Rep. Caraveo talks medical costs with Thornton seniors New COVID-19 restrictions will prohibit indoor dining, personal gatherings Land use bill authors stand by plan

Opponents of proposal not swayed by claims of a ordability, availability

BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

According to authors of the land use bill making its way through the Colorado Legislature, the primary goal is stopping communities from exclusionary zoning that prohibits the construction of multifamily housing.

Known as SB23-213, the land use bill was unveiled in March by Gov. Jared Polis and Democrats as a solution to the growing housing crisis.

While municipalities statewide are voicing opposition to the bill, authors are saying the 105-page document is vital to the state’s future in providing an adequate supply of a ordable housing.

In this case, a ordable housing does not mean more single-family homes, but instead duplexes, triplexes, other multiplexes, townhomes, condos and apartments.

BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

As a pediatrician, U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo told a group of ornton seniors and o cials, she knows that staying healthy is linked to economics.

“I am often asked why I would leave a wonderful job like pediatrics to go into government and politics and prescription drugs and the af- fordability of that is a huge issue,” Caraveo said during a mid-morning roundtable discussion April 4 at ornton’s Active Adult Center..”I remember having to tailor my treatments for many, many patients not around what I thought they needed medically but what they could afford. As a medical student and resident doctor, I didn’t train for that. I trained to make medical decisions based on my training, not on cost.” e Active Adult Center visit was the middle stop of Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo tour of her district, in between visits in Fort Lupton and Brighton.

A long line of cars outside the city of Brighton’s rapid testing site at Riverdale Regional Park. The site has had to close early many days in recent weeks due to high demand. Adams County’s 14-day test positivity rate was 15.9 percent, as of Nov. 17, according to Tri-County Health Department. Brighton and Commerce City’s test positivity rates were both higher than 13 percent. Forty- ve people in Brighton and 29 in Commerce City have died from COVID-19 related health issues. To limit the spread of COVID-19, at least 15 counties moved to tighter restrictions that prohibits indoor and personal gatherings.

Caraveo and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra started the day April 4 with a visit to the Salud Clinic in Fort Lupton.

“ ey really are a model of inte- gration of dental care, behavioral care, pharmacy, all in one clinic,” Caraveo said..” ey noted in particular that the easier we make it for patients to access all di erent parts of the system and all the specialists that are needed for their care, the more likely they are to go through their care. If they are having problems with mental health, they have professionals that can talk about that or help them get screened. ey have a pharmacist that can make sure everything is being taken properly and not interacting.”

By Ellis Arnold Colorado Community Media

As Denver metro counties continue to inch closer to local stay-at-home orders under Colorado’s system of coronavirusrelated restrictions, the state announced a new level of rules that prohibits indoor dining and personal gatherings — a change that applies to the majority of the Denver metro area and many counties in other regions.

She ended her 8th District tour later that afternoon with a stop at Brighton’s Sakata Farms to discuss upcoming farm legislation and said she would promote grants to help e state’s COVID-19 dial, which has been in e ect since September, is the set of di erent levels of restrictions that each county is required to follow based on the severity of a county’s local virus spread. e dial grew out of the state’s safer-athome order — the policy that came a er the statewide stay-at-home order this spring and allowed numerous types of businesses to reopen. e state recently switched to color identi ers — levels blue, yellow and orange rather than numbered levels — to avoid confusion. Until Nov. 17, level red meant a stay-at-home order. Now, level red — “severe risk” — is the second-

According to the authors of SB23-213, some Colorado cities and counties have implemented zoning policies that decrease or completely bar the construction of multifamily housing.

Rep. Steven Woodrow, D-Denver, co-authored SB23-213 with Rep. Iman Jodeh, D-Arapahoe County, and Majority Leader Sen. Dominick Moreno, a District 21 Democrat covering Adams County, Commerce City, Federal Heights and Westminster.

Woodrow said while some communities have done an “exemplary” job at addressing a ordability, others have not and state intervention is required to stop the growing crisis where housing costs are at an

Please see RESTRICTIONS, Page 2

SEE BILL, P3