Terry Stokka has lived in Black Forest for 29 years. He is president of the Friends of Black Forest, chairman of the Black Forest Land Use Committee and chairman of the Black Forest Water & Wells Committee.
Disclaimer: This column does not necessarily represent the views of The New Falcon Herald.
What are accessory dwelling units?
By Terry Stokka
In 2024, the Colorado Assembly and Gov. Jared Polis enacted legislation that allowed all cities over 1,000 in population to permit accessory dwelling units (ADU) on single-family lots. This is definitely an overreach of government on the zoning codes of individual cities. The intention was to help the housing crisis in our state by allowing property owners to build new or used existing structures for housing. In effect, it turned single-family lots into multi-family lots.
The details were left up to the cities, and Colorado Springs is currently wrestling with those details. The City Council has approved the first vote on ADUs that will limit them to 1,250 square-feet (or half the footprint of the main home), a maximum of 16-feet high (no two-story ADUs) and one off-street parking space. There is no restriction for short-term rental or leases. The owner does not need to live on the property.
Cities are finding that short-term rentals with no owner present can become party houses that negatively affect neighborhoods. Imagine a 30×40 foot house in the back yard? The increasing prevalence of single adults living with their parents also makes an ADU an attractive idea. Many of the lots in Colorado Springs are too small to build an ADU in the backyard but some of the older lots such as the Old North End (Nevada and Cascade area) are larger. Old North End residents have significant objections to the ADU rule because their larger lots are more lucrative for ADUs and they feel it would damage the character of the Old North End.
In some cities, zoning has been changed from single-family to multi-family zoning and the results have been dramatic. A developer can demolish the existing home and build a fourplex apartment under that zoning and now you have a fourfold increase in people, cars, noise and other consequences.
At present, El Paso County has an ADU rule in the land development code that permits a property owner to build an ADU only for family members or guests. The ADU can be no larger than 1,500 square-feet and the owner must sign an affidavit that the ADU will only be used for family members and guests, and no rent will ever be charged for its use. To my knowledge, there is no follow-up on the part of the county to see if this affidavit is being followed or when the property is sold if a new affidavit must be signed.
The statewide legislation of 2024 did not affect unincorporated El Paso County because our population was below the threshold in the law, but after the 2030 census, we will pass that threshold and be mandated to allow ADUs that can be rented out or leased to people who are not family members or guests. Even with the larger lots in the county, it is not likely that there will be a rush to build ADUs because of the cost of building and the monthly mortgage payments. A few people might have a shed or detached garage that could be converted into an ADU at a much smaller cost. Those who would do it are doubling the density as well as doubling water use and traffic.
What is the significance of all of this? Personally, I conclude that as our society becomes more self-centered and inconsiderate, we will see a breakdown of neighborhoods and isolation from next door neighbors. If a person doesn’t care what his neighbors think, he will be more likely to do something or build something even if the neighbors object or it causes a neat, orderly neighborhood to go downhill and deteriorate. That isn’t a good direction for our society. Let’s not let it happen.
