(1) Except as otherwise provided in
section 34-1-305, C.R.S., for the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals, or the
general welfare of the community, including energy conservation and the
promotion of solar energy utilization, the governing body of each municipality is
empowered to regulate and restrict the height, number of stories, and size of
buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size
of yards, courts, and other open spaces, the density of population, the height and
location of trees and other vegetation, and the location and use of buildings,
structures, and land for trade, industry, residence, or other purposes. Regulations
and restrictions of the height, number of stories, and the height and location of
trees and other vegetation shall not apply to existing buildings, structures, trees, or
vegetation except for new growth on such vegetation. Such regulations shall
provide that a board of adjustment may determine and vary their application in
harmony with their general purpose and intent and in accordance with general or
specific rules contained in such regulations. Subject to the provisions of subsection
(2) of this section and to the end that adequate safety may be secured, said
governing body also has power to establish, regulate, restrict, and limit such uses
on or along any storm or floodwater runoff channel or basin, as such storm or
floodwater runoff channel or basin has been designated and approved by the
Colorado water conservation board, in order to lessen or avoid the hazards to
persons and damage to property resulting from the accumulation of storm or
floodwaters. Any ordinance enacted under authority of this part 3 shall exempt
from the operation thereof any building or structure as to which satisfactory proof
is presented to the board of adjustment that the present or proposed situation of
such building or structure is reasonably necessary for the convenience or welfare
of the public.
(2) The power conferred by subsection (1) of this section for flood prevention
and control shall not be exercised to deprive the owner of any existing property of
its future use or maintenance for the purpose to which it was lawfully devoted on
February 25, 1966, but provisions may be made for the gradual elimination of uses,
buildings, and structures, including provisions for the elimination of such uses when
the existing uses to which they are devoted are discontinued, and for the
elimination of such buildings and structures when they are destroyed or damaged
in major part.
(3) The governing body of any municipality or the board of adjustment
thereof, in the exercise of powers pursuant to this section, may condition any
zoning regulation, any amendment to such regulation, or any variance of the
application thereof or the exemption of any building or structure therefrom upon
the preservation, improvement, or construction of any storm or floodwater runoff
channel designated and approved by the Colorado water conservation board.
(4) A statutory or home rule city or town or city and county shall not enact an
ordinance prohibiting the use of a state-licensed group home for either persons
with intellectual and developmental disabilities or behavioral or mental health
disorders that serves not more than eight persons with intellectual and
developmental disabilities or eight persons with behavioral or mental health
disorders and appropriate staff as a residential use of property for zoning purposes.
As used in this subsection (4), the phrase residential use of property for zoning
purposes includes all forms of residential zoning and specifically, although not
exclusively, single-family residential zoning.
(5) (a) As used in this subsection (5), unless the context otherwise requires:
(I) Repealed.
(II) Equivalent performance engineering basis means that by using
engineering calculations or testing, following commonly accepted engineering
practices, all components and subsystems will perform to meet health, safety, and
functional requirements to the same extent as required for other single family
housing units.
(b) (I) No municipality may have or enact zoning regulations, subdivision
regulations, or any other regulation affecting development that exclude or have the
effect of excluding homes or structures from the municipality that are:
(A) Factory-built structures, as defined in section 24-32-3302 (11) and
certified by the division of housing created in section 24-32-704 or a party
authorized to act on its behalf;
(B) Manufactured homes certified by the United States department of
housing and urban development through its office of manufactured housing
programs, a successor agency, or a party authorized to act on its behalf; or
(C) Homes that meet or exceed, on an equivalent performance engineering
basis, standards established by the municipal building code.
(I.5) A municipality shall not impose more restrictive standards on factory-built structures than those the municipality applies to site-built homes in the same
residential zones. As used in this subsection (5)(b)(I.5), restrictive standards
means zoning regulations, subdivision regulations, and any other regulation
affecting development, including standards related to:
(A) Home size or sectional requirements;
(B) Improvement location;
(C) Minimum floor space;
(D) Permanent foundations;
(E) Setback standards; and
(F) Side-yard standards.
(II) Nothing in this subsection (5) prevents a municipality from enacting any
zoning, developmental, use, aesthetic, or historical standard, including, but not
limited to, requirements relating to permanent foundations, minimum floor space,
unit size or sectional requirements, and improvement location, side yard, and
setback standards to the extent that such standards or requirements are applicable
to existing similar housing or structures or new site-built housing within the specific
use district of the municipality.
(III) Nothing in this subsection (5) precludes any municipality from enacting
municipal building code provisions for unique public safety requirements such as
snow load roof, wind shear, wildfire risk, and energy conservation factors, unless it
is a factory-built structure certified by the division of housing created in section 24-32-704 or a party authorized to act on its behalf or a manufactured home certified
by the United States department of housing and urban development through its
office of manufactured housing programs, a successor agency, or a party
authorized to act on its behalf. A municipality must comply with section 24-32-3318
when enacting building code provisions for a manufactured home as regulated by
the United States department of housing and urban development, and it must also
comply with the requirements established by the division of housing for factory-built structures.
(IV) Nothing in this subsection (5) shall be deemed to supersede any valid
covenants running with the land.