Text Amendments

Current Regulatory Projects 

The Denver Zoning Code is a living document that is periodically amended based on public feedback and identified needs such as recommendations from adopted plans, industry changes, process improvement and clarity, as well as to ensure that our outcomes match our intent . Text amendments to the Denver Zoning Code must be adopted by City Council. Visit the project pages below for opportunities to get involved.  

Bringing Plans to Life

Community Planning and Development (CPD) collaborates with the community to craft proposed zoning code text amendments to implement the visions that our communities establish through citywide and neighborhood planning. Plans offer policy guidance for the city and its partners to follow and zoning helps put those policies into effect.

Implementing Citywide Plans: Comprehensive Plan 2040 and Blueprint Denver are long-term plans that establish a vision for Denver to be inclusive, connected and healthy as well as long-term goals and policies to guide the city’s future. The following text amendments are citywide efforts to update zoning rules to implement these policy goals and to ensure that the Denver Zoning Code reflects the city’s adopted values.

Implementing Area Plans: Neighborhood and area plans are community-driven vision documents that address citywide goals at the local level, to ensure they are applied in a way that makes sense for each neighborhood and that they meet individual neighborhood needs. The following text amendments are neighborhood and area-specific efforts to implement local policy goals. 

City Council Initiatives

There are no City Council-led text amendment projects in progress at this time.

Code Maintenance Bundles

Just like infrastructure needs maintenance to stay in top condition, the Denver Zoning Code also needs regular maintenance to continue to respond to the needs of the city, while remaining modern and flexible.  Periodically, CPD proposes amendments to keep the code modern, clear and user-friendly. 

2021 Bundle of Text Amendments  

This package includes more than 160 proposed code changes that correct and clarify our existing zoning rules or make small adjustments for consistency with adopted policy. The proposed changes include making off-street parking requirements more flexible for affordable housing, and updates to where detached accessory structures can stand on a lot, rules of measurement and more. Submit questions or comments to Associate City Planner Ryann Anderson (Ryann.Anderson@denvergov.org). 

Key dates and downloads

Public Review Period
A draft of the 2021 Bundle of Text Amendments is now available for public review through March 26, 2021. Submit questions or comments to Associate City Planner Ryann Anderson (Ryann.Anderson@denvergov.org).

Planning Board Information Item
3 p.m., Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Download slide deck

Planning Board Public Hearing
3 p.m., Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Visit the Planning Board page for meeting link

Additional resources that may be of interest:

Recently Adopted Text Amendments

Bungalow Conservation Overlay

Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval sponsored a text amendment to create a new conservation overlay zone district focused on conserving distinctive features of unique, moderately scaled bungalow neighborhoods of the early 20th century. CPD staff collaborated with Council District 1 and neighborhood residents to prepare this conservation overlay. Councilwoman Sandoval also be proposed a rezoning, which was also approved by City Council, to apply the conservation overlay to Harkness Heights, a small subsection of the Berkeley Statistical Neighborhood.

Meeting recordings available on Denver 8's online archives

Active Centers and Corridors Design Overlay

Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval sponsored a text amendment to create a new design overlay zone district focused on enhancing the street-level activity and mixed-use character in neighborhood commercial areas, often identified as Local Centers and Corridors in Blueprint Denver. CPD staff and Council District 1 collaborated on the design overlay to ensure it is also applicable to other areas. Councilwoman Sandoval also proposing a rezoning, which was also approved by City Council, to apply the design overlay to sections of Tennyson Street and other small commercial areas in the Berkeley-Regis area.  

Meeting recordings available on Denver 8's online archives

Group Living Text Amendment

City Council voted at its meeting February 8, 2021 to approve the proposal to modernize rules that govern the residential sections of the Denver Zoning Code, and later approved an additional proposal on April 5, 2021 to apply the adopted changes to "household" rules within the Group Living Text Amendment project citywide.

Creation of the E-SU-B1 zone district 

Councilwoman Sandoval sponsored a text amendment to create the E-SU-B1 zone district to allow accessory dwelling units in an Urban Edge Single Unit district. Concurrently, Councilwoman Sandoval proposed a rezoning, that was also approved, to allow Accessory Dwelling Units on all single-unit zoned properties in the Chaffee Park neighborhood. .

 

Legislative History

All Adopted Denver Zoning Code Amendments

The Legislative History of Denver Zoning Code Text Amendments(PDF, 396KB) outlines zoning code changes adopted by City Council to date. The legislative history includes ordinance number, effective date, applicable Denver Zoning Code provisions, and keywords. Text amendments to the code follow the procedure set out in the Denver Zoning Code, Article 12, Section 12.4.11.

Strike-through Versions

The documents linked below show a marked-up version of the text amendment showing what changed.

 The Denver Zoning Code was originally published on June 25, 2010. The following are amendments to the original version of the code.  

The Denver Zoning Code was restated and republished on April 7, 2014. The following amendments are to the updated 2014 version of the code.

The Denver Zoning Code was restated and republished on July 6, 2015. The following amendments are to the updated 2015 version of the code.

The Denver Zoning Code was restated and republished on May 5, 2017. The following amendments are to the updated 2017 version of the code.

The Denver Zoning Code was restated and republished on May 24, 2018. The following amendments are to the updated 2018 version of the code.

Page Replacements

The Denver Zoning Code was originally published June 25, 2010. It was re-published in its entirety including 2018 Text Amendment Bundle on May 24, 2018.

 

 

If you use assistive technology and would like to access the content in these documents, please contact planning@denvergov.org.

 

 

 

 

Get Involved

We encourage all community members to play an active role in text amendment projects and offer their input at every step. Use the links and below to get involved.

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