After fire, a new rule: Why one Lakewood property can’t be rebuilt as before

By Lakewood Informer | Lakewood Informer Subtack

When a Lakewood resident bought a burned-out single-family house to rehabilitate it, he had no idea Lakewood would say no. The house had been vacant and neglected, allowing homeless to move in and cause a fire. The result is an unusable, dangerous eyesore. But those considerations were not as important to Lakewood as changing the property to high-density.

The new owner thought he would do the neighborhood a favor and fix it up. He had no desire to build high-density and no reason to think he could not replace one single-family home with another.

Unfortunately for him, Lakewood has been eliminating single-family zoning for years. During the 2012 rezone, many properties were changed from single-family to multi-use without notifying residents. Although multi-use sounds all encompassing, Lakewood does not permit single-family use here. So when this single-family house burned-out, and the original owner was unable to repair it quickly, Lakewood planners told the new owner he could not fix the house.

This owner has neither the desire nor the money to build high-density. The property remains a dangerous eyesore to this day.

Density Requirements Triple

Lakewood Planners told the owner that a minimum of four housing units would need to be built on the 0.148 acre lot to replace a 614 sq ft single-family house.

Under the new zoning, that number has changed to twelve housing units.

Forcibly tearing down old homes and replacing them with multi-family units is exactly what Lakewood residents do not want for their neighborhood.

The change in density means the property will now cost too much to develop. For example, the new water taps will cost about $100,000 more whereas the exiting tap for a single-family home would not cost anything.

Correction 3/22/26: Density requirements have not changed. It remains at 4 units. The water tap example above would cost an estimated additional $36,000.

Invisible Zoning Changes

There is no visible indication that this house could not remain a single-family house.

Many single-family homes currently exist on the block near Sheridan. There are old-style, low-form, multi-family units across the street and high-density multi-family on the corner. There would be no reason to think that if you bought the property, you could not rebuild the existing single-family home.

Only a deep dive with specialized knowledge would educate a potential buyer that Lakewood would no longer allow single-family housing on this property. Zoning maps will show that the property is in a multi-use zoning district. Further reading is required to find out multi-use does not include single-family.

The existing single-family homes were allowed to stand during previous zoning changes without specific notice to owners. However, because Lakewood changed the zoning code to disallow single-family, these properties became “non-conforming.” This is similar to being grandfathered in. Therefore, if anything happens to the home, like a fire or significant new construction, Lakewood will not allow a permit.

While Lakewood argues their new zoning is good for property rights, owners do not have the right to single-family, only the right to develop more housing.

Although the Director could use his discretion to allow rebuilding this house, Lakewood did not suggest it in this case.

What You See Is Not What You Get

Current owners and future buyers often do not know about the underlying zoning that makes a property non-conforming. It is an invisible problem that is only revealed during disasters like fire.

Under the new zoning, currently being voted for a citizen repeal on April 7^th, some single-family homes will be non-conforming because they are bigger than the current maximum size allowed. Insurance will only cover current zoning standards, and some homes will not be able to be fully insured or rebuilt to the size it is today.

A man-made disaster that may trigger similar results is neglect or abuse. Long-term neighborhoods will often have at least one dilapidated home. Rat houses and hoarding were such a cause for concern that Lakewood strengthened code enforcement provisions a few years ago because homes are in such bad shape that agents sometimes need access through the roof. Now those dilapidated houses that are not economically viable can be torn down and replaced with multi-family units.

Home purchases in Lakewood could become risky ventures because what you see is not what you get.

READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT THE LAKEWOOD INFORMER SUBSTACK

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.