{"id":335,"date":"2026-05-10T12:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T12:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=335"},"modified":"2026-05-10T12:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T12:03:10","slug":"state-level-legislative-effort-to-shrink-single-family-lots-across-colorado-fails-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=335","title":{"rendered":"State-level legislative effort to shrink single-family lots across Colorado fails"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at\u00a0<\/em>coloradosun.com<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

DENVER<\/strong> | Colorado Democrats abandoned a pair of bills aimed at legalizing homebuilding on smaller lots, delivering a rare win to critics of the state\u2019s steady push for more housing.<\/p>\n

One measure,\u00a0House Bill 1114, would have banned many local governments from requiring lot sizes that exceed 2,000 square feet, while the other,\u00a0House Bill 1308, would have allowed developers to split lots in order to build two single-family homes on land initially zoned for one.<\/p>\n

The proposals marked a new tactic in the state\u2019s push to add density to Colorado neighborhoods and bring down housing costs. In recent years, lawmakers have passed\u00a0a number of bills\u00a0to push cities to zone for more multifamily housing, such as duplexes, townhomes and apartments. But housing advocates this session set their sights on a new goal:\u00a0shrinking the single-family home.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The effort encountered fierce resistance from city officials across the state, who said they need the ability to limit housing density to prevent traffic congestion and protect limited water resources. Neighborhood groups in the Denver suburbs also pushed back, saying they should be able to decide how their communities develop.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need solutions that fit each community, not one-size-fits-all,\u201d said Jody Nickerson, a retiree who lives in Lakewood. \u201cLet\u2019s keep the power to make decisions local so we can protect the character and quality of life in our neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both measures passed the House with overwhelming support from Democrats, but they lacked the support to pass the state Senate, which is more politically moderate. At the request of the bills\u2019 sponsors, the chamber\u2019s Local Government and Housing Committee voted in April to kill the proposals rather than advance them to the Senate floor.<\/p>\n

The measures\u2019 failure comes on the heels of recent local elections that have seen suburbanites reject efforts to encourage new housing. In November,\u00a0Littleton voters passed a ballot measure\u00a0that enshrined single-family zoning within the city charter and rolled back recent efforts to legalize duplexes and small townhome projects in more neighborhoods. And in April, Lakewood voters repealed four new zoning ordinances aimed at shrinking single-family lot sizes and allowing duplexes to be built in more neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the state stepping in to override voters when it does not like the result,\u201d Karen Gordey, a leader of the repeal effort, told lawmakers during an April hearing. \u201cThis bill tells our voters that their decisions can simply be overridden at the state level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Housing advocates point to\u00a0studies\u00a0showing\u00a0that relaxing local zoning restrictions can lead to lower prices. And homebuilders say that when local rules prevent them from building on smaller lots, they\u2019re incentivized to build expensive McMansions to maximize their profits, instead of multiple smaller homes that middle class families could afford.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is that when every locality has rules that restrict growth, the net impact of that is that costs just go up and up and up,\u201d said Sen. Matt Ball, a Denver Democrat who sponsored both bills.<\/p>\n

Kip Kolkmeier, the former chair of the Lakewood Planning Commission, said he learned firsthand how large lot size requirements affect the housing market.<\/p>\n

He and his wife recently sold their ranch-style house in Lakewood. But, like\u00a0many other seniors who attempt to downsize, they couldn\u2019t find anything smaller that fit their needs nearby.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to leave our community,\u201d Kolkmeier said. \u201cAnd I hear this story over and over and over again from folks.\u201d<\/p>\n

House Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell, a Republican from Colorado Springs, acknowledged that the small-lot homes envisioned by House Bill 1114 are rare in much of the Denver metro area \u2014 but that\u2019s because local officials are designing their communities with their residents\u2019 desires in mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why people moved there: They want those larger lots,\u201d Caldwell said during a debate on the House floor. \u201cLet them design their areas the way they want to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Aurora\u2019s February sales tax revenue drops as restaurant, clothing sales rise<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more DOJ targets Colorado\u2019s gun magazine limits prompted by Aurora theater shooting<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more Winter\u2019s back in Aurora, closing schools and downing trees<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at\u00a0coloradosun.com. DENVER | Colorado Democrats abandoned a pair of bills aimed at legalizing homebuilding on smaller lots, delivering a rare win to critics of the state\u2019s steady push for more housing. One measure,\u00a0House Bill 1114, would have banned many local […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[56,57,58,59,60,61,62],"class_list":["post-335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro","tag-colorado-democrats","tag-habitat-for-humanity-of-metro-denver","tag-house-bill-1114","tag-house-bill-1308","tag-karen-gordey","tag-kip-kolkmeier","tag-sen-matt-ball"],"yoast_head":"\nState-level legislative effort to shrink single-family lots across Colorado fails - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=335\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State-level legislative effort to shrink single-family lots across Colorado fails - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. 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