Denver Community Planning and Housing Committee Meeting - August 18, 2026
Denver Community Planning and Housing Committee Meeting - August 18, 2026
The Community Planning and Housing Committee of the Denver City Council met on August 18, 2026, at 1:30 PM (MDT) in Room 391 of the City & County Building. Chair Amanda Sandoval presided. The committee heard an extensive briefing on the city's data center moratorium and working group process, considered one action item to rezone two parcels in West Colfax, and approved two consent items. The meeting lasted approximately one hour and forty-five minutes.
Consent Calendar
- 26-1188: Approved a contract with Northeast Denver Housing Center (NDHC), under borrower entity 1600 Pearl LLLP, for $4,522,862.00 with an end date of 12/31/2042 and a 60-year covenant to provide housing in the North Capitol Hill neighborhood (Council District 10).
- 26-1189: Approved an amendment to a contract with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless to update data sharing language; no change to contract capacity or term, citywide.
Discussion Items
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Update on Data Center Moratorium (Briefing 26-1192): Council members Kashmann, Watson, and Gonzales-Gutierrez (co-sponsors of the moratorium) presented an update on the moratorium enacted May 18, 2026, halting new data center development. They outlined the formation of a working group to develop regulations, with a focus on public health, community impact, climate goals, fair utility costs, and zoning. Key details included:
- A coordinating committee (led by CASR Director Liz Babcock) hired facilitators Civic Consulting Collaborative and Group 14 Engineering.
- The working group will include three council sponsors, utilities (Xcel, Denver Water), unions, industry representatives, NGOs, community members (at least 7 seats), academia, health care, and air quality experts.
- An open application process for working group members launches August 21, 2026, closes September 4, 2026. First working group meeting scheduled for October 9, 2026.
- Budget: over $400,000 from the Climate Protection Fund, allocated for facilitation, engagement, stipends, childcare, translation, and technical support.
- The moratorium is one year, but co-sponsors indicated it may need extension to complete the work thoroughly. The goal is to produce regulatory recommendations for city council.
- Council members raised concerns about environmental justice in historically impacted neighborhoods (e.g., Globeville, Swansea), the relationship to existing data centers (including the Core site under construction), and the need for transparent reporting and equity. Councilmember Torres emphasized the importance of considering current data centers and economic development intersections (tax breaks, right-of-way permits).
- The facilitators explained community engagement strategies, including "meetings in a box" for working group members to host local conversations, with bilingual materials.
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Rezoning at 3418 W. 14th Ave & 1371 N Julian St. (Action Item 26-1185): Staff planner Edson Ibanez presented a proposed map amendment from G-RH-3 (row house up to 3 stories) to G-MU-5 (multi-unit up to 5 stories) on two parcels totaling about 0.5 acres, owned by the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (Unification Church). The church plans to sell the property. The rezoning is consistent with Blueprint Denver and the West Area Plan, which recommends up to 5 stories on this site. The property is in a protected district, requiring compatibility standards for any future development. No public comments were received. The Planning Board approved the rezoning on August 5, 2026. A public hearing before full council is scheduled for September 28, 2026.
Key Outcomes
- Council Bill 26-1185 (rezoning) was approved for filing by a vote of 6-0 (Ayes: Alvidrez, Kashmann, Romero Campbell, Chair Sandoval, Vice Chair Sawyer, Torres; Absent: Lewis). The item will proceed to the full City Council for a public hearing on September 28, 2026.
- Consent items 26-1188 and 26-1189 were approved by consent without objection.
- Data Center Moratorium Briefing: No vote taken. Next steps include launching the working group application process on August 21, finalizing members by October, and scheduling the first working group meeting on October 9. The co-sponsors committed to continued briefings and transparency, including a dedicated website (denvergov.org/datacenters). Councilmembers expressed support for the process while emphasizing equity, community engagement, and the need for robust regulation.
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. Yes. I do that all the time. Good afternoon, everybody. Sure. Welcome to community planning and housing. Sorry, you caught me. No, he's snucking. Eating lunch. Today it is August 18th, and I'm Councilwoman Manasambo. Have the honor of chairing the community in housing. We have a great agenda today. We have something that my colleagues have asked for for this to come before us, and then one action item. Before that, we'll get started. Let's go out with a round of introductions. I'll start to my right. Good afternoon, Amanda Sawyer, District Five. Good afternoon, Diana from Arrow Campbell, Southeast Denver, District 4. Good afternoon. Daryl Watson, District 9. And good afternoon. Paul Cashman, South Denver, District 6. Lucky District 7. Jamie Torres, West Denver District 3. Great. So before us we have an update to the data center working group. Oh, thank you. Councilman online. Sorry. Hi, everybody. Serena Gonzalez Gutierrez. Uh Councilmember at large. So we have a great agenda. And I'll pass it over to my colleagues. Okay. Floor's yours. Uh good afternoon. Thank you, colleagues. Thank you, uh, committee chair Sandoval for creating space on today's agenda for this briefing on data centers. Um, we're going to provide the update on data centers as we stand uh, the status of the creation of the working group, our planned community engagement process, and then our next steps. And we look forward to uh answering questions um from you and providing to the community here in the room as well as community members um viewing online uh some background information that is absolutely necessary, and we're looking forward to doing that. I want to start first by thanking the city department supporting this process throughout uh the mayor's office, especially Victoria, who's not here, and I hope you're feeling better for facilitating our planning process. Uh the department leads and the mayor's office are here and available to assist um the council uh co-chairs or council co-sponsors of this um with answering questions. And I want to thank the community members that are here in the chambers as well as those um um online and those who have been providing us continued feedback throughout. Um I want to turn this over to uh Pro Tem Gonzalez Guterres for some comments and then to Councilmember Cashman to kick off the presentation. Thank you so much, Councilman Watson. Um, I do want to thank both you and Councilman Cashman uh in the partnership and work that we have been doing leading up to this update. Um I'm grateful that how far we have gotten so far and the fact that we're going to provide, I think these very important updates for the public and for our colleagues, uh so they kind of know what's coming up next. Um and the last thing I'll just say um to preface the presentation today is that we realize that although it's a a one-year moratorium, um, you know, we are prepared and we know, and Councilman Cashman said this from the beginning, um, is that if it it's gonna take as long as it needs to take, um, because we want to do the work and we want to do it the right way.
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