HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - COMPLETE AGENDA - 07/13/2021 - WORK SESSION
City of Fort Collins Page 1
Jeni Arndt, Mayor
Emily Gorgol, District 6, Mayor Pro Tem
Susan Gutowsky, District 1
Julie Pignataro, District 2
Tricia Canonico, District 3
Shirley Peel, District 4
Kelly Ohlson, District 5
City Hall West
300 LaPorte Avenue
Fort Collins, Colorado
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Carrie Daggett Darin Atteberry Tammi Pusheck
City Attorney City Manager Interim City Clerk
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City Council Work Session
July 13, 2021
6:00 PM
(Amended 7/12/21)
Spanish interpretation is available at this meeting using the Zoom link below:
Interpretación en español está disponible en esta reunión usando el siguiente enlace de Zoom:
https://zoom.us/j/98241416497
CALL TO ORDER.
1. Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update. (staff: Jackie Kozak-Thiel, Meaghan Overton, Caryn
Champine; 15 minute presentation, 30 minute discussion)
The purpose of this item is to:
1. Provide background information on the history of the City’s housing policies;
2. Summarize current housing policy direction as adopted in the Housing Strategic Plan (HSP, 2021);
3. Summarize community feedback about housing and share input from the April 2021 Community
Summit;
4. Provide updates on early implementation progress for specific HSP strategies; and
5. Outline next steps and future Council involvement.
City of Fort Collins Page 2
2. Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program. (staff: Caryn Champine, JC Ward, Emily Olivo; 10 minute
presentation; 45 minute discussion)
The Mobile Home Park (“MHP”) Residents’ Rights Team is currently developing a comprehensive
enforcement program for mobile home parks to improve livability in parks across Fort Collins, improve
the City’s relationship with MHP managers and owners, and increase manager and owner
accountability.
An education program with community clean-up days leading up to regular proactive Code Compliance
patrols would be implemented over the next three years, with a concentrated engagement effort in
2021 and 2022 that would enable staff to learn the full scope of the work, build relationships with
residents and management, and support MHP’s compliancy prior to any official inspection. In 2021,
we have already begun this engagement effort with senior (55+) MHP’s and have two grant-funded,
volunteer-based clean up and resource fair events planned in each senior MHP this fall. Other
engagement techniques planned include mock inspections and neighborhood walks with code
enforcement staff to answer questions and prepare managers.
The final MHP enforcement program is anticipated to include regular proactive patrols and
investigation of complaints, an annual inspection, annual park registration, and annual MHP property
manager certification. Priority enforcement focus areas will be periodically reviewed and updated to
ensure emerging and important issues are addressed.
3. Fort Collins Connexion Update. (staff: Colman Keane, Chad Crager; 10 minute presentation; 20
minute discussion)
The purpose of this item is to provide to Council and the public an overview and update of the
Connexion municipal fiber build-out.
ANNOUNCEMENTS.
ADJOURNMENT.
DATE:
STAFF:
July 13, 2021
Meaghan Overton, Housing Manager
Jackie Kozak-Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer
Caryn Champine, Director of PDT
WORK SESSION ITEM
City Council
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION
Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this item is to:
1. Provide background information on the history of the City’s housing policies;
2. Summarize current housing policy direction as adopted in the Housing Strategic Plan (HSP, 2021);
3. Summarize community feedback about housing and share input from the April 2021 Community Summit;
4. Provide updates on early implementation progress for specific HSP strategies; and
5. Outline next steps and future Council involvement.
GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
What feedback do Councilmembers have on early implementation of the Housing Strategic Plan?
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
Fort Collins developed its first Affordable Housing Strategic Plan in 1999 to stimulate housing production for
residents who make under 80% of the area median income (AMI). An update in 2015 set ambitious goals to have
10% of the City’s housing inventory designated as affordable by the City’s buildout, which is anticipated to be in
the next 20-25 years. The Housing Strategic Plan (HSP, March 2021) is the most recent update to the City’s
adopted housing policy. The HSP brought forward the 10% affordability goal from the 2015 plan and expanded
the scope of the City’s housing policy to include the entire housing spectrum.
Fort Collins has an extensive history of addressing housing affordability in adopted plans and policies:
• Affordable Housing Redevelopment
Displacement Mitigation Strategy (2013)
• City Plan (2019)
• Council Priorities (2019-2021)
• Housing Affordability Policy Study (2014) • City Strategic Plan (2020)
• Affordable Housing Strategic Plan (2015) • Social Sustainability Gaps Analysis (2020)
• Social Sustainability Strategic Plan (2016) • Our Climate Future (2021)
• Housing Strategic Plan and Home2Health (2021)
As a City and with our community partners, these plans and policies have led to a range of interdependent
implementation actions since 2015 including, but not limited to, the following:
• Regulations – Reduced the minimum house size required by the Land Use Code; established a
manufactured housing zone; implemented development incentives for affordable housing; and revised
metropolitan district policy.
• Partnerships – Supported the completion of two permanent supportive housing projects by Housing Catalyst
at Redtail Ponds and Mason Place; supported development and construction of more than 600 affordable
homes (2015-2021); solidified new partnerships such as Elevations Community Land Trust.
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• Investments – Annual investment of $1.5 - $3 million annually via the competitive process; secured $4 million
over ten years via the Affordable Housing Capital Fund (CCIP); activated the Land Bank program for 96 new
permanently affordable rental units and acquisition of a new five-acre land bank parcel.
More information about the City’s affordable housing efforts can be found on the Social Sustainability webpage.
Council has also reviewed detailed information about t he City’s housing policy direction at several work sessions
and hearings, a selection of which is included below:
• July 2019 Work Session – Affordable Housing and Mobile Home Preservation Council Priorities
• April 2020 Work Session – Affordable Housing Priorities, Inclusionary Zoning, Linkage Fees
• July 2020 Resolution – Establishment of Ad Hoc Housing Committee
• August 2020 Work Session – Housing Strategic Plan
• December 2020 Work Session – Housing Strategic Plan
• January 2021 Work Session – Housing Strategic Plan
• February 2021 First Reading – Housing Strategic Plan
• February 2021 First Reading – Off-Cycle Appropriation for Land Use Code (LUC) Phase 1
• March 2021 Second Reading – Housing Strategic Plan
• March 2021 Second Reading – Off-Cycle Appropriation for Land Use Code (LUC) Phase 1
• August 2020-April 2021 – Monthly Council Ad Hoc Housing Committee Meetings
Policy Direction: Housing Strategic Plan
The HSP brings forward the City’s goal to achieve 10% affordable housing by 2040 and establishes a community
vision that everyone has healthy, stable housing they can afford. The HSP vision includes four components:
• Everyone: Challenges Fort Collins to assess who does (and does not) have healthy, stable, or affordable
housing today and to design strategies to ensure a person’s identities are not predictors of whether they, or
our community, achieve this vision.
• Healthy Housing: Addresses physical and mental well-being inside and outside of the home.
• Stable Housing: Recognizes housing is the most important platform for pursuing other life goals (i.e.
“Housing First”), and that a secure place to live is a fundamental requirement for well-being.
• Afford(able) Housing: Ensures an adequate supply so community members do not spend more than 30% of
their incomes on housing.
Existing Conditions, Strategies, and Key Outcomes
To identify the greatest challenges to achieving the HSP vision, staff compiled an Existing Conditions Assessment
based on existing data and community feedback to summarize the current state of housing in Fort Collins. Seven
greatest challenges were identified:
1. Price escalation impacts everyone and disproportionately impacts BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of
Color) and low-income households.
2. There are not enough affordable places available for people to rent or purchase, or what is available and
affordable is not the kind of housing people need.
3. The City does have some tools to encourage affordable housing, but the current amount of funding and
incentives for affordable housing are not enough to meet our goals.
4. Job growth continues to outpace housing growth.
5. Housing is expensive to build, and the cost of building will likely continue to increase over time.
6. It is difficult to predict the lasting effects of COVID-19 and the impacts of the pandemic.
7. Housing policies have not consistently addressed housing stability and healthy housing, especially for people
who rent.
The 26 strategies included in the HSP are designed to take the first steps to overcome the grea test challenges
outlined above. The strategies are designed to achieve multiple outcomes:
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• Increase Housing Supply and Affordability (12 Strategies): Examples include removing barriers to
accessory dwelling units (ADUs), updating the LUC, creating a new revenue stream.
• Increase Housing Diversity and Choice (12 Strategies): Examples include recalibrating existing incentives,
exploring innovative housing development, removing barriers to allowed densities via the LUC.
• Increase Stability and/or Renter Protections (11 Strategies): Examples include exploring a rental registry
or licensing program, exploring revisions to the City’s occupancy policy, and supporting resident organizing in
manufactured home communities.
