A proposal to pave the way for denser housing types across what have long been traditional single-family suburban neighborhoods in Littleton has hit a hard roadblock, with the City Council voting to postpone consideration of the measure indefinitely.
Tuesday night’s vote to set aside the proposed amendment to the city’s land use code was 6-1, with Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Barr casting the lone no vote.
Councilwoman Pam Grove said that in her five years on the council, “never has an issue hit such a hot button.”
The ordinance aimed to make it easier to bring to Littleton “missing middle” types of housing — structures like duplexes, triplexes and accessory dwelling units — in all residential zoning districts in the city. Littleton projects a need for 6,500 more housing units in the city over the next 20 years to accommodate expected growth.
The proposal has generated strong countervailing reactions from residents. During a first hearing on the ordinance in December, dozens of people crowded into council chambers to sound off on the plan for three hours.
Some have insisted that something has to be done in a state where home prices have only gone up in a runaway fashion in recent years. But others have worried about the impact denser housing could have on the quiet, suburban character of their city — and they’ve questioned whether new attached units would in fact bring price relief to new homebuyers.
Grove acknowledged those concerns, saying greater attention should be paid to multiplexes’ potential impacts on traditional suburban neighborhoods, “which is the reason we bought here, which is the reason we live here, which is what really makes Littleton unique.”
Her comments received a rousing round of applause from the audience.
“I think we need to look at this in small bites, first with (accessory dwelling units) and then look at other types of housing,” Grove said.
Barr, the only council member in favor of the measure as it is currently written, said Littleton needed to take a longer view when considering its housing policy.
“Every citizen, and especially our elected officials, owe it to future generations to make reasonable sacrifices and incremental changes to allow future generations to prosper,” he said.
It’s not clear when Littleton’s elected leaders might pick up the topic again.
The city of 45,000, bouncing off a housing study it commissioned seven years ago, began talking in the last few years about lowering barriers to a more diverse array of housing in the suburb. The city, the housing stock of which is made up mostly of detached single-family neighborhoods and larger apartment complexes, zeroed in on an attempt to amend its land-use code to allow more housing with up to four attached units to be built across the city.
The zoning battle in Littleton came less than a year after state lawmakers passed a package of bills designed to increase Colorado’s housing supply and promote affordability, especially for service workers, firefighters and teachers who find it hard to live in the community in which they work.
It also comes just over a year after Boulder passed a similar measure, ending a prohibition on duplexes and triplexes in single-family neighborhoods in what is one of Colorado’s most expensive communities.
Littleton Councilwoman Gretchen Rydin told the packed chambers Tuesday night that after several weeks of public testimony and bundles of emails on the issue, more work is needed to iron out the details of the ordinance.
“I also heard tonight you just need some time to adjust, adapt and grieve — and the social worker and the therapist in me totally gets that,” she said.
But she urged residents to “keep your minds and your hearts open to the big picture that this ordinance is trying to address.”
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