Minimum Home Lot Sizes Eyed In Colorado Push To Break Barriers

Colorado lawmakers are taking a new swing at Colorado’s housing affordability crisis by using state power to reshape local zoning rules.

Their target? Outsized suburban residential lots mandated in many of the state’s municipalities. A new bill would require most cities to allow single-family homes on lots as small as 2,000 square feet, about a third the size of typical lots in many locales. The measure passed the House late last month and is now before the Senate.

This effort is part of a growing national push to break barriers to housing affordability by slashing minimum lot sizes as a means to lower property costs. Texas lawmakers made the change last year, lowering residential lot sizes in the state’s largest cities to promote denser development. Oregon altered its lot size regulations in 2022.

Not every attempt succeeds. Utah lawmakers tried a similar approach earlier this year in conjunction with a focus on starter homes, but their bill died in the committee a month after its introduction. An effort two years ago in Montana met the same fate.

Limits on minimum lot size

Colorado House Bill 26-1114 would bar most cities from setting minimums of 2,000 square feet for a single-family lot. The cap would apply in areas served by municipal water and sewer. The bill also would block local governments from using frontage, setbacks, open space rules or lot coverage caps to make a 2,000-square-foot lot effectively unusable for housing.

Supporters say the measure aims to legalize smaller, more attainable starter homes by shrinking one of the biggest cost drivers in construction: land. They argue that lower land requirements can help bring down the total price of a new home.

“Our legislation would open up more housing options that families, young professionals and aging Coloradans can realistically buy,” State Rep. Rebekah Stewart, the bill’s chief sponsor, said in a statement. “Open land can be hard to come by in the Denver Metro area, and it is getting increasingly difficult for affordable housing developers to find lots that meet the minimum lot size requirements.”

The National Zoning Atlas, a project of the nonprofit Land Use Atlas, reported last year that 98% of land that allows single-family houses has a minimum lot size requirement. Some Front Range communities on the Denver side of the mountains still reserve large swaths of residential land for lots of an acre or more. House Democrats say the 2,000-square-foot cap builds on earlier reforms that legalized accessory dwelling units and encouraged denser infill near jobs and transit.

Extending the home-rule battle

While it builds on those reforms, the Colorado bill also extends a years-long fight over how far state laws should go in overriding local zoning to spur housing supply. That tension mirrors debates across the country, where state lawmakers often face opposition from local government officials who fear losing control over land use decisions. Local officials opposed to the lot size measure have raised similar concerns in Colorado.

“HB26-1114 is part of a growing trend: state mandates replacing local land use decisions that should be made closest to the people they affect,” State Rep. Chris Richardson wrote in a social media post. “When the state mandates the outcome, local hearings become procedural theater with a foregone conclusion.”

Backers counter that the proposal takes a narrow approach. It leaves cities in charge of building codes, environmental rules, historic preservation and impact fees. It targets only minimum lot sizes and related dimensional barriers.

Those supporters argue that existing minimum lot standards – often 5,000 to 7,000 square feet or more for a detached home – no longer fit current land and housing costs. Allowing homes on 2,000-square-foot lots, they say, would reset the rules for a new generation of buyers.

Six home-rule cities last year elevated the fight when they sued Gov. Jared Polis over an executive order that threatened to cut them off from $280 million in grants, loans and tax credits if they did not comply with major housing reforms signed into law in 2024.

The law removed some barriers to new construction, legalized accessory dwelling units, eliminated residential occupancy limits, reduced minimum parking requirements and accelerated development in transit-oriented areas.

Could the bill be the last straw?

The lot size bill would take effect in October 2031, giving cities time to adjust their zoning to plan for smaller lots.

Still, the recent failure of the Utah bill offers a cautionary tale on the vagaries of pressing deeper into local government powers. Over the past several years, the state legislature has passed housing reforms.

Those reforms relied on negotiated planning mandates, transit‑oriented zones, and funding incentives. Local governments resisted but didn’t harden into a full-blown revolt because they were involved in shaping the legislation.

The latest bill collapsed after cities and some legislators cast it as a top‑down override of local planning. A fast‑track approval process and fears over parking, traffic, and infrastructure strain gave opponents an easy narrative of state‑forced small‑lot projects.

Colorado’s measure still must clear the Senate – with any changes reconciled with the House legislation – and then head to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk. He has not yet said how he will handle the bill, but his record of curbing local zoning powers suggests he is inclined to sign it if it survives.

Meanwhile, cities are preparing for fresh home-rule fights, and supporters are already signaling they could return with follow-up changes if this first step passes.