Tens of thousands of properties across Denver would be rezoned under a proposed ballot initiative from two land-use reform advocates.
Two members of YIMBY Denver, David Pardo and Robert Greer, have drafted a proposed ballot initiative that would allow more dense development on land around public parks and transit.
“Denver has a housing shortage, particularly within the for-sale market, and this is a way of getting more for-sale product into the neighborhoods where people really want to put down roots,” Pardo said.
The proposal is still in the exploratory phase. Pardo and Greer submitted the language to the city for review. But they would still need to collect thousands of signatures from voters to place the proposal on the November election ballot.
But Pardo said they believe they’re onto something — a poll they did last spring showed a majority of respondents supported upzoning around transit and parks, they said.
While the two hold roles on YIMBY Denver’s board, they are currently working on the proposed initiative independent of the land use reform nonprofit. YIMBY, which stands for “yes in my backyard,” is a movement to encourage denser housing development.
The measure would only pass with the approval of a majority of voters.
Here’s how it would work — in the proposal’s current form.
Pardo and Greer are meeting with city staff this week to review the proposal. The review process is meant to surface redundancies and unforeseen impacts. For example, city staff pointed out that a previous draft would have rezoned the airport, he said.
If it’s eventually approved, Pardo said the measure would likely upzone tens of thousands of land parcels across Denver.
As with all rezonings, the change wouldn’t force land owners to make any changes to their property.
Instead, it would make it easier for property owners and developers to build denser housing if they choose. They could potentially avoid having to seek special permission from the Denver City Council — also known as a rezoning — for a townhome or condo project.
Here’s what the current draft would change:
- Three-story zoning: Parcels within 250 feet of medium-frequency bus stops and community parks, within 750 feet of bus rapid transit lines or regional parks and within 1,500 feet of a rail transit station would be rezoned to MU-3x, which generally allows for three-story tall multi-unit developments.
- Five-story zoning: Parcels within 250 feet of bus rapid transit lines or regional parks or within 1,000 feet of rail transit stations would be rezoned to RX-5x, which generally allows for residential mixed-use development up to five stories tall.
- Eight-story zoning: Parcels within 500 feet of rail transit stations are rezoned to MX-8, which generally allows for mixed-use development up to eight stories tall. This does not apply if the parcel is already more permissively zoned.
- Parcels that are already zoned for industrial or recreational use wouldn’t be affected by the proposed mass rezoning. The changes wouldn’t affect the airport or educational campuses either.
Pardo said the point of the proposal isn’t to provide more opportunities for corporate developers to buy up land. He said the proposed rezonings have maximum lot size rules that prevent large-scale development.
“If you spend time in Cap Hill … sure, it may not look exactly like a house, but we're talking house-scale structures, not things that are notably taller or bigger,” he said.
Pardo said they could still make small changes to the proposal, especially if they do more polling around the issue. For example, if further surveys show people think rezoning around all parks is too expansive, they could revise to only rezone around the city’s biggest parks.
Pardo and Greer would have to collect 10,000 valid signatures by June to make it to the November ballot. Alternatively, Denver City Council could vote to refer the measure to the ballot.
The vote would be a citywide referendum on the YIMBY ideology.
If put on a ballot, voters in essence would be asked what they think of the YIMBY school of thought.
YIMBYs have seen some local wins in recent years, like abolishing citywide parking minimums for new developments and the legalization of “single-stair” apartments.
But they also experienced a major defeat. In 2023, Denver voters rejected a ballot initiative that would have allowed a developer to build housing, retail and a public park at the vacant Park Hill Golf Course site. Instead, the city will be spending tens of millions of dollars to turn the parcel into a 155-acre park, with no housing or retail on site.
Pardo said he didn’t see that as a referendum against YIMBYism — he said the proposal had several things going against it, including people opposed to a “sweetheart deal” with the developer and those who wanted more park space, as well as those who oppose more development.
“It wasn't a battle of one group versus another,” Pardo said. “It was a thing where you had a number of people with different interests all opposed to one thing.”
