The city of Durango is seeking feedback on a plan to allow single-family homeowners to build and rent out apartments on their properties in new areas of town.

The new rules could apply to Riverview, the area around Needham Elementary School, Ella Vita Court on the west side of town and the area east of the Riverview Sports Complex, among other areas, according the city’s website.

The changes could also apply to Crestview and Hillcrest, but only if private covenants prohibiting homeowners from having apartments are changed, said Scott Shine, the city’s planning manager.

The apartments are known as accessory dwelling units because they share lots with a single-family home. Many have existed for decades in town, especially in historic areas.

The city required homeowners in historic areas of town to register ADUs in 2015 as part of a process to legalize them and establish rules for building new ones.

Since then, the city has legalized more than 250 ADUs, and it “has seen growing interest in ADUs as an option for in-town living,” said Nicol Killian, assistant community development director, in an email to The Durango Herald.

The city has also permitted about two dozen newly built ADUs, Shine said.

The proposed rules for the new neighborhoods anticipate allowing ADUs only as part of an existing single-family home, Shine said. The units could be limited in size to 550 square feet, with the exception of those in basements. The city would not require homeowners to have a lot of a certain size to build an ADU, he said.

City staff does not think it is practical to allow detached ADUs in these additional neighborhoods because they do not have alleys, making a detached unit difficult to access, Shine said.

“We feel like it’s prudent to say only integrated units at this time,” he said.

Homeowners who are renting apartments in the neighborhoods where rules will be changing may be required to register their units with the city to legalize them, he said.

The city will hold a meeting to take public comment about the changes at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 419 San Juan Drive.

Durango City Council will discuss the changes in a work session that will not be open to public comment Dec. 11.

mshinn@durangoherald.com

If you go

The city will hold a meeting to take public comment about the changes at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 419 San Juan Drive.