GROWTH

FROM PAGE 16

What about water?

When Makarewicz thinks about density and water use, she thinks of leakage from pipes.

“ ere’s a lot of leakage in our water pipes,” she said. “Each time you create those joints and individual pipes and stretch them farther out into undeveloped parts of the county, you’re losing water.”

She also thinks of lawns. Lower that we’re trying to meet, as well as a long-term problem that we anticipate, so we’re trying to solve for both today and tomorrow.”

La erty said one of the biggest challenges to expanding programs to serve more lower-income households and add moderateincome households is money. Last year, her organization received a $13.5 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, an Amazon stakeholder, which allowed the organization to buy more property.

Even still, La erty said that Habitat likely only meets “a fraction of a percentage” of existing demand.

“We have a need in the metro area for tens of thousands of affordable houses,” La erty said.

“ at’s why we need bigger, bolder action.”

Inclusionary zoning

Another tactic some municipalities are taking is to use a relatively new tool in Colorado, inclusionary zoning ordinances. State lawmakers in 2019 approved a law to allow cities and towns to require developments to include a certain number of a ordable housing units or pay fees.

So far, only six communities have implemented inclusionary zoning: Broom eld, Boulder, Longmont, Superior, Denver and, most recently, Littleton.

Littleton’s inclusionary housing ordinance, which went into place in November, requires all new residential developments in the city density areas usually require more square feet of lawns. With more units, less water is going towards Kentucky bluegrass. at’s where more e cient technology plays a role. In Westminster, water consumption declined in the past two decades despite an

Less density doesn’t always mean less water usage, either. She said it really comes down to per-person usage and how many water-based appliances are in the home.

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