Colorado’s housing crisis may yet get some legislative relief. Just days ago, Gov. Jared Polis’ (D-CO) top legislative priority, a land use bill that would clear a regulatory path for more affordable housing by granting statewide permission for higher density housing near public transit and allow homeowners to build accessory dwelling units, seemed destined for a common fate of bold policy ideas: reduced to a study. The teeth of SB23-213, requiring the upzoning of residential neighborhoods statewide, had been pulled via Senate committee amendments by legislators facing the sound and fury of suburban city officials invoking the sanctity of “local control” as they insisted they must be allowed to limit the rights of property owners.
The challenge remains a classic case of so-called “NIMBYism,” or “not in my backyard.” Wealthy cities and towns impose local growth caps and zoning restrictions on high-density housing like apartment buildings or even duplexes, which are more affordable than single-famliy homes. Property owners who want to sell to a builder of a multi-unit project are prevented from doing so by local zoning laws. The law of supply and demand dictates that affordability comes with scale — more housing options bring down costs. This applies within an individual municipality’s limits, fewer homes mean higher prices, and then is compounded across the state, as the patchwork of local rules capping growth or banning multi-unit projects, or simply city council’s preference for high-dollar single-family homes, combine to push aspiring homeowners further and further away from their workplaces.
Bolstered by a broad coalition of housing, climate and business interests, Democrats in House have restored some of the density components, including lifting local bans on homeowners building accessory dwelling units (ADUs) such as converted garages, and more significantly, requiring upzoning for all neighborhoods in designated transit zones, meaning near train and bus stations. Late last night Colorado House members concluded debate on the bill and passed it on a preliminary voice vote. The final recorded House vote is expected today or tomorrow.
Not all local leaders oppose the upzoning proposals, however, especially the one focused on housing near transit corridors.
Adams County Commissioner Eva Henry was one of eighteen current and former municipal leaders who co-signed a letter in support of the bill.
“Our state is facing a serious and growing affordable housing crisis that does not stop at city or county lines,” says Henry. “Colorado’s housing crisis cannot be solved city by city or county by county. It’s a complicated issue that needs both local and statewide planning and solutions, but it’s also not a one-size-fits-all for every community. As the housing affordability crisis contributes to our climate crisis we need to be smart about how we build; and we need planning that keeps our air clean and conserves our resources, reduces unnecessary commutes, limits sprawl, promotes building near public transit, and lessens infrastructure costs for the taxpayers and local governments.”
Henry cited her years of experience in local leadership and offered several Front Range examples of local housing policies that contribute to the statewide housing crunch.
“I was a city council member before I became a county commissioner, so after 15 years of being an elected official I have quite a depth of knowledge when it comes to land use and the abilities that our local electeds have to make those decisions,” says Henry. “Decisions made on a local level affect the entire region. The City of Westminster took housing out of their comprehensive plan –the same week that this bill was introduced– because they don’t consider housing a priority. Douglas County is building up all McMansions. And then there are no-growth or growth caps in Boulder, Golden, and Lakewood. So all these decisions impact the other cities in the region. Where are people trying to afford a place to live going to go? There is no other place for them to go. They’re going to end up coming to Adams County.”
Henry says that the NIMBYism gets even more acute when a residential development includes affordable housing, noting that the local political pressure is inevitably “We don’t want that here,” even as there’s a broad consensus that as a state, Colorado has an affordable housing crisis.
The bill’s approach to solving this crisis was previewed in the Governor’s State of the State speech back in January. “We need more flexible zoning to allow more housing, streamlined regulations that cut through red tape, expedited approval processes for projects like modular housing, sustainable development, and more building in transit-oriented communities,” Polis said to the legislature.
Assuming the bill passes its third vote of the full House, it will return to the Senate in a form different from when it left. Senators will then vote to either accept the House version as is, or reject it and convene a conference committee to work out the differences. If that’s the route taken, then each chamber will have a final up-or-down vote on the agreed-upon conference version.
