Colorado § 29-35-103 - Definitions.

§ 29-35-103. Definitions.

(1) "Accessible unit" means a housing unit that:

(a) Satisfies the requirements of the federal "Fair Housing Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 3601 et seq., as amended;

(b) Incorporates universal design; or

(c) Is a type A dwelling unit, as defined in section 9-5-101 (10); a type A multistory dwelling unit, as defined in section 9-5-101 (11); a type B dwelling unit, as defined in section 9-5-101 (12); or a type B multistory dwelling unit, as defined in section 9-5-101 (13).

(2) (a) "Administrative approval process" means a process in which:

(I) A development application for a specified project is approved, approved with conditions, or denied by local government administrative staff based solely on its compliance with objective standards set forth in local laws; and

(II) Does not require, and cannot be elevated to require, a public hearing, a recommendation, or a decision by an elected or appointed public body or a hearing officer.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (2)(a) of this section, an "administrative approval process" may require an appointed historic preservation commission to make a decision, or to make a recommendation to local government administrative staff, regarding a development application involving a property that the local government has designated as a historic property, provided that:

(I) The state historic preservation office within history Colorado has designated the local government as a certified local government; and

(II) The appointed historic preservation commission's decision or recommendation is based on standards either set forth in local law or established by the secretary of the interior of the United States.

(2.5) "Airport influence area" means an area nearby an airport that a local government has designated as unsuitable for residential development because:

(a) Development could impact airport operations; or

(b) Airport noise or safety hazards could affect the area.

(3) "Applicable transit plan" means a plan of a transit agency whose service territory is within a metropolitan planning organization, including a system optimization plan or a transit master plan that:

(a) Has been approved by the governing body of a transit agency on or after January 1, 2019, and on or before January 1, 2024;

(b) Identifies the planned frequency and span of service for transit service or specific transit routes; and

(c) Identifies specific transit routes for short-term implementation according to that plan, or implementation before January 1, 2030.

(4) "Bus rapid transit service" means a transit service:

(a) That is identified as bus rapid transit by a transit agency, in a metropolitan planning organization's fiscally constrained long range transportation plan or in an applicable transit plan; and

(b) That typically includes any number of the following:

(I) Service that is scheduled to run every fifteen minutes or less during the highest frequency service hours;

(II) Dedicated lanes or busways;

(III) Traffic signal priority;

(IV) Off-board fare collection;

(V) Elevated platforms; or

(VI) Enhanced stations.

(5) "Commuter bus rapid transit service" means a bus rapid transit service that operates for a majority of its route on a freeway with access that is limited to grade-separated interchanges.

(6) "Commuter rail" means a passenger rail transit service between and within metropolitan and suburban areas.

(7) "County" means a county including a home rule county, but excluding a city and county.

(8) "Department" means the department of local affairs.

(9) "Displacement" means:

(a) The involuntary relocation of residents, particularly low-income residents, or locally-owned community-serving businesses and institutions due to:

(I) Increased real estate prices, rents, property rehabilitation, redevelopment, demolition, or other economic factors;

(II) Physical conditions resulting from neglect and underinvestment that render a residence uninhabitable; or

(III) Physical displacement wherein existing housing units and commercial spaces are lost due to property rehabilitation, redevelopment, or demolition;

(b) Indirect displacement resulting from changes in neighborhood population, if, when low-income households move out of housing units, those same housing units do not remain affordable to other low-income households in the neighborhood, or demographic changes that reflect the relocation of existing residents following widespread relocation of their community and community-serving entities.

(10) "Light rail" means a passenger rail transit service that uses electrically powered rail-borne cars.

(11) "Local government" means a municipality, county, or tribal nation with jurisdiction in Colorado.

(12) "Local law" means any code, law, ordinance, policy, regulation, or rule enacted by a local government that governs the development and use of land, including but not limited to land use codes, zoning codes, and subdivision codes.

(13) "Metropolitan planning organization" means a metropolitan planning organization under the "Federal Transit Act of 1998", 49 U.S.C. sec. 5301 et seq., as amended.

(14) "Municipality" means a home rule or statutory city or town, territorial charter city or town, or city and county.

(15) "Objective standard" means a standard that:

(a) Is a defined benchmark or criterion that allows for determinations of compliance to be consistently decided regardless of the decision maker; and

(b) Does not require a subjective determination concerning a development proposal, including but not limited to whether the application for the development proposal is:

(I) Consistent with master plans or other development plans;

(II) Compatible with the land use or development of the area surrounding the area described in the application; or

(III) Consistent with public welfare, community character, or neighborhood character.

(16) "Regulated affordable housing" means affordable housing that:

(a) Has received loans, grants, equity, bonds, or tax credits from any source to support the creation, preservation, or rehabilitation of affordable housing that, as a condition of funding, encumbers the property with a restricted use covenant or similar recorded agreement to ensure affordability, or has been income-restricted under a local inclusionary zoning ordinance or other regulation or program;

(b) Restricts or limits maximum rental or sale price for households of a given size at a given area median income, as established annually by the United States department of housing and urban development; and

(c) Ensures occupancy by low- to moderate-income households for a specified period detailed in a restrictive use covenant or similar recorded agreement.

(17) "Universal design" means any dwelling unit designed and constructed to be safe and accessible for any individual regardless of age or abilities.

(18) "Urban bus rapid transit service" means a bus rapid transit service that operates on a surface street for the majority of its route.

(19) "Visitable unit" means a dwelling unit that a person with a disability can enter, move around the primary entrance floor of, and use the bathroom in.

Source: L. 2024: Entire article added (see the editor's note following the part 1 heading), (HB 24-1313), ch. 168, p. 837, § 1, effective May 13. L. 2026: (2)(a)(I) amended and (2.5) added, (HB 26-1001), ch. 8, p. 25, § 2, effective March 25.

Cross references: For the short title ("Housing Opportunities Made Easier (HOME) Act") in HB 26-1001, see section 1 of chapter 8, Session Laws of Colorado 2026.

PART 2

TRANSIT-ORIENTED COMMUNITIES

Editor's note: This part 2 was originally numbered as part 2 of article 37 of this title 29 in HB 24-1313 but was renumbered on revision for ease of location.