DENVER — The Local Government and Housing Committee inside of the Colorado State Capitol was packed Thursday, as legislators heard testimony from more than 200 people about a massive affordable housing bill.
The goal of the legislation, which is just over 100 pages long, is to combat the housing crisis. SB23-213 comes with lots of support and opposition, along with many people who believe there needs to be amendments made.
According to an explanation of the legislation from the prime sponsors, there are five key components:
- Legalize building the most affordable types of homes, like duplexes and townhomes, while protecting the character of our communities and giving property owners more rights. This will allow us to turn underutilized space into vibrant community housing options.
- Incentivize and allow multifamily housing near transit oriented communities and walkable commercial areas, lessening traffic on our roads, reducing pollution, protecting our water and increasing affordability.
- Cut red tape and remove barriers to reduce cost and time delays. Homeowners should have the right to build a variety of homes on their land, including an apartment for an aging parent or a home for an adult child.
- Assess statewide housing needs and identify and implement affordability strategies tailored to local and regional needs. Provide a framework for state, regional, and local agencies to strategically align investments and policies and track progress.
- Set Strategic Growth objectives that serve as "North Stars" to guide state, regional, and local entities as they collaborate, plan, and make funding decisions that create cost savings for residents and infrastructure, increase water efficiency, and reduce loss of open space and agricultural lands.
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If passed, local governments would not be allowed to restrict zoning to only single-family housing in areas, allowing denser development.
"Accessory dwelling units, duplexes, triplexes, more units on the same space of land, allowing people to live closer together," said Rep. Steven Woodrow, D-Denver, who is one of the sponsors of SB23-213. “It's no secret that we have an affordability crisis here in Colorado... As we grow as a state, we have a choice. We can continue to grow in a disjointed uncoordinated way, or we can be smart, strategic and focused.”
Rep. Woodrow believes SB23-213 would provide the state with that kind of focus when it comes to housing.
“We're not ruining the neighborhood or transforming the neighborhood, what we're doing is we're allowing more people to enjoy the neighborhood and to live with one another," said Rep. Woodrow.
However, many cities are opposing the bill, according to the Secretary of State's website. The Mayor of the City of Centennial, Stephanie Piko, said 84% of their community is made up of single-family homes.
“To have this happen to their neighborhoods would be detrimental for everybody," said Piko. “A neighborhood that people selected to live in for the attributes that are there could be completely turned upside down, and not have any of the characteristics of what people wanted when they built into a neighborhood.”
Piko said Centennial is a home rule city, meaning they have the ability to make land use decisions.
“Centennial citizens wanted self-determination, and every part of SB23-213 takes that away from the rights of our citizens," said Piko. “We determine where the right places are to have density increases, and where the right places are to preserve the character of our neighborhoods.”
The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless supports the goals of the bill, but wants to see certain amendments made to the legislation.
“What we'd like to see is more affordability requirements to ensure that as we build more housing in Colorado, we make sure that it's affordable for those households that need it most, primarily those with the lowest incomes and those living on fixed incomes," said Cathy Alderman, the chief communications and public policy officer of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. “As a state, we haven't built enough housing for people across the income spectrum. But specifically, we haven't built enough housing for those living at the lowest income.”
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During Thursday's hearing, amendments were not introduced because they are still being drafted. However, Democratic Sen. Dominick Moreno, who is a sponsor of the bill, said he is committed to strengthening affordability requirements in the bill, specifically when it comes to mountain communities.
“In the amendments that we are working on, we have heard loud and clear how unique housing is in our mountain communities," said Sen. Moreno, in response to a concern from another legislator about the bill allowing people to build more second homes in the mountains or create more short-term rentals, which does not address the workforce housing needs there.
Lawmakers have also provided a document answering what they see as the most frequently asked questions about the legislation, which can be viewed here.
If SB23-213 moves through the Senate, it still needs to go to the House of Representatives afterwards.
