Once again, Gov. Jared Polis and his legislative allies, as well as the housing industry, are pushing a package of bills this session to boost construction of homes. And with two of those proposals set for a key hearing in the Senate on Thursday, this week’s “Colorado Chamber Office Hours” podcast episode looks at what impact they could have on the housing supply — and why they are stoking so much opposition.
Colorado Association of Home Builders CEO Ted Leighty discusses housing bills on “Colorado Chamber Office Hours.”
Ted Leighty, CEO of the Colorado Association of Home Builders, discusses why two changes in policy in particular — allowing property owners to split their lots by right to build more homes and barring minimum lot sizes of more than 2,000 square feet — could get more affordable homes onto the market. And he dives into the economic reasoning behind why potentially smaller lots are a key to boosting the number of homes, particularly in metro areas, and why that could combat the 106,000-home shortage that Colorado faces, which is making it harder for employers to recruit and retain workers.
Colorado state Sen. Janice Rich discusses housing bills with host Ed Sealover on the “Colorado Chamber Office Hours” podcast.
Sen. Janice Rich, meanwhile, gets to the heart of the legislative pushback against these and several other housing bills — the underlying belief that the state can not dictate increased density requirements to local communities that have laid out housing with different plans. The Grand Junction Republican discusses the concern that allowing haphazard additions of homes will stress local infrastructure and argues that it breaks a sort of contract with other homeowners in a neighborhood who rely on current zoning and density requirements to uphold the value of their residences.
To hear the episode in full, find it here on all of your favorite podcast channels:
