Hey House Hackers! Denver's Changing its Occupancy Limits

[James Carlson]

Good news for those house-hacking types within the city limits of Denver. The city is considering increasing the number of unrelated adults who are allowed to live together. With Denver facing an affordable housing crisis, this change falls under the category of "Duh, about time." 

(And props to @John Mayer & @Savanna Mayer for following this issue as they embark on their first house hack.)

A few highlights:

What's the current limit? What's the proposed new limit?
Currently, Denver allows 2 unrelated adults to live together, one of the worst. This is nuts. The proposal would increase that to 8, one of the most liberal in the state.

What do other cities allow?
Denver's the stingiest. (Along with Englewood, who also only allows two unrelated people to live together.) 

Allow 3 unrelated people
Wheat Ridge, Littleton and Commerce City

Allow 4
Aurora, Golden, Northglenn, Thornton, Westminister

Allow 5
Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, Arvada, Lakewood & Parker

What's this mean for me?
You know, the city of Denver had bigger fish to fry than to go scouting potential violations of the unrelated occupancy law. So in practice, it might not mean a lot. But if you're someone looking to house hack or just do a rent-by-the-room model in Denver, this could give you peace of mind that you're not going to get shut down. 

Timeline?
Short answer: Possibly June of this year for full passage.

Long answer: The proposal is going to face some open house/public comment sessions. (Check this link, halfway down for a list of the sessions where you can make your voice heard.)

It then has to go to the planning board and then the city council

More info please?
You can find more info the group studying the issue here. (Check out the "'Questions on Household Definition" about a quarter of the way down.) Or read the presentation here.

[Joe Splitrock]

@James Carlson I doubt most people are following those occupancy limits and they are probably only enforced when people are causing trouble. 

The reason for occupancy limits is because cities were developed to support a certain amount of traffic, parking and road wear. When you have 8 adults, you have 8 cars and that is 4X as much as you have with two adults. Sewer and water systems are not designed for 8 adults taking showers and excreting waste. On the flip side, mass transit can help with the car issue and water/sewer upgrades can help with the utility usage.

As far as single family versus multifamily, usually multifamily is taxed higher. So when you put more people in a property with lower taxes, your tax revenue per resident decreases. That means more people creating more wear and less money for maintenance, upgrades and city services.

The other purpose of these laws is to protect single family neighborhoods to be family friendly (meaning people with children). Young people may see no issue with packing 8 adults into a property, but families with children don't want that traffic in their neighborhood. As people get older, priorities will change. Maybe the reality is that Denver will push families out to other communities or maybe it already happened. 

I am not arguing against the change in occupancy limit, but rather trying to point out the reason these rules exist. As you push to change the laws, look at all sides, rather than just the profit perspective. It is ultimately your community, so you shape your own future. I don't live there so I have no pony in this race.