Colo. Rev. Stat. § 24-32-3701, Definitions

As used in this part 37, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Accessible housing or accessible unit means housing that satisfies the requirements of the federal Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. sec. 3601 et seq., as amended, and incorporates universal design.

(2) Department means the department of local affairs.

(3) Director means the executive director of the department of local affairs.

(4) Displacement means:

(a) The involuntary relocation of residents, particularly low-income residents, or locally owned community serving businesses and institutions due to:

(I) Increased real estate prices or rents, property rehabilitation, redevelopment, demolition, or other economic factors;

(II) Physical conditions resulting from neglect and underinvestment that render a residence uninhabitable; or

(III) Physical displacement wherein existing housing units and commercial spaces are lost due to property rehabilitation, redevelopment, or demolition; or

(b) Indirect displacement resulting from changes in neighborhood population, if, when low-income households move out of housing units, those same housing units do not remain affordable to other low-income households in the neighborhood, or demographic changes that reflect the relocation of existing residents following widespread relocation of their community and community serving entities.

(5) Division of local government means the division of local government in the department of local affairs created in section 24-32-103.

(6) Dwelling unit means a single unit providing complete independent living facilities for one or more individuals, including permanent provisions for cooking, eating, living, sanitation, and sleeping.

(7) Local government means a home rule, territorial, or statutory county, city and county, city, or town.

(8) Major transit stop means a station for boarding and exiting general public passenger rail, including commuter rail and light rail, or a stop on a bus route with a service frequency of fifteen minutes or less for eight hours or more on weekdays, excluding seasonal service.

(9) Multifamily residential housing means a building or group of buildings on a lot with five or more separate dwelling units.

(10) Neighborhood center means an area that meets the following criteria:

(a) Allows a reasonable net housing density within zoning that supports mixed-use pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods, the development of regulated affordable housing, and increased public transit ridership, as applicable;

(b) Uses an efficient development review process for multifamily residential development on parcels in the area that are no larger than a size determined by the department; and

(c) Includes aspects of mixed-use pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods, as determined by criteria established by the department.

(11) Public facilities means public streets, roads, highways, sidewalks, street- and road-lighting systems, traffic signals, domestic water systems, storm and sanitary sewer systems, parks and recreational facilities, buildings used in the provision of public services, and schools.

(12) Public services means fire protection and suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation, environmental protection, stormwater management, wastewater management, public transportation, public infrastructure maintenance, water, social services, and other services traditionally provided by government.

(13) Region or regional means a defined geographic area consisting of territory from more than one local government with a substantial interconnection in commuting patterns, economy, workforce, transportation and transit systems, public services, communities of interest, or other factors related to population and housing.

(14) Regional entity means a council of governments, a public entity formed by the voluntary agreement of local governments in the region, or a regional planning commission.

(15) Regulated affordable housing means affordable housing that:

(a) Has received loans, grants, equity, bonds, or tax credits from any source to support the creation, preservation, or rehabilitation of affordable housing that, as a condition of funding, encumbers the property with a restricted use covenant or similar recorded agreement to ensure affordability, or has been income-restricted under a local inclusionary zoning ordinance or other regulation or program;

(b) Restricts or limits maximum rental or sale price for households of a given size at a given area median income, as established annually by the United States department of housing and urban development; and

(c) Ensures occupancy by low- to moderate-income households for a specified period detailed in a restrictive use covenant or similar recorded agreement.

(16) Single-unit detached dwelling means a detached building with a single dwelling unit located on a single lot.

(17) Supportive housing or supportive unit means a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable, productive lives, and typically combines affordable housing with intensive coordinated services to help people maintain stable housing and receive appropriate health care.

(18) Universal design means any dwelling unit designed and constructed to be safe and accessible for any individual regardless of age or abilities.

(19) Visitable housing or visitable unit means a dwelling unit that a person with a disability can enter, move around the primary entrance floor of, and use the bathroom in.

Source: L. 2024: Entire part added, (SB 24-174), ch. 290, p. 1944, � 1, effective May 30.

