Polis signs bill prohibiting growth caps

Measure repeals limits in Lakewood, Golden, Boulder

BY ELLIOTT WENZLER THE COLORADO SUN

Colorado cities and counties will soon be prohibited from imposing population and residential growth limits under a bill signed by Gov. Jared Polis this month.

House Bill 1255 will also repeal existing growth caps enacted in Lakewood, Boulder and Golden when it takes e ect in August.

“We know we have more work to do to make sure that all our communities are part of the solution, but what this bill does is it says no community can be part of the problem any longer,” Polis said before signing the bill.

e bill was introduced as a companion measure to Senate Bill 213, which would have rewritten land-use rules across the state and was the governor’s signature e ort at the Capitol this year to encourage more a ordable housing. But Senate Bill 213 failed on the nal day of the 2023 legislative session, leaving House Bill 1255 as one of the only major housing bills approved by the General Assembly and signed into

Rep. William Lindstedt, D-Broomeld, one of the prime sponsors of House Bill 1255, said while the measure was aimed at assisting the various elements of Senate Bill 213, it still will have an impact.

“It really does point the nger at the worst kind of action that you can see from a local government to limit housing,” he said.

House Bill 1255 aims to address the availability of housing by stripping local governments’ ability to limit how much new housing can be added to their communities.

“Anti-growth laws enacted by local governments severely undermine the ability to construct the additional housing units Coloradans need,” the legislative declaration in the bill e bill will require that local governments at least have a hearing for new developments before deciding whether to reject them, Lindstedt

“ e impact is big with (the) cities being preempted, but the larger impact is that other communities can’t get on that policy and make the problem worse,” he said.

Local governments across the state were strongly opposed to