Denver Permitting Office outlines 180-day review clock, 90-day affordable-housing fast track and new customer tools

The Denver Permitting Office (DPO) briefed the City Council’s Community Planning and Housing Committee on Oct. 7 on efforts to centralize permitting, shorten review timeframes and launch a 90-day fast-track approval pilot for qualifying affordable-housing projects.

DPO Director Jill Jennings Golic said the office was established by Executive Order 151, effective May 14, to centralize alignment, accountability and coordination of development permitting across city departments. Jennings Golic said DPO is part of the mayor’s office and does not have a separate line-item budget; the office coordinates departmental staff who remain in their home agencies.

Jennings Golic and other staff described three major initiatives: a “one-and-done” concept-review process intended to reduce early-stage cycles; a citywide 180-calendar-day city-review clock with an associated refund policy for applicants when city time exceeds that limit; and a three-phase, 90-day “fast track” process for multifamily projects that use Proposition 1, 2 and 3 funding.

“One-and-done repositions the concept phase as more of a report of findings and direction to our customers,” said Jill Jennings Golic, director of the Denver Permitting Office. She said the change has reduced the number of review cycles applicants experience.

On the 180-day rule, Jennings Golic said the city now documents when the “city clock” starts and stops and is tracking city time, customer time and joint time. If the city’s processes are the cause of a delay that pushes total city time past 180 calendar days, the DPO will initiate refunds for eligible fees. Jennings Golic said refunds for a site development plan application are tied to the application fee (a $500 application fee for a project of 1 acre or smaller was cited as an example) and that the maximum refund for eligible fees will be $5,000; for building permits the refund is up to 5% of the plan-review fee paid but not more than $5,000. She said staff must present a project that has reached 180 city days to the Executive Permitting Committee within 14 days and that the DPO will pursue refunds only when delays are attributable to the city and not to applicant-caused resubmittals.

DPO staff described a three-phase interdepartmental escalation policy. Phase 1 uses staff and supervisors to resolve conflicts. Phase 2 involves the DPO and departmental liaisons and has a 15-business-day window for resolution; if a party appeals or a chartered departmental authority is implicated, the matter may escalate to Phase 3, the Executive Permitting Committee, which the presenters said will have six business days from its meeting to issue a decision. An applicant may appeal a DPO or executive director decision to Phase 3 within 10 business days, the presenters said.

Robert Peek, DPO director of development systems performance, described counter operations and customer access changes: public counter staffing Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., in-person or virtual access by Microsoft Teams or Webex, availability of translation services and new online appointment slots for customer meetings.

On Proposition 1, 2 and 3 — the state ballot measures that created new funding streams for affordable housing — DPO staff said Denver must opt in and create an expedited approval process. The city is piloting a three-phase fast-track model for multifamily projects and will require a complete application for the 90-day clock to start. Staff said projects must reserve affordability early in the process: projects must be at least 50% affordable to automatically qualify for the fast track, staff said, though applicants may opt out.

The fast-track pilot will be tested with about five projects through the end of the year, Jennings Golic said, and staff aim to roll out a broader launch in the second quarter of next year in advance of a 2026 deadline for the city’s Prop 1, 2 and 3 commitment. DPO staff described the three-phase flow as: Phase 1 — feasibility and initial design approvals; Phase 2 — horizontal/engineered construction-document review (the 90-day clock applies to Phase 2 when qualifying applications are filed); Phase 3 — permitting (vertical/interior review and issuance).

Presenters said several customer-facing tools and process changes are planned or underway: a permitting “wizard” and guided-intake and plan-review tools to reduce incomplete submissions; clearer, solution-oriented review comments to reduce rework; a new DPO landing page on denvergov.org/dpo with policies and contact information; and online “quick permits” for some interior single-family remodels, with staff saying they expect to launch those by the end of the year.

Council members pressed staff on practical issues including how the DPO will coordinate with the Department of Transportation & Infrastructure (DOTI) on right-of-way encroachments, how the DPO will help reduce regulatory cost burdens (for example, sidewalk and curb requirements that increase project costs), and how the city and state funding timelines for Prop 1, 2 and 3 interact. DOTI’s Right-of-Way Services Deputy Director Darian Mayhorn said DOTI is working with DPO on procedural and cultural changes and tracking to meet the 180-calendar-day expectations.

Committee members asked for more public-facing information and educational outreach so a wider set of developers and homeowners — not only established affordable-housing developers — understand how to use the new tools and funding opportunities. Staff said they are planning outreach, additional web materials and pilot reporting so the city can adjust the fast-track process based on real project experience.

No formal committee votes were recorded during the presentation. Staff said no refunds tied to the 180-day rule have been issued yet and that DPO will report annually on conflict types, durations and resolutions.