City Proposal Aims to Change Low-Intensity Residential Zoning: What It Means for Our Neighborhood
The Denver Community Planning and Development (CPD) department is currently advancing a citywide zoning initiative called Unlocking Housing Choices (UHC). Because this proposal targets low-intensity residential areas, it could directly impact the future rules for property development, home sizes, and density in our neighborhood.
Denver City Council is scheduled to formally vote on Phase 1 of this proposal by the end of 2026. Ahead of that timeline, we are tracking the details closely to ensure our community’s voice is heard.
What is the "Unlocking Housing Choices" Proposal?
The UHC initiative seeks to modify the Denver Zoning Code to allow "missing middle" housing in neighborhoods that historically have been limited mostly to single-family homes. This includes all SU (Single-Unit), TU (Two-Unit), and RH (Row House) zone districts.
"Missing middle" housing refers to small-scale, multi-unit structures that are built to look like a standard residential house from the street, but contain multiple units inside—such as side-by-side or stacked duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and cottage courts.
The Core Strategies of Phase 1
The city’s current framework introduces three main mechanisms to encourage multi-unit building forms over single-family mega-mansions:
Graduated Scale and Form Rules: The city proposes limiting the maximum overall mass and footprint allowed for a single-family home. However, the maximum allowable floor area would scale up if a developer chooses to build multiple units (like a triplex or fourplex) on that same lot. The goal is to make building multiple smaller, more attainable homes more financially attractive than building one massive luxury single-unit house.
The Infill Bonus: This rule allows property owners to add extra units to a lot only if the primary, existing home is preserved and incorporated into the design, rather than demolished.
The Affordability Bonus: Developers would be granted the flexibility to build a higher number of units on a single lot if they commit to deed-restricting a portion of those units as legally affordable housing.
What Our Neighborhood is Watching Closely
While the city’s stated goals are to increase housing options and curb the demolition of smaller starter homes, neighborhood boards across Denver are closely evaluating how these changes will function in practice. Key considerations include:
Infrastructure & Parking: City Council voted last year to eliminate mandatory off-street parking requirements citywide. Without designated parking requirements for these new triplexes or fourplexes, residents are looking at how street parking and traffic flow will be managed locally.
Design & Character Safeguards: Neighbors are looking closely at height limits, setbacks, and open-space requirements to ensure that any new multi-unit buildings truly remain "house-scaled" and visually compatible with our existing block characteristics.
Infrastructure Capacity: Adding density requires careful coordination with stormwater management, local utility grids, and the preservation of our mature urban tree canopy.
How to Get Involved
Community input is heavily shaping the final text amendments before they go to a vote at City Council later this year.
We encourage all neighbors to review the official draft materials on the city's website by searching for "Denver Unlocking Housing Choices." You can submit questions directly to city planners or attend upcoming public feedback sessions. We will continue to monitor the draft text updates and share our official feedback with our Council representative as the voting window approaches.
You can review a full, detailed presentation of these changes by watching the Denver Community Planning and Development Advisory Committee Briefing, which provides an inside look at how these specific zoning tools are being refined before the upcoming vote.
