ADU rules in Pueblo County

Pueblo County's Unified Development Code (UDC, Title 17), effective October 22, 2024 and amended through July 9, 2026, makes 'Dwelling, Accessory' a use permitted by right in all eight agricultural and residential districts (A1, A2, A3, RR, SR1, SR2, LR and HR), and its definition expressly includes a unit 'located in a detached structure'. One accessory dwelling is allowed per lot; A1 and A2 lots may also have a separate farmstead accessory dwelling for seasonal farm workers. A HUD-code manufactured home may serve as the ADU, but a mobile home or RV may not, and before a detached ADU is approved the owner must record a covenant with the County Clerk and Recorder barring its sale apart from the principal dwelling unless the two are subdivided onto separate lots. The use is not allowed in the mixed-use, commercial, industrial or special purpose districts (MN, MC, CC, LI, HI, PP, PL, CF), even though MN, MC and PP allow single-family homes. The code governs unincorporated Pueblo County only, including Pueblo West, Colorado City, Beulah Valley, Avondale and Vineland; the City of Pueblo (its own directory entry) and the towns of Boone and Rye are outside it, and recorded covenants may also apply in the Pueblo West and Colorado City overlay districts (see caveats).

The UDC defines an accessory dwelling as a unit on the same lot as the principal dwelling that is 'either internal to or attached to the unit or located in a detached structure', so basement, wing and attached-addition units are permitted by right on the same terms in A1, A2, A3, RR, SR1, SR2, LR and HR, one per lot. An interior unit may 'occupy the floor area of the existing principal dwelling' and is not held to the lot-size table that caps attached and detached units. The code requires the recorded no-separate-sale covenant only before approving a detached unit, although the county's covenant form is worded for any ADU on the property. Attached and internal units are likewise unavailable in the MN, MC, CC, LI, HI, PP, PL and CF districts, and the code applies only to unincorporated Pueblo County, not the City of Pueblo, Boone or Rye.

Table 17.03.5 caps attached and detached units at the greater of 60 percent of the principal dwelling's square footage (basements excluded, finished or not) or a flat allowance that rises with lot size: 900 square feet on lots under 15,000 square feet, 1,000 on lots from 15,000 square feet to 1 acre, 1,200 on 1 to 5 acres and 2,000 on 5 to 35 acres, with no maximum at 35 acres or more and a footnote guaranteeing 500 square feet in any case. On a half-acre lot with a 2,000 square foot house the cap is therefore 1,200 square feet, while a 1,200 square foot house on the same lot still gets the 1,000 square foot allowance. These numbers come from Text Amendment TA-25-2 (Resolution P&D 25-044, adopted and effective November 13, 2025); the code as adopted in 2024 allowed only the lesser of 40 percent of the house or 900, 1,000 or 1,200 square feet, so older handouts understate the allowance. If a new second dwelling is larger than the existing house, the larger one becomes the principal dwelling and the existing house must meet the ADU limits. Height and placement follow each district's accessory building rules: 35 feet in A3, RR, SR1, SR2, LR and HR (A1 and A2 have no height cap except 35 feet within a quarter mile of residential or mixed-use zoning), with accessory setbacks of 25 feet front (20 in LR and HR) and 5 feet side and rear.

Nothing in the UDC's ADU standards (§17.03.040(c), which covers only number, size and location) or in the county's recorded Declaration of Covenant form requires the owner to live in either unit, at application or afterward; the covenant only bars selling the ADU separately. The one occupancy rule nearby governs a different use, the caretaker's accessory dwelling allowed by special use permit on commercial and industrial land, which must house the owner, operator, caretaker or an employee of the business. HB24-1152's ban on owner-occupancy mandates does not bind unincorporated Pueblo County, which the state Division of Local Government classifies as 'Exempt: May opt-in', but the county imposes no such requirement anyway. Even a short-term rental of a principal or accessory dwelling needs no resident owner, only a designated local responsible party living within 20 miles.

The UDC's minimum parking schedule (Table 17.04.2) assigns 1 space per dwelling unit to single-family homes and manufactured homes but has no row for accessory uses, and §17.04.020(c)(5) sends any unlisted use to Schedule C, which lets the Director apply the requirement for the most similar listed use, a published parking standard, local or national practice, or an applicant's parking study. The code anticipates ADU parking without mandating it: §17.04.020(g)(6)(ii) lets a space serving an accessory dwelling back across the public right-of-way, as a single-family space may, whereas the separate caretaker's accessory dwelling use expressly requires one extra off-street space. No county handout says how staff apply Schedule C to ADUs, so confirm with Planning and Development before drawing the site plan. HB24-1152's limits on ADU parking mandates do not apply because the county is not a Subject Jurisdiction.

Where an ADU is allowed it is a use 'permitted by right' (P in Table 17.03.1), so approval is administrative with no public hearing: a Zoning Authorization for Building Permit from Pueblo County Planning and Development, filed online, then a building permit (covenant review in the Pueblo West and Colorado City overlay districts is separate; see caveats). Single-family homes, their additions and their accessory structures are exempt from Development Plan review, an accessory structure's building permit cannot issue before the principal structure's, and for a detached ADU the owner must first record the county's Declaration of Covenant with the Clerk and Recorder. Since January 1, 2026 building permits in unincorporated Pueblo County come from the new Pueblo County Building Division; the Pueblo Regional Building Department, which county checklists and the planning FAQ still mention, became the Southern Colorado Building Department and now serves only the City of Pueblo and Boone.

The UDC places no limit on renting an ADU long term, and the county's ADU covenant addresses only sale. Short-term rentals, defined as 'a principal or accessory dwelling rented to transient guests' for 28 days or less, are a permitted accessory use in A1, A2, A3, RR, SR1, SR2, LR, HR, MN and MC under §17.03.040(m): one party per booking with the whole unit rented, no more than two guests per bedroom plus two, a designated responsible party with a permanent address within 20 miles and a 24-hour phone, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, sleeping-room egress, a fire extinguisher, posted house information and county inspection on reasonable notice. The owner must certify the unit is a permitted residential structure (the text still names the Pueblo Regional Building Department, whose county role passed to the Pueblo County Building Division on January 1, 2026); no separate county STR license or registration program was found. The ADU may not be sold, conveyed or transferred apart from the principal dwelling unless the property is lawfully subdivided, and the separate farmstead and caretaker's accessory dwellings may not be rented at all. The STR section itself warns that private covenants may restrict or prohibit short-term rentals.