What can be done about the housing shortage in Northern Colorado?

What can be done about the housing shortage in Northern Colorado? Allowing homeowners to legally rent out a carriage house or basement apartment would be a good start. It’s virtually impossible to find a home with zoning that allows this, many owners do it illegally which encourages unsafe living conditions, ie, lack of proper egress. The city and county are concerned about parking and changing the character of neighborhoods, but even if you have a 40 acre property outside of town, Larimer County’s most common rural zoning prohibits you from renting out a second unit unless you are housing agricultural workers. I think it’s time to change this and open up more affordable housing units for our community. What do you think?