Against opposition, the town of Durango, Colorado has successfully found a way to permit accessory dwelling units and legalize those that already existed under the radar.
Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) can be "an instant source of affordable housing, if only they could be freed from extensive restrictions that cities and towns have in place that tightly limit who can live there," Anthony Flint writes.
In Colorado, the city of Durango overhauled its land use code from 2009 through 2013, making ADUs an acceptable form of housing. "The big problem, however, was what to do with existing ADUs," Flint says.
To tackle that, Durango launched a program of "ADU amnesty" requiring owners with (technically illegal) ADUs on their property to come forward, pay fees, and get registered. "Getting the transactional details on the record was basically a process of regularizing what was a robust informal economy."
Meanwhile, persistent local opposition emerged to the legalization of ADUs. Durango's planners "held firm," devising public education campaigns to placate resident concerns. "There may be no secret sauce for getting this done, but demonstrating the benefits—to owners, and to the community at large—is surely a centerpiece."
FULL STORY: How One Colorado City Instantly Created Affordable Housing
Appetite for ADUs Rises in San Jose
San Jose has issued a steadily-rising number of ADU permits in recent years. Now, Mayor Sam Liccardo has implemented measures to ease the process for homeowners who want to build granny flats.
Maine Looks To Legalize ‘Missing Middle Housing’
Maine could become the third state to eliminate single-family-only zoning to encourage light density increases in residential areas and make it easier for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units.
San Diego Residents Challenge the City's ADU Regulations
Residents in some of the city's single-family neighborhoods worry about the potential impacts of ADU construction on local character and parking.
Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.
Car Noise Is Killing Us
It’s not just traffic collisions that kill—a new study from researcher at Rutgers finds that the loud noises emanating from cars has direct impact on heart health in Americans.
Acceptable Deaths
What can we learn from our Covid response?
New White House Housing Initiative Includes Zoning Reform Incentives
The Biden administration this morning released a new program of actions intended to spur housing construction around the United States.
Fare-Free Transit Hasn’t Reduced Car Trips, Data Says
Fare-free transit isn’t the climate change benefit that many have hoped, according to recent writing by David Zipper for Bloomberg.
Redevelopment Threatens Iconic, Affordable Chicago Homes
The ‘workers’ cottages’ are being replaced with larger, more expensive homes, threatening one of the city’s original forms of affordable housing.
City of Malibu
EMC Planning Group Inc.
Jefferson Parish
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
City of Lakeway, Texas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.
