This week, the Denver City Council agenda includes several rezonings and a proposed amendment to the city’s zoning code that would extend deadlines for site development plans approved on or before Dec. 31, 2025.

If approved, the “Site Development Plan Validity Extension” amendment would spare roughly 22,600 planned residential units from loss due to expiring city paperwork, as Denver experiences a sharp decline in the demand for multi-unit building permits.

The city seeks to deliver 2,500 affordable housing units and permit an additional 5,000 in 2026.

However, beyond the permits lies the challenge of moving the projects from paper to shovel.

City officials have stated that close to 20,000 units are “stuck in the pipeline” due to the inability to get financing because of higher interest rates, market collapse, or because they “ran out of money.”

Elsewhere on the agenda is $30 million in on-call contracts, divided into 10 individual agreements for citywide restoration, ecological, and technical services.

City documents state that these contracts would cover services such as natural resource assessment, planning and management, native landscape design, vegetation identification and mapping, aquatic resource management, vegetation, weed and wetland identification, wildlife management and related environmental investigations.

There are two proclamations that will be read during the 3:30 p.m. session. The first will recognize the Yellow Dreams Art Contest, and the second will celebrate Denver’s Small Business Week.

The Denver City Council will hold three required public hearings on the following bills:

• 26-0345: A bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification for 992 North Knox Court in Villa Park. 
• 26-0346: A bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification for 1453 North Wabash Street in East Colfax. 
• 26-0344: A bill for an ordinance amending the Denver Zoning Code, concerning approval periods for site development plans. 

Denver City Council meetings continue to be held in the Parr-Widener Community Room as renovations in the council chambers progress.

Seating is limited, and the room will fill quickly.

The Denver City Council’s regular meeting begins at 3:30 p.m., with the general public comment session scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.