The Denver Zoning Code is a living document that must be periodically amended to keep it current and relevant. Amendments are based on recommendations from adopted city plans, industry changes, process improvements, and similar needs to ensure that zoning outcomes match our intent.
All amendments are based on public feedback and must be adopted by City Council.
Bringing Plans to Life
Community Planning and Development (CPD) collaborates with communities through citywide and neighborhood planning. These plans offer community-driven policy guidance for the city. Zoning code amendments help put those policies into effect.
Citywide Plans: Comprehensive Plan 2040 and Blueprint Denver are long-term plans that establish a vision for Denver to be inclusive, connected and healthy. The following text amendments implement specific policy recommendations from these plans and ensure that the Denver Zoning Code reflects the city's adopted values.
Neighborhood and Area Plans: Neighborhood and area plans address citywide goals at the local level, to ensure they are applied in a way that makes sense for each neighborhood and that they meet individual neighborhood needs. Zoning code amendments help implement these recommendations for communities.
Projects are listed here when a City Council member requests a text amendment, sometimes accompanied by a legislative rezoning. Council offices usually do preliminary work and outreach before making the official request and are the best sources for background information on the project.
Sunnyside Conservation Overlay – Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval, District 1
This proposed overlay would modify design standards that apply to areas zoned for houses and duplexes. The objective is to refine the rules so new houses, duplexes and additions are compatible with existing neighborhood design characteristics, while still allowing flexibility and creative architecture. The overlay is anticipated to address topics like front porches, building bulk, and exterior materials. Council District 1 conducted a 3-year outreach process and assembled a neighborhood working group that includes several practicing architects. Councilwoman Sandoval is also requesting a rezoning (map amendment) to apply the proposed overlay to all Single Unit (SU-) and Two Unit (TU-) zoned properties in the Sunnyside neighborhood.
Comments or questions may be submitted to Brad Johnson, Senior City Planner (brad.johnson2@denvergov.org).
Next steps:
A public review draft will be available in the coming weeks.
Cherry Creek East Conservation Overlay and Design Overlay – Councilman Chris Hinds, District 10
Two overlays are proposed for the Cherry Creek East neighborhood, bounded by S. Steele Street, E. Cherry Creek North Drive, E. Alameda Avenue, S. Colorado Boulevard, and E. 1st Avenue. The Conservation Overlay (CO) seeks to promote pedestrian-friendly street frontages and enhance neighborhood safety and includes standards applicable to the Row House (RH) zone district with requirements for an Unenclosed Porch, enhanced landscaping, and additional lighting. The Design Overlay (DO) seeks to enhance and promote a quality urban environment with a vibrant sense of place and would apply to Mixed Use (MX), Residential Mixed Use (RX), Main Street (MS), Multi Unit (MU), and Residential Office (RO) zone districts with requirements that allow for wider sidewalks and more landscaping, additional open space, and new structured parking standards.
The proposed overlays follow a multi-year process led by the Cherry Creek East Association with assistance from City Council District 10, consultants, and input from area residents, businesses, and the development community. Councilman Hinds will also request a rezoning (map amendment) to apply the proposed overlays to subject properties in the Cherry Creek East neighborhood.
Comments or questions may be submitted to Senior City Planner Libby Kaiser (Libby.Kaiser@denvergov.org).
Next steps:
A public review draft will be available in the coming weeks.
Just like infrastructure needs maintenance to stay in top condition, the Denver Zoning Code also needs regular maintenance to continue to respond to the needs of the city, while remaining modern and flexible. Periodically, CPD proposes amendments to keep the code modern, clear and user-friendly.
Text Amendment to Reestablish the Board of Adjustment with Updated Board Requirements and Procedures
City Councilmember Robin Kniech and City Councilmember Amanda Sandoval proposed a text amendment to reestablish the existing Board of Adjustment with updated requirements and procedures, including new professional qualifications and training requirements as well as adjustment to the authority and process for appointing board members.
- Land Use, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee: Tuesday, January 18, 2022: Presentation(PDF, 1013KB)
- City Council public hearing and adoption: Monday, February 22, 2022
Maximum Building Footprint Correction for Detached Accessory Dwelling Units in E-SU- Zone Districts
Community Planning and Development proposed a correction to two discrete numerical errors adopted with the 2021 Bundle of Denver Zoning Code Text Amendments on June 28, 2021. The error had resulted in a misstatement of the maximum building footprint for a detached accessory dwelling unit building form on some lot sizes in single-unit Urban Edge Neighborhood Context (E-) zone districts.
2021 Bundle of Text Amendments
This package included more than 160 proposed code changes to correct and clarify existing zoning rules or make small adjustments for consistency with adopted policy. The proposed changes included making off-street parking requirements more flexible for affordable housing, and updates to where detached accessory structures can stand on a lot, rules of measurement and more.
- Planning Board Public Hearing: Wednesday, April 21, 2021
- Land Use, Transportation & Infrastructure: Tuesday, May 4, 2021
- City Council Hearing: Monday, June 28, 2021
Effective Date and Grace Period
The bundle of text amendments was adopted by City Council on June 28, 2021 and became effective on July 1, 2021. The following key dates determine how the update affects projects under review at the time of adoption.
