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Committee delays rezoning for 4634–4638 North York Street after applicant is absent
Summary
Community Planning and Development staff recommended rezoning two vacant lots at North York Street in Council District 9 from ETUB to URH 2.5, but the committee postponed action to April 8 after questions about outreach and because the applicant did not appear for committee questions.
Denver planning staff told the Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday that a rezoning request for 4634 and 4638 North York Street (two vacant lots in Council District 9) meets city review criteria, but committee members postponed the item to April 8 after the applicant failed to appear and questions about community outreach remained.
Abner Ramos Acedo of Community Planning and Development (CPD) described the request as a change from ETUB to URH 2.5 to allow urban row‑home building forms, noting the lots total about 7,800 square feet and are currently vacant. Ramos Acedo said staff found the proposed rezoning consistent with Denver’s Comprehensive Plan 2040, Blueprint Denver guidance for neighborhood context, and the local small-area planning guidance for the neighborhood.
Ramos Acedo told the committee that the site is in the Lehi/Elyria‑Swansea area near I‑70, that the rezoning would allow small-scale multiunit housing that the neighborhood plan identifies as an acceptable building form, and that CPD had not received letters of support from registered neighborhood organizations. He said the applicant engaged by email with neighborhood groups but that responses ceased and that no letter of support was submitted.
Several council members said the applicant should be present for committee questions after months of outreach; Councilmember Watson said he was comfortable forwarding the item to first reading given the neighborhood plan language, but other members asked for the applicant to attend and for CPD to follow up with the neighborhood groups. Councilmember Cashman noted CPD has been evaluating sidewalks and other assets comprehensively for several years and supported clarity on outreach documentation.
Because the applicant did not appear and some members wanted clearer documentation of outreach, the committee moved to postpone the matter to a date certain, April 8, with the requirement that the applicant attend and CPD follow up with neighborhood organizations. The motion to postpone was seconded; committee members voted Aye and the item was continued.
CPD staff said they expect the applicant to be available for the full City Council hearing if the project advances, but the committee insisted on the applicant’s presence at the committee meeting when outreach and neighborhood impacts are discussed.