• Improve Housing Equity (11 Strategies): Examples include promoting inclusion and affordability as
community values, supporting foreclosure/eviction prevention, assessing displacement risk.
• Preserve Existing Affordable Housing (9 Strategies): Examples include extending the required
affordability term for new developments, and right or option of first offer/refusal for public and tenants,
respectively, when affordable housing developments go up for sale.
• Increase Accessibility (2 Strategies): A visitability policy that increases accessibility for people w ith mobility
challenges and advances the 2020 Analysis of Fair Housing Choice Action Steps.
Housing Needs
Data compiled for the HSP illustrates that the housing needs in Fort Collins are concentrated at the lower end of
the income spectrum. For renters, the need is greatest at 60% AMI and below ($41,880 for a 2-person
household); for owners, the need is greatest at 120% AMI and below ($83,760 for a two -person household).
However, it is important to acknowledge that there are also gaps in housing supply th roughout the entire housing
system. City Plan estimated a housing shortage of approximately 2,000 units by 2040, assuming that growth and
housing production remained relatively consistent over time. In short, housing price escalation and limited
availability of housing in Fort Collins will likely continue to worsen unless we can increase the overall supply of
housing while also seeking to increase the community’s inventory of deed-restricted, affordable housing.
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Progress Toward 10% Goal
In 2015, affordable housing made up 5% of the City’s housing stock. Between 2015 -2019, the City and its
partners added 373 new affordable homes. In 2020 and 2021 to date, an additional 246 homes were added to the
city’s affordable housing inventory. However, the tota l number of housing units has also increased proportionally,
which means that affordable units still make up only 5% of our overall housing stock. To get back on track to
achieve our 10% goal by 2040, we need to increase the amount of affordable housing by 282 or more units every
year from 2020 onward. This is more than double the City’s average annual production of affordable housing.
Housing as a Community Priority
In addition to the data shared above and in the Existing Conditions Assessment, commu nity members regularly
identify housing affordability as a top priority for action in citywide engagement efforts. Home2Health engagement
further clarified areas of focus for the HSP, which are reflected in the vision for the plan, in the 26 prioritized
strategies for implementation, and in the key outcomes the strategies are designed to achieve.
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Community Survey Results (2019)
In the most recent annual Community Survey (2019), availability of affordable quality housing was the lowest
rated characteristic of our community. Only 12% of respondents rated the availability of affordable quality housing
as ‘very good’ or ‘good,’ which is lower than both national and Front Range benchmark data. The same survey
also asked residents to identify in their own words the one item or focus area the City should improve upon in the
next few years, and 20% of respondents who provided a written answer cited housing affordability in their
feedback.
City Plan Engagement (2018-2019)
During the extensive engagement effort for the most recent update to City Plan - which included thousands of
residents, more than 175 public events, and countless Plan Ambassador and Community Partner hours of small -
group meetings - housing affordability was frequently mentioned as a high priority for the future of Fort Collins,
including the following:
• City Plan kickoff (400+ participants) - “Housing access” identified as the highest priority focus.
• Visioning (769 participants) - When asked what should be prioritized in the City Plan vision, “housing choices,
attainability, and affordability” were most frequently mentioned.
• Scenarios (1022 participants) - In general, 77.2% of respondents were open to “moderate” or “big” changes to
improve housing attainability and provide more housing choices. Community members also supported a
greater diversity of housing types in future neighborhoods (74.2%) and in existing neighborhoods (58.7%).
Home2Health Engagement (2019-2021)
Home2Health was a two-year, grant-funded project built around partnerships, community dialogue, and capacity
building to ensure that the voices and ideas of community members who are experiencing the day -to-day reality
of housing instability can influence the City’s policy decisions. Approximately 700 people participated in
Home2Health engagement over a two-year period. Demographics collected at events show engagement and
recruitment led by Home2Health Community Partners helped reach a more representative group of people
including renters, residents of Hispanic/Latinx heritage, students, and residents who make less than $50,000 a
year. This partnership-based approach successfully closed persistent engagement gaps that have been identified
in previous City-led efforts. Areas of focus for the HSP identified through Housing Strategic Plan Fall 2020
Engagement Report included:
• Stability. The cost of housing is a major source of stress and instability for many households. People wan t
options for stable rentals and home ownership.
• Equity. A diverse community where equity guides how we fund, build, and manage housing.
• Choice. People recognized that different households have different housing needs. They prioritized having
options for the types of housing they rent or buy. This calls for increasing the total supply of housing,
revamping the housing we have, and improving access to amenities like public transportation and parks.
