Residential Care / Group Homes
Group homes, community care homes, or residential care facilities exist in neighborhoods across the country, including in Denver.
In these homes and facilities, guests receive treatment, supervision, emergency shelter, personal care, protective oversight, or similar services, from staff onsite as a condition of the guests’ residency. (This does not include care provided by domestic employees or home-care workers.) Tenancy may range from overnight to 30 days or more.
A guest is any person who stays overnight, regardless of total length of stay, to receive care or services. Staff and volunteers who live elsewhere, but stay overnight while working or volunteering are not considered guests.
Residential care uses include but are not limited to:
- Shelters
- Community correction facilities and halfway houses
- Recovery residences (also knows as sober homes or sober living) where a guest’s participation in a program of supervision, treatment, or care is required
- Rehabilitation facilities
- Assisted living facilities
- Nursing homes or hospices
Use classifications
Residential care is categorized into four different types based on the number of residents or guests served. This determines where the residential care use can be located, how it will be reviewed for approvals, and whether any other limitations apply.
Residential Care Use Types
Residential care uses are defined and distinguished by number of guests as follows:
- Residential Care Use, Type 1: up to 10 guests year-round, or up to 100 guests for a maximum of 130 days per year
- Residential Care Use, Type 2: 11 to 40 guests
- Residential Care Use, Type 3: 41 to 100 guests
- Residential Care Use, Type 4: 101 or more guests
| Use type |
Where they are allowed |
Additional requirements |
| Type 1: up to 10 guests year-round, or up to 100 guests for a maximum of 130 days per calendar year
|
All districts where residential uses are allowed, except community corrections facilities are not allowed in single-unit and two-unit zone districts |
- Zoning permit required unless facility is operated by a religious organization
- Density requirements apply in single-unit, two-unit or row-house districts
|
| Type 2: 11 to 40 guests |
All districts where residential uses are allowed, except community corrections facilities are not allowed in single-unit and two-unit zone districts |
- Zoning permit required
- Community information meeting required in single-unit, two-unit and row-house districts
- Minimum parcel size applies
- Only allowed where Residential Care or other institutional uses such as church, school or government office were previously established in single-unit, two-unit and row-house districts
|
| Type 3: 41 to 100 guests |
Higher-intensity zone districts that allow apartments, commercial uses, etc. |
- Zoning permit required
- Community information meeting required
- Spacing requirements apply
|
| Type 4: 101 or more guests |
Higher-intensity zone districts that allow apartments, commercial uses, etc. |
- Zoning permit required
- Community information meeting required
- Spacing requirements and density requirements apply
|
Download Summary of Residential Care Regulations
Before you apply
Learn how to use the Denver Zoning Code: Watch a short video (~2 minutes; opens in YouTube)
- Use theDevelopment Services map to find your zone district, landmark status, and other site-specific information for your property. Each zone district correlates to an Article of the zoning code, and at the end of each of these Articles, there are detailed District Specific Standards that list all of the uses permitted in your zone district.
- Items to look for in the code:
- Is a Community Information Meeting(PDF, 187KB) required for your residential care type?
- Will you have enough vehicle and bicycle parking for your residential care type?
- Are there any other limitations that may apply? For these, look to Article 11 of the Denver Zoning Code or Article IV of the Former Chapter 59 code for specific use limitations that apply to your project.
- Residential care zoning permits require a pre-application meeting. Schedule by email >
What to submit
Written Narrative
With your online application, upload a written narrative describing the type of residential care and supervision that will be provided onsite and the total number of residents/guests to be served. Please be as descriptive as possible.
Site Plan
Site plan must be complete and accurate. Plans prepared by a qualified design professional are preferred; however, stamped plans are not required for zoning submittals.
- Provide a fully dimensioned, black line site plan showing all existing and proposed structures. Show all required building setbacks and build-to lines/dimensions.
- Must be drawn to a commonly recognized scale. Scale must be included on the plan(s). Drawings that are subsequently reduced/scanned and cannot be verified for dimensions will be rejected.
- North arrow
- Title block with business name, site address, applicant name and date
- Label all zone lot lines (e.g., Primary Street, Side Street, Rear)
- Identify all site features, including vehicle entry/exit, landscape areas, additions, sheds/exterior storage, trash enclosures, transformers, bollards, new vents/flues/rooftop mechanical equipment, canopies, patios, fences, railings, and ramps
- Identify all vehicle parking areas and the dimensions of all parking spaces (or note typical), drive aisles, and setbacks from zone lot lines
View sample zoning plans:
Floor Plan(s)
Drawing must be complete and accurate. Plans prepared by a qualified design professional are preferred; however, stamped plans are not required for zoning submittals.
- Title block with business name, site address, applicant name and date
- Provide fully dimensioned floor plans for each primary structure
- Must be drawn to a commonly recognized scale. Scale must be included on the plan(s). Drawings that are subsequently reduced/scanned and cannot be verified for dimensions will be rejected.
- The total gross floor area of the proposed use stated on the application must match the dimensions shown on the submitted floor plans. Any discrepancies must be corrected prior to the issuance of the requested permit.
- Show dimensions of all floors of the proposed project, including the roof if work is being proposed on the roof (e.g., new rooftop mechanical equipment).
- Label all areas with the existing and proposed use or activity
- Identify all points of pedestrian and vehicle access to the structure
- Provide a legend and list the zone district, primary use(s), accessory use(s) as applicable, and gross floor area by permitted zoning use and for each floor (see DZC, Division 13.3 and FC 59, Sec. 59-2 (131) for definitions of “gross floor area”)
View sample zoning plans:
Building Plans
All residential care uses must comply with Denver Building and Fire Code. Depending on the number of occupants and level of care, the group home may need to install or establish the following:
- a sprinkler system,
- two independent exits,
- a facility personal care plan,
- an evacuation policy,
- a smoke alarm system,
- emergency escape and rescue openings, and
- fire-resistive-rated walls and floors.
Any proposed construction work inside or outside the structure will also require building permits.
Some residential care uses will also need to obtain a business license after receiving a zoning use permit.
Ready to apply?
View instructions
Note: The permit for an approved residential care use expires when the operator who is specified in the permit no longer operates the residential care at that property. Residential care located in a Former Chapter 59 zone district is renewed every two years.