Commission revisits residential use terms, duplex and tiny‑home rules; state 'household' change noted

Woodland Park planners and commissioners spent the second half of a work session reviewing changes to residential categories in the land‑use table and the definitions that underpin those categories.

The Planning Director, Karen, said the current review revisits terms for condominiums, townhomes and multiple-dwelling types and that state law recently required replacing the old “family” occupancy definition with “household.” She told the commission the earlier effort to refine terms “didn’t help” and the team was proposing a holistic rewrite.

Why it matters: The use table and definitions determine which housing types are allowed where — and whether the city or staff reviews them. Changes affect developers, neighbors and how the city processes townhome plats, duplexes, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and manufactured-home developments.

Major points discussed - New structure and categories: Staff proposed standardized terms: “dwelling, single‑household detached,” “dwelling, duplex (single structure, two units),” “dwelling, single‑household…