Zoning, Planning & Development

Zoning, planning and development review are some of the primary functions UHNC is responsible for representing the neighborhood. Zoning and planning is a dfifferent kind of topic - at the bottom of this page there is a pdf document Denver Community Planning & Development put together for a presentation to the INC Zoning and Planning (ZAP) committee - while it's just an outline of a presentation alot of good general information is there - check it out!

Recently, there was some discussion regarding re-zoning a property - here's some additional information so the community can understand what a re-zoning process entails:

How is land in the city rezoned? Land in the city is rezoned by a process called a zoning map amendment. Since a map amendment changes a property’s legal rights, it requires a public hearing at City Council and at least seven favorable votes from the thirteen members of Council. In some cases it requires a minimum of ten votes, such as when a legal protest is filed against the amendment, and in other cases not all thirteen Council members can vote on an amendment.

How long is a zoning process? What are the steps? The process for a zoning map amendment is as follows:

  • A review by Denver’s Community Planning and Development (CPD) department and other city agencies.
  • At the conclusion of the review process the application enters the formal adoption process.
  • The public is notified through a sign posting and affected Register Neighborhood Organizations (RNOs) receive a notice.
  • CPD presents its recommendation to the Planning Board (a Mayoral appointed, volunteer board) at a public hearing. After deliberation, the Planning Board makes a recommendation favoring or opposing the zoning map amendment.
  • Affected RNOs then receive a notice that the City Council Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (LUTI) will review the amendment.
  • The LUTI Committee determines if the application is ready for consideration of the full City Council and decides whether or not to pass it to full City Council.
  • Once ready, there is an introductory reading at City Council and the public hearing date is set at least four weeks later.
  • The public is notified through a sign posting and affected RNO’s receive notice.
  • A zoning map amendment requires a public hearing and a vote by City Council.

Who can initiate the process for a rezoning?

  • The property owner
  • A contiguous group of landowners comprising 51% or more of the properties to be rezoned
  • The manager of CPD
  • A City Council person