(The Center Square) – Colorado leaders rolled out a 105-page housing invoice to overhaul the state’s land-use rules hoping to extend get right of entry to to reasonably priced housing.
Under Senate Bill 23-213, “tier one” municipalities – better towns or smaller towns inside the metro house – and “rural resort job center municipalities” should permit the usage of so-called “middle housing,” comparable to townhomes and duplexes. The invoice would additionally permit “accessory dwelling units” in spaces that permit single-unit indifferent dwellings.
“A relevant municipality shall adopt either the model code or local laws that satisfy the minimum standards concerning accessory dwelling units, middle housing, transit-oriented areas, and key corridors,” the regulation’s invoice abstract states.
Gov. Jared Polis mentioned at a Wednesday news convention saying that proposal that it’s going to result in “more housing options for every Colorado budget and every community, [and] drive down costs that are pricing Coloradans out of our homes and out of our neighborhoods.”
The governor also referred to as the proposal’s backing “an unprecedented coalition,” which incorporates industry teams, hard work organizations and native govt officers.
The regulation is adverse through the Colorado Municipal League, which said the invoice as stands would remove “a century of municipal authority.”
“It is a breathtaking power grab,” Kevin Bommer, the crowd’s government director, mentioned in a observation. “Although the bill is being sold as a ‘menu of options’ with ‘flexibility’ to create affordability, it mainly benefits developer interests to the detriment to the quality of life and access to local elected officials expected by Coloradans and with no guarantees that anything built will be ‘affordable.’”
Bommer added that CML may just enhance the regulation if its backers “step away from a California-style, top-down approach, and support local government efforts to address density while guaranteeing affordable housing.”
House Assistant Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, R-Colorado Springs, mentioned in a observation that stakeholder conferences for the invoice had been “entirely closed” to Republicans and pointed to Democrats’ rules as purpose for fear.
“We are surpassing California on over-regulation that is stifling development and growth in Colorado,” Pugliese mentioned. “This sounds more like a presidential campaign stunt than real solutions that will positively affect the lives of Coloradans throughout the state.”
Colorado Democrats also are looking to cross a invoice to repeal the state’s ban on hire regulate.
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