The City of Wheat Ridge has received an allocation of $2,080,116 for the purpose of issuing Private Activity Bonds (PABs) in 2025 under the state ceiling imposed by the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Staff recommends assigning the City’s allocation to Foothills Regional Housing (FRH) which has agreed to issue PABs for the Ridge affordable housing mixed-use project at approximately Ridge Road and Miller Street.

In 2022, Colorado voters approved Proposition 123, creating a statewide affordable housing fund. In October 2023, the city filed a commitment with the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) to increase the supply of affordable housing by 3% annually or 218 units within 3 years. To maintain eligibility in the second cycle (2027-2029) for Proposition 123 funding, local governments must establish an expedited review process for qualifying affordable housing projects. This memo provides updates on the city’s unit commitments and awarded grant funds during the first cycle, as well as progress toward meeting the expedited review requirement. Staff are seeking council direction on implementing an expedited review process for affordable housing developments to maintain eligibility for Proposition 123 and to secure grant funding of $50,000 from DOLA to assist with allowable planning activities under the Local Planning Capacity grant guidelines.

On May 30, 2024, Governor Polis signed Senate Bill (SB) 24-174, the Sustainable Affordable Housing Assistance Act, into law. The bill requires local governments to perform a Housing Needs Assessment (HNA) that complies with the state methodology and baseline components specified by DOLA by December 31, 2026. However, local governments are exempt from this requirement if they participate in a state-compliant Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). While the city already has an HNA as part of its Affordable Housing Strategy and Action Plan (AHS), this plan does not meet all the requirements of the state bill. To meet the state requirements, the city has two options: 1. Revise and update the AHS by 2026, or 2. Participate in DRCOG’s RHNA. The goals of the August 18 study session are to review the requirements of SB24-174, review DRCOG’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA), and seek Council direction on participating in DRCOG’s RHNA to comply with SB24-174.

The State of Colorado Legislature passed several bills in the 2024 session aimed at addressing affordability and increasing housing supply across the state. Since March 2025, City Council has taken action to comply with three of these bills: HB24-1007 (Residential Occupancy Limits), HB24-1304 (Minimum Parking Requirements), and HB24-1152 (Accessory Dwelling Units). The purpose of this memo is to provide a status update on the city’s progress toward compliance with state housing legislation, including an informational update on HB24-1313 (Housing in Transit-Oriented Communities), and preview future discussions related to the Housing Fund. No council direction or discussion is necessary on these topics at this time; this memo is for informational purposes only.

The City has entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with CDOT for the construction of a sidewalk on the west side of Wadsworth Boulevard between 32nd and 35th Avenues. A separate IGA is required between the Parties for long-term maintenance responsibilities of the improvements.

The City of Wheat Ridge will participate in a coordinated election on November 4, 2025. The attached Resolution and Intergovernmental Agreement must be executed and forwarded to Jefferson County by Tuesday, August 26, 2025. The documents refer to the respective duties of the County and the City of Wheat Ridge regarding the administration of their respective duties concerning the conduct of the Coordinated Election.

Chapter III of the City’s Charter establishes that there shall be an elected City Clerk (Sec. 3.7-3.8) and an elected City Treasurer (Sec. 3.9-3.10). Council is proposing a charter amendment to the Wheat Ridge electorate that eliminates the elected roles of Clerk and Treasurer at the November 4, 2025, municipal election.

The City has the opportunity to sell a property known as Town Center Park located at 4084 Wadsworth Boulevard. Town Center Park, a 0.7-acre parcel purchased in 1982, was closed in 2020 due to safety concerns when it became a magnet for unwelcome behavior and was no longer serving as its intended use as a gathering space for the shopping center. The sale of this parcel, combined with another 0.5-acre site acquired as part of the Wadsworth Improvement Project, has long been the City’s intention once the Wadsworth construction was nearing completion. Section 16.5 of the City Charter states that “Unanimous approval of the entire council, by ordinance, shall be necessary for sale or disposition of designated park land.”

Ten (10) bids were received in response to the city’s Invitation for Bids to complete the 2025 Residential Concrete Program project. The lowest responsive bidder is Majestic Concrete Contractors Inc. It is recommended that the city enter into a contract with Majestic Concrete Contractors Inc. to perform the work for the 2025 Residential Concrete Program.

There are currently no items scheduled for the August 4, 2025, Study Session agenda. Staff is requesting to cancel the meeting.

On April 7, 2025, staff provided the required 18-month update to Council regarding the Hotel Licensing program that was established October 25, 2021. Council requested an amendment to the Code so that the 18-month update is no longer required but rather provided as deemed necessary by the Council. Additionally, and subsequent to the April 7 discussion, staff realized that with the dissolution of the Severe Weather Shelter Network, the “Calls for Service (CFS)” definition must be updated to more accurately reflect when CFS are excluded from the count so that hotels that provide shelter during severe weather, can still benefit from the exclusion of these calls in their monthly calculations. The attached ordinance accomplishes both of these code amendments.

The applicant is requesting approval of a zone change from Agricultural-One (A-1) to Planned Residential Development (PRD) with an Outline Development Plan (ODP) for a 39-unit cohousing community with a common house and shared amenities located at 11571 and 11581 W. 44th Avenue.

In 2022, the City was awarded funding through the Denver Regional Council of Governments Transportation Improvement Program to construct a shared path along the west side of Wadsworth Boulevard between 32nd and 35th Avenues. In addition, improvements at the intersection of 32nd Avenue, including directional ramps, accessible pedestrian signals, and bicycle detection for the existing bike lanes on 32nd Avenue, are planned in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). An IGA with CDOT was approved by City Council on May 8, 2023 for this project. In the current IGA the City will manage the design and construction of the shared use path while CDOT will design the 32nd Avenue intersection improvements. The schedule for the design of the 32nd Avenue intersection improvements by CDOT has lagged and will not be possible to advertise for construction on the City’s desired timeline. The City needs to de-couple the shared use path project from the 32nd Avenue intersection improvements project. De-coupling the projects will allow the shared-use path project to be advertised for construction separately and prevent further delays.

During the 2022 budget process, City Council asked staff to prepare a Facilities Master Plan (FMP) to assess the current and future needs of City facilities. The City contracted with Stantec to develop a comprehensive FMP for all primary City functions, with the goal of developing a roadmap and living documents for facility decisions over the next decade. One recommendation from the FMP is to co-locate and expand the Public Works and Parks operations facilities at one site. The recommended direction is to acquire a parcel adjacent to the existing Public Works Shop space at 11220 W. 45th Avenue to make this expansion possible. Staff has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to purchase property located at 4593 Parfet Street for $1.1 million.

On April 7, 2025, staff provided the required 18-month update to Council regarding the Hotel Licensing program that was established October 25, 2021. Council requested an amendment to the Code so that the 18-month update is no longer required but rather provided as deemed necessary by the Council. Additionally, and subsequent to the April 7 discussion, staff realized that with the dissolution of the Severe Weather Shelter Network, the “Calls for Service (CFS)” definition must be updated to more accurately reflect when CFS are excluded from the count so that hotels that provide shelter during severe weather, can still benefit from the exclusion of these calls in their monthly calculations. The attached ordinance accomplishes both of these code amendments.

The Jeffco Homeless Navigation Collaborative would like to extend access to Colorado Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data to Family Tree by collectively entering into an interagency data sharing agreement.