CENTENNIAL – Three-quarters of residents surveyed in the city of Centennial said they would like the city to consider allowing accessory dwelling units, better described as housing units that could be constructed in yards of existing homes.
The desire, according to the city’s deputy planning director, seems to be growing as the city’s population ages. He said his office receives two to three calls each week from people looking to build or buy a home in Centennial or people looking to move in with family already living there.
“They would like to move a family member, whether it be a grandparent, a parent or a son or daughter with some special needs into the environment but to give them a sense of a little bit of a separate space,” Derek Holcomb, deputy planning director said.
“I’m sure it has some to do with the market,” he said. “In Centennial, I’d say the calls that we’re getting seem to have to do with the aging demographic, the aging parents, and part of that could be that they can no longer afford to live on their own.”
The city started surveying residents about the concept in March, as part of Centennial Next, a program with a snazzy name meant to upgrade the city’s comprehensive plan for the next 20 years. Holcomb said more than 75 percent of people surveyed showed some desire for these accessory dwelling units.
Centennial Next would only make a suggestion to the City Council, prompting a discussion on the topic and the potential regulations that may come with it.
The survey found one of the concerns about the plan would be people using the additional housing as a short-term rental. Many residents wanted to see potential regulations that would ban something like that.
If the planning department submits the idea to the city council as part of its comprehensive plan, the Council wouldn’t likely discuss the issue until 2019, according to Holcomb.
Denver, Arvada, Lakewood and Golden already have similar ordinances.
