City of Denver Zoning Process
Rezoning is a public process that changes a property's zone district. From the time an application is submitted, rezoning can take four to six months, depending on the complexity of the case, and involves public hearings before the Planning Board and Denver City Council. All rezoning requests will be reviewed and voted upon by City Council. 
 
There are a total 10 steps to the City's rezoning process and two of those include public hearings.  
  • STEP 5:  Planning Board Public Hearing
    • At the hearing, staff presents the case to the board. The applicant is required to attend and may make a presentation. Members of the public may also speak on the case. Once public testimony is complete, the board deliberates and makes a recommendation to City Council for approval, approval with conditions, or denial.
  • STEP 9:  City Council Public Hearing
    • At the hearing, city staff will present the case to the City Council, the applicant may make a presentation and the public is invited to speak.  Council will vote to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the rezoning application.  City Planning and Development has recommended that City Council approve this rezoning. 
There are many ways to participate in city’s rezoning process.  Whether you favor or oppose a development project, it is important to get involved and make an impact in your community.  
  • Write to your councilperson.
    • Councilman Chris Hinds @ district10@denvergov.org
    • Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer @ DenverCouncil5@denvergov.org
  • Write Community Planning and Development (CPD) staff assigned to rezoning application.
    • CCEA Board will share with the community via the website, the assigned CPD Staff to each rezoning application.  
    • For up to date information on CCE zoning projects, visit the CCEA Development Report.
  • Sign up to speak at the City Council Public Hearing that are generally scheduled on Mondays.
    • Speakers may sign-up beginning at 3pm the day of the hearing.  Sign-up ends at 5:30pm.
    • To sign-up to speak go to City of Denver website the day of the meeting and click Sign Up To Speak at the top of the page.
    • Speakers are given 3 minutes to speak.
You will make the most impact when speaking (or writing) if you speak to the criteria in which CPD and Council follow when voting on rezoning applications.  This approach applies for both, favoring or opposing a rezoning application.  Comments outside these criteria, generally do not get much consideration by the City Council.
 
  • Is the rezoning consistent with adopted plans?
  • Does the rezoning further public health, safety and welfare?
  • Are there circumstances that justify the rezoning?
  • Is the rezoning consistent with the neighborhood context?
  • Does the rezoning align with the zone district’s purpose and intent?
  • Would it result in consistent regulations for each property with the same zoning designation citywide?
You may review the criteria at the City of Denver’s Rezoning Process webpage and click Review Criteria for details. 
 
For details on all rezoning application, please visit CCEA Development Projects.