Commerce City council affirms opposition to state bill seen as limiting municipal control over housing exteriors

Commerce City councilors reiterated an opposed position to a proposed state bill they said would restrict municipal authority to regulate exterior building materials and potentially override local fire-safety requirements.

A staff legislative update noted the bill’s sponsor intends to offer four amendments in committee the following day. Staff described some amendments as “improvements” but said they did not resolve the city’s primary concerns about local control. “He did pull it from committee once before to work on it because he whipped the votes and the votes weren't there … he’s putting forth these four amendments tomorrow for vote,” a staff member said.

Council members debated whether the bill would apply by population thresholds and whether the proposed language targeted Denver alone. Several councilmembers said they would remain opposed to the bill because it did not include sponsor support from other local jurisdictions and because population thresholds were unclear.

At the meeting the legislative staff said the council’s position was already opposed, and asked whether any councilors wanted to testify against the bill at the committee hearing; no one volunteered. Staff offered to provide testimony materials and talking points if any councilor chose to testify remotely.

Council members also flagged a separate bill discussed at an ACRep event that appeared to limit municipal authority over exterior materials and local safety standards; staff said they would circulate the bill number and track it through the municipal advocacy committee (DBAC).