Tuesday, September 1, 2026, 1:30 p.m. (Denver time), City & County Building, Room 391
The Community Planning and Housing Committee, chaired in Amanda Sandoval's absence by Vice Chair Amanda Sawyer, took up three action items. First, it heard a rezoning request sponsored by Council Member Jamie Torres for three Denver Housing Authority properties in Barnum and Barnum West, to allow income-restricted tandem homes (up to 80% AMI) as part of DHA's affordable homeownership pilot; Planning Board recommended approval unanimously, one neighbor opposition letter was discussed, and the item moved forward. Second, in a block, the committee heard a presentation from Department of Housing Stability Executive Director Cole Chandler on a one-year continuation of the 2022–2026 strategic plan and an ordinance amendment allowing that variance, with a new long-range plan to come in 2027 informed by an ongoing housing needs assessment. Council members raised questions about eviction metrics, anti-displacement work, family homelessness data, outcomes tracking by funding stream, and goals that were missed. Both block items moved forward to the full council.
0:00 in world. One thing that I
0:00 always say because you can't
0:05 do it alone right? Welcome
0:07 back to this weekly meeting of
0:08 the community Planning and
0:09 Housing Committee with Denver
0:11 City Council.
0:15 If your community planning and
0:17 Housing Committee starts now.
0:28 Afternoon, everyone. Is
0:30 Tuesday, SEPTEMBER first, this
0:31 is the community planning and
0:33 housing committee. I'm Amanda
0:34 Sawyer. I'm actually not the
0:34 chair of this the vice chair,
0:35 but I'm covering for
0:37 Councilmember Sandoval who is
0:39 out today. So thanks for
0:41 joining us. Before we get
0:42 started, let's do a quick
0:43 round of introductions and
0:45 we're going to DR. Watson,
0:48 Fine District 9. Good
0:50 afternoon for the Tesla Key
0:52 District. 7. Good afternoon.
0:53 Diana Romero, Campbell,
0:55 Southeast Denver district a
0:56 motion to lose district 8, the
0:59 mentors, customer district, 3.
1:02 All right. And I don't see any
1:03 councilmembers online. So we
1:06 have 3 action items today. 2
1:07 are going to move in a block.
1:08 So that will be our second
1:11 piece. The first is a set of
1:12 rezoning. So Libby, if you
1:13 want to introduce yourself and
1:15 take it away and I know that
1:16 Councilmember Torres is a
1:17 sponsor of this so she MAY
1:19 want to make comments as well.
1:20 Councilmember Torres, you want
1:24 to start or taking away
1:26 living. I'm living like with
1:27 community planning and
1:27 development and I'll be
1:28 presenting the rezoning for
1:30 the Denver Housing Authority
1:32 Properties and Barton and
1:35 Barton West. So first for the
1:37 request, then the location and
1:38 contacts followed by the
1:39 process and then finally
1:41 ending with the current review
1:42 criteria. So as you all know,
1:43 COUNCILMAN Torres is
1:44 sponsoring this rezoning on
1:45 behalf of Denver Housing
1:47 Authority. So they on 3
1:47 properties that are
1:51 highlighted on the screen and
1:53 they're single into or they're
1:55 all own single unit and their
1:58 proposed to be rezoned to 2 So
2:00 yes, you'd ext e t c they're
2:02 currently single into unit
2:03 residential structures. And
2:04 dha is proposing to allow
2:06 tandem homes to be built on
2:08 the back of the properties.
2:09 And these homes will be income
2:10 restricted to residents making
2:13 up to 80% of the area median
2:15 income. It's a part of their
2:15 first phase of the
2:16 single-family place.
