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Arapahoe council approves downtown zoning changes restricting main-floor housing, tightening accessory-dwelling rules
Summary
The Arapahoe City Council passed Ordinance 2025-01 on Dec. 16, 2025, which restricts certain residential uses in the D—Downtown zoning district, reclassifies accessory dwelling units and accessory apartments as conditional uses, and allows accessory units only above commercial ground floors.
The Arapahoe City Council passed Ordinance 2025-01 on Dec. 16, 2025, amending the city's zoning rules for the D ' Downtown district to change which residential building types are permitted and to add new conditions for accessory dwelling units.
Councilmembers moved to suspend the three readings and adopt the ordinance. The ordinance reclassifies single-family detached and attached dwellings, duplexes, zero-lot-line or row houses, and townhouses from "Permitted" to "Not Permitted" in the D ' Downtown district, and reclassifies accessory dwelling units and accessory apartments from "Permitted" to "Conditional Use Permit Required." It adds a new condition that accessory dwelling units and accessory apartments are only permitted when located on a building's second floor where the ground floor is used exclusively for commercial purposes; no accessory unit is allowed on the main floor or in a structure whose primary use is residential.
The ordinance text states that all conflicting ordinances are repealed, that invalid portions do not affect the remainder, and that the ordinance will take effect after passage, approval, and publication as required by law. The council recorded a roll-call vote in favor of passage; no nays were recorded and the motion carried.
The change narrows the types of housing allowed on the downtown main-street areas and clarifies where accessory units may be located, a move the council recorded as intended to preserve ground-floor commercial space while allowing limited second-floor residential opportunities above active storefronts. The minutes record that a public hearing on these zoning amendments and supplemental fence regulations was opened at 7:34 p.m. and closed at 7:55 p.m., and the council later adopted the ordinance during the same meeting.
The ordinance directs publication "as provided by law;" the minutes do not state a specific effective date beyond the statutory publication requirement. Implementation steps or administrative procedures for processing conditional-use permits for second-floor accessory units were not specified in the minutes.