24-32-3702. Housing needs assessment methodology - statewide housing needs assessment - displacement risk guidance. (1) (a) No later than December 31, 2024, the director shall develop reasonable methodologies for conducting statewide, regional, and local housing needs assessments. The methodologies described in this subsection (1)(a) must establish baseline standards that seek to produce accurate data for internal state agency planning and grant programs and efficiently procure data for use by regions and local governments for planning purposes, but must also be designed to minimize the fiscal burden on local governments and regional entities conducting housing needs assessments. In developing the methodologies and guidance described in this section, the director shall consult with local governments and experts in planning and zoning, affordable housing, disability rights, homelessness resolution and prevention, tenants' rights, experts with demonstrated experience in conducting high-quality housing needs assessments and engagement of underrepresented communities, and other fields focused on housing needs planning. Prior to finalizing the assessment methodology and displacement risk mitigation strategies directory created pursuant to section 24-32-3706 (4), the division of local government shall engage in targeted outreach with focus groups for historically underconsulted and disproportionately impacted stakeholders, residents, and businesses to identify the primary reasons for displacement included among those identified in section 24-32-3701 (4).

(b) No later than November 30, 2027, and every six years thereafter, the director shall conduct a statewide housing needs assessment that analyzes existing and future statewide housing needs. The director shall publish a report based on the statewide housing needs assessment and regional and local housing needs assessments accepted by the department pursuant to section 24-32-3703 (3) or 24-32-3704 (3) that identifies current housing stock and estimates the number and type of dwelling units needed to accommodate future housing needs of the state based on population change projections. The report shall categorize statewide housing needs by household size; household type, including accessible, visitable, supportive, for-sale, and rental housing; and income levels, including extremely low-, very low-, low-, moderate-, and middle-income households as designated by the United States department of housing and urban development.

(I) Estimate existing housing stock in the region and in each local jurisdiction that forms the region;

(II) Estimate housing needs in the region and each local government's jurisdiction that forms the region, sorted by income level and dwelling type, including accessible units, supportive units, for-sale units, and rental units;

(III) Estimate the number of households in the region and each local government's jurisdiction that forms the region;

(IV) Estimate the number of jobs in the region and each local government's jurisdiction that forms the region, sorted by annual salary and wage;

(V) Estimate an allocation of housing needs identified in subsection (1)(c)(II) of this section to each local government in the region or contributing to housing needs in the region based on the number of jobs and each local government's dependence on jobs in the region, among other factors, to promote a balance of jobs at all salary levels and homes affordable to persons in the region holding jobs at all income levels in the region;

(VI) Identify areas at elevated risk of displacement in the region and each local government's jurisdiction that forms the region;

(VII) Estimate the water supply needs for the dwelling units identified in subsections (1)(c)(I) and (1)(c)(II) of this section using per capita water use rates identified in consultation with the department of natural resources; and

(VIII) Assess market limitations on the development of for-sale multifamily residential housing in the region.

(d) The methodology for conducting a local housing needs assessment must include methods and acceptable publicly available data sources for a local government to:

(I) Estimate existing housing stock in the local government's jurisdiction;

(II) Estimate housing needs within the local government's jurisdiction, sorted by income level and dwelling type, including accessible units, visitable units, supportive units, for-sale units, and rental units;

(III) Estimate the number of households in the local government's jurisdiction;

(IV) Estimate the number of jobs in the local government's jurisdiction sorted by annual salary and wage;

(V) Incorporate a portion of housing needs identified in any applicable state and regional housing needs assessment for the local government, as appropriate, based on the number of jobs and each local government's dependence on jobs in the region, among other factors, to promote a balance of jobs at all salary levels and homes affordable to persons in the region holding jobs at all income levels;

(VI) Identify areas at elevated risk of displacement in the local government's jurisdiction;

(VII) Estimate water supply needs for the dwelling units identified in subsections (1)(d)(I) and (1)(d)(II) of this section using per capita water use rates identified in consultation with the department of natural resources; and

(VIII) Assess market limitations on the development of housing in the local government's jurisdiction.

(e) The methodologies for regional and local housing needs assessments must include the following:

(I) A requirement that housing needs assessments include recommended policy and programmatic responses to the findings of the housing needs assessment, including the assessment of displacement risk; and

(II) Guidance regarding housing action plans created pursuant to section 24-32-3705, including the inclusion of recommendations for housing action plans in housing needs assessments and the sequencing of housing needs assessments and housing action plans.

(2) The methodologies for estimating housing needs in housing needs assessments must be based on the following baseline components for each region and local government:

(a) Existing and projected housing shortages and surpluses for different household types and income levels, including extremely low-, very low-, low-, moderate-, and middle-income households as designated by the United States department of housing and urban development;

(b) Existing housing diversity and stock;

(d) Current median income;

(e) Population change projections, job growth projections, and demographic trends forecasted by the state demography office;

(f) Population and demographics;

(g) Measures of local resources dedicated to the development of affordable housing;

(h) Vacancy rates;

(i) Measures of homelessness and housing instability; and

(j) The job-housing balance, including the availability of housing for low-income workers.

