Lakewood is about to find out just how dense it really wants to be. On April 7, voters will decide whether to keep a sweeping rewrite of the city’s zoning code that would open many longtime single-family neighborhoods to duplexes, triplexes and other denser housing types. The overhaul landed on the ballot after petitioners gathered enough signatures last fall to force four separate referendums. The special election will be conducted entirely by mail, with ballots scheduled to go out in mid-March and due back by Election Day.
Ballots are being mailed to active registered Lakewood voters between March 16 and March 20, and every completed ballot must be dropped in an official ballot box by 7 p.m. on April 7, according to the City of Lakewood. The city’s sample ballot and clerk resolutions spell out four distinct questions that would roll back large portions of the new zoning rules if voters choose repeal.
What’s on the ballot
The four questions ask voters whether to repeal Ordinances 2025-27, 2025-28, 2025-29 and 2025-30, which together replace major sections of Title 17 and update Lakewood’s official zoning map. Petitioners did not just clear the bar to force referendums; they vaulted it. The city clerk verified that each petition had at least roughly 3,600 signatures, and activists say the effort produced more than 6,000 unique registered-voter signatures overall, according to The Denver Gazette. The update swaps out traditional “single-family” labels for a broader “residential dwellings” category that could allow duplexes, triplexes and townhomes in neighborhoods across the city.
Supporters and opponents
Supporters, organized under the Make Lakewood Livable campaign, argue that the code changes are about letting people build starter homes again and opening the door to more affordable options. Campaign manager and former councilmember Sophia Mayott-Guerrero told Denver7, “We have gotten into a mess of housing being really out of reach for people.”
Opponents, led by the Lakewood Citizens Alliance, counter that the new code does not actually require affordability and could strain city services while reshaping neighborhood character. Karen Gordey has urged residents to ask whether Lakewood’s infrastructure, from streets to sewers, is ready for the level of infill the ordinances would allow.
Why the change happened
Lakewood’s rewrite did not happen in a vacuum. It is part of a broader package of 2024 state land-use and housing laws and related guidance that pushed many Colorado communities to modernize local codes, including new rules on accessory dwelling units, parking minimums and transit-oriented housing, according to the Colorado Division of Local Affairs. State materials also link timely compliance to access to certain grants and technical assistance meant to boost housing supply, a connection local officials have cited as a key reason they moved ahead with the changes when they did.
What a vote could mean
City leaders warn that scrapping the new code could turn into a legal and financial migraine. Councilmember Roger Low told Denver7 the result “could jeopardize the city’s compliance with the new state law and make it harder to get state funding” for affordable housing, parks and infrastructure projects.
Backers of the new code say it comes with guardrails, including rules meant to curb unusually large new homes that can loom over neighbors. Opponents respond that those safeguards are cold comfort without explicit requirements that the added units be affordable to typical Lakewood households.
How to vote
Every active, registered Lakewood voter is scheduled to receive a ballot by mail. The last day to request that a ballot be mailed is March 30, and April 7 is the final day to register and pick up a ballot in person, according to the City of Lakewood. The city lists multiple 24-hour drop-box locations, including at the Lakewood Civic Center and Belmar Library, and stresses that all ballots must be in a drop box by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
With metro housing costs already sky-high and local sale prices still elevated, the April 7 vote will decide whether Lakewood leans into state-driven densification or snaps back to tighter local controls. Recent market trackers put the citywide median sale price at around $555,000, according to Redfin, a number that helps explain why this zoning fight has turned into one of the city’s biggest political showdowns of the year.
