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Denver has a housing problem – there are not enough affordable homes to meet the demand. In many parts of the city, prices are beyond the reach of young people starting out and working families trying to live close to jobs. It’s a complex problem, and there are many tools being used to address it, obviously with mixed success.
One tool that’s being studied right now is citywide rezoning to allow an additional household on residential parcels – Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs. They are often called alley houses, granny flats and carriage houses.
The ADUs in Denver project has city planners working with community members to evaluate how the Denver Zoning Code regulates ADUs. It will consider how ADUs are designed, how they fit in with different types of neighborhoods and how updates to the zoning code may reduce barriers to creating ADUs.
Currently, ADUs are not allowed in most suburban zone districts, including nearly all of Council District 2. The principal reason is that there is only one public alley in our entire district, while the zoning code’s allowable ADU building forms and spacing standards most often assume there is access from an alley.
Our approved 2019 land use plan, Blueprint Denver, called on the city to conduct a public process to draw up specific standards and design criteria that would apply in different neighborhood types before we create ADU zoning citywide. That process started a month ago.
With many curving streets, cul-de-sacs and some shallow backyards, the designs for suburban-context zones must take privacy concerns, parking demands, transportation and infrastructure deficiencies into consideration. Our built environment is substantially different than the urban parts of Denver like Capitol Hill, Sloan Lake or Park Hill. Denver’s diverse neighborhoods require specific design standards that complement, not disrupt, the sense of community that they all have.
Until these standards are in place within the next year, I oppose spot rezonings that would be seen as City Council predetermining, even dictating, the outcome. The city needs to hear from you what it is you want, not tell you what the city wants.
My colleagues agree with me. In February, City Council unanimously defeated a zoning change request in District 4, southeast Denver, for an ADU in a suburban zone district. This sets precedent for declining these zoning change requests until the planning process is complete and the zoning code has been updated based on public input.
I have appointed Donna Repp, a former Registered Neighborhood Organization president with a planning background from the Mar Lee-Brentwood-Sharon Park area, to represent District 2 on the advisory committee to the ADUs in Denver Project. As a member of this group, Donna is seeking input from District 2 residents on their opinions about ADUs in their neighborhoods. Please take this short survey and let us know your thoughts.
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