Planning Commission Agenda and Packet 2022 06 23

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moderate-, and middle -income households by 2035; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds a diverse housing stock within the City is necessary to serve people of all income levels; and WHEREAS, based upon the review and consideration of recent housing studies, reports and analysis, the City Council finds the provisions set forth herein are necessary to preserve a diversity of housing opportunities for the City's residents and working people; and WHEREAS, according to the Boulder County Community Foundation TRENDS Report 2019-2021 (the "TRENDS Report"), between 2007 and 2017, employment in Boulder County grew by 39,719 positions, a seventeen percent (17%) increase; and WHEREAS, housing has not kept pace with employment, with only one new housing unit added for every 3.5 new jobs that came to Boulder County in that period; and WHEREAS, this extreme imbalance in supply and demand of housing has forced tens of thousands of people and vehicles into Boulder County each day just to work and has contributed to a rise in homelessness and driven up housing prices; and WHEREAS the regional trend toward increased housing prices will, without intervention, further exacerbate the inadequate supplies of affordable housing for low-, moderate-, and middle - income households, which will in turn have a negative impact on the ability of local employers to maintain an adequate local work force; and WHEREAS, the general lack of affordable housing for households of low- and moderate - income, along with the large number of existing middle -income households that are "housing cost burdened" cause many adverse social and economic impacts within the City, particularly impacts associated with the fact that many persons employed within the City are increasingly unable to afford to live in the City near their place of employment; and WHEREAS, Colorado statutes, particularly C.R.S. § 29-20-104(1)(g), enable all municipalities to regulate the use of land on the basis of the impact thereof on the community; and WHEREAS, House Bill 21-1117, adopted by the Colorado General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor on May 28, 2021, clarified that the existing authority for cities to plan for and regulate the use of land includes the authority to regulate development or redevelopment in order to promote the construction of new affordable housing units; and WHEREAS, it is the express intention of the City Council to provide a choice of options to the property owner or land developer and create one or more alternatives to the construction of new affordable housing units on the building site, as set forth in House Bill 21-1117; and WHEREAS, the City Council is also committed to examining its zoning and land use policies and to adopting appropriate amendments to is ordinances that it finds will increase the overall density and availability of housing, also as set forth in House Bill 21-1117, but that Ordinance No. XXXX, Series 2022 Page 2 of 15 W