The Denver City Council (“City Council”) recently adopted the Advancing Equity in Rezoning Text Amendment (“Text Amendment”), which modifies the rezoning approval criteria and public notification and engagement requirements set forth in the Denver Zoning Code (“Zoning Code”). The Text Amendment was previously reviewed at public hearings before the Denver Planning Board on December 4, 2024, and City Council’s Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on December 17, 2024.
The adoption of the Text Amendment completes Denver’s more than two-year public engagement and review process to implement key recommendations in Comprehensive Plan 2040 and Blueprint Denver and improve the equity, accessibility, and transparency of the rezoning process. During the public engagement process, Denver emphasized the need for revisions to existing rezoning review criteria, enhanced public engagement, and measures that consider the social and economic impacts of rezoning decisions on marginalized communities. The public engagement process also sought to develop more structured methods to involve community voices to ensure that the rezoning process aligns with citywide equity goals.
Modifications to Rezoning Approval Criteria
Most notably, the Text Amendment modifies the rezoning approval criteria set forth in Section 12.4.10.7 of the Zoning Code, such that, moving forward, the applicable rezoning approval criteria are as follows:
- The rezoning is consistent with Denver’s adopted plans (Denver Zoning Code § 12.4.10.7.A);
- The rezoning is in the public interest (Denver Zoning Code § 12.4.10.7.B); and
- The rezoning is consistent with the description of the applicable neighborhood context, and with the stated purpose and intent of the proposed zone district (Denver Zoning Code § 12.4.10.7.C).
The Text Amendment includes a “community need exception” whereby City Council can still approve a rezoning even if it does not comply with the rezoning approval criterion set forth above and in 12.4.10.7.A of the Zoning Code so long as the rezoning “is necessary to provide for an extraordinary community need that was not anticipated at the time of the adoption of [Denver’s] plans.” Denver Zoning Code § 12.4.10.7.A.1. This added flexibility will aid rezonings of property that are not consistent with the sometimes narrow or outdated guidance set forth in Comprehensive Plan 2040, Blueprint Denver, or neighborhood plans, but are rezonings that otherwise provide an important or unanticipated community need and comply with the remaining approval criteria.
The Text Amendment streamlines the rezoning approval criteria by removing the prior approval criteria requiring uniformity of zone district regulations and the existence of a justifying circumstance for non‑legislative rezonings. Further, the Text Amendment simplifies the approval criterion set forth in Denver Zoning Code § 12.4.10.7.B by requiring the rezoning to be “in the public interest” rather than it furthering “the public health, safety and general welfare.” These prior approval criteria presented barriers to redevelopment and implementation of Denver’s adopted plans and were frequently distorted and used by opposition groups to argue against rezonings that may still satisfy the remaining approval criteria.
Modifications to Public Notification Requirements
The Text Amendment also adds additional public notification and engagement requirements for rezoning applications. Moving forward, applicants for a rezoning will now have to post a notice sign on the subject property within 10 days after submission of a complete rezoning application, and all written notices to surrounding property owners must now include tenants of the property, instead of just the property owners. Denver Zoning Code §§ 12.3.4.5.B.1; 12.3.4.4.A.1.a.iv; 12.3.4.5.A.1.d. While not set forth in the Text Amendment, Denver’s guidance on the Text Amendment indicates Denver will seek to further increase the transparency and public engagement involved in rezonings by (1) requiring rezoning applicants to provide documentation of public outreach as part of their application; (2) updating Denver’s sign and notice templates used by rezoning applicants; and (3) creating a more user-friendly online system to post information and updates about rezoning applications that will be easier for the public to access and understand.
Missing Elements
While the Text Amendment’s changes are a step in the right direction in terms of fostering more fair and inclusive growth and rezoning, they fail to establish any meaningful parameters for City Council’s increasing demand for Good Neighbor Agreements in connection with rezonings. Good Neighbor Agreements are legally binding agreements entered into by the owner or developer of a property proposed for a rezoning and a registered neighborhood organization (“RNO”) in the area of the property. These Good Neighbor Agreements address the relationship between the property and RNO and often address physical impacts of the property proposed for rezoning and/or redevelopment on the RNO and surrounding neighborhood. Good Neighbor Agreements can see the property owner or developer having to commit to excessive improvements in or around the property and/or privately restricting the uses and/or densities for which the property may be used, regardless of the uses and densities permitted by the Zoning Code, to appease surrounding neighbors that often oppose any redevelopment projects. While the Zoning Code does not require Good Neighbor Agreements as a condition of rezoning and/or redevelopment, City Council regularly insists on an executed Good Neighbor Agreement before or as a condition of approving a rezoning. This increasing demand for property owners and developers to enter into Good Neighbor Agreements arguably makes rezonings less equitable and accessible and undermines the transparency in Denver’s rezoning process.
