The politically-charged land-use bill backed by Gov. Jared Polis and many Democratic lawmakers that intends to increase Colorado’s housing density was approved Friday by the state House of Representatives. The House version includes significant amendments that partially restored certain provisions a week after they were cut in the Senate.
“This bill is, in fact, a social justice issue. Across the board and in every community in our state, the lack of housing is displacing families and making it harder to call Colorado home,” Rep. Iman Jodeh, one of the bill’s House sponsors behind the new amendments, said. “Older Coloradans who want to stay in their homes can’t renovate or add an accessory dwelling unit. First-time homebuyers can’t find anything that fits their budget. Teachers, firefighters and others are commuting for hours to get to their classrooms and places of employment.”
One of the amendments focuses on increasing density around transit corridors and would require cities to allow for multi-unit zoning around bus and train routes. In cities with bus rapid transit, which means a bus-based transportation system that’s designed to be more efficient than a standard bus route, the amendment would mandate an average housing density of 25 units per acre in at least 25% of neighborhoods that are within a half-mile of bus stops. Areas with frequent standard bus routes would have the same requirements within a quarter-mile of bus stops.
Cities with train-based transit systems would have even higher-density zoning requirements. They would be required to allow for an average density of 40 units per acre in at least 50% of neighborhoods within a half-mile of train stations.
Other major amendments would prohibit large population centers from banning accessory dwelling units, or ADU’s, and would block municipalities from limiting occupancy limits. The latter would allow limits for college towns, however, if 25% or more of residents are students. In those cases, occupancy would be capped at five people.
The latest amendments are more targeted than similar provisions in the original bill, which included the most sweeping land-use changes. It would have changed zoning rules for towns and cities of all sizes state-wide with requirements based on a community’s population size.
Those changes were almost completely rolled back in the Senate to create a path forward for the bill as it faced significant opposition from local governments. The House sponsors’ partial restoration of the provisions has reignited that opposition.
Colorado Municipal League Executive Director Kevin Bommer says cities and towns should be in control of housing policy, not the state.
“Municipalities are already doing it and we'd love to have a partner with the state, not an adversary,” Bommer said during a hearing this week in front of the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government committee on Tuesday. “We are better than that, or at least we should be.”
Colorado Counties Inc. and the Colorado Association of Ski Towns have also opposed the bill because of what they consider to be preemption of local control of zoning rules. Bill-sponsor Rep. Steven Woodrow pushed back on claims like Bommer’s that the amended bill is state-overreach.
“Let me be clear, what we're doing with this bill and with the amendments we've worked on is constitutional,” Woodrow said. “If local control was the answer, we wouldn't have a statewide problem.”
Although the House passed the amended bill, its future is far from certain. The Senate will need to approve the latest changes in the next few days before it can be sent to Gov. Polis’ desk. If the Senate rejects them, the bill will fail.
