RTD-Denver OKs housing development policy

The Regional Transportation District-Denver last week approved a policy that would allow affordable housing to be developed on district-owned properties adjacent to transit stations across the Denver region.

RTD-Denver's board on Feb. 23 approved the new equitable transit-oriented development (TOD) policy, which will provide staff flexibility when developers propose projects.

“RTD has a lot of land at transit stations, including many park-n-rides, and what this policy allows us to do is provide the parking that’s needed but also encourages developers to house the people who will most benefit from living at transit stations and who will actually use transit,” Chessy Brady, RTD’s manager of transit-oriented development, said in a press release.

Using transit stations as a hub to spawn walkable communities reduces sprawl, improves safety around those stations and boosts livability of the urban environment, Brady said.