One week into a special session, the state House of Representatives on Thursday sent to the Senate a slew of bills dealing with growth and attempts to curb urban sprawl.
When the General Assembly's 120-day regular session ended May 9 without an agreement on growth management, the governor called a special session -- which began May 10 -- to deal specifically with the issue. Officials hope to end the special session Wednesday.
The nine-bill package is the House's version of a growth-management plan which Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, said at the beginning of the regular legislative session he would "kick butts" to get approved. Included in the package are HB1015 by Rep. Joe Stengel, R-Littleton, which would require fast-growing cities and counties in Colorado to create comprehensive plans for guiding growth, and HB1012 by Rep. Frana Mace, D-Denver, which would mandate regional planning by the 49 cities and counties in the Denver area. Another bill, HB1006 by Rep. Fran Coleman, D-Denver, would create a grant program worth $1.5 million to help poor cities and counties develop growth plans.
"We sent the Senate what the governor said the people wanted," Stengel said.
However, Senate Democrats said the governor's package and additional bills approved Thursday were not enough to resolve the state's growing pains.
"They are all nice and they are all fine, but they don't address the real issues," said Sen. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden, the growth expert in the Democrat-led Senate. "The main piece is missing."
Senate Democrats insist on a bill to reduce sprawl. Their plan would make it more difficult to develop rural areas, and it would push new homes, offices, and other developments into the cities. The Senate is working on developing one bill in this regard, SB 12, which is sponsored by Perlmutter. The bill is scheduled for a floor debate and preliminary vote by the full Senate on Monday.
Owens said that as long as a package of bills or one omnibus bill has all the components he wants, he would approve it.