• Collaboration. Housing is a complex problem, and one organization cannot do it alone. Community members
want the City to take a lead role, but also want the community and local organizations to step up and be part
of the solution.
• Creativity. People want new and innovative solutions. They want the City and the comm unity to be willing to
do things differently.
Transition to Implementation
Implementation of the Housing Strategic Plan has been
designed to follow a two-year cycle that is aligned with the
HSP guiding principles. A two-year cycle allows
responsiveness to change in the market and in the policy
landscape, encourages regular community dialogue, and
creates opportunities to be adaptive and agile as we
assess our progress toward a future where everyone has
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stable, healthy housing they can afford. The Implementation section of the HSP is included for reference.
(Attachment 1)
Implementation is both what we do and how we do it. While cross-departmental teams throughout the City and
our partners are working to implement specific strategies in the HSP, we will a lso be learning, identifying future
opportunities, building partnerships, and acknowledging that there is no single strategy that will solve all our
community’s housing challenges.
Everyone has a role to play, and we will need to continually navigate the work in front of us alongside a long-term
commitment to create a more equitable housing system for everyone in our community.
Community Summit
In alignment with the HSP 2-year implementation cycle, the public kickoff for plan implementation was a virtua l
four-day Community Summit in April/May. The Summit provided opportunities for community to engage in
dialogue with each other, learn from others’ experiences and expertise, discuss how each policy could be
implemented, help define metrics for success, and build collective understanding of the different strategies in the
HSP. Each day of the Summit had a different theme:
• Increasing Housing Supply and Choice (6 strategies)
• Improving Housing Stability and Health (8 strategies)
• Building and Preserving Affordable Housing (6 strategies)
Participants were able to attend one, two or all three of the Community Summit workshops and the Community
Wrap-Up on the fourth day. About 100 people participated in the Summit, with about 40 attendees at each event.
Demographics reflected a diverse population including about 30% Hispanic/Latinx attendees, 25% renters, and
about 30% attendees making less than $50,000 per year (not all attendees completed demographic questions).
Spanish/English language justice interpretation was provided to enable mixed-language small-group discussions.
CSU’s Center for Public Deliberation provided a full report summarizing community concerns, barriers to
implementation, and ideas for successful implementation for each of the three Summit work shops. (Attachment
2). A recording of the Community Summit Wrap-Up Night is available here.
Completed Strategies
In the three months since HSP adoption, several strategies have been completed:
Strategy Description Update Next Steps Timeline Future
Council
Involvement
9 Off-cycle
appropriation
to advance
Phase One of
the Land Use
Code (LUC)
Audit.
This appropriation
was approved by City
Council in
conjunction with HSP
adoption in March
2021. A consultant
team has been
selected for this
project and work is
underway.
Implementation of
LUC Phase 1
Updates (more
detail below).
Completed None
required
10 Refine local
affordable
housing goal
While the HSP brings
forward the City’s
established goal to
achieve 10%
affordable housing by
2040, the plan also
Continue to
prioritize rental
affordability that
focuses on 60%
AMI and below,
and ownership
Completed None
required
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identified a need for
further refinement
and clarification of
the goal in the
context of Fort
Collins’ housing
needs.
(Attachment 3)
affordability that
reaches 80% AMI
and below.
Acknowledge the
gap in ownership
affordability for
households earning
between 80% and
120% AMI and
consider incentives
or tools for middle-
income housing.
17 Reconsider
affordable
housing
requirements/
funding as
part of metro
districts.
This strategy was
completed with
Council’s adoption of
a revised metro
district policy in April
2021. This revised
policy requires a pre-
application meeting
with Council and
adds and evaluation
points system for
public benefits
including housing,
energy conservation,
water conservation,
and neighborhood
livability.
The policy will be
reviewed every 2
years.
Completed Medium
(Council will
consider new
Metro
Districts if
proposed and
review the
adopted
policy in 2
years)
Priority Strategies Currently Underway
Of the 17 HSP strategies that are already in progress, several projects have been identified as priorities for
implementation through community engagement and/or by the Council Ad Hoc Housing Com mittee. A detailed
update for each of these priority initiatives (some of which address multiple strategies) is included below:
• Equity and Opportunity Assessment (Strategy 1 – Assess Displacement and Gentrification Risk): To ensure
that equity remains at the center of policy decisions, LUC changes, and the overall implementation of the
HSP, the Ad Hoc Council Housing Committee identified a need for assessment of displacement and
gentrification risk as a “quick(er) win” for implementation. This work is bei ng incorporated as a task within the
LUC Phase 1 updates and is expected to be complete by September 2021. (Attachment 4) Implementation
will include an assessment of displacement vulnerability, creation of an opportunity index to identify high -
amenity areas, and an analysis of gentrification by Census tract. Staff will be able to regularly maintain and
update these analyses in future years with readily available data. Future Council involvement in this effort is
low. Staff proposes to share progress throug h memo updates and/or a staff report if desired.
