HBA Advocate Newsletter | March 1, 2022

March 1, 2022

City of Aurora Implements Red Tape Reduction Committee
The Aurora City Council has established an ad hoc Red Tape Roundup Committee in an effort to streamline and improve business processes within the municipality. While the HBA is encouraging all of our members to participate in the committee process and provide feedback, we are also working to formalize comments on behalf of the association.

To that end, the HBA of Metro Denver held a stakeholder meeting in February to identify shared challenges within the residential-construction industry in Aurora and discuss opportunities for better service and collaboration with the city.

The committee will be evaluating city practices within the areas of Rules/Regulations, Taxes/Fees, and Municipal Processes. The HBA has collectively identified a number of priorities that will greatly assist the residential-construction industry and is in the process of preparing formal comments on behalf of the association. We are also planning to participate in the formal committee meetings and have signed up to testify during the committee’s March 17 meeting date. This presents the HBA and our active builders with a great opportunity to help streamline city processes in a high priority municipality within our jurisdiction, and I am looking forward to our continued collaboration.

Any HBA members that would like to submit written comments or provide testimony at one the committee hearings is encouraged to do so. More information is available on the committee’s web page here.

Denver Affordable Housing
In November, the City of Denver published its “Expanding Housing Affordability Proposed Policy Approach.” While, the HBA expects that a new affordable-housing ordinance to pass this year, the final proposal is far from certain, and we are encouraging all of our active builders in the City of Denver to make their voices heard. Our association has participated in nearly all of the stakeholder meetings related to this issue and submitted a formal letter in December to appropriate staff articulating our concerns and recommendations. The city has since responded to our requests and have offered to reduce the percentage of affordable units from 10 percent to 8 percent within a development at 80 percent AMI or from 15 percent to 12 percent at 90 percent AMI. A similar reduction was made in the high-cost markets as well. The fee-in-lieu was also reduced to $250,000 for townhomes, and incentives for permit fee reductions were also increased.

The proposed policy is in response to the passage of HB21-1117, which overturned a Colorado Supreme Court case commonly known as the Telluride decision. HB21-1117 now gives local governments greater flexibility for the construction and funding of affordable-housing units. The new proposals will make significant changes to Denver’s existing program, including linkage-fee increases for housing developments with 10 units or less, mandatory inclusionary-housing requirements with alternatives including a mandatory two-tiered fee-in-lieu structure, and incentives aimed at promoting the construction of affordable units. The city expects to conclude its Housing Affordability Project in spring 2022 and may approve a new ordinance with affordable-housing requirements soon thereafter.

With respect to projects subject to Site Development Plan review, all projects with applications for concept site development plan review submitted by June 30, 2022, and final SDPs approved by August 30, 2023, should remain subject to existing affordable-housing requirements and will not need to comply with the proposed policy changes. The proposed planning review of this new policy will continue through the rest of this winter and into the spring, so there is ample opportunity for stakeholder input and involvement.

We will keep members updated on this issue and future opportunities for stakeholder engagement.

HBA of Metro Denver Issue Tracker
Questions on what is happening in a specific city or county? The HBA is regularly monitoring the council and board activities in every political subdivision in the metro Denver area. Our Issue Tracker offers a great resource to learn about the issues being deliberated with links to agendas, packets and ordinances. The HBA of Metro Denver HBA Issue Tracker is available  to all members here.

All of the HBA of Metro Denver's Regulatory and Technical Committees are meeting regularly – Join today and make your voice heard!

As a volunteer-driven organization, the HBA's Jobsite Safety Committee, Permitting Committee, Regulated Utilities Committee and Stormwater Management Committee help guide the HBA's events and activities throughout the year. Consider joining one — or more — if you want to build strong, long-lasting relationships and make a difference to your fellow HBA members, while sharpening your leadership skills. Please visit the HBA website for more information or reach out to Morgan Cullen if you are ready to participate.