(1)The general assembly hereby finds,
determines, and declares that:
(a)Since the Local Government Land Use Control Enabling Act of 1974,
article 20 of this title 29, was adopted, Colorado's population has more than
doubled, with the state growing at twice the national rate between 2010 and 2020;
(b)The Colorado state demography office estimates that Colorado will add
one million seven hundred thousand two hundred people by 2050, bringing
Colorado's population to nearly seven million five hundred thousand. The need for
housing for the growing population is an issue that affects all Colorado
communities regardless of region or size. In a bipartisan poll conducted by the
Colorado Polling Institute in November 2023, Colorado voters listed housing
affordability as one of their to
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(1) The general assembly hereby finds,
determines, and declares that:
(a) Since the Local Government Land Use Control Enabling Act of 1974,
article 20 of this title 29, was adopted, Colorado's population has more than
doubled, with the state growing at twice the national rate between 2010 and 2020;
(b) The Colorado state demography office estimates that Colorado will add
one million seven hundred thousand two hundred people by 2050, bringing
Colorado's population to nearly seven million five hundred thousand. The need for
housing for the growing population is an issue that affects all Colorado
communities regardless of region or size. In a bipartisan poll conducted by the
Colorado Polling Institute in November 2023, Colorado voters listed housing
affordability as one of their top five issues for the Colorado state government to
address. Therefore, it is critical to address the cost and availability of housing
across the state to address historic population growth.
(c) In experiencing significant population growth at a time of increased
vehicle ownership and commute times, the supply and affordability of housing in
one community affects the resources of neighboring communities. Colorado's need
for housing impacts the state's transit, transportation, employment, economy,
energy, water, and infrastructure and requires innovative, collaborative solutions.
(d) Colorado's housing supply has not kept pace with population growth in
the state. Between 2010 and 2020, Colorado added one hundred twenty-six
thousand fewer housing units than in the prior decade, despite Colorado's
population increasing by a similar amount in each decade. The state demographer
estimates that between approximately sixty-five thousand and ninety thousand
housing units are needed to keep pace with Colorado's current population growth.
(e) Across the state, Colorado needs more housing urgently to support our
growing workforce, and housing opportunities are needed across all income levels.
Addressing the critical issue of cost and availability of housing requires maintaining
and expanding access to affordable and attainable housing by removing barriers to
and expediting new housing opportunities for every community, especially near
transit. As housing rents and prices have increased faster than wages across the
state, individual households are experiencing displacement from homes they could
once afford and having to live farther from work with increased commute times. As
state and local governments seek to increase housing options and address
affordability for residents, it is essential to provide solutions that incorporate
transit needs as well.
(f) Between 2010 and 2021, the percentage of Coloradans making less than
seventy-five thousand dollars a year who were housing cost-burdened, meaning
they spend more than thirty percent of their income on housing needs, increased
from fifty-four percent to sixty-one percent, and, for renters making less than
seventy-five thousand dollars a year, that percentage increased from fifty-nine
percent to seventy-three percent, according to the American Community Survey;
(g) Nationally, cities with the highest housing costs and lowest vacancy rates
experience the highest rates of homelessness, according to a report by the Urban
Institute, Unsheltered Homelessness: Trends, Characteristics, and Homeless
Histories. These indicators explain a greater portion of the variation in regional
rates of homelessness than other commonly assumed factors, such as poverty rate,
substance use, or mental illness, according to a study in the European Journal of
Housing Policy, The Economics of Homelessness: The Evidence from North
America.
(h) Housing prices are typically higher when housing supply is restricted by
local land use regulations in a metropolitan region, according to studies such as the
National Bureau Of Economic Research working papers Regulation and Housing
Supply and The Impact of Zoning on Housing Affordability. Increasing housing
supply moderates price increases and improves housing affordability across all
incomes, according to studies such as The Economic Implications of Housing
Supply, in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, and Supply Skepticism: Housing
Supply and Affordability, in the journal Housing Policy Debate.
(i) Researchers have found substantial evidence that new housing
construction enables households to move within a region, opens up housing options
for more diverse income levels, and promotes competition that limits housing cost
increases, according to the New York University Law and Economics research paper
Supply Skepticism Revisited. While new housing supply can rarely meet the
needs of the lowest income households, enabling new housing supply can moderate
price increases and reduce the number of households that need subsidies to afford
housing. Resident opposition frequently limits new housing development in existing
communities and either leads to less housing production and increased housing
costs or pushes housing development to greenfield areas where there are fewer
neighbors but greater environmental and fiscal costs.