Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
Kinney: Interview with Mayor Strom
Lakewood Informer contributor Jim Kinney interviewed Mayor Strom on the new zoning changes. The changes are sweeping and, as Kinney points out, they are “bold” and “imaginative”. Just eliminating single-family housing will impact 75%-95% of Lakewood property, and that’s just one provision. Kinney examines the consequences of these changes.
Thanks, Jim, for your participation in local news and thank you, Mayor Strom, for your willingness to go on the record with Jim.
Bold and Imaginative – Eliminating Single-Family Per State Law
Starting the conversation with “why make these changes now?”, Strom answers that the time is right. “We just finished with our Comprehensive Plan process, that was the vision…. The zoning code is the tool.”
Kinney says Lakewood’s zoning resolution uses words like “bold” and “imaginative” when he was thinking “slow” and “careful.” Lakewood is currently the only city in the state eliminating single-family throughout the entire city.
Strom says Lakewood got an early start because of the comprehensive plan (passed unanimously July 28) and the resolution to change zoning (approved 10-1 by resolution using “bold” and “imaginative” in December, 2024).
Strom says, “The elimination of single-family housing is tricky because it wasn’t necessarily actively eliminated, so much as the state eliminated the cap and by virtue of that, the other zone categories were not as accurate.” She continues, “It wasn’t an intentional removal of anything, it was purely ‘How do we address state law.’”
Single-Family Housing in Name Only
When Kinney asks if eliminating single-family housing will eliminate a wealth-building mechanism, Strom replies that single-family housing is “in name only”. She says this zoning change just matches what people are doing anyway. She then segues into the process for zoning changes, including developing a comprehensive plan and incorporating state law.
Strom says that the biggest concern right now is not single-family but limiting the number of people that can live in a home by limiting square footage. Currently, Lakewood allows an 18,000 square foot house in some places. Lakewood is trying to get that number down to 4,000 square feet across Lakewood, rather than per unique neighborhood.
The current zoning code does not allow 18,000 sq ft, 30-bedroom homes for MULTIPLE FAMILIES because they were zoned single-family. The 30-bedroom McMansion problem is a creation of the new zoning code.
Strom says she doesn’t know if people will want to buy property in Lakewood under the new zoning code yet, but feels addressing the square footage problems puts Lakewood ahead of challenges.
Real Estate Effects
Kinney notes that realtors have already lost contracts because Lakewood is eliminating single-family. People shopping for homes know that the house next door could now be turned into a multi-family home.
Strom was unable to reply directly but said that if other cities decide to eliminate single-family in future, those cities may not consider the 10,000 square foot problem. She says the zones should keep buildings similar in size to what’s there now, if not in usage.
The current zoning code and comprehensive plan also claim to maintain neighborhood character. This argument was made and dismissed in the Belmar Park case.
What Makes Lakewood Different Than Other Failed Zoning?
Kinney asked how Lakewood will be different from all the other cities that failed to produce more housing through zoning. He cites a study by the Urban Institute that examined the results of zoning changes implemented in 1,136 cities over the last seven years.
As a former City Council Member of the first city to try this said, the study “showed zoning changes across 1,136 cities resulted in less than a 1% increase in [cheap and abundant] housing supply.” Housing supply is the reason for the proposed zoning changes in Lakewood.
Strom replies that the zoning changes themselves will not move the needle on “affordable housing”, which is a legal term. She says this will help “attainable housing” or “workforce housing.”
NOTE: See “Lakewood Commits to More Housing Under Prop 123” for more information on “affordable housing” and the only defined housing crisis in existence.
Home Rule
On standing up for home rule, Strom expects cities to lose the home rule cases pending in court. She points out that the Governor has said for over three years that housing is a statewide concern, not a local issue. She also says that Lakewood already incorporated all the high-density elements the state asked for in HB24-1313 so that’s not a consideration. Only the new state parking requirements in HB24-1304 are an issue for Lakewood.
As for the parking, she feels Lakewood can sacrifice required parking because banks will ask for it anyway. Strom feels Lakewood is “letting the market decide on parking.”
This issue remains confusing because in previous discussion, Strom says the city is accommodating state law by eliminating single-family zones. She references following state law several times in general, but during this discussion on state law, it sounds like Lakewood has decided independently to take action on parking outside of state law, in order to follow state law. No further clarification was possible in the time allowed.
When Kinney asked about the funding tied to state law compliance, Strom claimed she did not know any details.
Oversight
Kinney asks what oversight provisions there are in the code in case staff do not implement as envisioned. Kinney says there are a lot of places in the code where the decision gets made by the Director.
Strom replied that there is a limited amount of staff discretion built into the code. The larger decisions already go to the Planning Commission for a public hearing. City Council will not be a part of that oversight, but can change the code when necessary, like when they changed the parkland dedication provision.
The explicit duties of each party in the new zoning code are provided below. Note that there are many more discretionary items explicitly defined in each zone section.
Public Funding
Kinney says that research shows that the biggest hurdle to affordable housing is the lack of public funding, citing the research in “Colorado’s housing crisis won’t be fixed by zoning alone. A new report shows why.”
As further proof, he cites an article from the Minnesota Star Tribune, by former Minneapolis City Council Member Lisa McDonald, titled “Upending single family zoning isn’t the answer.” McDonald says, “The 2040 Plan, which dramatically reduced zoning regulations, has been in place since 2018 and has not produced dramatically more housing. But like many zombie ideas, the zoning idea just doesn’t die.”
Kinney asks if Lakewood is doing zoning instead of subsidies because Lakewood doesn’t have the cash.
Strom replies that Lakewood can waive city fees for certain projects. Lakewood also contributes to the Bring It Home Fund through Colorado Gives Foundation. Those funds go to Lakewood housing projects and nonprofits. This is the second year Lakewood has done those funding projects.
Lakewood is also looking at inclusionary zoning through the Housing Policy Commission. At this point, Lakewood is suggesting 5% inclusionary units.
Inclusionary zoning: Mandate that sets price caps for a certain percentage of new units being built. These units are either government subsidized, or lead to the rest of the units being offered at higher prices.
Investor Guardrails
What about options to protect neighborhoods by limiting investors from purchasing properties intended for resident ownership opportunities? Strom did not know of a way to handle that situation. She discusses examples where residents are excited for the new townhomes created by an investor.
During that question, the city Communications Manager stepped in to remind Strom that most lots cannot actually be subdivided for separate owners. Rental is the only option.
Final Words
Kinney says, “I’m hoping that all citizens get involved in what’s going on and everybody helps make this what they want it to be.”
Thank you, Jim. Thank you, Mayor Strom.
Video
Watch the full video for yourself here: https://rumble.com/v6y7xts-densifying-a-residential-suburb-jim-kinney-interviews-mayor-wendi-strom.html
Viewing Note:
Please keep in mind while watching the video that words matter – sometimes the question will be about an “apartment”, which now turns into a discussion on what “apartment” means. Or the question may be about “more people,” but the answer turns into single “adults”.
On a national level you would probably recognize some of these conversational twists on your own. But as Mayor Strom said in the interview, no one runs for office on zoning, so there is very little public discourse on the subject. It’s hidden in boring detail, not local Lakewood news.
But in terms of density, none of that matters. These changes mean more people in one location, no matter what you call it. So when you hear someone say that “this doesn’t apply to you,” make sure you know what “this” means. Because you may be talking in general, and they may be talking about something very specific.