Lakewood, Colorado Zoning Map

The first is a conventional residential ladder named by lot size. Large Lot Residential appears at 6,000, 12,000, 18,000 and 43,000 square foot standards, with the 6,000 square foot district the largest in the city at roughly 12,922 acres. A two family and small lot district and a multifamily district complete the range.

The second is a mixed use framework organised on two axes at once: the role of the area and whether it is urban or suburban. That produces mixed use residential, general, employment, neighborhood and core districts, each in urban or suburban form. Mixed Use Residential Suburban is the largest of them at roughly 1,005 acres, and a Mixed Use Core Transit district covers about 170.

The third element, and the one that most affects diligence, is that many of these districts also exist in a planned development variant, marked by a prefix. Planned Development Large Lot Residential covers roughly 1,839 acres, and planned versions of the mixed use employment, general urban, multifamily and two family districts appear as well. In a planned variant the approved plan sets the standards, so the prefix changes what document governs the site. Lakewood regulates building height, coverage, density, floor area ratio, lot size and width, pervious area, and front, side and rear setbacks. This is pre-development intelligence, not legal advice - verify with the local planning department before acquisition.