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Aurora issues RFP to update housing rules; staff seeks consultant to codify pilots and economics
Summary
The city seeks a consultant to help convert pilots and roundtable findings on small lots, parking and design into Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) amendments; staff aims to have a consultant on board by April and complete code revisions by year-end.
Janine Restad, Aurora’s director of planning and business development, told the PED Committee on Feb. 12 that the city is issuing a request for proposals (RFP) to help translate pilot projects and roundtable findings into UDO amendments focused on housing.
Restad said the consultant will produce design booklets, topic-area papers analyzing economics, and draft code language; the goal is to have the consultant on board in April and to complete work by the end of 2025. "We are not asking for deed restriction," Restad said, stressing that the effort seeks to make housing more attainable without imposing deed-restriction requirements.
Why this matters: the UDO housing effort targets changes intended to increase housing production while preserving livability — items staff cited include smaller lots, block and street network changes for walkability, usable open space, parking approaches (alley-loaded versus front-loaded strategies), and material/finish requirements that affect construction cost.
Restad summarized the project goals as encouraging more housing across price points, increasing density while maintaining quality, improving proximity to retail and open space, and shortening approval timelines. She said prior roundtables and pilot projects informed the RFP and that staff will hold at least three more development roundtables during the consultant engagement.
Staff noted the 2019 UDO already allows up to 50% small lots in certain contexts, and the consultant’s work will dig into policy questions that remain — for example, whether to allow different percentages of small lots in specific neighborhoods and how to balance alley costs against parking and street design.
The consultant team sought in the RFP will include code-writing expertise and design experience; Restad said the team could include planners, designers and legal/codification specialists. Staff emphasized that the product will be changes to the city’s code: proposed amendments will proceed through PED and then to study sessions and public hearings for formal adoption.
Committee members asked whether the work duplicates past roundtables. Restad said the RFP builds on prior rounds and pilot projects, and the consultant will help refine competing recommendations and quantify economic impacts so policy questions can come back to PED with clearer tradeoffs. No formal vote occurred during the discussion.
