By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
Colorado lawmakers spent part of the week hashing out just how much the state should push new housing.
The Senate approved House Bill 26-1001—after several amendments. Those amendments were agreed upon by the House the next day.
Land that is already owned by institutions or the government is the main focus of the bill.
If the measure is eventually passed into law, property owned by school districts, housing authorities, universities, transit agencies, and some nonprofit organizations may be eligible for a simplified approval process.
Supporters say some of that property is sitting unused. If approvals were easier, they argue, some of it could be turned into housing.
During the bill’s second reading, Senator Tony Exum laid out the basic idea.
“This new bill allows certain nonprofits, school districts, universities, housing authorities, and transit agencies to use up to five acres of their unused land for developing affordable housing,” he said.
In most cases, projects would be limited to parcels of five acres or less. Nonprofits involved in development would also need to show experience building or managing affordable housing.
A shift in how projects receive approval
Most housing developments in Colorado currently go through what planners call a discretionary zoning process.
That process usually involves several steps. Nearby residents are notified. Public hearings are scheduled. Local elected officials ultimately vote on whether a project moves forward.
House Bill 26-1001 creates a different option.
Projects that meet objective standards such as height limits, setbacks, building codes and infrastructure capacity could instead be approved administratively by planning staff. In those cases, a public hearing would not be required.
Supporters argue that could shorten the timeline for housing construction.
“These processes are at least 28 percent faster than our regular approvals,” Exum told lawmakers. “That can save both time and money.”
The bill also limits how local governments can regulate qualifying developments. Cities and counties could not deny a project based solely on height if the structure is three stories or 45 feet tall — or if it complies with the height limits already allowed in the surrounding zoning district.
Local governments would still enforce objective rules tied to safety and infrastructure, including building codes and transportation access. What they could not do is apply requirements that are stricter than those used for comparable residential projects.
The debate over housing costs and process cuts
Rising housing costs came up in the Senate debate on the bill.
Senator Julie Gonzales raised the issue during her floor remarks. “We are in the midst of a housing crisis,” she stated.
Gonzales pointed to statewide numbers on how housing eats up more income over the past decade.
“The number of Colorado households spending more than 30 percent of their total income on rent or mortgage payments went from nearly 700,000 in 2014 to nearly 900,000 in 2024,” she explained.
Backers of the bill say those figures are why lawmakers started eyeing publicly owned land to add more housing supply.
Opponents zeroed in on what gets cut from the process.
Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer questioned whether the bill would actually accomplish what supporters claim. “Just because you eliminate the public hearing process doesn’t mean that we’re expediting the land use process.”
“It just means that you’re taking away the voice of the people who are the most impacted,” she insisted.
Kirkmeyer also pushed back on state overrides of local decisions.
“So then why not partner with local governments instead of preempting them?” she asked the chamber.
During second reading, Senator Scott Bright introduced an amendment aimed at restoring an opportunity for public input.
Bright proposed allowing local governments to hold a hearing before qualifying developments could move forward.
“All it does is guarantee that before a major development changes a neighborhood, the people who live in that neighborhood
know about it and have one opportunity to be heard,” Bright said while presenting the proposal.
The amendment ultimately failed.
Concerns about statewide mandates
Some lawmakers argued that housing issues vary widely across Colorado communities.
“This is a city-centric problem that they’re putting a one-size-fits-all band-aid on for the whole state,” Senator Rod Pelton said during the third reading of the bill.
Infrastructure planning became another point of concern.
Senator Lisa Frizell warned that changes in land use can ripple through years of planning by local governments responsible for roads, utilities and public services.
“One thing that always worries me,” Frizell said, “is when we talk about the state usurping local government control when it comes to land use decisions is infrastructure.”
“There are countless implications when you have a change, especially a dramatic change in use of a parcel,” she explained.
Frizell questioned whether the policy would ultimately reduce housing costs.
“Government interference in local decisions is not the solution to housing affordability,” she stated.
Amendments narrow the bill’s scope
The Senate didn’t pass the bill in the exact form the House had approved.
Senators made changes during floor debate. Those amendments restricted the streamlined approval process in several ways.
The most significant one limited project scale: Developments using this faster track are now capped at parcels of five acres or less.
Another change specified eligible property owners. Qualifying land must belong to public or institutional entities such as school districts, housing authorities, public colleges and universities, transit agencies, or certain nonprofit organizations.
One amendment focused on nonprofits participating in these projects. Those groups now have to show a track record of developing or managing affordable housing.
Supporters described the updates as responses to issues raised in earlier hearings, while preserving the bill’s main aim of easing residential development on qualifying sites.
Potential home rule questions
Even with those revisions, the legislation could face legal questions if it becomes law.
Home rule municipalities in Colorado hold broad authority over local land use decisions under Article XX of the state constitution.
House Bill 26-1001 creates a state authorized residential use on certain publicly owned land if a project meets specified standards. Instead of requiring rezoning or discretionary approvals, those projects could proceed through administrative review.
Courts often evaluate disputes between state and local authority by determining whether the issue involves a local concern, a statewide concern or a mixture of both.
Land use has historically fallen into that mixed category.
The bill now heads to the governor
The Colorado House of Representatives has now reviewed those Senate amendments. House approval means the bill reaches Governor Polis next for his signature.
If signed, nothing changes overnight. The local governments are given until the end of 2027 to modify their administrative policies and zoning regulations.
The debate surrounding the bill also points to some of the larger issues that are affecting the state, like the need to increase housing supply without compromising local control of land-use regulations.
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