ADU rules in Loveland

A detached ADU (a unit in a separate backyard building) is allowed on any lot that holds a conforming single-family detached home, and Sec. 18.04.07.01.B applies the ADU standards in all zones. Only one ADU is allowed per lot. A detached ADU must be set back at least five feet from interior side, interior rear and alley lot lines, its front setback must be at least the actual front setback of the house, and the street side setback matches the principal building. Loveland Fire Rescue Authority may require a clear, unobstructed path from the street or driveway to the unit.

Attached and internal ADUs are allowed on the same terms: the code treats attached, internal and detached units alike and only requires that the unit be a separate, complete and independent dwelling. An attached or internal ADU cannot have an internal connection or opening to the principal dwelling, and every ADU needs its own exterior entrance, its own cooking and bathing facilities, and its own address. The city's ADU page lists basement units, above-garage units, converted garages and above-home units as examples of the attached type.

The base cap is 900 square feet of floor area counting all floor planes but excluding an attached garage. On lots that meet the Large Suburban (10,800 sq ft minimum), Estate (18,500 sq ft) or Large Estate (2.5 acre) lot standards in Table 18.04.02.03.A, an ADU may exceed 900 square feet so long as it stays at or under 50 percent of the principal dwelling's total floor area, total building coverage still meets the Scale Threshold limits, the ADU meets the interior and street side setbacks of the principal dwelling, and capital expansion fees are paid. ADU floor area is excluded from the Building Coverage Ratio used for Scale Thresholds, and an ADU is not counted in residential density. Sec. 18.04.07.01 sets no separate height cap for ADUs.

Nothing in Sec. 18.04.07.01 or anywhere else in the Loveland UDC requires the owner to live in either unit; a full-text search of the code for owner occupancy returned no provision. State law backs this up: Loveland is a HB24-1152 Subject Jurisdiction (a municipality over 1,000 people inside a metropolitan planning organization, and it appears on the Division of Local Government's published Subject Jurisdiction list), and C.R.S. 29-35-403(2)(b) bars such a jurisdiction from requiring that an ADU or any other dwelling on the lot be owner-occupied. The state does allow a jurisdiction to require proof of owner residence when a short-term rental license is sought, but Loveland has no short-term rental license program. Ord. 6762, adopted April 1, 2025 just before the state's June 30, 2025 deadline, rewrote the ADU section, and the state has since certified Loveland as an ADU Supportive Jurisdiction.

Sec. 18.04.07.01.B.3 states flatly that off-street parking is not required for an ADU, in every zone, and the city lists that among the steps it took to make ADUs easier. No parking space has to be added or designated, and the ADU is not listed in the parking calculation tables in Division 18.05.03. What the code does require is a clear, unobstructed path from the street or driveway to the ADU when Loveland Fire Rescue Authority calls for one. This matches C.R.S. 29-35-403(2)(a), which bars a subject jurisdiction from requiring a new off-street space for an ADU.

An ADU is an accessory use approved administratively; there is no public hearing and no discretionary board approval. Sec. 18.17.11.02.A.1 exempts single-family detached and duplex lots from the site development plan requirement, so the review is a staff check of the ADU application and site plan against the objective standards in Sec. 18.04.07.01 followed by a building permit. The city's ADU page describes exactly that: a free consultation meeting, the application and checklist from Current Planning sent to eplan-planning@cityofloveland.org, then a building permit, with construction allowed to start after permit approval. The one wrinkle is the Scale Thresholds table in Sec. 18.02.04.02, which can bump an oversized house in the DT or R zones into an adaptable use review, but ADU floor area is excluded from that Building Coverage Ratio calculation.

The UDC places no limit on renting an ADU and imposes no minimum lease term, and Loveland has no short-term rental ordinance: a chapter-level walk of all 20 titles of the Municipal Code (Supp. 13, codified through Ord. 6804 of December 16, 2025) turned up no short-term rental or vacation rental licensing chapter, and the UDC contains no short-term rental use at all. Short-term renting is instead handled through taxes: Chapter 3.24 defines lodging services as accommodations supplied for less than 30 consecutive days, levies a 3 percent lodging tax on top of the 3 percent sales tax, exempts stays of at least 30 consecutive days, and Sec. 3.24.040 makes it unlawful to provide lodging services without a city lodging license, which the city manager issues without fee. In practice the city says the lodging liability is switched on by a checkbox on the sales tax license application, and hosts who rent only through marketplace facilitators such as Airbnb or VRBO need no license because the platform collects and remits. Two related limits: the city's ADU page says an ADU cannot be subdivided or sold separately from the main home, and running a traditional bed and breakfast is a different, more restricted use (five or fewer guest rooms, operator resident on site, limited use review in the R2, R3e, R3 and DT zones).