Bill to limit urban renewal gets initial Senate OK

Denver Post Wire Services
03/16/2010
http://www.denverpost.com/legislature/ci_14682062

Farmland would no longer be eligible for urban-renewal incentives under a bill that won first-round approval Monday in the state Senate.

House Bill 1107 would prohibit agricultural land from being declared "blighted" as part of an urban-renewal area.

Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, had bipartisan support for the bill, which proponents said was needed to curb abuses of the existing law.

"We need to make sure urban renewal is truly for urban" areas, Carroll said.

Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, agreed, saying: "Ag land doesn't need renewal. It might be appropriate for development, but it doesn't need renewal."

Only Sen. Joyce Foster, D-Denver, objected to the bill.

"I think there might be ag land within blighted communities," Foster said, saying the bill was overly broad.

The Senate gave the bill initial approval on a voice vote, and it needs another vote before it can go back to the House for consideration of Senate amendments.

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