2:18 Affordable homeownership pilot
2:23 project so this is located in
2:24 council district 3 and the
2:26 Barnum and Barnum West
2:28 neighborhoods. The current
2:31 zoning as urban single unit d
2:32 Most of these neighborhoods
2:35 have that same single unit
2:36 zoning. And then there's more
2:37 mixed use and Main Street
2:37 along first federal in
2:41 Sheridan. The purpose of the
2:44 urban edge to unit see Zone
2:45 district has its into unit
2:48 district allowing urban
2:50 houses, duplexes tandem houses
2:52 and detached 80 use within
2:54 minimum. Size of 5,500 square
2:58 feet so the current uses are
3:00 single and 2 unit residential.
3:03 Most of this area single unit
3:03 was summoned to a multi unit
3:06 public uses some commercial
3:06 and there's public was a
3:10 retail along the corridors. So
3:11 this shows the 3 sites that
3:13 are proposed to be rezoned.
3:15 Note that the one in the
3:16 middle is the one that
3:18 currently has like 2 single
3:21 family dwellings on it. So
3:22 it's one's own 2 units. And
3:25 believe the plan is to split
3:28 slot and then due to tandem
3:29 homes behind his existing
3:31 homes So now discuss the
3:33 process. So this was this
3:34 application was complete at
3:37 the end of JULY, they went to
3:38 planning board in mid AUGUST
3:40 were here before you today for
3:41 the committee meeting and it
3:42 will go into City Council on
3:45 OCTOBER 13th. So as the date
3:48 of the staff report and when
3:49 this was all sent to our post
3:51 on Thursday, we have not
3:52 received comments from the
3:54 public register neighbor
3:55 organizations, but we did
3:56 receive a comment over the
3:59 weekend. I believe from a
4:01 neighbor of the property on
4:02 Hazel that was intense in
4:03 opposition to the rezoning and
4:04 they were citing just concerns
4:06 over the current structure
4:08 that has kind of fallen into
4:10 some disrepair. And they also
4:13 felt that this did not comply
4:14 with the West memo that came
4:15 out, which is where, you know,
4:18 cpd kind of had a because a
4:20 lot of guidance and the West
4:21 Area plan for affordable
4:22 housing that we weren't going
4:26 to do. A lot of rezonings from
4:28 single unit to more districts
4:29 unless there's an affordable
4:31 housing agreement. However,
4:31 this is the dha properties. So
4:33 from staff's perspective, we
4:34 feel that this is in line that
4:37 memo to go from single unit to
4:39 a little bit more because it
4:43 have affordable housing on it.
4:46 So this one to planning board
4:46 AUGUST 19th and the board
4:47 voted unanimously to recommend
4:50 approval of the rezoning. So
4:51 now Review criteria there, 3
4:53 review criteria that must be
4:57 met. Consistency with adopted
4:58 needs to further the public
4:59 interest and be consistent
5:00 Zone. District purpose and
5:00 with the neighborhood context
5:03 intent statement. So you can
5:05 find more information on how
5:06 this rezoning meets the
5:07 strides in the comprehensive
5:09 plan. The staff report. So
5:10 just talk about blueprint,
5:11 Denver and west the West Area
5:12 plan and the presentation
5:17 today. So blueprint, Denver
5:18 identifies this property s and
5:21 the urban edge context and the
5:22 district they're applying for
5:23 is urban edge contacts and the
5:25 Denver zoning The future
5:27 places is low residential.
5:29 This is where duplexes are
5:31 appropriate and can be
5:32 thoughtfully integrated. My
5:34 future street types are local
5:35 and residential where we
5:35 primarily see residential
5:39 uses. The growth area
5:40 strategies, all other areas of
5:42 the city where we anticipate
5:45 to see 20% of new housing and
5:46 10% of new employment. So this
5:48 will allow for a slight
5:48 increase intensity on this
5:52 area. And then this
5:53 application addresses equity
5:54 by increasing the development
5:56 of affordable housing and
5:59 Biden barn and West and it
6:00 addresses climate or Denver's
6:02 climate goals by allowing
6:03 greater which is a more
6:07 efficient use of So now the
6:10 into the West Area the future
6:11 place, guidance and
6:12 neighborhood context are the
6:14 same as they are print Denver.
