Wheat Ridge Planning Commission hears updates on A ordable Housing Plan

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Filled with recommendations for the Wheat Ridge City council on strategies to explore bringing more a ordable housing to the city, the plan would require action from the Planning Commission for zoning code changes, rezoning and development decisions.

e Planning Commission received an update on the council’s adoption of the A ordable Housing Plan on Feb. 2. Planning Manager for the City of Wheat Ridge Lauren Mikulak specically highlighted some of these potential zoning code updates, such as reducing the parking requirement for deedrestricted housing — a way of preserving a ordability on a home through its deed. “ ose are directly coming from this study if they were to advance,” Mikulak said.

She also elaborated that, following the three year plan laid out in the report, code amendments will be advanced rst, and then other items following in the next few years.

Addressing questions from the Planning Commission about numbers of a ordable units being aimed for, Mikulak said that she saw “the overriding philosophy of this plan, and council’s direction, and our consultant’s recommendation was ‘do something.’ Don’t be paralyzed by having to x this, or shift numbers, or have targets, but do something.” e report does not specify a target of owners or renters or how much affordable housing, rather, according to Mikulak, a plan to “shift that curve more towards a ordability.”

Speaking brie y on the report, Senior Neighborhood Planner for Wheat Ridge Je Hirt called the “mismatch” of household incomes and actual housing for sale “the most important metric.”

He also elaborated on how Wheat

Ridge has more “naturally occurring a ordable housing” than the city’s neighbors. e report states the “naturally occurring a ordable housing” is due to “aging and declining quality.” e plan’s concept is to provide grant funding to landlords to upgrade units in exchange for keeping rents of these units a ordable.

One question raised by Planning Commission member Melissa Antol was why rent control was not an option to limit how high rents could be raised month to month. Mikulak highlighted it was not an option for the city locally due to state law. Colorado banned rent control statewide in 1981 after an attempt to implement it in Boulder.

“ ere’s more questions than answers, but there is clear policy direction and commitment from this council,” Mikulak said.