{"id":29454,"date":"2024-01-31T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-could-spend-18-million-and-use-a-controversial-legal-power-to-get-adus-built\/"},"modified":"2024-01-31T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T15:00:00","slug":"colorado-could-spend-18-million-and-use-a-controversial-legal-power-to-get-adus-built","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-could-spend-18-million-and-use-a-controversial-legal-power-to-get-adus-built\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado could spend $18 million \u2013 and use a controversial legal power \u2013 to get ADUs built"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ADUs
ADUs line the alleyway north of College Drive between East Third Avenue and East Second Avenue in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ADUs, also known as \u201cgranny flats,\u201d are small, free-standing residences built alongside an existing home on a property. They are already allowed in numerous Colorado cities, such as Denver, Golden, and Lakewood.<\/p>\n

The new state bill, HB24-1152, would force more cities to follow suit, and it would spend $18 million to support ADU construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should be able to have an aging parent live with them, or a disabled child, or should be able to monetize some extra space in order to maybe stay in their home,\u201d said Rep. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat who is co-sponsoring the measure.<\/p>\n

The idea already faces resistance from some municipal leaders, who don\u2019t want the state to override local development rules.<\/p>\n

The bill would mandate changes in some \u2013 but not all \u2013 cities in Colorado. Its requirements would apply only to certain cities that have more than 1,000 residents and fall within a metropolitan planning organization \u2013 which would include dozens of cities along the Front Range as well as around Grand Junction. The mandates also would apply to some census-designated places in those areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to have arbitrary regulations stop some of those from being built,\u201d said Sen. Kyle Mullica of Adams County, a Democratic sponsor for the measure. The measure is also co-sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tony Exum of Colorado Springs and Republican Rep. Ron Weinberg of Loveland.<\/p>\n

In the affected areas, the following rules would apply:<\/p>\n

ADUs would largely be allowed on all the same properties as single-family homes<\/div>\n
Cities can\u2019t require new parking to be built alongside ADUs<\/div>\n
Cities must allow ADUs to range from 500 square feet to 800 square feet<\/div>\n
ADUs would be approved as long as they meet objective standards \u2013 with no requirement for review by elected officials and public hearings<\/div>\n
ADUs could still be subject to rules in local historic districts<\/div>\n

Kevin Bommer, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League, said the state should not be forcing new development rules on cities.<\/p>\n

Instead, it should play its \u201cproper role of assisting local governments that wanted to take the significant time and investment to craft locally appropriate ordinances,\u201d Bommer said.<\/p>\n

CML is currently in opposition to the measure. The measure is likely to draw opposition from some residents of the affected cities. In Fort Collins, city leaders authorized the construction of ADUs across much of the city \u2013 but repealed the measure amid backlash. The prospect of \u201cgranny flats\u201d drew familiar concerns about both practical and intangible impacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany older areas without [homeowners\u2019 associations] are the primary target for ADUs. How will additional units impact already stressed sewer lines, water pressure issues, parking, and traffic congestion?\u201d one commentator wrote to the Coloradan.<\/p>\n

The proposal would also make millions available to help cities and homeowners get ADUs built through two new programs. One program would provide $10 million to help cities accommodate ADUs. Local governments could use that money to offer discounts on fees for ADU projects or to develop preapproved ADU plans, among other possibilities.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another $8 million would be spent to provide low-cost loans and down-payment assistance for people who want to build an ADU. That could help ease the steep cost of ADU construction, which can average $300,000.<\/p>\n

Sen. Tony Exum, another Democratic sponsor of the measure, argued that ADUs could be especially helpful for seniors, who could turn the rentals into a new revenue stream<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps build a community, and we just need more options,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear just how big of a role ADUs could play in easing the housing shortage. In Denver, fewer than 400 of the units have been permitted and built since 2016, according to BusinessDen \u2013 in a city of more than 700,000 people.<\/p>\n

A similar measure was proposed last year as part of a sprawling housing proposal, but that measure failed among Democratic discord and objections from local governments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

line the alleyway north of College Drive between East Third Avenue and East Second Avenue in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)du1-i-syn ADUs, also known as \u201cgranny flats,\u201d are small, free-standing residences built alongside an existing home on a property. They are already allowed in numerous Colorado cities, such as Denver, Golden, and Lakewood. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,28,453],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-29454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-headlines","tag-housing-and-urban-planning"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29454"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=29454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}