Savior or Catastrophe?
SB23-213. . . “Ess Bee 23 dash 2 1 3“
Doesn’t sound very impressive. Yet Senate Bill 213 could become the single most disruptive bill in recent Colorado history.
Take time to get to know it.
It *WILL* affect your community, and your neighborhood… and probably the street you live on. If you live in a city.
Golden City Council has not taken an official position as of yet. As the Councilor for Ward 4, I urge you to understand the potential impacts of this bill. Perhaps start by reading a few articles which hit close to home… so close to home they use Golden’s “Howdy Folks” sign to illustrate it.
https://www.cpr.org/2023/03/29/colorado-bill-eliminate-cities-growth-cap/
As written SB23-213 would
* Unilaterally remove Golden’s 1% growth ordinance
* Give power to Developers to put a 6-unit condo in any neighborhood, even ones currently with single family homes.
– And Golden can’t require the builder to add any parking for all of these new tenants
– Imagine the next-door neighbor’s house being scraped and suddenly becoming a 6-unit rental building owned by a corporate landlord, with the building pushed out to within 5 feet of the property line in all directions, 30-35 feet tall.
* Live in an HOA or PUD zoned area? That won’t matter. The bill eliminates the power of homeowners’ associations to keep out certain types of housing.
* Removes limits in state law on the number of unrelated people who can live together
* ADUs – Golden allows them in many areas, as long as there is an owner on site. That goes away, and ADUs can be built in by companies looking to expand rentals
* Oh, and this only applies to Cities … somehow Counties are exempted. Golden is included as a “Tier 1” city — the most dramatically affected.
Many of us are working diligently to make affordable housing options available. Golden has hired an affordable housing policy coordinator to improve our efforts both locally and regionally, and to be a part of the solution to the housing crisis we face in Colorado.
Learn more about Golden’s efforts to address affordable housing
https://www.guidinggolden.com/housing-in-golden
Being concerned about this bill isn’t a matter of NIMBYism – the bill represents a complete overhaul and functional dismantling of local zoning regulations.
I grew up in Arizona, where developers have traditionally run the state to benefit themselves with explosive growth and unrestrained development at any cost. I’m saddened, and stunned, to imagine a future like that for Colorado.
I support affordable housing changes to our codes, and I support efforts to ensure equitable treatment across our zoning codes. This bill will not achieve that. For further reading, click below!
Read: Gov. Polis’ housing proposal would allow duplexes, townhomes, ADUs across many cities in Colorado: https://www.cpr.org/2023/03/22/gov-polis-housing-proposal-duplexes-townhomes-adus/
Here’s what CML has to say (the group that represents the interests of Cities such as Golden)