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150-word version


Carriage Houses Offer More Choice for Denver Homeowners

Present zoning code limits what homeowners can do with their property to accommodate elderly parents, companions or changing circumstances. They can add on, pop the top, or scrape and rebuild. But these are costly options.
A less-expensive choice is the Carriage House, a secondary dwelling that can be used as an office, guest house, studio, or apartment for a relative, companion or caregiver.
Denver’s Zoning Code Task Force has been working on a proposal to reintroduce the Carriage House to our community. These efforts are supported by a group of homeowners called Friends of Granny Flats, who believe that Carriage Houses, also known as Granny Flats or Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s), are a positive step for communities.
Friends of Granny encourages homeowners to learn about Carriage Houses by attending one of the Zoning Task Force’s community education meetings in May.
Dates, times and locations can be found at www.newcodedenver.org.
Friends of Granny can also answer direct questions at friendsofgrannyflats@gmail.com


300-word version

Carriage Houses Offer More Choice for Denver Homeowners

Present zoning code limits what homeowners can do to their property to accommodate elderly parents, companions or changing circumstances. They can add on, pop the top, or scrape and rebuild. But these are costly options.
A less-expensive choice is the Carriage House, a secondary dwelling that can be used as an office, guest house, studio, or apartment for a relative, companion or caregiver.
Imagine two 1890 Victorian homes side by side on the same street. The owners of both properties want to improve their homes. One homeowner decides to scrape the property and replace it with a duplex. That would result in two modern side-by-side homes on the same lot where the Victorian once stood. Neighbors worry that the character of their street would suffer.
The other homeowner chooses to build a Granny Flat above a detached garage in the back yard and rent the flat to a niece. Her rent will pay the relatively modest cost of building the structure and may also help finance improvements to the Victorian.
Neighbors praise the homeowner for preserving the character of the street. The only problem is that existing city code won’t allow this solution because a dwelling unit is not permitted in the back third of the property.
Denver’s Zoning Code Task Force wants to fix that problem with a proposal to reintroduce the Carriage House to our community. These efforts are supported by a group of homeowners called Friends of Granny Flats, who believe that Carriage Houses, also known as Granny Flats or Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s), are a positive step for communities.
Carriage Houses help preserve neighborhood character while allowing seniors more options than scraping their homes or moving out.
Next month, the Task Force will have a series of community meetings to explain their ideas on a whole range of zoning changes. Friends of Granny encourages homeowners to attend one of these community meetings.
Dates, times and locations can be found at www.newcodedenver.org.
Friends of Granny can also answer direct questions at friendsofgrannyflats@gmail.com