For the first time since 1956, the Denver City Council could overhaul the Denver Board of Adjustment after the council’s housing committee approved the changes on Tuesday.

The Board of Adjustment hears and decides appeal cases regarding the Denver Zoning Code and Former Chapter 59. If passed by the full council, the proposal would reestablish the volunteer board, setting new qualifications and training requirements for board members.

The proposal’s sponsors, council members Amanda Sandoval and Robin Kniech, said the changes are long overdue because of the increasing complexity of the Denver Zoning Code.

“When the Board of Adjustment was created, the zoning code looked at height, set back, lot coverage and permitted uses. That was it,” Sandoval said. “The zoning code now, we have building forms, alternative standards, housing incentives, modernized community objectives and expanded state and federal regulations since the overhaul in 1956.”

When the zoning code was created in 1925, it was 15 pages long. Today, the zoning code is over 2,000 pages long. In addition, the zoning code now must comply with federal laws including the Civil Rights Act, Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act.

Under the proposal, members of the five-person board would be required to have expertise in architecture, law, urban planning, construction, engineering or development. Once appointed, members would be trained in zoning code, legal procedures, adopted plans and diversity, equity and inclusion. Currently, there are no requirements for board member qualifications or training.

In addition, the proposal would give the City Council partial appointment power for the board, rather than just the mayor. Two members would be appointed by the council, two by the mayor and one in partnership with both.

Kniech said these changes would align Denver with other cities like Boston, Portland, Austin and Miami, which have begun moving away from citizen boards in favor of trained professionals.

“Because the codes are so large and complex now, (other cities are) having these decisions made more by professionals,” Kniech said. “For example, hearing examiners who are legal experts in the code, more cities are using their staff to make front-line, day-today decisions and maybe only using a board for a smaller number of appeals.”

Current members of the board would be able to reapply for their positions if they meet the new qualifications.

Other changes in the proposal include setting a fixed term of three years for alternate members (instead of the current one to five years) and decreasing the number of weekly meetings a member can miss from one-third of the meetings in a year to only three meetings in a row, unless excused by the board chair.

The committee unanimously approved the proposal Tuesday, passing it on to the full council for two final votes on Jan. 31 and Feb. 22.

Kniech said she and Sandoval also intend to pursue a ballot measure in April 2023 that would remove the Board of Adjustment from the city charter and reexamine the board’s functions. Currently, the board has the power to reverse a decision by the zoning administrator, allow deviation from the zoning code and delay enforcement action.