| Summary |
Section 1 of the bill establishes a category of local government: A
transit-oriented community. As defined in the bill, a transit-oriented
community is either a local government that:
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Is entirely within a metropolitan planning organization;
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Has a population of 4,000 or more; and
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Contains at least 75 acres of certain transit-related areas; or
If the local government is a county, contains either a part of:
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A transit station area that is both in an unincorporated part
of the county and within one-half mile of a station that
serves a commuter rail service or light rail service; or
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A transit corridor area that both is in an unincorporated part
of the county and is fully encompassed by one or more
municipalities.
The bill requires a transit-oriented community to meet its housing
opportunity goal and relatedly requires the department to:
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On or before July 31, 2024, publish a map that designates
transit areas that transit-oriented communities shall use in
calculating their housing opportunity goal; and
•
On or before December 31, 2024, publish models and
guidance to assist a transit-oriented community in meeting
its housing opportunity goal.
A housing opportunity goal is a zoning capacity goal determined
based on an average zoned housing density and the amount of
transit-related areas within a transit-oriented community. The bill requires
a transit-oriented community to meet its housing opportunity goal by
ensuring that enough areas in the transit-oriented community qualify as
transit centers. In order to qualify as a transit center, an area must:
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Be composed of zoning districts that uniformly allow a net
housing density of at least 15 units per acre;
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Identify the net housing density allowed by law;
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Meet a housing density established by the transit-oriented
community;
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Not include any area where local law exclusively restricts
housing occupancy based on age or other factors;
•
Have an administrative approval process for multifamily
residential property development on parcels that are 5 acres
or less in size;
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Be composed of contiguous parcels, if located partially
outside of a transit area; and
•
Be located wholly within a transit area and not extend more
than one-quarter mile from the edge of a transit area, unless
the department allows otherwise.
A transit-oriented community is required to demonstrate that it has
met is housing opportunity goal by submitting a housing opportunity goal
report to the department of local affairs (department). A housing
opportunity goal report must include:
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The housing opportunity goal calculation that the
transit-oriented community used in determining its housing
opportunity goal;
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Evidence that the transit-oriented community has met its
housing opportunity goal;
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A map that identifies the boundaries of any transit centers
within the transit-oriented community;
•
If relevant, a plan to address potential insufficient water
supplies for meeting the transit-oriented community's
housing opportunity goal;
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Affordability strategies that the transit-oriented community
will implement in meeting its housing opportunity goal.
The transit-oriented community shall select some of these
strategies from the standard and long-term affordability
strategies menus in the bill, and the transit-oriented
community shall include an implementation plan describing
how it will implement these strategies.
•
Any displacement mitigation strategies that the
transit-oriented community has or will adopt from the
displacement mitigation strategies menu in the bill and an
implementation plan describing how it will implement
these strategies.
Additionally, the bill requires a transit-oriented community to submit a
progress report to the department every 3 years.
After receiving a transit-oriented community's housing opportunity
goal report, the department shall either approve the report or provide
direction to the transit-oriented community for amending and
resubmitting the report and require the transit-oriented community to
resubmit the report. If a transit-oriented community does not submit a
housing opportunity goal report to the department on or before December
31, 2026, or if the department does not approve a transit-oriented
community's housing opportunity goal report, the department will
designate the transit-oriented community as a nonqualified
transit-oriented community. Similarly, if a transit-oriented community
does not submit a progress report to the department every 3 years, or if
the department does not approve a transit-oriented community's progress
report, the department will designate the transit-oriented community as a
nonqualified transit-oriented community.
The state treasurer shall transfer any money that a nonqualified
transit-oriented community would have otherwise been allocated from the
highway users tax fund instead to the transit-oriented communities
highway users tax account (account). The department shall not use any
money in the account that is attributable to a specific nonqualified
transit-oriented community until 180 days after the transit-oriented
community became a nonqualified transit-oriented community. If a
nonqualified transit-oriented community no longer qualifies as a
nonqualified transit-oriented community during that 180-day period, the
treasurer shall issue a warrant to the transit-oriented community for the
amount of money that was diverted from the transit-oriented community
to the account.
If the department does not approve a transit-oriented community's
housing opportunity goal report on or before December 31, 2027, the
department may seek an injunction requiring the transit-oriented
community to comply with the requirements of the bill.
In addition to designating an area as a transit center for purposes
of meeting a housing opportunity goal, the bill allows local governments
to designate an area as a neighborhood center so long as the local
government ensures that the area:
•
Has an average zoned housing density sufficient to increase
public transit ridership;
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Has an administrative approval process for multifamily
residential property development on parcels that are no
larger than a size determined by the department;
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Has a mixed-use walkable neighborhood; and
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Satisfies any other criteria required by the department.
The bill also creates the transit-oriented communities infrastructure
fund grant program (grant program) within the department. The purpose
of the grant program is to assist local governments in upgrading
infrastructure within transit centers and neighborhood centers. In
administering the grant program, the department shall prioritize grant
applicants based on the information in the reports described in the bill.
Grants from the grant program are awarded from money in the
transit-oriented communities infrastructure fund (fund). The fund consists
of gifts, grants, and donations along with money that the general assembly
may appropriate or transfer to the fund and money in the account
described in the bill. The fund is continuously appropriated. On July 1,
2024, the state treasurer shall transfer $35 million from the general fund
to the fund.
Section 2 prohibits a planned unit development resolution or
ordinance for a planned unit development that is adopted on or after the
effective date of the bill and that applies within a transit-oriented center
or neighborhood center from restricting the development of housing more
than the local law that applies to that transit-oriented center or
neighborhood center.
Section 3 states that any restriction by a unit owners' association
within a transit-oriented center or neighborhood center on the
development of housing that is adopted on or after the effective date of
the bill and is beyond the local law that applies to that transit-oriented
center or neighborhood center is void as a matter of public policy.
Sections 4 and 5 require the Colorado housing and financing
authority to allocate tax credits under the state affordable housing tax
credit to qualified housing developments within transit centers.
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