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 attached” (townhomes), “dwelling, multi‑household” (apartment-style), and distinct entries for “dwelling, modular,” “dwelling, manufactured home,” and “park model/tiny house.” Karen said many definitions were pulled from the Colorado model code and the International Residential Code.

- Duplexes and multifamily zones: Commissioners raised concerns about a proposed change that would make duplexes a permitted use (P) in multifamily zones in some remnants of the draft. One commissioner objected to changing longstanding policy: “That’s insanity,” he said, pointing out that duplexes are currently a conditional use in multifamily districts while they are permitted in certain commercial districts. The commission directed staff to revert duplexes to conditional use (C) in multifamily zones and to keep the current permitted status in commercial zones.

- Accessory dwelling units and platting: The draft retains ADU standards but staff clarified that whether townhome plats and condominium plats require public hearings depends on where the land is in the subdivision/platting process. If the land has already been platted, a conditional use permit for a multi‑unit project could be followed by an administrative final plat for the townhome units; if not, concurrent review and public notice during subdivision stages may be appropriate.

- Manufactured, modular, tiny and park models: Staff proposed explicit definitions distinguishing modular (built to IRC and installed on permanent foundations), HUD-code manufactured homes (including park model and tiny-home variants when they meet code), and travel trailers/RVs. Commissioners asked for clearer cross-references so tiny homes and park models are only permitted in mobile/manufactured-home park zones (the draft used the term mobile home park / MHP). Staff agreed to review whether the zone label or the list of permitted locations should be renamed (for example, “manufactured home community”) and to tighten mutual exclusivity so a single dwelling type cannot qualify for two incompatible categories.

- Definitions housekeeping: The commission asked that common technical terms used across sections — such as sight triangle (used currently in the sign code) — be moved to a central definitions chapter so they’re easy to find. They also asked for consistent phrasing across dwelling definitions so “sleeping, cooking, sanitation and a primary heat source” read the same in each definition.

Quotes - "I feel really, really horrible that I'm asking you to retread," Karen said of revisiting residential definitions, noting prior work had not resolved problems. - On duplexes in multifamily zones, a commissioner said the current draft change "creates an issue" and asked that duplexes remain a conditional use in multifamily districts.

Ending Staff will amend the draft to restore conditional‑use treatment for duplexes where the commission requested, move cross‑cutting technical definitions into a central definitions chapter, and supply clearer cross‑references for manufactured/modular/tiny‑home categories. The revised draft will be returned for further review before legal review and public hearings.