Wheat Ridge council agrees to pursue linkage-fee study, preserve short‑term rental revenue for housing fund

Wheat Ridge City Councilors on July 7 directed staff to pursue a linkage (nexus) fee study and to prepare a policy that would continue directing short‑term rental tax revenue into the city’s housing fund, after staff recommended postponing mandatory inclusionary zoning.

Staff summarized a consultant feasibility report and four policy options, and recommended a linkage fee study rather than a mandatory inclusionary requirement. The consultant tested multiple pro‑forma models and concluded that most future development in Wheat Ridge would be small infill projects, that projects under about 60 units face strained financial feasibility, and that higher‑density projects could better absorb inclusionary requirements if zoning and other limits allowed them. Senior housing planner Shannon Terrell said the consultant’s recommendation was “a mandatory inclusionary policy ... that applies to new residential projects with 10 or more units,” but that staff’s further review raised concerns about feasibility for the city’s common, smaller infill projects.

The consultant’s draft…