Residents voiced their approval of many proposed zoning changes at the Lakewood City Council meeting Monday but they expressed concerns about parking.

The council reviewed portions of a 400-page planning document involving residential, commercial and mixed-use site design standards, parking and historic preservation with Planning Director Travis Parker, and heard from residents on the potential changes.

The proposed zoning changes have been a topic of discussion since the beginning of 2025, with the initial draft of the planning document hitting councilmembers’ desks in February.

The council initially planned on holding a public meeting regarding the whole document on Monday, but eventually opted to break the discussions up into four separate meetings.

More than 40 people spoke to the council on Monday, with the majority showing support for the changes, which look to increase affordable housing within the city by reconfiguring the use of single-family zoning, allowing for multi-family homes to be built in those areas.

While the reconstruction of zoning districts was the hottest topic among residents, that change is set for its own separate meeting on Sept. 22.

Parking was the topic of much of the public comment Monday.

The citry’s proposed zoning changes are intended to fall in line with new state requirements, like House Bill 24-1304, which prohibits cities from requiring minimum parking requirements for multifamily complexes built in the future in areas considered a “transit service area.”

If approved, minimum parking requirements would also not exist for affordable housing units, including visitor parking, according to the planning document.

The idea would be for developers to be able to produce residences cheaper due to no parking requirements. 

Required parking in residential areas for non-affordable housing will be based on square footage of the residence. For example, in a residential neighborhood, there will need to be three parking spaces per 1,000 square feet. 

The lack of parking minimums, along with the possibility of multi-family homes being built in formerly single-family areas, spurred residents to comment on crowded streets in neighborhoods.

“Please increase the residential parking minimum requirements, especially in neighborhoods which do not have sidewalks,” Karin Schantz wrote on the city’s website. “In many of the older neighborhoods, sidewalks do not exist and streets are narrow so pedestrians walk in the street.”

“This is removing the requirement, but it’s not prohibiting parking,” Parker said to the council. “We will still get parking, but it won’t be our code requiring it, it will be market forces and finances requiring the parking.”

All in all, the exemption of parking minimums in transit service areas and affordable housing units is part of the city’s plan to increase walkability and public transportation.

The Citgy Council called it the No. 3 priority in a December 2024 resolution regarding the upcoming zoning code changes, with No. 1 being affordability as a whole.

Resident Katie Colton supported the idea, saying the lack of requirements will “allow developers to build more units at lower development costs, increase land use efficiency, make smaller sites feasible for more walkable projects and encourage increased use of transit-service, walking and biking, which will benefit our environment and communities as a whole.”

The parking changes and concerns coincide with the proposed code changes to single-family residential areas as a whole.

The proposal creates new zoning districts, including low-form residential and mid-form residential. 

Low-form residential would include single-family homes and small-scale attached and detached housing to “support compact, walkable neighborhoods with a range of housing options,” according to the proposal.

Mid-form would include medium-density housing and multi-family buildings.

The proposal would also reduce minimum lot size rules to allow for more affordable homes to be built. 

Many of the public speakers approved of the idea, saying that Lakewood needs to create a home for everyone.

“A healthy community depends on having a wide variety of housing options. Today, Lakewood basically has two options, single-family homes or apartments. Rental units are hard to find,” Betty Boyd said, adding she wants more housing options for the “missing middle.”

She added that there needs to be smaller housing for first-time home buyers and older people looking to downsize.

David Person, a veteran, said, “Coming back from Vietnam, it was nice to have a home. Let’s make a few more places available for those vets who want to come home.”

Still, some concerns, such as parking and impact on property values, remain.

“I’m wondering if the City of Lakewood is going to maintain the property value when somebody comes next door to me and starts parking their cars all over the area and you can’t get in them,” Larry Huff said.

“(Affordability) does not happen magically because some elected official or group has claimed that density equals affordability or walkability equals affordability or living close to transit equals affordability,” Donna Hopkins said, adding that the only way to increase affordability is to increase income.

The City Council intends to vote on the planning document prior to the election on Nov. 4.