Lone Tree Official Warns State Pressures Threaten Municipal Home Rule

When Lone Tree voters chose to become a home rule municipality in 1998, the promise was straightforward: community decisions would be made by the people closest to them, not by lawmakers in Denver. More than two decades later, city officials are warning that promise is eroding.

The City of Lone Tree posted a public explainer on its website outlining how the Colorado General Assembly has steadily expanded its reach into areas long governed at the local level, including zoning rules, occupancy limits, parking requirements, and housing development near transit corridors. A former Mayor Pro Tem of Lone Tree has been among the voices amplifying that concern, pressing the case that local governance works precisely because it is responsive to the specific character and needs of individual communities.

The immediate flashpoint is House Bill 1308, a state measure that would require municipalities to permit lot-splitting on residential parcels. The bill cleared the Colorado House on March 24 in a 39-26 vote and is now awaiting action in the Senate. Jeff Holwell, the city's Director of Economic Development and Public Affairs, testified before the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee that the bill violates the home rule authority of local governments, a right enshrined in the state constitution and upheld by the Colorado Supreme Court.

Holwell was not alone. The Colorado Municipal League, which represents 271 local municipalities across the state, raised concerns that HB 1308 blurs the constitutional line between matters of statewide and local concern. Rep. Max Brooks, R-Castle Rock, who served on Castle Rock's planning commission and remains a sitting councilman there, also argued during floor debate on March 23 that local planning bodies are better equipped to make these decisions than the legislature.

For Lone Tree, the stakes are concrete. The city's home rule charter, adopted by voters 28 years ago, gives it primary authority over matters of local concern and the flexibility to respond to community priorities without waiting on uniform state standards designed for cities of vastly different sizes, densities, and needs. The city's posted statement noted that recent state legislation, both enacted and proposed, has in some cases narrowed how cities can apply their own local regulations.

The lot-splitting bill is one piece of a broader pattern. State lawmakers have pointed to Colorado's housing shortage as justification for overriding local zoning, arguing that municipal restrictions on density have contributed to affordability problems across the Front Range. Lone Tree officials counter that stripping away home rule protections removes the very mechanism that allows cities to tailor solutions to their own circumstances.

With HB 1308 advancing to the Senate, the outcome will test how far the legislature is willing to push into territory cities like Lone Tree have long considered their own.