Golden additions, remodels and custom builds.

It depends on the slope, and the limit is specific. Golden’s standard states that grading disturbance shall not occur on slopes over 25 per cent, and the hillside standards are triggered once more than 25 per cent of a site exceeds 15 per cent slope. On a view lot this usually determines building placement and foundation design before anything else. The source document predates a zoning rewrite completed in 2025, so we confirm the current text with the city before design.

Plan on the calendar rather than the drawing being your critical path. Golden’s historic districts are on 8th and 9th Street, 12th Street and East Street. Exterior work needs a Certificate of Appropriateness, and applications are due four to six weeks before the monthly board meeting. A compatibility COA is free; a demolition COA is $500.

Golden is a subject jurisdiction under Colorado HB24-1152, so the state floor applies: one ADU where single-unit detached homes are allowed, decided administratively with no public hearing, on objective standards, with no permanent owner-occupancy commitment and generally no new parking requirement. Golden’s own published ADU page still describes owner-occupancy, one parking space, a three-occupant maximum and an 800 sq ft or 50 per cent cap, and makes no reference to the state law. Those two do not agree, so we confirm the current position with the city rather than quoting either.