• Land Use Code (LUC) Phase 1: Housing (Strategies 7, 13, 14, 15, 16): The LUC Phase 1 updates will
reorganize the Land Use Code to improve readability and usability, and will also begin implementation for fi ve
different strategies in the HSP:
o Strategy 7 – Remove barriers to the development of Accessory Dwelling Units .
o Strategy 13 – Recalibrate existing incentives to reflect current market conditions.
o Strategy 14 – Create additional development incentives for affordable housing.
o Strategy 15 – Explore financing and other barriers to missing middle and innovative housing.
o Strategy 16 – Remove barriers to allowed densities through code revisions.
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A draft scope of effort for this project is currently being finalized, and a draft engagement plan is included.
(Attachment 5) A Council work session tentatively planned for November to discuss proposed code changes.
Adoption is anticipated in early 2022. Because Council will need to formally adopt any proposed changes to
the LUC and this project includes significant community engagement/dialogue, future Council involvement in
this effort is high.
• Occupancy and Rental Programming (Strategies 20, 21, 26): One of the HSP greatest challenges identified
that City policies have not consistently addressed housing stability and healthy housing, especially for people
who rent their homes. This Occupancy and Rental Programming effort will explore updates to the City’s
occupancy ordinance (commonly called U+2), propose a range of options for a rental registration and/or
licensing program, and pursue funding and other incentives for small landlords to encourage them to keep
housing healthy, safe, and affordable. The specific HSP strategies addressed by this effort are:
o Strategy 20 – Explore the option of a mandated rental license/registry program for long-term rentals and
pair with best practice rental regulations.
o Strategy 21 – Explore revisions to occupancy limits and family definitions
o Strategy 26 – Small landlord incentives.
This effort is expected to take several years. Initial steps include peer cities research to learn about different
approaches to occupancy and rental programming as well as demographic analysis of Fort Collins’ current
rental housing occupants. A Council work session is tentatively planned for October to discuss potential
scope, sequencing, and approaches. Because Council will need to formally adopt any proposed changes to
the Municipal and Land Use Codes and this project includes significant community engag ement/dialogue,
future Council involvement is high.
• Revenue Options for Housing (Strategy 11 – Create a new dedicated revenue stream to fund the Affordable
Housing Fund): Though Fort Collins invests $1.5 - $3 million into affordable housing production and
preservation annually, the HSP estimates that the total annual funding need is closer to $10 - $11 million.
Exploring a range of options (sales tax, impact fees, inclusionary housing fees -in-lieu, etc.) to generate
consistent, dedicated, and flexible revenue for affordable housing will be a critical piece of HSP
implementation. In addition, the current Community Capital Improvement Program quarter-cent sales tax that
funds the Affordable Housing Capital Fund and other capital improvements will expire in 2025.
There are multiple community priorities that require new or additional sources of funding, and these priorities
should be discussed in context with one another. Accordingly, staff will begin discussions with the Council
Finance Committee this fall about revenue generation for community priorities around housing, transit, and parks
maintenance. Because Council will need to approve any proposed ballot language and/or formally adopt any
additional fees for housing and this project will include significant community engagement/dialogue, future Council
involvement in this effort is high.
Other Strategies Underway
Strategy Description Update Next Steps Timeline Future
Council
Involvement
4 Implementation,
tracking and
assessment of
housing
strategies
Housing dashboard
is currently under
development. Staff
is working to identify
key metrics and
indicators with Root
Policy Research,
consultant for the
HSP.
Select metrics and
indicators, begin
design of housing
dashboard. If
possible, consider
integration with
other City
dashboards (e.g.
Equity Indicators).