(3) No later than December 31, 2024, the director shall develop guidance for regions and local governments to conduct a displacement risk assessment. In developing the guidance, the department shall include methods, with variations for different local contexts including the size and resource levels of local governments, for local governments to use to:

(a) Gather feedback through community engagement;

(b) Identify information from neighborhood-level early displacement warning and response systems or, if those systems are unavailable, identify the best available local, regional, state, or federal data that can be analyzed to identify residents at elevated displacement risk, which may include:

(I) The percentage of households that are extremely low-, very low-, and low-income, as designated by the United States department of housing and urban development;

(II) The percentage of residents who are renters;

(III) The percentage of cost-burdened households, defined as households that spend more than thirty percent of the household's income on housing needs;

(IV) The number of adults who are twenty-five years of age or older and have not earned at least a high school diploma;

(V) The percentage of households in which English is not the primary spoken language;

(VI) The number of single heads of household with children under eighteen years of age;

(VII) Data regarding rents or home values that are increasing at a substantially higher rate than adjacent neighborhoods in the region or local government's jurisdiction;

(VIII) Data regarding neighborhoods with high volume of sales of owner-occupied or investor-owned housing;

(IX) Data regarding increased sales and use taxes generated from commercial and retail activity;

(X) Data regarding business closures; and

(XI) The percentage of housing stock built prior to 1970;

(d) Identify areas that qualify as disadvantaged as determined with the climate and economic justice screening tool developed by the council on environmental quality in the office of the president of the United States; and

(e) Identify areas that will experience increased zoning capacity on or after January 1, 2025.

(4) Any methodology or guidance developed by the director pursuant to this section must permit the substitution of an assessment of housing needs or displacement risk conducted pursuant to the requirements of any other federal or state law or regulation.

Source: L. 2024: Entire part added, (SB 24-174), ch. 290, p. 1947, � 1, effective May 30.

24-32-3703. Local housing needs assessments - procedure - exempt local governments. (1) (a) No later than December 31, 2026, each local government shall conduct and publish a local housing needs assessment that conforms to the methodology for conducting local housing needs assessments developed by the director pursuant to section 24-32-3702 (1)(d) for the territory covered by the local government's master plan.

(b) A housing needs assessment conducted by or on behalf of a local government after January 1, 2022, qualifies as having satisfied the requirement of subsection (1)(a) of this section, if the local government submits the assessment to the department no later than December 31, 2024, and the department determines that the most recent version of the assessment conforms to the methodology for conducting a regional housing needs assessment or local housing needs assessment pursuant to section 24-32-3702. The department shall review a housing needs assessment and make such a determination within ninety days of a local government submitting the housing needs assessment to the department.

(2) Beginning on December 31, 2026, a local government shall complete a housing needs assessment no less often than every six years, except as provided in this section.

(3) Upon conducting a local government housing needs assessment pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, a local government's governing body shall consider the local housing needs assessment at a public meeting. Within sixty days of considering the local housing needs assessment at a public meeting, the local government shall submit the housing needs assessment along with any comments of the local government's governing body to the department. The department shall not accept a housing needs assessment from a local government that does not include the elements listed in section 24-32-3702 (1)(d)(I) through (VI) and demonstrate consideration of the baseline components listed in section 24-32-3702 (2). The department shall notify a local government if it does not accept an assessment. The department shall post the housing needs assessment on its website after accepting the assessment.

(4) A local government is exempt from the requirements of this section if:

(a) The local government participates in the creation of a regional housing needs assessment pursuant to section 24-32-3704 that is updated no less often than every six years, provided that, to be exempt from the requirement to conduct and publish a local housing needs assessment by December 31, 2026, the regional housing needs assessment must be completed by December 31, 2026; or

(b) The local government has a population of less than one thousand, or has experienced a negative population change of at least one percent in the most recent decennial census, unless the local government receives funding to conduct a local housing needs assessment from the department pursuant to section 24-32-3710.

(5) (a) Population and other data by which a local government is determined to be subject to the provisions of this section must be determined two years prior to the date that the local government is required to complete a housing needs assessment pursuant to this section.

(b) For the purposes of both this section and section 24-32-3705, a county's population includes only the population within a county's unincorporated territory.

Source: L. 2024: Entire part added, (SB 24-174), ch. 290, p. 1951, � 1, effective May 30.