Accessory Structures in Colorado (2026)

Colorado House Bill 24-1152 requires Tier 1 municipalities to permit at least one accessory dwelling unit on lots zoned…

Unincorporated Adams County permits one ADU per single-family home in any zone district. Minimum 500 sq ft; detached…

Arapahoe County reviews ADU compliance at the building permit stage, and requires a recorded deed restriction before it…

Arvada allows one accessory dwelling unit with every single-family detached home in residential, OT and MX zoning…

Aurora allows one detached accessory dwelling unit per single-family lot, but only on alley-served lots over 6,000…

Boulder caps a detached accessory dwelling unit at 800 square feet, or 1,000 square feet if affordable, and an attached…

Unincorporated Boulder County allows accessory dwelling units by right in most residential districts under the Land Use…

Castle Rock allows accessory dwelling units, but no more than one ADU per lot. Before a building permit issues, the…

Centennial allows one accessory dwelling unit per single-family lot, capped at 50% of the principal home's footprint…

Denver allows one accessory dwelling unit per primary house, duplex, or multi-unit building in every zone district, but…

Unincorporated Douglas County allows one accessory dwelling unit (ADU) per lot in the A-1 Agricultural district. A…

El Paso County allows a mother-in-law apartment up to the size of the primary home, capped at 1,500 square feet, but…

Fort Collins caps every lot at one accessory dwelling unit under City Code § 5-30's adoption of 2024 IRC Appendix BC…

Greeley allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot with a detached house or duplex, capped at 60 percent of the…

Jeffco permits one accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on a single-family detached lot in every agricultural and residential…

Lakewood limits accessory dwelling units to one per lot in R zone districts, capping detached ADU height at 30 feet and…

Unincorporated Larimer County allows one Accessory Living Area per lot as a use by right. Since June 30, 2025…

Littleton allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot in districts where ADUs are approved on the Land Use Matrix, but…

Longmont allows one accessory dwelling unit per single-family lot, sized between 500 and 800 square feet, with its own…

Loveland's Unified Development Code permits one accessory dwelling unit per single-family detached lot in Larimer…

Manitou Springs allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot as a by-right use with a principal single-family home…

Mesa County caps accessory dwelling units at 900 square feet on lots under half an acre, 1,200 square feet on lots…

Pueblo allows one accessory dwelling unit by right on any lot zoned for a one-family residence, including qualifying…

In unincorporated Weld County, one accessory dwelling unit is allowed per legal lot where Article III permits it. The…

Westminster permits one accessory dwelling unit per single-family lot, sized 190 to 1,200 square feet with no more than…

Colorado Springs allows one accessory dwelling unit (ADU), plus up to two detached ADUs per lot, wherever single-family…

Fort Collins charges capital expansion impact fees on accessory dwelling units before a building permit issues, billed…

Every accessory dwelling unit in Littleton must pay the city's land development impact fee and sewer tap fee before a…

Loveland exempts accessory dwelling units of 900 square feet or less from the city's capital expansion fees, the…

Weld County's Impact Fee Ordinance charges road, drainage and county-facilities impact fees on new development in the…

Colorado Springs charges ADU applicants a fee set by City Council rather than a fixed amount in the Code itself, but…

Greeley waives the separate water tap and sanitary sewer connection required of new dwellings when an accessory…

Accessory dwelling units built to the standards of Boulder Revised Code section 9-6-3 are exempt from the city's…

An owner of record must live in either the principal dwelling or the ADU on any Arapahoe County parcel with an…

Lakewood will only issue an accessory dwelling unit permit to the property's owner-occupant or their designee, and…

If the owner doesn't live in either the principal home or the accessory dwelling on a Mesa County parcel, Section…

Arvada requires the property owner to live in either the principal home or the accessory dwelling unit under Land…

Aurora's Unified Development Ordinance requires the property owner to live in either the primary house or the detached…

Before the City will accept an application to build or convert an Accessory Dwelling Unit, UDC Subsection 7.3.304E…

Denver requires at least one owner of the primary home to live there as a primary residence when applying for an…

Pueblo requires lot owners to prove they occupy the property before building or converting an accessory dwelling unit…

Colorado Springs bars any property with an Accessory Dwelling Unit from also operating as a short-term rental. Under…

A guest house on an unincorporated El Paso County lot can only house occasional, non-paying guests: leasing or renting…

Longmont bars accessory dwelling units from being used as short-term rentals outright, under Longmont Municipal Code…

An accessory dwelling unit in unincorporated Arapahoe County cannot be used as a short-term rental unless the…

Boulder requires a rental license before anyone occupies an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or the paired principal…

Fort Collins allows only one extra kitchen inside a single-family dwelling, and only through a minor amendment approval…

Littleton allows a short-term primary rental in an attached accessory dwelling unit or the main house, but never in a…

A Mesa County accessory dwelling parcel cannot be rented at all during any stretch when its required local…

