LAKEWOOD INFORMER

The intent of the proposed Lakewood rezoning eliminates the words “of the City of Lakewood” so that the code reads to be for general purposes of anyone anywhere. In the current version, stating “Lakewood” may seem redundant or inherently understood, but why take it out? By taking it out, the new inherent question is “for whom”? In the redline below from section 17.1.2 of the proposed code, if the zoning code is not to ensure the economic vitality of the city, whom is it for? Even worse is where the wording changes from “citizen of Lakewood” to “resident.” Perhaps Planning Commissioner Elena Overall articulated it best when she said: “We must allow more housing to be built, and that’s not to the comfort of the existing property owners, um, who are here. There are many people who are not here because they are not here yet.” In other words, the zoning code doesn’t need to change for the people of Lakewood. It needs to change to bring in others. Even though Lakewood officials owe representation and allegiance to the residents of Lakewood, concerns about REMOVING “citizens of the City of Lakewood” are valid. Perhaps this is a little detail, but with this change, it will be entirely possible for Lakewood to justify a development like The Bend because it ensures economic vitality -– for that developer. The city will subsidize development by sacrificing taxes and has now assumed liability for future environmental impacts. This move did not ensure the economic...

From Lenore Herskovitz In Lakewood, do we have a housing crisis or an affordability crisis? These terms are often used interchangeably, but there is a difference. A housing crisis refers to a broad situation where there is a systemic shortage of available housing. An affordability crisis focuses on the financial strain of housing costs regardless of the overall availability of housing units. The latter seems the most applicable to our city. A Zillow tabulation posted on June 30, 2025 for Lakewood indicated that there were 768 available rental units with a price range of $0-$1800 a month. This increased to 1098 units when the price range was expanded to $1600-$3000 a month. Additionally, there were 568 houses for sale. These figures would seem to indicate that there is not a supply shortage. Demand is low, at least in part, because of a lack of affordability. Even with rent reductions and other enticements, vacancies continue. So, what exactly is the definition of affordable housing? As defined by HB-1304, rental housing is affordable to a household with an annual income of at or below 60% of the area median income (AMI) and that costs a household less than 30% of its monthly income. Affordable housing also means for-sale housing that could be purchased by a household with an annual income of at or below 100% of the AMI, for which the mortgage payment costs the household 30% or less of its monthly income. Because the state has determined that there is a...