HOME Act passes Senate Local Government & Housing Committee
Bill will remove barriers to building housing on centrally-located, underutilized land
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Denver, CO – Today, on a 4-3 vote, the Colorado Senate Local Government & Housing Committee passed the HOME Act (HB26-1001) which removes red tape that makes it harder for homes to be built in the communities where people live and work. The HOME Act passed the Colorado House 34-24 last month and will now head to the Senate Floor.
Public schools and universities, non-profits with a history of building affordable housing, and transit agencies want to use their underutilized land to build more housing that people can afford in their communities. Passing this bill is an important step toward addressing Colorado’s housing shortage and affordability crisis by opening up more housing opportunities in the heart of our communities and creating predictable and efficient review processes that are, on average, 28% faster for the entities covered by the bill.
“Local zoning processes are slow, costly, and unresponsive to the needs of the community. House Bill 1001 represents a major step in helping nonprofit affordable developers like the Urban Land Conservancy respond with the urgency that Colorado’s housing crisis demands,” said Aaron Miripol, President and CEO of the Urban Land Conservancy. “Thank you to the bill sponsors for bringing this issue forward.”
“As a city councilor and a teacher, I see the housing crisis from every angle. When cities are forced to go it alone, we don’t get solutions at the scale we need, and families pay the price. In Fort Collins, declining enrollment has forced tough choices onto our school system. Schools and other non-profits should be allowed to be part of the housing solution,” said Fort Collins City Councilor Chris Conway. “Housing is a statewide problem, and it needs a statewide response. This bill helps communities build homes on underused land, near jobs and schools, instead of fueling sprawl. That keeps neighborhoods strong, schools open, and cuts pollution at the same time.”
“Making it easier to build housing that’s affordable is critical to reducing housing costs and helping hardworking Coloradans,” said Laura “Pinky” Reinsch, Executive Director of Centennial State Prosperity. “The HOME Act would open up more housing opportunities in the heart of our communities and lower housing costs for hardworking Coloradans. It removes red tape that makes it harder for homes to be built in the communities where people live and work. Thank you to the bill sponsors and legislators who voted to support the HOME Act.”
Centennial State Prosperity compiled recent data from the Census Bureau and other sources to show Colorado’s continuing housing crisis. Read the report at this link.