Aurora's UDO allows a backyard accessory dwelling unit to be rented short-term only if the property owner lives in the…

Denver requires an accessory dwelling unit to stay under the same ownership as the main house, and the owner must live…

A carport is an accessory structure in unincorporated Adams County and must meet the same setback and 35-foot height…

In unincorporated Arapahoe County, any accessory building over 120 square feet or taller than 10 feet must meet the…

Arvada splits backyard structures into two size classes. Small sheds, playhouses and gazebos under 200 square feet and…

Aurora requires a detached carport that needs a building permit to sit in the rear or side yard, meet zone setbacks…

In Boulder's RR, RE, RL, and RMX-1 residential zones, sheds and other accessory buildings sitting in the rear yard…

In unincorporated Boulder County a one-story detached storage shed 120 square feet or smaller (200 sq ft for an…

Centennial lets sheds up to 120 square feet and 10 feet tall sit anywhere in a side or rear yard, but sheds within two…

Front-yard carports are allowed in Colorado Springs only with a Front Yard Carport Permit: City Code § 7.3.304C caps…

Denver requires 21 feet of vehicle maneuvering clearance in front of carport openings, or a 5-foot setback when the…

In unincorporated Douglas County, an accessory building such as a shed is capped at 20 feet tall under Zoning…

El Paso County caps carports built in front or side yard setbacks at 500 square feet and 12 feet tall, requires them…

Fort Collins exempts small storage sheds from a building permit only if the shed is one story, 120 square feet or less…

A shed or other accessory structure in Fountain must sit at least 12 feet off the rear lot line, match the principal…

Greeley treats a shed as a 'minor structure': 120 square feet max, 12 feet max height, and no side or rear setback…

Carports and garages are accessory structures in Jeffco. Combined accessory square footage (garages, sheds, ADUs…

In Lakewood, Colorado, a detached carport counts as an accessory structure: it must sit behind the front edge of the…

In unincorporated Larimer County, a one-story storage shed under 200 sq ft with no utilities needs no building permit…

Littleton requires a building permit for any accessory building, including a storage shed, that is 120 square feet or…

Longmont exempts small detached accessory structures, tool sheds, storage sheds, playhouses and similar buildings, from…

Loveland caps a residential detached garage, carport or storage shed at the greater of 10% of the lot area or 500…

Manitou Springs caps the combined floor area of accessory structures like sheds at no more than the primary house's own…

Mesa County caps accessory buildings like sheds and detached garages at two stories or 25 feet, and one small accessory…

Pueblo caps detached accessory buildings like sheds at 15% of the lot or 1,500 square feet, whichever is less, and lets…

In the unincorporated Agricultural zone that covers most of Weld County, accessory structures such as sheds must meet a…

Westminster homeowners can skip a building permit for a detached tool shed, playhouse, gazebo, or pergola only if its…

Converting a garage into living space, or into an accessory dwelling, requires a building permit and must comply with…

Douglas County has no garage-conversion-specific ordinance, but converting a garage to habitable or separate living…

Jeffco lets you convert an existing qualifying dwelling area into an ADU. Basements may be converted to an ADU…

In unincorporated Weld County, converting a garage into living space creates an accessory dwelling unit. An ADU may be…

Colorado Springs expressly allows an existing detached garage to be converted into an accessory dwelling unit; the…

Colorado defines a tiny home as a chassis-mounted dwelling of 400 square feet or less built for long-term residency…

Aurora, Colorado treats tiny houses as manufactured housing under its Unified Development Ordinance, restricting them…

Denver's zoning code treats a tiny home built to the state's chassis-based definition as a type of Manufactured Home…

Loveland classifies a tiny home pulled on a chassis as a recreational vehicle, not a dwelling. Under Municipal Code §…

A single manufactured or tiny dwelling may serve as a single-family home on an individual lot in any residential zone…

Boulder allows site-built tiny houses as single dwelling units under Appendix BB of its Residential Building Code, BRC…

Boulder County has no separate tiny-home category. A permanent tiny house on a foundation is regulated as a dwelling or…

Colorado Springs does not let a freestanding tiny home sit on an ordinary residential lot as an accessory structure…

Douglas County has no tiny-home-specific ordinance. A tiny house on a permanent foundation must meet the 2021 building…

El Paso County limits unincorporated lots to one tiny house as a principal use, two in the A-35 Agricultural district…

Fort Collins has formally adopted Appendix BB Tiny Houses of the International Residential Code in full, giving tiny…

Jeffco allows shipping containers or conex boxes as the building blocks of a home if they meet zone-district setbacks…

By Colorado law a tiny house is 400 sq ft or less (excluding lofts). In unincorporated Larimer County, a tiny house on…

Littleton's Unified Land Use Code treats a tiny home community as its own residential use type, defined as…

Mesa County's Land Development Code lets tiny homes serve as short-term "Experiential Lodging" on working farms…

In the unincorporated Agricultural zone, Weld County allows one single-family dwelling per legal lot. A site-built tiny…