1-5 scale, 4 or 5 counted as satisfied). Exits to permanent housing remained at 45% despite fewer housing resources. Some guests exited to unhoused destinations (increased from 19% to 23% due to better data collection reducing unknowns). The pilot is considered successful and will expand in 2027 to include family non-congregate shelters (Theodora, The Crossing) and three city-owned congregate shelters (48th Avenue Men's, Women's, and Crossroads). Changes for 2027 include replacing the rapid resolution process metric with a success metric (5% of guests achieving a rapid resolution exit), tightening case management quality standards (documented 15-minute engagements), and adjusting metrics for congregate shelters (case manager encounter counts and coordinated entry for long-stayers).
Councilmembers discussed the data, expressing support for the approach while raising concerns about community relations, guest satisfaction, length of stay (especially at Tamarack, averaging 10 months), and the need for better tracking of income and successful referrals. Councilmember Alvidrez requested future metrics on neighbor satisfaction. Councilmember Torres emphasized the importance of connecting families to schools. Councilmember Lewis noted the need to track whether people are being warehoused and advocated for outcome-based metrics like successful job placements.
Tyler (Director of Operations), Carrie Bell (Deputy Director), and Dr. Lena Miller (CEO/Co-founder) provided an update on Urban Alchemy’s operations since assuming management of the Aspen shelter and launching the Care Team (Community Ambassadors) on January 1, 2026. Over 90% of employees are returning citizens. The Aspen shelter exceeded all contractual obligations. Operational changes include assigning two practitioners per floor, opening doors for guests to build relationships, and bringing services on-site (housing navigation, care coordination, substance use treatment, etc.). Since takeover, overdoses dropped from daily to only seven (all reversed). Community partnerships include numerous local organizations. The Care Team conducts proactive outreach in Quebec Corridor, East Colfax, West Colfax, South Broadway, and priority engagement zones, logging 912 unique households served and 4,884 clean-up activities.
Councilmembers praised the work, noting visible improvements at the Aspen and positive community feedback. Councilmember Sawyer raised a concern about exits to housing (34%) versus exits to unhoused (46%), calling for efforts to flip that ratio. Tyler acknowledged the trend and committed to improvement. Councilmember Torres shared a personal experience where a family member was sent to her home without prior notification from Urban Alchemy, causing disruption. Tyler responded that the standard procedure is to call the receiving party, and he would investigate the specific case. Councilmember Lewis asked about services not captured in metrics (e.g., meals and touchpoints that build trust). Councilmember Romero Campbell asked about average length of stay, which is currently 137 days since Urban Alchemy took over (previously 229 days for active guests).
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. Hey everybody. Thank you for joining us on this cooler August 4th day. It's not 100 degrees out. We have a great meeting in front of us. We have one action item and two briefings. And before we get started, I'll go out around the room and do introductions, and I'll start to my left. Councilwoman Lewis Chantel Lewis, District Eight. Thank you. I need a second stake. Wow. Good afternoon, Paul Josh. Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3. Great, thank you. And I think I forgot to introduce myself from Anderson Valley North West Denver District 1. And with that, we have community planning on development on deck. And you could take it away. The floor is yours. Good afternoon, Council members. My name is Will Prince, and I'll be presenting the rezoning case for 3201 North Spear Boulevard, a request from USUA to UMX2X. Today we'll review the requests, the location and context, the process, and the review criteria. So again, this is a request to rezone from urban single unit A to urban mixed use two stories X. The property itself, there in the center of the aerial is about a little over 5,500 square feet. Continue on to the location and context, is located in Council District 1 with Councilmember Sandoval. And is in the West Highland Statistical Neighborhood. As for the existing zoning, again, it's USUA, which is the majority of the area, as well as USUB. There is a PUD just south at the corner of 32 and Spear. And there's another UMX2X on the same block of 32nd. As for the existing context regarding land use, again, this is commercial uh mixed use, uh, but a good chunk of the area is single unit residential. There's a church across the street for public quasi public, and there's some office commercial retail along the Spear and 30 second hub. As for the building form and scale, you can see the subject property here on the bottom right corner. And across the street, some of the commercial uh car wash and office across the street along Spear, and then typical single unit uh example to the north. Continuing on to the process. Uh this received its informational notice in May. Uh Planning Board in June, and there's an error on the planning board hearing, but uh date, but it was uh voted uh unanimously in support. And we are here today at the CPH committee and is tentative for its public hearing on November September 14th. I was good at August and September, the eight and nine always get me mixed up. Um as of today we have received uh two written comments of moderate opposition noting potential future development and one verbal comment and support noting uh business opportunities during the planning board hearing, and today we received a letter of support from uh the RO HANAY uh supporting this rezoning, which you should have hopefully received today. Oh yes. Getting my area plans mixed up. Um to the review criteria. Uh we'll review all three criteria uh for this property. Starting with consistency with adopted plans, the comprehensive plan 2040. This proposed rezoning is consistent and furthers comprehensive plan 2040, and we'll promote and enable commercial options or infrastructures in place in close proximity to the surrounding neighborhood. Uh looking at vision one, equitable and affordable and inclusive. This will meet two goals uh related to goal one, create a city of complete neighborhoods, as well as goal four, ensure every neighborhood is economic, strong and dynamic. Uh this will also meet Vision 4 Economic Diverse and Vibrant, meeting goal three, sustain and grow Denver's local neighborhood businesses. And vision five, environmentally resistant, clean our soils and conserve our land and grow responsibly. Continue on to Blueprint Denver.