Denver, Colorado used to be known as the cow town. That’s no longer the picture. Now, urban and rural dwellers have to fight off attempts by the state to require higher density living conditions. An example, Senate Bill 23-213 was destined to become law and require higher density, overwriting local governance. The bill died at the last moment but was partly restored in the 2024 session and pieces of SB213 were passed. That included House Bill 24-1313 which penalized local governments by withholding highway tax funds to communities that didn’t implement dense zoning within determined areas by RTD bus or train routes. Typical of some governments, if the carrot doesn’t work then bring out a big stick to get the residents to comply.
There’s no expectation that these type of bills will stop being presented. It’s up to a County Commissioner to keep you informed about that as you don’t have time to spend all day down at the state capitol and keep up with fast flying bills. As SB 213 bill was being rolled out, I conducted in- person workshops and podcasts at FreeStateColorado.com to keep residents statewide updated so they could speak out against the mandates.
The 64 counties in Colorado were formed to serve as an extension of the state. County commissioners are elected to represent the people at the state capitol and defend against state overreach.
I vigorously argued against required density for multiple reasons, including top-down state mandates to water concerns. As a county commissioner, I won’t forget about our limited water resources and the fact that many people choose to live in suburban setting instead of high-rise building for a reason.
Other bills that are concern to property owners include the required sale of property to government if the building will hold over a certain amount of units or occupants. House Bill 23-1190 was just terrible in its original form as I wrote about here, so bad that it was later vetoed by Governor Polis. The bill then was revived and passed in a less offensive form. That should still be a concern for owners who don’t want to be pressured into and financially impacted by the government granting itself the right of first refusal. In theory, the government would pay a fair market price under the right of first refusal, it was difficult to see how that applied in reality under pressure.
This stems back to some of the reasons I ran as RTD board director was to ensure that the transportation district didn’t emerge into become a housing developer, versus their assigned task of moving people from Point A to Point B.
The land use and property tax discussion will not stop. I’ll continue to be there fighting for us to keep our property taxes capped and fight against government density mandates. Even if it means sitting on the floor at the state capitol as bills get amended on the fly.
This stems back to some of the reasons I ran as RTD board director was to ensure that the transportation district didn’t emerge into become a housing developer, versus their assigned task of moving people from Point A to Point B. The land use and property tax discussion will not stop. I’ll continue to be there fighting for us to keep our property taxes capped and fight against government density mandates. Even if it means sitting on the floor at the state capitol as bills get amended on the fly.