Committee advances rezoning for 1709 North Williams after mediation agreement with neighbors

Denver City Council’s Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Jan. 14 advanced a map amendment that would rezone 1709 North Williams Street from former Chapter 59 B2 (with waivers) to the new GMS3 zone, sending the proposal to the full City Council for consideration.

The item drew sustained staff presentation and member questions but no recorded roll-call vote in committee; the motion to forward was made by Council Member Chris Hines and seconded by Council President Sandoval and was moved to the floor by voice/thumbs up.

City planning staff presented the request as a rezoning of a 9,380-square-foot corner property at Seventeenth Avenue and Williams to align the parcel with surrounding zoning and the city’s adopted plans. Fritz Claussen of Community Planning and Development said the proposal is consistent with Comp Plan 2040, Blueprint Denver and the East Central Area Plan (2022), which identify the site’s corridor context and encourage medium-scale, pedestrian-oriented mixed-use buildings. "We recommend that this application move forward to the full city council based on finding that all the review criteria have been met," Claussen said.

The staff report notes the parcel currently contains a two-story commercial building; the applicant seeks rezoning to allow redevelopment in a GMS3 building form (generally one- to three-story, local-corridor scale). Claussen told the committee the existing zoning approximates GMS3 but remains in the former Chapter 59 code; moving to a standard zone district would increase uniformity of regulations.

Public comments filed with staff included eight letters of support and 22 letters of opposition. Supporters cited new residential opportunities; opponents expressed concern about demolition of a locally used building and possible impacts on adjacent businesses. Committee members pressed staff for more detail about neighborhood engagement and the sequence of public comments; Claussen said planning notices were sent Aug. 6, 2024, with Planning Board notice Oct. 22 and a Planning Board hearing held Dec. 18 after an applicant-requested continuance to allow mediation.

Committee members sought confirmation about outcomes of that mediation. Claussen and Council Member Chris Hines described a mediation that produced a memorandum of understanding between the applicant, an adjacent property owner and the City Park West registered neighborhood organization, executed Nov. 25; Claussen confirmed the applicant already holds a certificate of demolition eligibility for the existing structure. Council Member Hines asked staff to try to include the mediation outcomes in the committee packet or otherwise confirm them for neighbors.

Planning staff emphasized the site’s place-type guidance under Blueprint Denver as a "local corridor" and noted East Central Area Plan height guidance up to three stories. Claussen summarized the staff findings as meeting the five rezoning review criteria: consistency with adopted plans, uniformity of district regulations, furthering public health/safety/welfare (by permitting potential housing), justifying circumstances (city plans and the Chapter 59 conversion), and consistency with neighborhood context and zone district purpose.

With a motion from Council Member Hines and a second from Council President Sandoval, the committee advanced the map amendment to the full City Council. No additional committee-level conditions were recorded in the meeting minutes.

What’s next: the full City Council will consider the rezoning at a future floor hearing; interested parties and neighbors should consult the staff packet and the Planning Board deliberation documents for details associated with the Dec. 18 Planning Board recommendation.