Arapahoe County planning staff presented a draft mapping analysis of transit areas required under recent state housing law and said they will submit the county’s preliminary assessment to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

Public Works planning staff and GIS analysts briefed the Board on the exercise to calculate the county’s housing‑opportunity acreage and the resulting housing opportunity goal (HOG) after applying exemptions allowed by the statute and DOLA guidance. Staff said they used the state’s transit buffers (quarter‑mile station walksheds and an eight‑mile transit corridor buffer for bus rapid transit), applied locally verified exemptions (floodplains, parks and open space, airport influence areas, school and government‑owned parcels and parcels not served by municipal water/sewer) and performed parcel‑level calculations that replicate the state’s spreadsheet tool.

County staff reported the state’s baseline analysis produced an initial HOG of roughly 29,300 housing units for Arapahoe County after the state’s exemption set; the county’s local parcel‑level review reduced the draft HOG to about 24,500 units. Staff also estimated roughly 5,300 existing housing units are already allowed by current zoning within the mapped transit areas, leaving a modeled additional target of about 19,000 new units that would be achieved by rezoning, transit‑center designation and other local actions.

Jason Reynolds and Zach Vernon reviewed the mapping and noted that some station areas (for example Dry Creek) were substantially exempted because of airport influence zones, walkability limits or open‑space overlays; they also identified optional transit center areas the county may designate later to concentrate rezoning efforts. Staff said the legal deadline to finalize transit‑oriented communities assessment reporting is 12/31/2026 and that an administrative process is required under the law for parcels smaller than five acres within designated transit centers.

Commissioners asked about next steps. Staff said they will: submit the preliminary assessment spreadsheet and narrative to DOLA by the state deadline; then prepare station‑area plans for recommended focus areas (Dry Creek, Federal/North 285, and the four‑square‑mile area) and draft zoning language to allow a minimum density of 15 dwelling units per acre in designated transit centers. Commissioners gave a verbal consensus and a thumbs‑up to submit the county’s draft materials to the state and asked staff to continue neighborhood planning and to coordinate potential rezoning so the county is prepared for later legal filings and public outreach.

Staff noted that rezoning and transit center designation are local decisions; the county may zone beyond the HOG if it chooses, and staff recommended working with the cities, RTD and DOLA on walk‑shed and airport‑influence questions. The county will present more detailed plans and draft code language during the coming months as it moves from mapping to rezoning and station‑area planning.