6:16 But the West area has specific
6:17 high tide. And so the high
6:19 kinds for this area is up to 2
6:21 and a half stories which is
6:22 consistent with the e 2. You
6:23 just need to use district that
6:26 allows to to have stories. And
6:28 then there's some specific
6:30 strategies that this rezoning
6:34 further land use policy
6:35 discussing allows expanding
6:37 missing middle housing that
6:39 greater allowances should be
6:40 considered when one or more
6:41 units provide long-term
6:43 affordability. So the sites
6:47 will will provide long-term
6:47 affordability. Also discusses
6:48 supporting community partner
6:50 programs and efforts to create
6:50 more affordable housing
6:53 options within love,
6:55 residential neighborhood.
6:56 obviously deal with Rezoning
6:59 is supporting a partner
6:59 program of more affordable
7:01 housing and then the economy
7:05 and housing policy talks about
7:06 prioritizing new, affordable
7:07 housing within lower scale
7:08 residential neighborhood. So
7:12 this rezoning will do just And
7:14 also furthers the public
7:15 interest, especially by
7:15 providing homeownership
7:16 opportunities, know it's been
7:19 found that that provides some
7:20 long-term stability for
7:23 residents which improves for
7:25 families that lived there. It
7:26 can provide, you know, better
7:26 educational and health
7:27 outcomes for children that
7:29 live in these So staff and for
7:33 the public interest. And then
7:34 lastly, it's consistent with
7:36 the urban edge contacts, the
7:37 purpose of the residential
7:38 districts and the specific
7:40 intent of the e t you see zone
7:43 district. So finding all
7:44 review criteria have been met.
7:45 Staff recommends this move
7:47 forward to a vote of the full
7:51 City Council. That's my
7:53 presentation. Thank
7:54 Councilmember Torres, you want
7:55 have any comments. We have one
7:56 other councilmember in the I
7:59 really quickly thank you so
8:02 much, Levy. Libby was also our
8:05 consultant on Southwest area
8:08 plan, legislative rezoning
8:10 where we've already started
8:12 effort of working with Denver
8:13 Housing Authority on the
8:16 properties that they've
8:21 identified being ideal for it.
8:22 And incredibly excited about
8:26 Having looked at all of their
8:29 dispersed properties
8:30 identifying which once had a
8:32 primary home. Like what size
8:34 they were when they have room
8:36 to build on the back thank all
8:40 these other features, right?
8:43 This one are these 3, it
8:43 Barton and Barton West not
8:45 their only properties in
8:46 Burnham was, but they ideal
8:50 for putting on it and the pump
8:53 and doing it at an affordable
8:54 home ownership model is
8:55 amazing. And one of the things
8:56 that I think we responded to
8:57 really positively in the
9:01 southwest area. So we did 19
9:02 properties in the Southwest
9:05 area plan mostly in Westwood
9:06 after Mark Park and Ruby Hill.
9:08 COUNCILMAN, I can remember.
9:12 Yes, And so I think what dha
9:15 has conceived is just really
9:17 wonderful way of using their
9:20 sites. I will also say that we
9:22 community engagement on this.
9:24 We have basically an open
9:25 house at Barnum Park in the
9:27 lot of neighbors of those
9:32 properties and one tenant came
9:32 we're really and the tenant
9:36 was interested Can she move
9:39 into under ship? Yeah. Like
9:40 that's the goal. For the
9:43 primary home. The it typically
9:46 a voucher recipient who
9:47 occupies renting the voucher
9:51 inside the primary home.
9:52 Details not kicking them out.
9:54 They're going that house.
