Gov. Jared Polis is pitching it as an affordable-housing plan. Others are calling it a sweeping rewrite of the entire state’s land-use rules.

A prominent critic, meanwhile, labeled it “a breathtaking power grab”; another, writing Thursday in Colorado Politics, called it, “one of the most egregious assaults upon home rule” he has seen.

The proposal, rolled out amid fanfare last week at the Capitol by the governor and his allies, is in fact all of the above — though Polis’ take on it could turn out to be wishful thinking.

So, let’s just call it what it is: a profoundly bad idea.

The governor’s proposal, much of which would be implemented by the newly introduced Senate Bill 23-213, would trample local planning and zoning authority across the state. In its place, new state zoning rules would be enforced from the Capitol.

Those rules would call for more multi-family housing in single-family neighborhoods; clustering growth closer to transit and work — the sort of planning trends that are popular and perhaps warranted in some places and not in others. And, right now, it is up to local government and local citizens to decide. Just as it always has been and should be.

Say goodbye to such historic local control under the Polis plan.

To pass muster under the 105-page tome of legislation, municipalities either could adopt “flexible minimum standards” or accept a state-developed model.

No longer would City Hall have the final word on whether your neighbor is going to be another three-bedroom, two-bath home — or a halfway house for paroled felons; the ultimate authority for the new regime would be the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

Polis was flanked by a wide range of political and civic stakeholders backing the plan at last week’s news conference on the Capitol steps; he called them “an unprecedented coalition.”

Opposition, however, lined up almost immediately and responded furiously. At the forefront of the foes are Colorado’s municipal governments, whose historic zoning and planning authority will by steamrolled by the new statewide planning regime.

But it is the citizens of those cities and towns — from urban centers like Denver and Colorado Springs, to suburbs and mountain resorts — who have the most to lose in the big picture. Their ability to define their own quality of life would be gone. All would march to the same drummer under the Polis plan in communities as diverse as Boulder and Colorado Springs; Fort Collins and Pueblo; Vail and Aurora.

To cite only a few of the plan’s other pitfalls and gaping holes:

• It overturns covenants in HOA-governed communities — where people have moved precisely for those quality-of-life protections
• It is likely to set off spiraling litigation — by cities, asserting their constitutional right to local zoning authority; by builders whose previously approved master plans are upended by the new rules; by neighborhood groups whose property values could plummet.
• Because county governments would not be covered — at least, not yet — new development that doesn’t meet the state standards would cluster outside city limits.

Fundamentally, the proposal flouts a core tenet of democracy — that the government closest to the people serves them best.

It also is premised on a promise — more affordable housing — that is at best speculative and would take years, even decades, to bear fruit if at all.

We’d urge state lawmakers to just say no to the governor, but that’s unlikely for this Legislature. It may be up to the citizens themselves to stand up and be counted.