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Broomfield staff recommends zoning overlay to meet state transit-oriented density goal; council splits on administrative-review requirement
Summary
City staff told council preliminary calculations show Broomfield would need zoning capacity for roughly 11,500 additional units near US‑36 transit stations under House Bill 24‑13‑13 and recommended creating a zoning overlay; council broadly agreed on producing an overlay and submitting the HOG report to DOLA but was split on adopting the bill’s administrative-review process.
City staff told the Broomfield City Council on Monday that complying with House Bill 24‑13‑13—Colorado’s new transit-oriented communities law—would require a substantial increase in zoning capacity near Broomfield’s US‑36 transit stations, and asked council whether to pursue compliance and which local process to use.
Deputy City & County Manager Anna Bertenzetti presented staff’s preliminary Housing Opportunity Goal (HOG) calculations and two implementation paths: (1) parcel-by-parcel PUD or rezoning amendments (15–18 months, 20–25 property owners, 35–50 council meetings) or (2) a zoning overlay district applied within a half‑mile of stations (staff recommended; estimated 6 months, 2–3 council items). Staff’s draft calculations indicate the city would need zoning capacity to accommodate roughly 11,500 additional residential units in the defined transit-area boundaries, and the bill requires administrative review for projects on parcels of five acres or less if a jurisdiction elects to pursue the HOG densities.
Bertenzetti emphasized that increasing zoning capacity does not obligate property owners to build and that any development would still have to meet Broomfield’s transportation and utility requirements; she added the city could use mitigation strategies to reduce commercial-displacement risk. She noted some parcels adjacent to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport could be exempted if industrially zoned or subject to runway-approach restrictions.
Council members broadly favored creating a zoning overlay and directed staff to prepare an overlay-district study session; they also gave general direction to submit the preliminary HOG calculation to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) by the June deadline. The council was split on whether to adopt the bill’s administrative-review mechanism: during the discussion the council clerk reported a 5–4 count against directing staff to pursue administrative review as part of formal compliance.
In discussion, council members raised concerns about timing, staff capacity and the fiscal effects of any required infrastructure, noting that Broomfield already has numerous approved projects in the pipeline but that market and financing conditions can delay construction. Staff said the town is not eligible to claim statewide water insufficiency to avoid compliance, because Broomfield plans for ultimate buildout and the bill’s water‑insufficiency exemption applies differently.
Staff asked council to clarify three items: whether to pursue increased zoning capacity near the US‑36 transit stations, which approach to use (individual rezoning vs. overlay), whether to submit the preliminary HOG report to DOLA (June deadline), and whether to direct staff to pursue compliance (including administrative review for parcels five acres or less). Council’s consensus direction was to ask staff to draft an overlay zoning district and to submit the HOG report; the administrative-review question remained divided (council recorded a 5–4 opposition to adding local administrative review at this time). Staff said they will return with a study-session item and that council can change direction at a later meeting.
No formal ordinance or zoning changes were adopted at the study session; council’s direction was advisory to staff.
