Denver committee advances rezoning proposal for Denver Spur site in Gateway-Green Valley Ranch

Community Planning and Housing Committee Chair Diana Romero Campbell opened a hearing on a rezoning request for the Denver Spur site at 4991 North Telluride Street and 17600 East 56th Avenue in the Gateway/Green Valley Ranch area.

Libby Glick of the Department of Community Planning and Development summarized the applicant's request to rezone parcels currently in CMU-10 and CMU-30 (former Chapter 59 districts) to SMX-5 and SMX-8 under the updated Denver zoning code. Glick said SMX-5 allows up to five stories (about 70 feet) while SMX-8 allows up to eight stories (about 110 feet), and both district types accommodate mixed-use building forms. She told the committee the site was sent through the large-development review because the property exceeds five acres and that an infrastructure master plan and urban-design standards would apply.

Glick said the applicant and project team are pursuing a High Impact Development Compliance Plan that includes income-restricted units and a bedroom-mix requirement. She told the committee that the project includes dedication of about 17 acres to Denver Public Schools for a future K-8 school site and that subdivision rules will require dedicated park space.

Peter Wall, representing the applicant, told council members the 74-acre plan is intended as a horizontally mixed-use development with multiple residential parcels, separate community-serving commercial acreage (increased from 4 to 12 acres after community input), a school parcel, and park and trail connections. He said one SMX-8 parcel is expected to be developed as an affordable residential project and that other residential sites would include a mix of market-rate and affordable units.

Council members asked whether mixed-use zoning guarantees housing rather than retail. Council Member Amanda Sawyer pressed for clarity on whether rezoning to mixed use could leave the site as retail or office; Wall replied that market forces and the plan's parcelization make residential the most viable use in interior parcels and that commercial is concentrated along 56th Avenue. Members also sought details on acreage, park dimensions (staff described a roughly nine-acre regional park when city-owned open-space acreage and the dedicated land are combined), and the school-site location within the SMX-5 area.

At the end of the item a member moved to advance the rezoning and Council President Sandoval seconded the motion. The transcript records the motion and second and shows the chair moving on; no roll-call or vote tally is recorded in the provided transcript.

The committee heard that the rezoning was recommended for approval by staff after review of Blueprint Denver and the Far Northeast Area Plan, and that Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend approval. Glick cited consistency with the area's suburban context, the Far Northeast plan's height guidance (up to eight stories for the area), and anticipated public benefits such as school dedication, park space, and affordable units under the proposed compliance plan.

The committee then moved to the agenda's next item.