Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 1:15 p.m. (Denver time), Parr-Widener Community Room, Room 389
The Denver City Council Budget Hearing covered the Community Planning and Development (CPD) department's proposed 2027 budget, presented by Deputy Executive Directors Sarah and Andrea Don on behalf of Executive Director Brad Buchanan, who was traveling abroad. The presentation covered CPD's strategic priorities including regulatory reform of the zoning code, two neighborhood planning initiatives (near Northeast and Five Points/Northwest), the Denver Energy Code update, catalytic development, and the neglected and derelict properties program. Staff reported on-time permitting performance improved from 45% in 2023 to 88% year-to-date in 2026 despite workforce reductions. The proposed 2027 budget totals approximately 238 FTE positions with three proposed vacant position eliminations (two building inspectors, one principal planner) and a 50% reduction to development services professional services, totaling approximately $553,000 in reductions. Council members questioned staff about residential inspection roles between CPD and DDPHE, inspector position eliminations, general fund subsidies to permitting, vacancy savings, neighborhood planning capacity, neighborhood inspections capacity, neglected and derelict properties, participatory budgeting funding visibility in the budget book, permit fee evaluations, and specific budget line items.
0:32 A chair, the community
0:37 planning and development. And
0:38 I looked my have pay this is
0:39 my thing they the land use
0:40 Commission. Let's get started
0:40 introductions and I'll start
0:44 of justices to half and
0:48 there's Kevin Flynn, southwest
0:54 numbers district elect with
0:56 decides to preserve, protect
0:57 And Campbell said the
0:58 separatists their wants and
1:02 find district 9 contrast I can
1:12 be Kyle Dolton's. Even search
1:21 day to actually needed our
1:22 executive director Brad
1:22 Buchanan is traveling out of
1:25 the country and sad not to be
1:26 here today. So I along with
1:28 Andrea Don, again, the other
1:29 deputy executive director and
1:32 cpd will make the presentation
1:35 and we have our entire senior
1:35 leadership team here to help
1:36 answer questions. So hopefully
1:40 you'll be in good hands. So
1:41 cpd touches the lives of
1:43 Denver writes every day. This
1:43 is an overview of the
1:45 different types of work that
1:48 we do. We leave the planning
1:50 for the whole city and its
1:51 neighborhoods working together
1:53 with community develop plans
1:56 to guide future of the city.
1:58 We leave the implementation of
1:59 those plans that entails
2:01 partnering with other
2:03 departments to make sure that
2:04 they great ideas and the plans
2:06 are implemented as well as
2:08 leading things like updates to
2:10 our own codes and regulations.
2:11 So they align with our adopted
2:14 policy and plans. We also lead
2:17 the historic preservation of
2:18 Denver, preserving its unique
2:19 culture and history through
2:20 the amazing work of our
2:24 landmark team. Obviously, cpd
2:26 plays a very big role in the
2:27 multi department process of
2:29 permitting and development
2:30 review. And we have our
2:32 employees out on the street
2:33 every day inspecting
2:34 properties and doing code
2:39 enforcement. As we think about
2:41 our budget for 2027 wanted to
2:41 highlight some of our
2:42 strategic priorities for the
2:45 coming year. One that we're
2:47 really excited about and
2:48 presented to many of you about
2:49 last week in community
2:50 planning, Housing Committee.
2:53 It's called regulatory reform.
2:56 This is our effort to look
2:57 comprehensively at our zoning
2:59 code and are designed Senator
2:59 guidelines and look for
3:02 opportunity to remove red
3:04 tape, remove redundancies and
3:07 things that are confusing.
3:07 Duplicative, simplify and
3:11 streamline. The first phase of
3:14 regulatory reform is already
3:15 underway and is focused lower
3:16 hanging fruit that don't
3:17 require a lot of policy
3:17 change. Our stakeholder
3:21 engagement. And we hope that
3:22 that first phase will be in
3:23 front of city Council for your
3:26 consideration and early 2027.