- Applicants who submitted zoning permit applications before June 30, 2021, may request to have their projects reviewed under the version of the zoning code effective on March 31, 2021. To make a request, contact your reviewer.
- In such cases, the zoning permit must be approved by February 2, 2022.
- If the zoning permit is not approved by February 2, 2022, the current rules would apply.
- For those zoning permits approved by February 2, 2022, modifications to plans are allowed under the version of the zoning code effective on March 31, 2021 until December 30, 2022. For modifications made after December 30, 2022, current rules would apply.
See previous versions of the Denver Zoning Code in the Legislative History section of this page. The current code is available at DenverGov.org/zoning.
All Adopted Denver Zoning Code Amendments
The Legislative History of Denver Zoning Code Text Amendments(PDF, 375KB) outlines zoning code changes adopted by City Council to date. The legislative history includes ordinance number, effective date, applicable Denver Zoning Code provisions, and keywords. Text amendments to the code follow the procedure set out in the Denver Zoning Code, Article 12, Section 12.4.11.
Previous Versions of the Denver Zoning Code
- Denver Zoning Code version effective on December 23, 2021(PDF, 35MB)
- Denver Zoning Code version effective on July 26, 2021(PDF, 39MB)
- Denver Zoning Code version effective on July 1, 2021(PDF, 35MB)
- Denver Zoning Code version effective on March 31, 2021(PDF, 37MB)
- Denver Zoning Code version effective on February 11, 2021(PDF, 37MB)
- Denver Zoning Code version effective on November 12, 2020(PDF, 35MB)
Strike-through Versions
The documents linked below show a marked-up version of the text amendment showing what changed.
The Denver Zoning Code was originally published on June 25, 2010. The following are amendments to the original version of the code.
- Text amendment 1 (PDF) - Effective August 13, 2010
- Text amendment 2 (PDF) - Effective September 16, 2010
- Text amendment 3 (PDF) - Effective October 29, 2010
- Text amendment 4 (PDF) - Effective November 19, 2010
- Text amendment 5 (PDF) - Effective December 23, 2010
- Text amendment 6 (PDF) - Effective June 24, 2011
- Text amendment 7 (PDF) - Effective June 13, 2011
- Text amendment 8 (PDF) - Effective July 15, 2011
- Text amendment 9 (PDF) - Effective September 1, 2011
- Text amendment 10 (PDF) - Effective March 9, 2012
- Text amendment 11 (PDF) - Effective May 11, 2012
- Text amendment 12 (PDF) - Effective July 20, 2012
- Text amendment 13 (PDF) - Effective October 31, 2012
- Text amendment 14 (PDF) - Effective January 11, 2013
- Text amendment 15 (PDF) - Effective December 13, 2013
- Text amendment 16 (PDF) - Effective April 7, 2014
The Denver Zoning Code was restated and republished on April 7, 2014. The following amendments are to the updated 2014 version of the code.
The Denver Zoning Code was restated and republished on July 6, 2015. The following amendments are to the updated 2015 version of the code.
- Text Amendment 1 (PDF) - Effective July 10, 2015
- Text Amendment 2 (PDF) - Effective July 10, 2015
- Text Amendment 3 (PDF) - Effective July 10, 2015
- Text Amendment 4 (PDF) - Effective July 10, 2015
- Text Amendment 5 (PDF) - Effective November 27, 2015
- Text Amendment 6 (PDF) - Effective June 24, 2016
- Text Amendment 7 (PDF) - Effective April 29, 2016
- Text Amendment 8 (PDF) - Effective June 24, 2016
- Text Amendment 9 (PDF) - Effective August 23, 2016
- Text Amendment to Correct Clerical Errors (PDF) - Effective August 23, 2016
- Text Amendment 10 (PDF) - Effective November 25, 2016
- 2016 Text Amendment Bundle #1 (PDF) - Effective May 15, 2016
The Denver Zoning Code was restated and republished on May 5, 2017. The following amendments are to the updated 2017 version of the code.
The Denver Zoning Code was restated and republished on May 24, 2018. The following amendments are to the updated 2018 version of the code.
- Text Amendment 1 (PDF) - Effective June 21, 2018
- Text Amendment 2 (PDF) - Effective October 11, 2018
- Text Amendment 3 (PDF) - Effective December 20, 2018
- Text Amendment 4 (PDF) - Effective July 11, 2019
- Text Amendment to correct clerical errors (PDF) - Effective July 26, 2019
- Text Amendment 5 (PDF) - Effective September 12, 2019
- Text Amendment 6 (PDF) - Effective October 8, 2019
- Text Amendment 7 (PDF) - Effective November 10, 2020
- Text Amendment 8(PDF, 5MB) - Effective February 11, 2021
- Text Amendment 9(PDF, 411KB) - Effective March 31, 2021
- Text Amendment 10(PDF, 799KB) - Effective March 31, 2021
- 2021 Bundle of Text Amendments(PDF, 38MB) - Effective July 1, 2021
The Denver Zoning Code was restated and republished on July 1, 2021. The following amendments are to the updated 2021 version of the code.
Page Replacements
The Denver Zoning Code was originally published June 25, 2010. It was re-published in its entirety including the 2021 Text Amendment Bundle on July 1, 2021.
If you use assistive technology and would like to access the content in these documents, please contact planning@denvergov.org.