Dive Brief:
- Although 92% of residential land in Colorado allows for single-family dwellings, a majority of residential land — 59% — prohibits any other type of housing, according to a recent study by the National Zoning Atlas.
- A mere 3% of residential land in the state permits housing with more than four units, and one in five jurisdictions with zoning codes prohibit housing with four or more units entirely, resulting in fewer options for affordable housing.
- Other zoning restrictions contribute to the dearth of affordable housing options in the state, including minimum lot size mandates, as more than 93% of land zoned for single-family housing requires lot sizes of at least one acre. Parking mandates also exist on 85% of residential land, reducing the amount of land on a parcel that could be devoted to housing and driving up costs, according to the study.
Dive Insight:
Colorado, like much of the country, is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis. An American Community Survey cited by NZA found the state had the fifth highest home prices and third highest rent prices in the nation in 2023.
More than 420,000 renting households in the state are considered cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing.
A key contributor to the rising costs of housing, according to NZA, is zoning, which is dictated by cities, towns and counties in the state.
“Where the regulations are too onerous, they can be barriers to housing choice and affordability,” the study stated. Among Colorado jurisdictions, 82% have adopted zoning ordinances, covering 99% of the state’s population, according to NZA.
Colorado made headlines earlier this year when several cities pushed back on Gov. Jared Polis’s attempt at zoning reform in the state. Among Polis’s reforms are permitting more accessory dwelling units — sometimes called ADUs or “granny flats” — in the state. NZA’s analysis found 37% of residential land zoned for single-family housing prohibits ADUs and 17% of residential land makes them difficult to build.
NZA concludes its report with eight reform recommendations to increase housing affordability in Colorado:
- Legalize small lots.
- Loosen restrictions on multifamily housing.
- Simplify the permitting processes for multifamily housing.
- Expand ADU protections statewide.
- Further lift ADU occupancy rules.
- Lift all minimum parking mandates for residential uses.
- Require zoning codes to be electronically available.
- Require jurisdictions to file zoning code amendments in a central repository.
“Without change, new housing development will be the expensive kind,” according to NZA.