3:28 And we would then continue its
3:28 future phases into 2027 as
3:32 well. Another big priority for
3:35 us. This is a neighborhood
3:37 planning initiative. We have 2
3:38 plans that started this year
3:41 and will continue into 2027.
3:42 There's the near Northeast
3:43 planning thumbs up over there
3:47 from COUNCILMAN Watson and
3:50 along with COUNCILMAN Luis,
3:51 their 2 districts are touched
3:54 by the near Northeast plan and
3:55 that plans well underway and
3:56 we hope it will be adopted by
3:59 the end of next year. We also
3:59 have the fire northwest plan
4:01 and COUNCILMAN Sandoval
4:03 district, which is just a
4:05 little bit few months stagger
4:07 behind and that we anticipate
4:09 would be done in early 2028.
4:10 So those appear to big mpi
4:13 plans for next year. Another
4:15 big priority for us is
4:17 updating the Denver Energy
4:20 Code. This has already multi
4:22 month process with lots of
4:23 great engagement that will
4:26 continue through the fall and
4:27 then we anticipate bringing
4:30 that forward for City Council
4:31 consideration and adoption and
4:33 early 2027. And of course,
4:36 another big priority. Fire
4:37 department is advancing
4:38 catalytic development. That's
4:41 going to promote so much great
4:43 new development in Denver and
4:44 doing and a thoughtful and
4:45 inclusive way. For example,
4:47 this year we are leading
4:48 planned to guide the
4:51 redevelopment of yard. We also
4:55 have it very small, but mighty
4:56 Doctor Friese team that's
4:57 doing great work to promote
5:00 office residential conversion
5:01 and promote our calls for
5:04 downtown. And Getting more
5:10 residents and units. So as we
5:12 think about big picture are
5:13 2027 budget likes most most
5:15 agencies. I think we were.
5:17 Really thinking about how to
5:21 balance. Pretty modest gross
5:23 with increased costs for
5:25 personnel. This is definitely
5:26 pronounced in the department
5:29 like cpd where almost 96% of
5:34 our budget is personnel. And
5:36 in particular, we needed to
5:38 absorb costs related to
5:39 increased health care and dirt
5:42 benefits for our employees.
5:43 And that meant that we did
5:45 have to make a small number of
5:48 proposed reductions for 2027.
5:49 Fortunately, they are much
5:50 smaller than the reductions
5:52 that we were looking at and
5:53 2026, but obviously so
5:56 difficult decisions to make.
5:58 And so important to step back
5:58 and think about how do we
6:00 prioritize our resources top
6:05 of mind for us is maintaining
6:05 the amazing progress that's
6:06 been made on on time
6:09 permitting. Andrea, we'll get
6:11 up soon and share some of our
6:12 key performance indicators
6:13 with you. And you'll see the
6:14 actual numbers of how much
6:15 we've improved in this area
6:16 and the past couple of years.
6:18 And it's really important to
6:20 emphasize that, yes, there has
6:23 been some decrease in volume
6:25 recently, but we also have had
6:26 major reductions to our
6:27 workforce, especially after
6:30 last year's budget reductions.
6:32 Yet we are still able to
6:33 achieve highest on-time
6:34 performance we've seen in
6:35 years and a lot of that's
6:37 because of the amazing work of
6:41 our team to identify. I fished
6:42 in seas and the process look
6:44 for ways to reduce submittal
6:45 requirements, cetera. And
6:48 that's really showing up. And
6:49 that's a priority for to
6:50 maintain staffing and the work
6:51 that's needed to continue to
6:56 deliver. Love those that are
6:57 actually even above often. But
6:59 our target on time
7:00 performances. So I was a key
7:03 consideration for 2027. Also
7:05 top of mind is how do we
7:07 prioritize resources to
7:08 advance priorities and
7:11 projects that will help us
7:17 achieve our citywide goals.