9:54 They're just building on the
9:56 back. So those will be able to
9:58 exist and they would they want
10:00 to work with those tenants to
10:02 get them into ship and then
10:03 potentially sell the primary
10:07 home as well. So it is kind of
10:11 this scheme that I think do
10:11 you just try to figure out how
10:14 do we best use our properties
10:14 and a really efficient
10:18 affordable housing kind of
10:21 way. We also it allowed also
10:22 neighbors to air grievances to
10:23 get those addressed. We
10:25 brought to the table. We've
10:26 got to ha back to the table
10:28 like really try to understand
10:32 this isn't just about
10:33 affordable housing for us.
10:35 It's about neighbor to
10:36 neighbor relationships to him,
10:38 wanting to improve the kinds
10:41 of things that folks really
10:46 want to evolve too. Are folks
10:48 that feel like they're part of
10:49 a community in the future. And
10:52 I think this helps bridge
10:54 that. I will also say that the
10:56 letter of opposition that we
10:57 received I just replied, just
11:00 with some factual information.
11:01 I think there's a perception
11:03 out there that the West Area
11:06 memo just put a stop to any
11:07 rezonings and it did not. We
11:09 are actually improving
11:11 Rezonings in the West Area
11:13 neighborhoods because it
11:15 obligated a conversation with
11:17 host about a 40 Bility and
11:21 making affordable they're
11:22 delivering like it's, you
11:22 know, it hasn't been that big
11:25 of a reach. So we're still
11:27 approving rezonings in West
11:29 area and they are actually
11:30 delivering on what that
11:35 community wants to see. The
11:36 other had to do with the
11:37 condition of the primary home
11:38 at birdie her to be a j who
11:41 have sent out folks and just
11:42 find contradictions to what
11:45 the neighbor could have
11:46 proposed. But a live d really
11:49 handle kind of that back and
11:50 forth. And then, you know,
11:50 there are going to be other
11:52 disruptions. Sure,
11:54 construction, things like
11:57 that. It does But the home
11:57 next door has attempted home
12:01 as well. So they would 10 of
12:01 homes are not unfamiliar
12:03 environment. Barn and west.
12:07 Neither a to use at this
12:09 point. So I think it totally
12:10 consistent with the kinds of
12:11 things that we're looking for.
12:14 Certainly the plan guidance.
12:15 And let me just appreciate all
12:19 your help with us. Thank
12:20 Great. Thank you. Council
12:21 member of the dress. Thank you
12:23 so This is governor and I met
12:26 with what we've been doing.
12:27 I'm curious us on from Tha can
12:29 answer questions someone here.
12:31 I know she was planning to
12:32 come out she's online us and
12:34 at the link, better change.
12:37 She I think that is who assume
12:41 that unit produces a yes, if
12:42 you could promote that, that
12:47 would be great. Thank you.
12:49 Great. Hoping that can hear
12:50 me. And my question is, you
12:50 know, we already did resound
12:54 some of these properties have
12:55 any of those begun
12:57 construction like is there's
12:59 an actual process that's
12:59 actually starting to happen.
13:00 We're actually starting to
13:01 build in for poor permits. And
13:04 I do now if she can answer
13:05 that right or levy, you happen
13:07 to have any information, but I
13:08 want to make sure that we're
13:09 rezoning these and something
13:10 is actually happening because
13:14 I haven't seen anything. So
13:15 far with the other properties.
13:16 Every sound and I do have some
13:17 technical questions about the
13:21 process. I'm not aware of
13:23 anything but maybe even
13:28 And would hear Yeah, I think
13:31 have names are We actually are
13:32 moving through the design,
13:35 input, ending phase to all of
13:37 these Glencoe Street property
13:40 made it through permitting and
13:40 and throughout property have
13:45 are ready for suv permits to
13:48 be paid. We have submitted
13:49 hand in Bennett also
13:50 committing. So all the design,
13:53 what he's done, but all of
13:57 those and you have forward the
13:58 Those are these properties are
13:59 from. That's not letting find
14:01 her, ok, that's to hear. I do
14:02 have a couple of follow-up
14:04 questions, which is I'm
14:07 assuming that there's going to
14:09 be a trusts that under these
14:10 properties and what my
14:15 interests are using. So we are