You can file this in the “if only if it were so category.” Durango’s housing policies received high praise in the national media last week.

A piece by City Lab, a publication from The Atlantic, headlined a story on Durango’s secondary housing units: “How one Colorado city instantly created affordable housing.”

It caught the attention of Durango Herald readers, and it was posted on the city of Durango’s Twitter account.

The piece was based on a popular presentation city planners gave at a conference in Phoenix about recently revamped policies governing secondary housing units, such as granny flats and garage apartments.

“The story, while flattering to our department, had a number of misstatements,” said Greg Hoch, the former director of community development. Hoch recently stepped down to a planner emeritus role, but he led the department while the housing policies were crafted.

The headline doesn’t match the story, which points out how the secondary unit policy faced well-organized opposition.

There were other problems and inaccuracies including a statement that five unrelated people can live in a secondary unit, Hoch said.

However, the process the city created to legalize ADUs by registering them and paying the fees that were in place when the accessory dwelling units were built has been influential among planners, Hoch said.

“That was one of the reasons Durango’s approach to ADUs received national attention,” he said.

Staff Report