Steve Pomerance

The issue of housing availability apparently infects people’s brains and makes them crazy. At least that’s what the initial reports on Gov. Polis’s land-use bill made me think. That many Democrats in the Legislature are supporting it just showed me that power corrupts, and absolute power makes you completely looney. So, I actually reviewed the bill’s 105 pages. Here’s some of what the bill proposes, as best as I could discern: All “Tier 1” cities, including Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Fort Collins, Lakewood, Greeley, Boulder, Grand Junction, Pueblo and Arvada, would have to allow the construction of duplexes, triplexes and multiplexes up to six units, as well as accessory dwelling units and modular homes, on all lots in all residential neighborhoods, including HOAs, with only five-foot side/rear setbacks. So, having areas of varying density is gone. Everything is seriously overbuilt! The obvious result of this is that every time a house or lot comes up for sale, deep-pocketed dev...

 Many of us have been following the seemingly endless debate about how Boulder should treat the “homeless.” Unfortunately, the results of the judge’s recent decision in the lawsuit filed against the City of Boulder’s homeless policies were difficult to discern because the ruling was 35 pages long. I’m not a lawyer, but I did read it twice. Basically, the ruling was not on the substance of the issues, but on whether to dismiss the complaints. The judge dismissed two of the three complaints in full, and half of the third, leaving only the issue of homeless people’s legal ability to sleep in outdoor public spaces to be decided in the trial. In the process of reading it, I saw an angle that might get the city the freedom to do what I think should be done — to make a real effort to provide housing and other help for people who live here in Boulder and for whatever reason have become homeless, while, at the same time, not having to provide for more and more people who have become homeles...