HB24-1313 Developers' Dream Bill Increases Density to 40 Homes/Acre, Up to a 900% Increase

The Developers' Dream Bill will rezone 70% of Colorado cities to allow for extreme density. Do you want a 36 story building next to your house? Should dual-income families with 4 kids be forced to have only one car? Sign up to make a 2 minute comment and send an email to our State Representatives objecting. Below is the information you can send; or, if you are in a rush, you can just say, "Vote No to HB24-1313." or copy/paste the bullet points we have posted below which takes seconds to do. Below are the details. Please copy us, and we encourage you to copy your local media as well for transparency.

One of the very worst land use bills of this legislative session is HB24-1313, the state-mandated extreme density bill. The House Finance committee hears it Mon., March 25 at 1:30pm. Please sign up to speak at the hearing (directions below) OR send a quick email to the committee (highlights provided below):

1) Sign up to speak in person, or remotely, at Monday’s 1:30 pm hearing. To sign up:

• Visit www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2023A/commsumm.nsf/signIn.xsp

• Select how you would like to testify (in-person, or remotely)

• Filter by Committee and Hearing Item to select the bill you’re interested in. (It’s the House Finance Committee, for HB24-1313.)

• Provide your information to sign up!

2) Or take a sec, today to email them urging a “No” vote. Even one sentence is great. (

The House Finance Committee: marc.snyder.house@coleg.gov, junie.joseph.house@coleg.gov, lisa.frizell.house@coleg.gov, lorena.garcia.house@coleg.gov, anthony.hartsook.house@coleg.gov, cathy.kipp.house@coleg.gov, william.lindstedt.house@coleg.gov, bob.marshall.house@coleg.gov, matthew.soper.house@coleg.gov, ron.weinberg.house@coleg.gov

CC: coloradocommunitycoalition@gmail.com

Dear Honorable House Finance Committee Members,

Of the onslaught of land use bills this session, HB24-1313 is the most extreme densification bill that has a bevy of unintended consequences and counter-intuitive outcomes. Below are highlights of why you should vote no to this bill:

• Wildfire Evacuation Times Will Soar: Colorado has the among the largest WUI neighborhoods in the nation with hundreds of thousands of people living in non-survivable evacuation routes. This density housing bill will dramatically increase times, especially compounded with HB24-1007 which is estimated to increase times up to 33% from 8 to 11 hours in many neighborhoods in Colorado. People will not be able to flee on foot from fires that clock 100 football fields a minute which is the pace of these dire fires. Our road infrastructure cannot handle this density. HB24-1313 is a life-threatening bill.
  

• Increase in Urban Heat Islands & Emissions: Undoubtedly, this extreme, rapid densification will have devastating effects on the environment as emissions from living in homes in denser urban heat islands and increased diesel bus usages is concentrated even more, putting a blanket of toxins over larger percentage of Coloradans.

• Violates Home Rule & Local Control: This top-down mandate from the state usurps CO home rule cities’ land use control. Local land use officials much better understand the unique complexities and widely varying conditions in CO cities, towns and counties. 

• Extreme Density: As much as 70% of local jurisdictions could fall under the bill's .5 mile radii of transit routes, which triggers the density mandate. As such, as much as 70% of cities, towns and counties will face a mandate of 40 housing units per acre – a 10x increase in density!

• Insufficient Infrastructure: These massive increases in density will shock and overwhelm communities that don't begin to have the necessary infrastructure to support so much, so fast.

• Bribery Participation: HB-1313 allows the state to withhold vital state transportation funding from non-compliant cities, towns and counties as a “punishment.” This vital funding is used for local road maintenance, safety, and stormwater drainage. 

• Bully Tactics: Within carrot and stick approaches, this is a giant club wielded by the state against local jurisdictions.

• Fails at Creating Affordable Housing: Without adequate affordable housing requirements, the bill will not create significant affordable housing – allegedly a primary goal of all these land use bills. CO will simply end up with vastly more high-priced housing. HB-1313 is a "dream bill” for developers and national real estate investment speculation firms / hedge funds. 

• Forcing Single Car Households: Finally, the bill mandates that families and roommates in the new, dense housing can only have one parking space. Many such families and roommates will have more than one vehicle, creating “spillover parking” impacts onto adjacent residential areas.

Government's first obligation is to protect and represent the people. Please vote no to HB24-1313 which threatens Coloradans' lives and will only enrich developers.

Sincerely,

[Insert name]