Re: requesting information on accessory living unit requirements with any recent amendments

[Annie Scott]

Good morning, 

My husband Mark and I are trying to discern our path toward the goal of assuring our ability to age in place on our property. We are young seniors who anticipate the need for live in care at some point. We are pulling our own permits and building with our own hands. We own and live on 5.5 acres in Livermore. 

We currently live in a 1000 sq ft apartment over a garage of the same size. There are 18 steps to the apartment. Our plan has always been for our current space to become what we now understand to be accessory dwelling space, for our future caregivers. Trading caregiving for living space will be the only way we can afford the care. 

I work as a community advocate and work closely with the Larimer County Office on Aging, focused on making the Red Feather Lakes and surrounding communities more sustainable for seniors to age in place  and am well acquainted with what seniors need to live successfully and sustainably into their 90s. I see clearly that seniors must be able to leverage what is often their only remaining asset to avoid unwanted displacement into a nursing home. 

We are now ready to build our addition, attached to the garage, designed for the last 10 years of our lives when we are no longer able to manage independently in this rural mountain community. 

The addition is 1300 square feet with no elevation changes, a no step shower, and 32-36" inch doors throughout. There is one bedroom only. 

I tell you this story to explore how we can pursue our desire to live in our mountain community forever. When we submitted our addition plan for permitting we were told it was out of compliance. We learned that unless the living spaces are connected through the second floor apartment, the addition is considered an accessory dwelling  unit and subject to many restrictions. These restrictions will limit our ability to create the accessibility we need to realize our aging in place goals. 

I'd greatly appreciate the opportunity to talk with someone who takes our goal seriously and wants to help us obtain whatever permissions are needed. 

Please let me know what is the next step in pursuit of our goal and who on the Community Planning Staff is best equipped to help us. 

Annie Scott

227 Mt Alice Ct

Livermore, CO 80536

Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android

On Mon, Nov 20, 2023 at 10:59 AM, On Call Planner

<plan...@larimer.org> wrote:

Below is a link to the ALA section of the land use code, please let us know if you need anything else!

https://library.municode.com/co/larimer_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIILAUSCO_ART3.0USRE_3.4ACUSST_3.4.5ADSTREACUS

	Justin Currie On Call Planner
	Community Development Department 200 W Oak St, Fort Collins, 80521 | 3rd Floor Plan...@larimer.org www.larimer.gov

Please click here to view the most current version of the Land Use Code.

Pre-application meetings are required before applying, click here to download the meeting request form. Please return the completed form to this email address so that we may coordinate a meeting time. 

Use the Assessor's property search tool to locate your zoning (hint: zoning is located in the "related info" box after selecting your property). 

Please visit our Online Portal to view Community Development Records - If you are having trouble logging in try these helpful hints.

On Fri, Nov 17, 2023 at 3:18 PM Annie Scott <ras...@bellsouth.net> wrote:

Thank you for sending me the link to the Larimer County Land Use Code page.  Unfortunately there is no specific link to ALUs and there are many files to look through.  Could you please send me the file containing the ALU specifications?

Regina Scott

[On Call Planner]

Hello Annie,

Thank you for your email and I think that we can find a solution for your situation. An accessory living area in a detached building or in a portion of a residence that is attached with no direct access from the primary residence is subject to review and approval through the administrative special review process by the Planning Department. The total square footage of the accessory living area shall comply with the standards in Table 3-15 of the Land Use Code (see Article 3.4.5.A). If your design does not meet the Code's size restrictions, you can appeal, although there are no guarantees of approval and refunds will not be given for the appeal, regardless of the outcome.

I've attached our submittal packet for the Accessory Living Area (ALA) application. On the first page, there is a link to a video that explains the application process in detail. Once you have gathered all the required documents on the submittal checklist, you will submit the documents in PDF format to planni...@co.larimer.co.us. Our CIRT team will then reach out to you to collect the application fee once your application is deemed complete.

If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact the on-call planner at this email address or at (970) 498-7679. If you need to have a pre-application meeting to go over the application process with a planner, you can request one by completing the pre-application meeting request form (linked in my signature below) and returning it to this email address. Then a planner will reach out to schedule a meeting (virtual or in-person) with you in the coming weeks.

Best regards,

Jacy McNulty On Call Planner

Community Development Department 200 W Oak St, Fort Collins, 80521 | 3rd Floor Plan...@larimer.org www.larimer.gov

Please click here to view the most current version of the Land Use Code.

Pre-application meetings are required before applying, click here to download the meeting request form. Please return the completed form to this email address so that we may coordinate a meeting time. 

Use the Assessor's property search tool to locate your zoning (hint: zoning is located in the "related info" box after selecting your property). 

Please visit our Online Portal to view Community Development Records - If you are having trouble logging in try these helpful hints.

[John Kefalas]

Good evening Annie,

Does the response provided by our on-call planner answer your questions about how to move forward with your ALA application? Thank you for responding Jacy.

	John Kefalas County Commissioner, District 1
	Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St | 2nd Floor PO Box 1190, Fort Collins, CO 80522-1190 W: (970) 498-7001 Cell:  (720) 254-7598 jkef...@larimer.org | www.larimer.org

[Annie Scott]

Yes, thank you John. We have submitted our application today.

Annie

Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android