Gov. Jared Polis and some lawmakers have begun discussing how to resurrect their plans to reform land-use in Colorado, two months after their first attempt collapsed amid fierce opposition from local governments and several Senate Democrats.
The discussions are in their infancy and exact policy proposals are still being worked out, legislators involved said. Rep. Steven Woodrow, a sponsor of this year’s failed zoning reform effort, met with Polis’ office Monday to discuss a path forward in 2024, including the possibility of packaging together a slew of bills — as opposed to the single,154-page behemoth that died in May.
That measure had sought to reshape zoning in cities across Colorado in the hopes that new apartment buildings and accessory-dwelling units, coupled with strategic growth and housing assessments, would ease the state’s overburdened housing market.
A group of nonprofit housing providers are set to meet at the governor’s mansion later this month, and at least one Republican — House assistant minority leader Rose Pugliese — has met with Woodrow and Polis to discuss land use.
Woodrow and Rep. Iman Jodeh, a fellow Democrat who also co-sponsored last session’s land-use bill, said this week that it was too early to know which proposals may move forward when the legislature reconvenes in January. But Woodrow indicated an interest in policies recently adopted in Montana that make it easier to build duplexes, as well as re-examining proposals that would allow for denser building in urban transit areas and leveraging bigger financial incentives to help local governments.
Local governments, and their representatives like the Colorado Municipal League, have castigated any attempt to change zoning codes at a state level as an encroachment on local control. They have promised to maintain that opposition come next year.
As the state continues to struggle through a housing crisis, Democratic lawmakers have yet to coalesce on a distinct path forward to address it. Polis has thrown his weight behind land-use reform, and in an interview Thursday, he repeated the arguments made during the debate in the spring: Colorado has a supply problem, and increasing housing supply the right way can help everything from affordability to air quality and transportation. He, too, advocated for denser development near transit areas.
“It’s only become more urgent since the failure of the last General Assembly to address these issues,” Polis said. “We’ve seen the recent data from Denver around record rent increases, and it’s entirely a problem of our making. We can address housing costs whenever we choose to. We advocate sooner rather than later.”
If the coming proposals are packaged into individual bills, then broadly more popular provisions — like required housing-needs assessments and strategic growth planning — could be parceled out separate from any zoning reforms, which are more controversial. Local governments and some lawmakers had slammed those proposals earlier this year as pre-empting local control, and that opposition has not faded in the weeks since the legislature adjourned.
“We’re putting everything out on a table, seeing what things make sense for Colorado and what we like,” Woodrow said. “In terms of a pre-emption discussion, I think to some degree, there will be that discussion, but I think when we take a step back and look at what we’re trying to pre-empt would be, in a modest way, this local control over exclusionary zoning.”
The relaunch, coupled with comments Polis made at a local government conference in June, signal that the governor and supportive lawmakers are doubling down on their plans to address the state’s housing crisis via state-directed zoning and land-use reform. Their first attempt, SB23-213, died as the session neared its end in early May: The bill had been repeatedly rewritten as it moved through the Capitol, setting up an 11th-hour showdown between the modest version passed by the Senate and favored by local governments, and the sweeping proposal pushed by the House.
Ultimately, Senate Democrats — who held a comfortable majority in the chamber — couldn’t agree on a path forward for the measure, and it died with hours left in the session.
Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat, was active in debates around the land-use bill last spring, advocating for anti-displacement measures to be included alongside zoning reforms. That would ensure that transit areas — newly upzoned and attractive to developers — wouldn’t become too expensive for the surrounding community. She, like Woodrow, said Wednesday that beginning discussions now gives those involved time to flesh out the appropriate strategy and sort out issues before the final days of a legislative session.
Supporters of land-use reform include affordable housing advocates and conservation groups, who argue that denser development near transit areas will cut down on pollution and promote sustainable urban growth. Business groups largely stayed out of the fray, frustrating other supporters. Meanwhile, local governments — led by their advocacy organization, the Colorado Municipal League — dug in against any attempt by lawmakers to reform local zoning codes.
Kevin Bommer, the executive director of the league, said Thursday he wasn’t aware of renewed discussions around land-use reform for next year. Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, an Arvada Democrat whose opposition to zoning reform helped sink SB23-213 in May, said she remains opposed to any state preemptions of local control. She said she wasn’t involved in similar policy discussions ahead of last year’s debate and that it would be a “huge problem if (supporters) decide to repeat that.”
“If local governments and those that support partnership, not pre-emption, are not going to be invited to table, we’ll make our own table,” Bommer said. “That’s still the direction that we’re pursuing irrespective of what second bites at the same apple others want to take and try to revive 213.”
Asked about those preemption concerns, Polis pointed to the recent passage of a bill that blocks local governments from enacting growth caps on development.
“Communities can’t be part of the problem,” he said. “I think the next step is to say, ‘How do we make sure communities across our state, the cities and counties, are part of the solution.’ That’s the work to be done.”
In a bid to shore up support ahead of another reform push, Woodrow said proponents are working to include more people in drafting and vetting policy this time around. He said during the legislative fight earlier this year, policymakers had heard “from a bunch of folks who didn’t feel included,” including local government officials and Republicans.
Pugliese, a Colorado Springs Republican and the assistant minority leader in the House, said she’d spoken with Woodrow and Polis about land-use reform broadly in recent weeks but that nothing had been decided. Republicans roundly opposed the land-use bill earlier this year, and Pugliese said she didn’t know if she would ultimately support what’s proposed next year, given that the discussions are just beginning. But, she said she appreciated the acknowledgment that Republican lawmakers have different perspectives to share.
As for local governments, Woodrow said he and other supporters were willing to negotiate and work with them and with the league on a path forward.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to have to figure out the right balance between incentives and ensuring that the job gets done,” he said. “The people of Colorado can’t afford to keep waiting for (the Colorado Municipal League) to act right. If they’re going to remain philosophically opposed to any type of preemption whatsoever, then that’s a real missed opportunity for them that they’re going to look back on and say they wish they’d handled differently.”
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