Six Front Range cities have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Jared Polis and the state over housing laws they claimed violate the Colorado Constitution’s provisions on “home rule,” a century-old authority that gives municipalities some control over local matters, particularly in land use and zoning.

The lawsuit also challenges an executive order issued Friday by the governor that threatens local governments with withholding more than $100 million in funds if they don’t comply with a series of housing laws enacted in the last two years.

Under the executive order, known as “strategic growth through compliance with state laws,” funding for local governments from various state agencies — including the Department of Transportation, the Colorado Energy Office, the Department of Local Affairs, and the Office of Economic Development and International Trade — could be tied to compliance with those laws.

Aurora, Arvada, Glendale, Greenwood Village, Lafayette, and Westminster filed the lawsuit on Monday in Denver District Court.

The lawsuit focused on two land use bills from the 2024 legislative session that the cities believe are unconstitutional as they apply to home rule authority.

The first, House Bill 24-1304, tackles minimum parking requirements with a June 30, 2025, compliance date. In a statement, the local governments said it prohibits them from enacting or enforcing minimum parking requirements on multifamily housing developments located in transit areas.

The second, House Bill 24-1313, deals with “transit-oriented” communities. It requires 32 local governments in the Front Range to change their zoning in transit areas and permit a minimum density of 40 dwelling units per acre — a number that, if met, would produce 10 times the existing housing stock around Regional Transit District stops in Greenwood Village alone.

In their statement, the local governments said there would be no public hearings on dense housing proposals for parcels under five acres in size.

A spokesperson for the governor defended the housing policies, adding he is confident the courts will “rule in the state’s favor.”

“Coloradans are demanding action from our leaders to bring down housing costs. Our state has a housing shortage, and the Governor wants to bring everyone to the table to help find solutions because this is a challenge that crosses local boundaries,” the spokesperson said. “It’s disappointing to see certain local governments that have among the priciest homes in Colorado use taxpayer money on a lawsuit that could go toward lowering the cost of housing. It’s clear this lawsuit is about preventing more housing from being build that Coloradans can afford.”

Rather than standing in the way of more housing being built, the spokesperson added, “Governor Polis and the General Assembly have passed common-sense laws that break down barriers to housing. The Governor is proud of this work, appreciates the partnership and collaboration with so many local governments, and looks forward to seeing its impact in communities across the state.”

Lafayette, which noted that is the only municipality in the state to pass a resident-led “Growth Management Initiative,” first in 1996 and reaffirmed by voters in 2002, 2008, and 2017, said the state has overreached. One law, HB23-1255, preempted its ability to manage building permit allocations within its jurisdiction, Lafayette said. That law, Lafayette added, was one of the first of many “overreaches” by the state into home rule authority.

Lafayette said it has robustly pursued affordable housing opportunities as it manages growth. For example, the local government said, residents last year began moving into the Willoughby Corner neighborhood, a 400-unit, “net zero,” below market housing development made possible in partnership with the Boulder County Housing Authority and Boulder County.

That project, Lafayette said, is the largest affordable housing project in Colorado.

Also in 2023, Lafayette secured funding for residents of the La Luna Community cooperative to purchase and become one of the few resident-owned mobile home parks in the state. Through these efforts, Lafayette said it is on track to meet its 12% goal of deed-restricted affordable housing units by 2035 through the Boulder County Regional Housing Partnership.

Notably, the list of cities in the lawsuit does not include Littleton, although Patrick Driscoll, a member of Littleton City Council, said “this edict of ‘Be like Denver, or else’ doesn’t work for our community and the governor shouldn’t punish us for preserving our community’s character.”

While the city of Centennial is not among the plaintiffs, Councilwoman Robyn Carnes told Colorado Politics “Centennial voters have had enough of the partisan political retribution. Governor Polis’ retribution against local voters who value their community identity is just wrong. Our voters just want a government that works. One that values our identity, low taxes and high value government services. Our residents didn’t move to Denver, they moved to Centennial for its unique and welcoming neighborhoods.”

Home rule — enshrined in Article 20, Section 6 of the Colorado Constitution — dates back more than 100 years. It gives cities and towns the right to establish their own rules on matters of local concern within their jurisdictions.

In enacting the housing laws, lawmakers declared — and Polis agreed — that the issue has now become a statewide matter. 

“The availability of affordable housing is a matter of mixed statewide and local concern,” HB 1313 declared.  HB 1304, meanwhile, stated that a “required minimum amount of parking spaces for a real property is a matter of mixed statewide and local concern.”

Last year, the Colorado General Assembly offered several reasons why increased housing density in “transit-oriented” communities makes it necessary to classify zoning density in the affected municipalities as a matter of state interest.

One of those elements, they said, is “climate change.”

In pushing for the law, supporters said the changes it seeks would mean people save on transportation costs by living near transit. It would also mean owning fewer vehicles, and traveling to work without driving. Driving less, the new law said, “reduces greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.”

Also last year, the governor’s office said that the high cost of housing is “top of mind to all Coloradans,” and that the new policy earned the support of “many members of city councils and county commissioners.”

“High cost of housing is a statewide issue that Coloradans expect Governor Polis to fix,” a governor’s spokesperson then said. “People don’t care whether it’s their mayor, commissioner, governor or president who gets it done; we just want housing to be more affordable.

Rep. Steven Woodrow, a Democrat from Denver and one of the law’s sponsors, also earlier said that, with the rapid growth of the Front Range, policymakers have the opportunity to adopt smart and strategic steps, adding “We need all hands-on deck to tackle the housing affordability crisis, which is why we passed HB24-1313 to incentivize local governments to increase housing near jobs and transit hubs.”

These new laws, one local government official said, have eroded home rule. 

“We’re seeing a steady erosion of our citizens’ ability to have a voice in the communities in which they live,” said Greenwood Village Mayor George Lantz. “The flurry of legislative proposals continually eroding our Home Rule rights applies a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach, removing all of their uniqueness.”

He added: “The state doesn’t care how their particular vision of land use will affect our cities and the people living in them. Cities have carefully planned their communities, while the state fails to recognize that jobs are just as important to the transit corridors as housing.”

“We also disagree with the state’s belief that upzoning will result in more affordable housing being built or more ridership on RTD,” Lantz added. “Affordable housing requires subsidization and the low ridership on RTD is not going to be fixed by zoning.”

In a statement, Kevin Bommer, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League, said Colorado municipalities “will not be bullied by an administration and legislature that gives lip service to local control but does not understand or respect home rule authority.”

“Local elected officials swore to uphold the same state constitution as state legislators and the governor. That includes the home rule amendment to the constitution that guarantees local control over matters of local and municipal concern, such as land use authority. This was always going to end in litigation, given the refusal to respect the constitution and local officials’ obligation to defend their communities’ desires,” Bommer said.

Colorado has 108 home-rule cities and towns, including the 32 along the Front Range.