Decline to Sign Initiative 122

We all know that housing matters. And it’s no secret that rapidly rising housing costs in Colorado have not kept pace with wages in recent years. The result is that essential members of our community—like nurses and teachers—are now struggling to afford to live here.

We at Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver want to make sure you’re aware of a State Ballot Initiative that could significantly impede affordable housing development, including our work. Initiative 122 is a statewide measure that caps growth and housing in the 11 Front Range counties.

While the proposal may appear to address our region’s growing pains, we believe it will result in harmful consequences that will negatively impact our communities. Here are a few of the anticipated impacts:

• Initiative 122 will limit the supply of housing, driving up the price of homes and apartments, and placing much of that burden on working families, seniors and Coloradans on fixed incomes.
• Initiative 122 will push development into rural counties, causing urban sprawl to replace farmland and natural areas, worsening traffic congestion on Colorado roads.
• In metro Denver alone, it’s estimated that there’s already an affordable housing deficit of more than 32,000 units, and although Initiative 122 deceptively includes a slightly higher allowance for affordable housing, we believe it will make affordable housing much more challenging to build.

If you are asked to sign the Initiative 122 petition, we strongly encourage you to say “no thank you” and to share these concerns with other Coloradans who will be impacted if this proposal is passed.