So, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wants to steamroll local zoning and land-use rules in favor of his own vision for planning and development across the entire state? Not so fast, say Colorado’s cities.

Their opposition first popped up when their chief lobbyist at the Capitol, Kevin Bommer of the Colorado Municipal League, labeled Polis’ plan a “breathtaking power grab.” That was upon its unveiling a few weeks ago as Senate Bill 23-213.

It was just the start of the push-back.

As reported by Colorado Politics, the CEO of Colorado’s No. 2 city, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, turned up at the bill’s debut in a Senate committee last week and poured cold water on it. Suthers – a former district attorney, Colorado attorney general and U.S. attorney – stared down lawmakers and warned them that if they pass the measure in its current form, Colorado Springs and other cities would tie it up in “years of contentious litigation.”

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Then, as Colorado Politics reported this week, mayors in 39 cities and towns in the Denver metro area signed onto a letter in opposition. The missive from the Metro Mayors Caucus expressed skepticism the Polis plan would achieve its avowed goal – creating more affordable housing – and cited “serious concerns about the top-down process” of its implementation.

That put the mayors officially in alignment with Bommer’s Colorado Municipal League, which represents 270 cities and towns in Colorado, as well as with the influential lobby Colorado Counties, Inc., which represents almost all of the state’s 64 counties. 

The coup de grâce came Thursday. The three-term mayor of Colorado’s largest city, Denver’s Michael Hancock, along with Denver City Council President Jamie Torres, weighed in against the plan.

A joint statement issued by Hancock and Torres read, in part: “…As we know from our own experience, policy implementation works best when applied across cities and regions while also taking into account community nuances. A one-size-fits-all approach that strips away local control in managing these critical land-use decisions is not the best approach.”

“We have serious concerns about the attempt to preempt local land-use control,” the statement continued. “…SB23-213 is a laudable, but fundamentally flawed, top-down approach, and Denver is opposed to the bill as currently drafted.”

“Fundamentally flawed.” Ouch.

The bill would impose new local zoning standards that would be dictated, more or less, from the Capitol. Those rules would call for more multi-family housing in single-family neighborhoods; clustering growth closer to transit and work – the kinds of planning trends that may be warranted in some places but not in others. And, right now, it is up to local government and local citizens to decide – just as it always has been and should be.

The Polis plan ultimately would trample local control by rank-and-file residents in one Colorado community after another. Colorado’s municipalities, as the level of government closest to the people, have a historic right – and duty – to zone their neighborhoods and plan local development in ways that meet the needs and reflect the priorities of their local voters, taxpayers and property owners.

The plan’s premise – that forced rezoning across Colorado will add an appreciable amount of affordable housing – seems like a pipe dream. At least, there are too many other factors driving Colorado’s high housing costs in the near term.

The Polis plan seems to have hit a wall of opposition. It’s time to back off and head in another direction.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board