Colorado Christian University’s efforts to house students in properties it owns near campus took a major hit this month in the wake of a court ruling that affirms Lakewood’s right to use its zoning powers to protect “the character and vitality of residential neighborhoods.”
In the order, issued last week, Jefferson County District Judge Russell Klein concluded that “there is a legitimate government interest in the ability to zone residential neighborhoods to control population density and the locations of schools and universities within those neighborhoods.”listed in a lawsuit it filed last year against Lakewood
It’s not clear how many students are currently living in the CCU-owned units on South Cody Court and the university did not provide a number when asked. CCU Executive Vice President Daniel Cohrs issued a statement via email about the ruling overall.Colorado Christian University, which was founded more than a century ago, enrolls more than 9,000 students. It describes itself as “the only evangelical Christian institution of higher learning in the Rocky Mountain region” on its website.
And Colorado can thank this NIMBY way of thinking and dated 1980’s zoning for contributing to the increase in housing pricing by limiting density. The state needs to enact some modern day ADU laws.