Boulder City Council approves easing accessory dwelling unit rules
May 5—Boulder residents looking to add accessory dwelling units, often called ADUs, to their properties will have more options starting in September.
The Boulder City Council this week unanimously approved easing the rules for ADUs, including removing a saturation limit imposed in specific neighborhoods and increasing the maximum square footage. The council also approved staff suggestions to clarify and simplify the code, as well as to streamline the application process.
"This is a really great package," Council Member Lauren Folkerts said. "I fully support it."
The City Council in November identified updating the ADU regulations as one of its top work program priorities. The goal of easing the regulations is to encourage more diverse types of housing, including more affordable options, according to city officials.
The city first approved an ordinance for ADUs in 1983. ADUs include livable spaces such as "granny flats" and converted garages. The property owner also must occupy either the main residence or the ADU. In a previous update, the city changed the saturation limit from 10% to 20%.
Council Member Bob Yates proposed that the council wait to vote until after SB23-213 is either approved or not approved by the Legislature. The land use bill, which includes language around ADUs, was heavily amended as it made its way through committees.
But while the bill may end up requiring the city to make changes to its ADU rules, other council members said, they were comfortable voting now because the city will have up to two years to make any adjustments required by the state.
"Do we have an opportunity to unleash some ADUs while other things are percolating," Council Member Matt Benjamin asked during the discussion at Thursday's City Council meeting.
Boulder now has more than 450 approved ADUs. In neighborhoods where the saturation limit applies, there are 12 properties on the wait list to add an ADU, while staff members said owners of other properties that were turned down didn't join the waitlist.
Both the Housing Advisory Board and the Planning Board recommended approval of the changes. Lisa Houde, senior city planner, said written comments from residents were mixed, with about half in favor of relaxing the ADU rules and the other half sharing concerns. Concerns included rental housing issues, density, parking and lack of affordability.
At Thursday's meeting during the public hearing, several residents asked the city to exempt the neighborhoods near the University of Colorado Boulder from the changes, saying those areas already have more housing density, more rentals and more issues with parking, noise and trash.
Houde responded that staff members didn't find other cities with universities that imposed saturation limits. She said a city analysis also found no difference in the volume of code enforcement complaints between city neighborhoods with a saturation limit and those without one.
For size limits, according to city officials, the original intent for attached ADUs was to ensure the ADU was smaller than the main home. But the current requirement that the ADU be a third of the size of the main home made it challenging for people with homes smaller than 3,000 square feet, they said.
The new limit of half the size of the main structure or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less, keeps the ADU smaller while providing more flexibility. Homes larger than 2,000 square feet still would be limited to a 1,000 square foot attached ADU, staff said.
Other changes approved by the City Council include extending the time the property owner has to complete construction following approval and providing more flexibility on height limits of existing structures. The application process also now can be completed in one step instead of two.
