ADU Benefits List

1. Provides supplemental income - justifying reinvestment, and higher property values

2. Gives homeowners more options – family use, home office, aging/ill parent, workforce/affordable rental, caregiver housing, occasional guests, etc.

3. Creates community integrated “affordable” housing – at no cost to the city

4. ADU’s represent market driven, private sector financed and built affordable units

5. Gives the current homeowner the potential to profit without selling & moving

6. Creates an “activated alley” safer and more desirable than what we have now

7. In existing R-2 zones, it legalizes front-back “detached duplexes” where only attached housing is legal now. A new side by side attached duplex often changes neighborhood character. The old code’s bias against “detached homes” seems unreasonable

8. Offers a better financial return than investing in the stock market

9. Creates a more sustainable housing type than sprawling suburban greenfield developments

10. The increased value can help thwart scrapeoffs by redevelopers

11. In transit zones, increases transit ridership

12. Is a more natural, attractive alternative to a “mega duplex” in the R-2 zone

13. Justifies holding onto homes longer and "aging in place"

14. The added income makes mortgage affordable, which can turn renters into owners

15. Helps homeowners preserve and build future NET WORTH for retirement

16. Preserves neighborhood character by providing an alternative to scrapeoffs

17. Increases population density (inevitable, despite local scattered resistance)

18. Cuts parking load on streets because a new large, usable garage is built where none may have been before

19. Reduces commuting by providing housing closer to jobs, which reduces air pollution

20. Encourages social/economic diversity in a live-work-play environment

21. Encourages families with DPS (Denver Public School) children – to remain in area, which increases enrollment preventing school closures

22. Slows housing turnover – which increases stability

23. Daytime activity on premises and in alley can reduce crime

24. The construction/remodel phase creates employment within the neighborhood

25. Creates affordable housing (apartment rental) in upscale areas

26. Extends life of useful home ownership – contributing to stability, self esteem

28. Adds much needed space and updates to older, small homes, improving livability

29. Provides at-home office facilities

30. Makeover can include making home more senior friendly

31. Revitalizes the often neglected rear of property

32. Seniors who stay in their home benefit from a law that freezes their property tax

33. Puts retirement dollars in more secure investment (home based real estate)

34. Makes it easier for extended families to remain together

35. Creates an ideal location for a solar energy photovoltaic installation


REASONS AGAINST:

1. Higher density in R-1 only

2. Poor management could allow undesirable tenants