BRIGHTON, Colo. - As recent state legislation has required more communities to allow accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, some local governments are trying to make it easier for homeowners to built one on their property.
"You have space within an existing unit or on an existing lot that may be utilized for multi-generational housing, for transitional housing, and it's a lot easier to build on those lots, less impactful than traditional housing, and also more cost effective," said Michael Martinez, City Manager for the City of Brighton.
Brighton was one of seven Colorado communities to receive funding through the inaugural round of Colorado's Accessory Dwelling Unit Grant Program.
“We know that ADUs provide more housing options for smaller and lower-income households, and older adults who wish to age in place,” said Maria De Cambra, Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) Executive Director. “DOLA is proud to support local governments to diversify their housing stock, as ADUs are a great option to increase housing supply with minimal impacts on existing neighborhoods by using utilities and infrastructure that are already in place.”
Brighton will be using the $38,025 grant to pre-design ADUs for homeowners to chose from. The plan is to essentially skip most of the back and forth of a permitting process.
"If we have set designs where we've already approved them, we've cut that out. It also cuts out a lot of the cost as well. You're looking at potentially a savings of roughly $20,000 per ADU when you're considering the engineering cost and the architectural costs that might go into a traditional process," said Martinez.
Martinez told Denver7 they hope to come up with no more than five pre-approved options by the end of 2026. Homeowners would still have the option to design their own ADU if that's their preference.
"This is just one part of the ADU puzzle. By doing this, it allows us to move faster," he said.
Studio Shed in Louisville has seen first hand as homeowners across the country have slowly started wanting more and more access to ADUs. They first opened up back in the early 2000's.
"I think pre approved plans are great. I think anything that municipalities can do to help ease the construction of ADUs, we need to look at all of it," said Mike Koenig, co-founder of Studio Shed.
Koenig adds, he encourages communities to take a look at other red tape in the planning process as well.
"There's still a lot more that needs to happen at the building department to include the foundation, review, seismic, parking, transportation, all these things for an ADU," he said.
The next cycle for Colorado ADU grants opens up on February 2.
