Colorado House Democrats plan to offer amendments to Gov. Jared Polis’ sweeping housing proposal to restore at least part of what was stripped out by the state Senate.

The sponsors of Senate Bill 213 — Democratic Reps. Iman Jodeh of Aurora and Steven Woodrow of Denver — have a series of amendments in eight areas. Those include an effort to put back into the bill one of the provisions that proved most controversial among Senate Democrats: statewide control of zoning.

That control is currently under the purview of local governments, particularly those with home rule authority granted under the state constitution and affirmed by 50 years of state Supreme Court decisions.

The amendments were first reported by Colorado Public Radio.

The state Senate, under pressure from urban Democrats, took out the zoning provision last week after weeks of contentious hearings and debates. 

Should those House amendments be adopted, it will produce dueling versions of the bill that will have to be resolved in the session’s closing days.

It also will likely put representatives of local governments, the bill’s most ardent opponents, back to square one in their efforts to find a compromise.

The Senate put another 17 amendments on the bill when it was in front of the full chamber on April 26. Some of those amendments had been sought by opponents such as the Colorado Municipal League, which represents hundreds of small and large cities and towns across the state.

Kevin Bommer, CML’s executive director, also sought an agreement from the governor’s office and House Democrats that the bill that came out of the Senate would remain largely unchanged in order for CML to change its opposition to support. But those Senate amendments raised new concerns about additional mandates added to the bill. 

The original bill drew opposition from dozens of cities and towns across the state, as well as from the mayors of Denver, Aurora and Colorado Springs. 

The decision to restore some of the bill’s most controversial aspects also pits moderate Senate Democrats against the progressive wing of the House Democratic caucus. It’s unusual for a bill that had been so thoroughly rewritten by one chamber to get its original concepts back in.

Another provision set to be proposed in the amendments will deal with accessory dwelling units, known as ADUs. Under the bill as introduced, the Department of Local Affairs was charged with coming up with an ADU model code, which would then allow ADUs as a “use by right” in any jurisdiction that also allows single-unit detached housing. A “use by right” in zoning grants property owners the right to construct such dwellings without approval from a local government. That provision was removed by the Senate, but House sponsor will seek to add it back.

Under that amendment, property owners could build ADUs within Tier 1 and Tier 2 urban municipalities, which would include most of the cities along the Front Range.

Another amendment would restore the language around transit-oriented communities.

Under the original bill, those communities were also to be under a model code that would impose minimum residential density limits for multifamily residential housing and mixed-income multifamily residential housing in Tier 1 and Tier 2 municipalities.

The bill as amended by the Senate defined those areas as being within one-half mile of an existing fixed-rail transit station. But the original bill’s sweeping requirements also disappeared. 

The amendments don’t indicate whether DOLA’s role, which was set to drastically shift into an enforcer of model state-developed zoning codes, would also be put back into the measure.

Senate Bill 213 will be heard by the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee when the House adjourns after its morning floor work on Tuesday.