Commerce City, CO Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Section 21-5226 of the Land Development Code regulates community gardens, and its accessory-structure standards in subsection 4 reach compost enclosures specifically. A community garden on one acre or less may have no more than one compost enclosure; a garden larger than one acre may have up to two. Every enclosure, no matter how many sections it is built from, must be set back at least 10 feet from all property lines and cannot exceed 6 feet in height, the same height cap the code applies to sheds, hoop houses and greenhouses under the same subsection.

The compost rule sits inside a broader set of requirements: subsection 1's general standards already require that all compost materials be kept in an enclosure that limits the negative impacts to adjacent properties, so an open compost pile without any enclosure is not allowed at all, regardless of setback or size. Community gardens are also barred from growing marijuana, keeping animals without a separate permit, and operating on any lot with an existing single-family home. Fencing around the garden, including any fencing tied to the compost area, is separately capped at 42 inches along the right-of-way under subsection 5, and electric or barbed wire fencing is prohibited outright.

Because the land use table lists community garden as a use allowed with a permit or by right depending on zone district, with LDC § 21-5226 as the additional-regulations citation, these compost standards apply everywhere a community garden is approved, not just in a single zone.