LAKEWOOD — Gov. Jared Polis unveiled his vision for housing and public transit for the final three years of his term Thursday, a roadmap focused on the governor’s plan to tackle the interlocking crises of affordability and climate change through land-use reform and improved planning.
The “Roadmap to Colorado’s Future: 2026” lays out six broad objectives, largely targeted at increasing housing supply and affordability while seeking to dovetail those efforts with improved access to transit and the state’s climate goals. Polis unveiled the plan at an affordable apartment complex near a transit stop in Lakewood, highlighting the connection he’s made in developing more transit and more housing.
Though the governor repeatedly stressed the roadmap as a vision for the state to pursue, the 34-page document further cemented Polis’ broader desire to reform land use and zoning across Colorado, along with calls for more strategic growth to maximize resources, prepare for wildfires and protect the state’s outdoor areas.
Zoning reform and coordinated strategic planning are policy solutions that the governor and other Democrats see as a panacea to several of the state’s current and future ills, from climate change to housing and transit development to water limitations. The roadmap comes seven months after Polis’ marquee zoning proposal collapsed in the Capitol and four weeks before legislators return to Denver to debate the issue at length once again.
“We have too many obstructions that get in the way of building more homes, especially starter homes — homes in the 200 (thousand), 300 (thousand) range, multifamily and apartments,” Polis said in an interview. His office previously released similar roadmaps to address climate change. “What we’re really seeking to do is create a vision, a compelling vision, for Colorado’s future that’s more livable, more affordable, protects our water and our open space.”
The plan, which is pegged to the state’s 150th birthday as well as the end of Polis’ second term in 2026, details a list of worrying data points about Colorado’s present and future: The state, Polis’ office wrote, is the 12th most expensive for renters and sixth most expensive for homebuyers. Nearly three-quarters of renters making less than $75,000 spend more than 30% of their income on rent. Crop land is decreasing. Homelessness has increased.
What’s more, the report notes, the state is going to continue growing. Thirty-five thousand new households are expected to move here each year through the end of this decade.
“Unless we direct this growth in thoughtful ways, and build enough housing in existing communities and near job centers, this reality will drive up the cost of housing and put additional pressure on open space, our quality of life, affordability, and our environment,” Polis’ office wrote.
Collaboration with local governments
To hit the broader vision, the roadmap calls for eliminating exclusionary zoning practices and promoting a mix of housing types, a nod to the need for condos and multi-unit buildings, as opposed to single-family homes. Polis specifically called out making it easier for Coloradans to build accessory-dwelling units, also known as carriages houses or granny flats. ADUs are regulated differently across the state. Polis set aside money in his budget proposal to subsidize ADU construction, and a bill to allow for the building of more ADUs is expected to be introduced in the coming legislative session.
Other strategies include updating housing regulations and modernizing “regulatory and zoning policy”; supporting expedited local government permitting and housing construction; and focusing on more walkable neighborhoods and development near existing and future transit corridors.
While acknowledging that more renewable and electric energy will be a “major” part of the state’s climate change strategy, the roadmap argues that “the design of both buildings and transit systems over the coming years will have pollution, traffic and cost-of-living implications for decades, further emphasizing the importance of expanded transit and smart building design.”
In a way, the Lakewood development where Polis unveiled the plan Thursday is a perfect synthesis of land-use reformers’ ideals. The building charges $950 a month to rent a one-bedroom unit, and it’s available to people making 30% to 60% of the area’s median income. It’s near public transit and neighborhood schools. It also has baked-in requirements to keep it available for lower-income renters. Affordable housing advocates have repeatedly said they support land-use reforms, so long as they include affordability requirements.
Local governments, meanwhile, were strident critics earlier this year of the governor’s proposed land-use reforms, which would’ve legalized ADUs across the state and eased zoning restrictions in transit areas. They promise to be similarly opposed in 2024, arguing that zoning decisions are best made by local officials.
Polis said his plan doesn’t focus solely on zoning reform and noted that he was seeking to collaborate with local governments, including with millions of dollars in incentives to make reforms more palatable. His roadmap includes several examples of local governments’ own efforts to improve housing, and he and other speakers pitched the roadmap as a collaborative vision.
“Your skepticism is not just valid — it’s essential,” Peter LiFari, who runs Adams County’s housing authority, said of reform skeptics. “…How do we navigate growth without forsaking the essence of our Coloradan identity?”
Polis and other proponents of reform have argued that the housing crisis — and the broader climate and water challenges facing Colorado — don’t care about city or county boundaries and that coordination, including on a statewide level, is required to provide more housing and improve transit.
“Move as fast as possible”
Polis pitched his vision as a roadmap not just for the coming decades but for the rest of his term, though he said Thursday that there weren’t specific benchmarks to judge if his roadmap is coming to fruition.
Proponents acknowledge that land-use reforms take time to bear fruit. But there’s an urgent need in Colorado for renter relief now: Evictions are surging across the state and have already hit record levels in Denver. Polis’ roadmap encourages interventions to prevent and reduce homelessness, but it otherwise focuses on his preferred, supply-side solution to the housing crisis of development and strategic growth.
“We are going to partner with the legislature and with local government to implement this roadmap,” the governor said. “We believe that Colorado needs to move as fast as possible and, in a perfect world, we would have moved a couple of years ago on this route, but it’s not too late.”
Echoing what land-use reformers have long advocated, the roadmap argues that improved transit availability can cut down on car pollution and ease congestion. Polis’ office argues that the state “should be on the forefront of rail infrastructure in the United States,” and Polis touted the $500,000 in seed money that the state will receive from the federal government to bolster a Front Range passenger rail system.
The roadmap calls for increasing transit options; improving new and existing networks while planning for new ones; and promoting a complete and connected system.
“Zoning is a part of any discussion, but it’s a lot broader than zoning,” Polis said. “It’s about tax credits for placemaking, including art spaces. It’s about reforming and investing in transit. It’s about Front Range rail. It’s about the kind of Colorado that we want to live in. That saves people time and money, reduces traffic improves air quality, and it’s fundamentally more affordable.”
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