7:19 end of the list. Shares
7:19 Definitely not least at the
7:21 thinking about impacts to
7:22 communities and how do we
7:23 prioritize resources and
7:26 Denver residents in
7:26 projects that will best serve
7:28 particular, most vulnerable
7:31 residents, which is a good
7:33 segue to our equity
7:34 considerations. Equity is a
7:36 core value for our department
7:37 and something we try to
7:39 integrate into all of our
7:39 decision-making and all of our
7:42 projects. You can see in blue
7:45 some examples of work we've
7:46 been doing recently to advance
7:48 equity in our department.
7:51 language access. We have
7:51 We've done a lot around
7:53 specialized language access
7:55 plans for different projects.
7:57 We also have a relatively new
7:59 service that will connect our
8:00 customers. For example, they
8:01 come to the customer service
8:04 counter and the translation
8:06 services. They will be
8:08 connected on demand to a human
8:09 on the phone who can provide
8:12 that translation for them.
8:13 We're also prioritizing
8:14 resources for affordable
8:17 housing review team and the 90
8:19 day review time that came with
8:19 implementing Proposition 1, 2,
8:25 3, Which helps deliver much
8:26 needed affordable housing
8:27 units faster for our
8:29 residents. And we are thinking
8:32 about equity internally as
8:33 well. How do we better
8:34 integrate into our workplace
8:34 culture? That's been a huge
8:37 focus for us in 2026. We
8:38 partnered with the Office of
8:41 Social Equity and Innovation
8:43 to Roll out a series of
8:44 internal trainings focused
8:50 around Ddi for our staff. And
8:51 before I turn it over time,
8:52 Jared just one last slide to
8:55 highlight our organizational
8:56 structure. We are not
9:00 proposing any organizational
9:00 changes and try 27 there's not
9:01 been a lot changes since you
9:04 saw this last. But just a
9:04 quick reminder and green on
9:07 the left is our develop and
9:09 side of the house where our
9:11 permitting in plan review and
9:13 inspections lives and then
9:16 yellow. You see planning and
9:17 operations. She's our planning
9:18 and policy work. And then all
9:21 the amazing teams that support
9:24 our work from budget today to
9:24 performance and our
9:27 communications team. All
9:27 right. And I'll turn it over
9:42 to Andrea.
9:52 All Thank you, Sarah. So start
9:53 by sharing some permit
9:57 permitting data with you all.
9:58 So this line here represents
9:59 your today trends for 2
10:01 development activity
10:02 indicators. So the one on the
10:05 left is going to show locks
10:06 open or building plan
10:07 submittals and then the one on
10:08 the right is going to show
10:11 permits issued to date. So
10:12 starting with the left. So is
10:14 when somebody submits through
10:18 a plan review. So essentially
10:20 somebody wants to build or
10:21 renovate so they submit their
10:22 plans to be reviewed for code
10:24 compliance. Owning another
10:26 requirements. So at this
10:28 point, no constructions
10:29 authorized the craft on the
10:30 right or excuse me. We'll
10:31 start with the craft from the
10:32 left which shows the locks
10:33 openness down 4%. So
10:34 submittals are down slightly
10:39 by 4%. But I will say it's a
10:41 function of our team and their
10:42 process improvements and
10:45 looking for efficiencies. So,
10:46 for example, our interior
10:48 remodel quick permits has been
10:49 widely successful. It's been
10:50 huge innovation that allows
10:52 customers to get permits for
10:54 home projects that don't
10:55 involve structural changes
10:58 within hours. Instead of
11:00 weeks. So projects like this
11:02 are simple quick permit, which
11:04 is now which is not entered as
11:06 a lock anymore. So if we
11:08 adjust for our innovation were
11:10 actually slightly up. So 0.6%
11:14 rather than 4% down. Moving
11:16 over to the graph on the
11:18 right. Going for permits
11:21 issued. So obviously a permit
11:21 is issued after the plan
11:23 review is complete and the
11:24 project's approved. So
11:25 essentially this is the cream.
