By Donald Valdez
Published April 16, 2025
I have spent my whole life in the San Luis Valley. I’m a fifth-generation Coloradan, a farmer and rancher, and have represented this community and our interests at the State Capitol. I know what it means to live in a rural place where people look out for each other. That’s part of what makes this valley — and towns like it across Colorado — so special. But I also know how difficult it’s become for working families to stay here thanks to high housing costs and the limited number of homes available for rent or purchase.
The housing crisis is not unique to Colorado; states across the country are implementing different policies in an attempt to encourage development and ultimately reduce costs for residents, including several ill-fated attempts at establishing rent control. Thankfully Colorado’s legislative leadership and Gov. Jared Polis have stood up against these counterproductive rent control proposals, as they disincentivize new housing production and lead to a more expensive housing market that continues to price more and more of our neighbors out of the towns they’ve always called home.
We need real, impactful solutions and we need them now. This year, the Colorado legislature has taken a more strategic approach to combating the state’s housing crisis, focusing on removing outdated barriers to housing production in order to deliver on the 8,000 new apartment homes each year the state needs to keep up with growing demand. Legislators have advanced several bills that offer targeted, practical solutions that can help us address the housing crisis across Colorado — especially in rural communities like ours.
One of these bills, HB 25-1169, allows faith-based organizations and educational institutions like school districts, colleges and universities to construct housing on the lots they own that currently sit vacant due to local zoning regulations. There is no reason usable and conveniently located land should sit empty if our community partners are willing to put it to good use. Otherwise known as the “Yes in God’s Backyard” (YIGBY) Bill, the measure empowers churches and colleges to further commit to their mission of serving their communities by cutting through bureaucratic red tape, increasing the land available for new housing development.
In order to use the space freed up by the YIGBY bill most efficiently, the legislature has also introduced HB 25-1273, which brings Colorado building standards into the modern era by allowing Colorado communities with sufficient fire protection district capabilities to build Smart Stair apartments that arrange units around a centralized staircase, rather than squeezing multiple units in between two exterior staircases. By modernizing these outdated building standards, new developments will require less space but provide larger, more family-friendly units that are more affordable to build. New York City, Seattle and Honolulu have all utilized similar stairwell modernization efforts to create additional housing opportunities while maintaining safety standards for residents and Colorado should do the same.
In a state as geographically and economically diverse as Colorado, the legislature and Gov. Polis have rightfully acknowledged that one-size-fits-all policies simply won’t work for the complex challenges different communities, especially rural ones like ours, face. Rather than prescribing a single statewide mandate that could wreak havoc on housing production, these bills take a more thoughtful and flexible approach. They empower local leaders with the tools needed to craft and implement housing solutions that reflect the specific needs of their communities, allowing individualized approaches to combating the housing crisis.
Unfortunately, while great ideas such as YIGBY and modernized construction standards are advanced, one bill, HB 25-1235, will instead discourage badly needed investment in new rental housing. Allowing jury trials in some landlord-tenant disputes will particularly harm small landlords — those with only a few rental properties, or even just one. Furthermore, with a price tag of more than $300,000 in year one and more than $600,000 in year two, it is clearly not something the state can afford as the worst budget crisis in decades unfolds.
The housing affordability crisis has touched all of our communities no matter where we live. Enacting these creative and effective legislative solutions moves us closer to ensuring every Coloradan has access to a safe, affordable home.
Donald Valdez is a former state representative for Colorado’s House District 62. He is currently a rancher.
