Northglenn council to vote on housing policy

BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Northglenn city council will vote on whether or not to pass an ordinance to allow overlay zoning, incentives for affordable housing and make changes to rules around accessory dwelling units.

The move comes after a planning session meeting on July 31 when council came to consensus to bring the items forward for a vote. The meeting gave the council multiple options for how to proceed with housing policy.

The ordinance will go in front of the planning commission first with a public hearing.

Sara Dusenberry, senior planner, presented to council their options for housing policy at their July 31 study session.

The overlay districts would be a type of zoning that expands the land uses on certain areas of the city. Given that Northglenn is almost entirely built out, it’s a form of redevelopment and infill.

For example, if a home is zoned single-family, an overlay district could add another form of zoning, such as a duplex. Then, a developer or builder could pick between building another single-family home or decide to build a duplex.

“It’s about opening up uses as opposed to restricting anything,” said Dusenberry.

If voters approve the ordinance, it wouldn’t immediately approve any overlay districts and council would need to approve the districts in the future, which would incorporate public input to decide where they would make sense.

“I strongly urge lots and lots of resident engagement,” said City Councilor Katherine Goff.

With the overlay districts, the ordinance will include language around incentivizing affordable housing. Those incentives could be expedited review for projects with affordable housing, a reduction of fees and waivers or density bonuses. A density bonus would allow more units to be built if the project has affordable housing.

Dusenberry said the ordinance could include inclusionary zoning, which would give mandates for affordable housing, but council came to consensus on incentives instead.

As for accessory dwelling units, those would be allowed to operate as short-term rentals though property owners must live on the property. This would allow extra income to property owners and provide opportunities for transitional housing.

The new ordinance would also allow for pre-approved, prefabri- cated and manufactured ADUs.

Inclusionary zoning

City Councilors Nicholas Walker and Megan Burns differed on inclusionary zoning. Walker said he was “definitely against inclusionary zoning.”

Burns said affordable housing is a way to address the homelessness issues within the city.

“We can’t complain that people don’t have homes and then not give them any,” said Burns.

City Councilor Tim Long said he was in favor of letting the market make decisions and was not in favor of the incentives.

Mayor Pro Tem Shannon Lukeman Hiromasa noted the city still has the ability to decide where the overlay districts would go and take resident input into consideration.

“The whole point is we still have local control,” she said.