Housing Colorado gave a demonstration of the Colorado Zoning Atlas to the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 25, showing a new online mapping and search tool for municipal and county zoning across Colorado. The presentation explained the Atlas compiles zoning text and classifications to make zoning more transparent and accessible to residents, advocates and developers.

The Atlas “was released earlier this year in May” and, as presented, analyzed more than 33,000 local zoning codes across Colorado, Housing Colorado staff said. Cassie Caldwell, community outreach coordinator for Housing Colorado, said the Atlas is 100% complete for the state and that 82% of Colorado jurisdictions have zoning; the remaining 18% were described as unzoned. Caldwell said Atlas snapshots can show zone text, permitted housing types, lot sizes, accessory dwelling unit rules and common parking mandates for a given area.

County staff said they are reviewing the Atlas entries for Larimer County before linking the tool on the county website. “We do not have a link to the Zoning Atlas on the county website yet. We want to make sure that we’ve fully vetted the information that’s shown for Larimer County and that it’s an accurate representation of our County,” Community Development Director Rebecca Everett said. Caldwell said she and county staff have exchanged corrections and that Housing Colorado hopes to move toward automated updates by next summer; currently updates are maintained by outreach and manual submission of corrections.

Commissioners and staff discussed likely users and outreach. Caldwell said outreach this summer contacted more than 200 stakeholders, including nonprofits and government entities, and that Housing Colorado is also collecting user feedback via a survey. Chair Stevens and commissioners said the Atlas could help community members check whether accessory dwelling units, multifamily or other housing types are allowed in particular zones and could encourage local code review.

Caldwell said the Atlas is intended as a point-in-time reference and that updated zoning is not automatic: officials must provide corrections to keep the Atlas current. She said Housing Colorado’s current outreach cadence is roughly every two weeks to a month, and she offered to send her contact information and the slide materials to county staff after the meeting.

County staff said they will coordinate with Housing Colorado and consider where to place a public link once Larimer County’s entries are vetted.