Yesterday afternoon a slightly amended version of SB 183 was approved on a 3 to 2 party line vote by the Senate Local Government Committee (“Committee”). The bill is being sent for consideration by the full Senate where we expect the bill to be passed on second and third readings and then proceed to the House for consideration.
Based upon questions and statements made by Senator Vicki Marble at the hearing yesterday, we do expect an amendment to be taken up on the floor of the Senate which will exempt HOAs from complying with some requirements of the bill if the municipality where the association was developed requires a landscaping scheme which is not consistent with the parameters of SB 183. Since that amendment has not yet been drafted, we cannot provide you with the exact language which will ultimately be considered by the full Senate.
Green Industries of Colorado (“GreenCo”),which is an alliance of eight trade associations representing all facets of horticulture and landscape industries in Colorado, testified in favor of the bill with the hope that their best practices would be integrated into the SB 183. While these best practices are certainly useful to HOAs when creating their design guidelines relating to xeriscaping, it was the consensus of the Committee that it is not appropriate to include them in the actual legislation. Unfortunately, it was a challenge to link the best practices of GreenCo to this blog entry. However, you can view these Best Management Practices by visiting the website for GreenCo.
As always, we will continue to keep you updated on SB 183 as it proceeds through the Senate and moves to the House for action.
Re-Posted From From Capitol Hill/Legislation
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