Denver’s entire East Colfax neighborhood will soon be rezoned to allow for accessory dwelling units, colloquially called “granny flats,” after the City Council unanimously approved the proposal Monday.

The rezone will allow homeowners in East Colfax to build ADUs on their properties without asking the council for permission. Currently, each rezoning request costs homeowners $1,000 in filing fees, city officials said.

The rezone will apply to 2,050 properties over 476 acres, with the vast majority being single-unit residential homes.

“This legislative rezoning allows East Colfax to access wealth building opportunities currently available in other parts of the city,” said Councilman Chris Herndon, co-sponsor of the proposal. “I’m excited about this important step as we continue working to mitigate involuntary displacement and increase the diversity of housing stock in Denver.”

An accessory dwelling unit is a small living area that shares a single-unit lot with a traditional home. This includes apartments in basements and above garages and small stand-alone structures in yards.

This rezoning effort has been over a year in the making, with public outreach on the proposal beginning in January.

A survey sent to East Colfax residents in February found that 76% of the 139 respondents supported allowing ADUs, 19% were opposed and 5% were undecided.

“We would build an ADU so that my elderly mother could age at home with us,” one anonymous survey response said. “The ability to have an ADU on our property (and for others in the neighborhood) feels especially important given the shortage of affordable housing options in the city.”

“I bought a house so I would not be in close proximity to people living within my space,” another anonymous survey response said. “I do not want multiple people, or multiple families, living next door to me and do not want the additional traffic, vehicles or noise in my neighborhood.”

Senior City Planner Andrew Webb said the city also received a warning from the infrastructure department about the neighborhood’s sewer capacity if many ADUs are added. Webb said the city will monitor the sewer systems and finance improvements if needed.

Despite concerns, council members have said they receive very few complaints about ADUs and most residents do not notice when they are added to neighborhoods. In addition, previous neighborhood-wide rezones haven’t resulted in an influx of ADUs.

The Chaffee Park neighborhood was rezoned to allow ADUs in November 2020 — the first neighborhood-wide rezoning in Denver’s history. To date, no new ADUs have been built and only three applications are under review, according to city officials.

“It doesn’t mean that just because you have the ability to build something, that you necessarily build it,” said Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval, who sponsored the Chaffee Park rezoning. “The need for this type of gentle density … is so necessary.”

Monday’s rezoning comes after the Sloan’s Lake neighborhood and part of West Colfax were rezoned to allow for ADUs in August. Current zoning regulations allow for one ADU per lot in about 25% of the city.