DENVER — The City of Denver is overhauling its construction permitting system in hopes of speeding up and simplifying the approval process by establishing the Denver Permitting Office.
The city says the permitting process, which can take up to two years, has created delays for developers.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is pledging to process applications within 180 days or refund up to $10,000 in fees if it fails.
“We're going to make a big commitment to a time frame, we're going to make a big commitment to accountability, and we're going to bring all our city employees to one location to deliver success,” Johnston said.
The office will consolidate reviews from seven city departments and assign each applicant a “project champion” to guide them through the process.
In the next decade, the City of Denver wants to create 44,000 affordable housing units, an issue Denver7 has been following for years as the city continues to grow.
Denver Permitting Office Director Jill Jennings-Golich said the new, streamlined permitting process will help get more affordable housing units to Denver residents.
It follows a series of efforts by the city in 2022 to help expand the number of affordable housing units.
“With our affordable housing review team, we've seen that [permit processing] time reduced to roughly 12 to 15 months, and that's city time and customer time. And then, through the executive order, we are committing to 180 days of city review time for projects moving forward,” Jennings-Golich said.
The new permitting office will launch in mid-May.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.