2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 29 - GOVERNMENT - LOCAL (§§ 29-1-101 — 29-37-210) › IMMIGRATION STATUS - COOPERATION WITH FEDERAL OFFICIALS (§§ 29-29-101 — 29-37-210) › Article 35 - State Land Use Criteria For Strategic Growth (§§ 29-35-101 — 29-35-105) › Part 1 - ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS (§§ 29-35-101 — 29-35-105) › Section 29-35-102 - Definitions

As used in this part 1, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)
"Accessible unit" means a housing unit that:
(a)
Satisfies the requirements of the federal "Fair Housing Act",
42 U.S.C. sec. 3601
et seq., as amended;
(b)
Incorporates universal design; or
(c)
Is either a type A dwelling unit, as defined in section 9-5-101 (10), or a type B dwelling unit, as defined in section 9-5-101 (12).
(2)
"Accessory dwelling unit" means an internal, attached, or detached dwelling unit that:
(a)
Provides complete independent living facilities for one or more individuals;
(b)
Is located on the same lot as a proposed or existing primary residence; and
(c)
Includes facilities for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.
(3)
"Accessory dwelling unit supportive jurisdiction" means a local government that the department has certified pursuant to section 29-35-104 as an accessory dwelling unit supportive jurisdiction.
(4)
"Accessory use" means a structure or the use of a structure on the same lot with, and of a nature customarily incidental and subordinate to, the principal structure or use of the structure.
(5)
(a)
"Administrative approval process" means a process in which:
(I)
a development proposal for a specified project is approved, approved with conditions, or denied by local government administrative staff based solely on its compliance with objective standards set forth in local laws; and
(II)
Does not require, and cannot be elevated to require, a public hearing, a recommendation, or a decision by an elected or appointed public body or a hearing officer.
(b)
Notwithstanding subsection (5)(a) of this section, an administrative approval process may require an appointed historic preservation commission to make a decision, or to make a recommendation to local government administrative staff, regarding a development application involving a property that the local government has designated as a historic property, provided that:
(I)
The state historic preservation office within history Colorado has designated the local government as a certified local government; and
(II)
The appointed historic preservation commission's decision or recommendation is based on standards either set forth in local law or established by the secretary of the interior of the United States.
(6)
"County" means a county, including a home rule county but excluding a city and county.
(7)
"Department" means the department of local affairs.
(8)
"Dwelling unit" means a single unit providing complete independent living facilities for one or more individuals, including permanent facilities for cooking, eating, living, sanitation, and sleeping.
(9)
"Exempt parcel" means a parcel that is:
(a)
Not served by a domestic water and sewage treatment system, as defined in section 24-65.1-104 (5), or is served by a well with a permit that cannot supply an additional dwelling unit;
(b)
a historic property that is not within a historic district; or
(c)
In a floodway or in a one hundred year floodplain, as identified by the federal emergency management agency.
(10)
"Historic district" means a district established by local law that meets the definition of "district" set forth in
36 CFR 60.3 (d)
.
(11)
"Historic property" means a property listed:
(a)
On the national register of historic places;
(b)
On the Colorado state register of historic properties; or
(c)
As a contributing structure or historic landmark by a certified local government, as defined in section 39-22-514.5 (2)(b).
(12)
"Local government" means a municipality, county, or tribal nation with jurisdiction in Colorado.
(13)
"Local law" means any code, law, ordinance, policy, regulation, or rule enacted by a local government that governs the development and use of land, including land use codes, zoning codes, and subdivision codes.
(14)
"low- and moderate-income household" means a household that is considered low-, moderate-, or medium-income, as determined by the federal department of housing and urban development.
(15)
"Metropolitan planning organization" means a metropolitan planning organization under the "Federal Transit Act of 1998",
49 U.S.C. sec. 5301
et seq., as amended.
(16)
"Municipality" means a home rule or statutory city or town, territorial charter city or town, or city and county.
(17)
"Objective standard" means a standard that:
(a)
Is a defined benchmark or criterion that allows for determinations of compliance to be consistently decided regardless of the decision maker; and
(b)
Does not require a subjective determination concerning a development proposal, including but not limited to whether the application for the development proposal is:
(I)
Consistent with master plans, or other development plans;
(II)
Compatible with the land use or development of the area surrounding the area described in the application; or
(III)
Consistent with public welfare, community character, or neighborhood character.
(18)
"Restrictive design or dimension standard" means a standard in a local law that:
(a)
Requires an architectural style, building material, or landscaping that is more restrictive for an accessory dwelling unit than for a single-unit detached dwelling in the same zoning district;
(b)
Does not allow for accessory dwelling unit sizes between five hundred and seven hundred fifty square feet;
(c)
Requires side setbacks for an accessory dwelling unit that are larger than the side setbacks required for a primary dwelling unit in the same zoning district;
(d)
Requires a rear setback for an accessory dwelling unit that is larger than the greater of:
(I)
The rear setback required for other accessory building types in the same zoning district; or
(II)
Five feet;
(e)
Is a more restrictive minimum lot size standard for an accessory dwelling unit than for a single-unit detached dwelling in the same zoning district; or
(f)
Applies more restrictive aesthetic design or dimensional standards to accessory dwelling units that are factory-built residential structures, as defined in section 24-32-3302 (10), than other accessory dwelling units.
(19)
(a)
"Short-term rental" means the rental of a lodging unit for less than thirty days. As used in this subsection (19), "lodging unit" means any property or portion of a property that is available for lodging; except that the term excludes a hotel or motel unit.
(b)
Notwithstanding subsection (19)(a) of this section, a local government may apply its own definition of "short-term rental" for purposes of this part 1.
(20)
"single-unit detached dwelling" means a detached building with a single dwelling unit on a single lot.
(21)
"Subject jurisdiction" means either:
(a)
a municipality that both has a population of one thousand or more, as reported by the state demography office, and is within a metropolitan planning organization; or
(b)
The portion of a county that is both within a census designated place with a population of forty thousand or more, as reported in the most recent decennial census, and within a metropolitan planning organization.
(22)
"Tandem parking space" means a parking space that is located either in front of or behind one or more other parking spaces that share the same point of access.
(23)
"Universal design" means any dwelling unit designed and constructed to be safe and accessible for any individual regardless of age or abilities.
(24)
"Visitable unit" means a dwelling unit that a person with a disability can enter, move around the primary entrance floor of, and use the bathroom in.
Added by 2024 Ch. 167,§ 1, eff. 5/13/2024.