Right size of homes?

We liked your thoughts on an important question regarding the Zoning Updates, but it’s important to first understand the background on why we’re asking the question. Please join the discussion and share your ideas.

BACKGROUND: A new state law, HB24-1007, could prompt changes to Lakewood’s neighborhoods, and the city is trying to determine how best to ensure that homes built in the coming years are as compatible as possible with the existing homes in Lakewood’s neighborhoods.

• The new state law prevents cities from regulating the number of people living in a house. As a result, the state law abolishes Lakewood’s current zoning regulation that limits to five the number of people living in a home.
• Lakewood’s current zoning regulations allow homes to be built as large as 10,000-18,000 square feet, with three stories at 35 feet high. These massive homes haven’t historically been built because there hasn’t been a demand for a single-family home that large. Most homes in Lakewood are 1,200-2,000 square feet.
• The market demand for these massive homes, however, could change under the new state law. There could be a demand to build these supersized homes so they could be divided into multiple units, potentially even containing numerous individually rented bedrooms.
• The city wants to address the unintended consequences of this new state law through Zoning Updates. The city’s proposal is to limit the maximum size of the homes to 2,500-3,250 square feet, depending on the type of residential area it would be built in, with a height limit of 2.5 stories at 25 feet high. The city still couldn’t limit the number of people living in houses built at a maximum of 2,500-3,250 square feet, which means the structure could have multiple units in it. Under the city’s proposal, houses built to a maximum of 2,500-3,250 square feet would be compatible with the size of most homes in Lakewood’s neighborhoods even if they contained multiple units, as compared to a house of up to 18,000 square feet with multiple units. 
• There is a concern, however, that limiting the size of homes to a maximum of 2,500-3,250 square feet is too small.

 QUESTION: What is the right size limit on homes to be built in the future?