11:28 Might the authorizes actual
11:30 construction permits are
11:31 issued across building
11:34 construction fire in zoning.
11:37 And currently they're down by
11:39 14.3% I do want to note that
11:39 doesn't necessarily reflect
11:42 the volume of work we have in
11:45 opens. It's more accurate
11:45 progress. So again, logs
11:46 because it's indicator of all
11:47 the work coming through our
11:51 door. To give additional
11:52 contacts last year. At the
11:54 same point, we were down 14%
11:58 and we ended the year at 8%.
11:58 So that 14% isn't necessarily
11:59 reflective of where we'll end
12:04 year. So couple slides I will
12:05 review are on time
12:05 performance, but this is going
12:06 to show the efficiency as we
12:09 put in place to ensure that
12:10 we're managing the workload
12:10 effect to flee from a
12:17 day-to-day basis. So moving on
12:18 a disc wrap here is going to
12:19 represent concept plans and
12:23 foremost site development
12:24 plans year-to-date. So again,
12:27 year-to-date numbers as of
12:29 SEPTEMBER. So a concept plan
12:30 is the initial high-level
12:31 proposal at developer submits
12:33 to the city. So out outlines
12:35 the general vision of the
12:36 project which allows the city
12:37 to get feedback before
12:40 detailed design work begins On
12:41 the flip side, a formal site
12:44 development plan or stp as the
12:45 detailed follow-up. So after
12:46 incorporating feedback from
12:50 the concept phase, this is the
12:51 final approval the city must
12:55 before the project forward. So
12:57 both metrics are going reflect
12:57 the pipeline of future
13:00 development across the city.
13:01 Concept plans will signal
13:03 signal new projects entering
13:05 the system while formal stp
13:07 zircon and indicate projects
13:09 advancing toward application.
13:10 So you're just you're today.
13:14 Submittals are down by 13.7%
13:16 compared to prior year. But
13:19 similar to the previous slide.
13:20 Our hard-working team has
13:21 implemented many efficiencies.
13:22 So we did implement the one
13:25 and done concept review plan,
13:26 plan Review, which contributed
13:29 to the decrease. So overall,
13:32 well, permits are down the
13:33 volume of entitlement plan.
13:34 Review work reflects the real
13:35 work load that the teams are
13:37 managing. I move on to the
13:42 next slide. Which reviews
13:43 permitting valuation. These
13:46 are year-to-date numbers. As
13:48 of SEPTEMBER. And I will note
13:49 that these to include building
13:49 trade, construction,
13:53 demolition and fire. I so
13:54 value Ation will capture the
13:55 dollar value of construction,
13:58 prov projects being permitted,
13:58 which reflects the economic
14:00 scale of development activity.
14:02 While permit counts MAY be
14:04 down. Valuation tells a very
14:05 different story about the
14:06 scale and complexity of the
14:08 work that we're processing. So
14:10 looking at the graph we are on
14:13 pace with previous years,
14:18 neck-and-neck with last The
14:20 next slide. I will show your
14:20 only for year-over-year
14:24 permitting the valuation. So
14:25 columns for years 20 20
14:28 through 2025. Are going to
14:29 show full-year performance
14:30 wears 2026. Will show your
14:35 today as of SEPTEMBER. So with
14:37 this being we are on pace to
14:41 finish up 4 billion valuation
14:42 us So again, lower permit
14:42 counts, but valuation can
14:44 still remain strong with a
14:46 larger, more complex projects
14:47 that are coming through our
14:55 pipeline. The next represent
14:56 Cp's on-time performance. And
14:57 definitely something we're
15:00 very proud of that cpd. So on
15:00 time performance is going to
15:01 measure how cpd completes its
15:04 reviews within the established
15:05 time frames. I will note this
15:08 is a comprehensive measure
15:08 that captures our full
15:09 performance which now includes
15:10 concepts and site development
15:15 plans. So you'll see are
15:17 increasing on time performance