What is Ordinance 1780 in Lakewood zoning?

Ordinance 1780, also known as the Strategic Growth Initiative or 'Lakewood 20/20,' is a voter-approved cap limiting the number of new residential building permits the city issues each year. It operates alongside, and sometimes in tension with, the base zoning district's allowed density on a given parcel.

How do I find the zoning for an address in Lakewood, Colorado?

The City of Lakewood Planning Division publishes an online zoning map viewer that returns the district for a parcel by address; because the code has changed substantially in recent years, confirm current development standards against the live code text rather than an older reference.

How does Colorado's statewide density law interact with Lakewood's growth cap?

Recent Colorado legislation mandating transit-area density and ADU allowances applies to Lakewood alongside its locally voter-approved permit cap, and the two can pull in different directions on a given site. Confirm with the Planning Division which control currently governs a specific parcel before underwriting a unit count.

Lakewood, Colorado · city zoning districts

Lakewood, CO zoning map & districts

Lakewood's zoning is administered by the city's Planning Division and has been substantially reworked in recent years, layered against a longstanding voter-approved residential growth cap (Ordinance 1780, commonly called Strategic Growth Initiative or Lakewood 20/20) that limits the number of new residential building permits issued annually. That growth cap now sits alongside Colorado's newer statewide density and ADU mandates, which in some cases require the city to permit development the local cap would otherwise restrict — developers should confirm current interaction between the two before assuming either one controls.

The code Lakewood Zoning Ordinance

Lakewood zoning map

The City of Lakewood Planning Division maintains the zoning map viewer and current Zoning Ordinance text; given the pace of recent revisions and the interaction with Ordinance 1780's growth cap, confirm district standards directly with planning staff for any specific parcel.

There is no link to the official map here yet — confirm current district boundaries directly with the Lakewood planning or zoning department.

A published summary is never the authority. The adopted ordinance and the city's official zoning map govern, and both change — verify the district and every standard on your parcel before you rely on it.

How zoning works in Lakewood

Given the pace of recent code changes, district-specific development standards should always be confirmed directly against the current zoning map and code text rather than assumed from a district's name alone.

Reference depth

No district table for Lakewood yet

There is no district-by-district table on this page. We publish one only where every code in it has been read against the currently adopted ordinance — and in some cities there is no district structure to tabulate in the first place. The overview above is the accurate account of which situation Lakewood is in, and where to confirm below points at the authoritative source.

Where a table is coming, it lands in the order the state layer does — and the Colorado waitlist below is the queue that decides that order.

Lakewood zoning — common questions

What is Ordinance 1780 in Lakewood zoning?: Ordinance 1780, also known as the Strategic Growth Initiative or 'Lakewood 20/20,' is a voter-approved cap limiting the number of new residential building permits the city issues each year. It operates alongside, and sometimes in tension with, the base zoning district's allowed density on a given parcel.
How do I find the zoning for an address in Lakewood, Colorado?: The City of Lakewood Planning Division publishes an online zoning map viewer that returns the district for a parcel by address; because the code has changed substantially in recent years, confirm current development standards against the live code text rather than an older reference.
How does Colorado's statewide density law interact with Lakewood's growth cap?: Recent Colorado legislation mandating transit-area density and ADU allowances applies to Lakewood alongside its locally voter-approved permit cap, and the two can pull in different directions on a given site. Confirm with the Planning Division which control currently governs a specific parcel before underwriting a unit count.

Working in Colorado? Get on the list.

The parcel layer lands in the order demand does. Illinois went first because that's where the deals were; the next state is decided by who tells us what they're trying to underwrite. Tell us where you're building and what you wanted to run — you'll hear from us when Colorado opens, and sooner if we need a test parcel.

Keep reading

← Colorado zoning — who holds the zoning power in Colorado, under which enabling statute, and the reforms that override local rules.

Other Colorado cities

The zoning reference → — every state, plus city-level district guides like this one.

Lakewood zoning summaries on this page are provided for information, not legal advice. Confirm every project against the current adopted code for the jurisdiction.