Some members of Colorado community push back on zoning overhaul

One Colorado community is moving forward with a sweeping overhaul of its zoning rules, a plan city leaders say is aimed at expanding housing options, including duplexes, townhomes and accessory dwelling units.

But not everyone is on board. Regina Hopkins, a lifelong Lakewood resident, is among a growing group of residents speaking out against the changes.

"My concerns are that this will completely change the neighborhood character," Hopkins said. "People who have spent their whole life savings buying a home in a single-family neighborhood, those protections are gone."

The Lakewood City Council says the zoning changes are, in part, required under new state laws that mandate cities to allow ADUs, eliminate parking minimums for new developments near transit, and remove limits on how many unrelated people can live in a single home.

In a statement, Lakewood Mayor Wendi Strom defended the city's approach, arguing the changes would help maintain community character, not erode it.

"These zoning changes also protect Lakewood neighborhoods from potential impacts from new state laws by ensuring housing built in the coming years is consistent in scale to the surrounding homes rather than becoming mega-sized homes with dozens of people living in them, which state law would allow," said Strom.

The statement goes on to say that the proposed changes would not be entirely new for Lakewood.

"It's important to understand that the city's current zone districts for neighborhoods with single-family homes already allow accessory dwelling units, duplexes and more," Strom said. "Several neighborhoods already have them."

As council members vote on the new zoning rules piece by piece, Hopkins and other opponents have formed a group called "Lakewood Stronger Together." They are now working to gather thousands of signatures and would like the issue to go to a vote. 

"I think there's a large silent majority that is not being represented here," Hopkins said. "I would love the opportunity to have a vote on this, to put it to the people and let them decide."

The group is holding a community meeting on Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Lakewood library from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.