Boulder County currently limits the number of unrelated people who can live together in a home to three. County planners are proposing to strike this provision from the county’s land-use code to eliminate occupancy limits based on family status, according to a staff memo released this week. A planning commission hearing to discuss the changes is scheduled for June 12, 2024.
The changes respond to a new state law signed by Gov. Jared Polis in April, which prohibits local governments from imposing occupancy limits that restrict how many unrelated people can live together. The new law, effective July 1, 2024, allows governments to impose life safety and fire code occupancy regulations.
Polis has described occupancy limits as discriminatory. Others argue that the land-use policies restrict the supply of housing and make it harder for renters to split housing costs among more people. Such limits have been on the books for decades in cities across the country, primarily to reduce crowding and traffic in single-family home neighborhoods.
The City of Boulder is also contemplating how it will eliminate its occupancy limits. Last year, Boulder raised its occupancy limits from allowing as few as three unrelated people to live together to five across much of the city.