Heads up: Gov. Jared “I-Know-Best” Polis has pulled another stunt straight out of the Central Planning for Dummies handbook. According to CPR News, our benevolent overlord issued an Executive Order pushing cities to comply with recently passed housing laws that micromanage land use and zoning from the Capitol throne room. But six municipalities have wisely slapped back with a lawsuit saying that His Royal Highness has no business dictating how THEIR cities grow.
This ain’t just about sidewalks and duplexes, folks. This is about who runs your community, you or some smug bureaucrat with a Boulder zip code.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Polis issued an executive order demanding state agencies “incentivize” (read: strong-arm) compliance from cities dragging their feet on his vision for urban housing reform.
- A half-dozen municipalities are suing the state because the law tramples local land-use authority like a bulldozer through Grandma’s garden.
- The crux of the lawsuit? State mandates override established municipal powers protected by Colorado’s Constitution… which apparently is OPTIONAL these days under Lord Polis.
- Polis claims urban sprawl and high housing costs demand centralized control, but critics argue one-size-fits-all zoning laws hurt more than they help.
- Local leaders say community-driven planning matters more than Polis’ Denver-based dreamscape, and they’re ready to fight him in court.
My Bottom Line
Good on these municipalities for growing a spine. Jared Polis may think he’s Moses parting the zoning codes, but in reality he’s more like Pharaoh shouting “Let them build multifamily units!” while ignoring the burning bush of local backlash behind him. Land use isn’t generic soup; it’s a unique stew – what works in Fort Collins doesn’t always fit in Fruita.
Housing is absolutely an issue – but acting like all of Colorado is a mini-Denver? That’s arrogant nonsense wrapped in eco-fantasy paper and sealed with duct tape from Boulder. Communities have character, constraints, and citizens who actually live there, not just consultants harvesting grant money to blueprint utopia.
Let me be crystal clear: central planners have NEVER fixed housing. From Soviet Russia to San Francisco, top-down policy just breaks things harder and faster. It treats sovereign communities like naughty schoolchildren who need Governor Daddy to clean up their messy crayons with billion-dollar mandates.
Citizens should be shaping their neighborhoods by showing up at city hall, not tweeting GIFs while Polis holds another press conference flanked by hand-picked wonks who nod at everything he says like dashboard bobbleheads on I-25.
So yeah – God bless these six municipalities for saying NOPE to the King of Compliance. Jared doesn’t get to play SIM CITY with our lives. Period.