Quick(er)
win, <1
year
Low
8 Extend the City’s
affordability term
Staff has begun
researching peer
Share proposed
affordability term
Quick(er)
win, <1
Medium
(would
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communities’
affordability terms
and having
discussions with
affordable housing
providers.
changes with
housing providers
and other
stakeholders.
year require
adoption of
changes)
24 Support
community
organizing efforts
in manufactured
home
communities and
increase access
to resident rights
information,
housing
resources,
programs
In conjunction with
Strategy 23, staff in
Neighborhood
Services are actively
building
relationships and
partnering with
residents in the
city’s manufactured
housing
communities.
Council work
session in July to
discuss
manufactured
housing
enforcement,
needs assessment
to support
development of
enforcement
program.
Quick(er)
win, <1
year
Medium
(needs
assessment
and
education/
engagement
incorporated
into 2022
budget
process)
25 Foreclosure and
eviction
prevention and
legal
representation
A grant program for
foreclosure and
eviction prevention
was funded through
the CARES Act to
address the impact
of COVID-19. This
program is funded
through 2021.
If funded through
2022 Budgeting
for Outcomes
(BFO) process,
continue providing
grants for legal
services to
prevent eviction
and foreclosure.
Quick(er)
win, <1
year
Low
(incorporated
into 2022
budget
process)
5 Advocate for
housing-related
legislation at
state and federal
levels
The passage of
HB1117 enables
municipalities to
adopt inclusionary
housing ordinances
for rental housing.
The measure will
take effect in
September 2021.
Update the 2020
Inclusionary
Housing and
Impact Fee Nexus
Study as needed,
memo update if
requested,
evaluate potential
options and
feasible timelines.
Transfor-
mational,
2+ years
High (will
require policy
development,
stakeholder
engagement,
Council
adoption)
6 Visitability Policy 2021 updates to the
International
Residential Code
are underway, and
interior visitability
changes are being
considered as part
of this effort. Exterior
changes will be
considered as part
of the 2024 updates.
Code Adoption
Committee
meetings through
August 2021,
presentations to
Boards and
Commissions,
Council adoption
of Building and
Energy Codes
Transfor-
mational,
2+ years
Medium (will
require
Council
adoption of
changes)
23 Tenant right of
first refusal for
cooperative
ownership of
multifamily or
manufactured
housing
communities
In conjunction with
Strategy 24, staff in
Neighborhood
Services are actively
building
relationships and
partnering with
residents in the
Explore options for
a consistent
Resident-Owned
Community (ROC)
policy; future
Council Work
Session
Transfor-
mational,
2+ years
Medium (will
require
development
of consistent
approach and
future
Council
engagement)
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city’s manufactured
housing
communities. In May
2021, Council
authorized $200,000
to support the
conversion of
Hickory Village to a
Resident-Owned
Community (ROC).
Next Steps
Staff will share regular implementation updates with Council via memo as deliverables for HSP strategies are
completed. Work sessions for Occupancy and Rental Programming (October) and LUC Phase 1 (November) are
both tentatively scheduled for this fall. Council Finance Committee will also begin a discussion about revenue for
community priorities including housing, transit, and parks this fall. A graphic summary of next steps is below:
ATTACHMENTS
1. Housing Strategic Plan - Implementation (PDF)
2. Home2Health/Center for Public Deliberation - Community Summit Report (PDF)
3. Strategy 10 - Goal Refinement Memo (PDF)
4. Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (PDF)
5. Strategies 7, 13, 14, 15, 16 - LUC Phase 1 Engagement Plan (draft) (PDF)
6. Powerpoint Presentation (PDF)
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HOUSING STRATEGIC PLAN | 2021 63
Implementation
Housing and shelter are fundamental community needs.
This plan recognizes that achieving the vision that
“Everyone has healthy, stable housing they can afford”
requires contributions from the entire community. This
work also acknowledges that no single community in
the United States has solved this issue, and the Fort
Collins housing system is influenced by systems beyond
city boundaries—whether that is our regional workforce,
statewide policies, or the national housing market.
Therefore, we will need to be in a continual testing mode
to assess which strategies can work, pilot them where
appropriate, and then bring viable solutions to scale.
Adapting to changing conditions—both within the broader
market and the community—will be critical as we proceed
in the decades it will take to reach the vision.
Based on these assumptions and this plan’s commitment
to being centered in equity, the following framework is
offered as a starting point for how to lead this work into
the future:
•Immediate next steps as we transition from planning to implementation in 2021;
•A biennial lifecycle for assessing progress, revisiting priorities, checking in with the
community and with City leadership; and
•Guiding principles for future decision making.
The following sections describe each of these elements in more detail.
Immediate Next Steps in 2021
The final step in the planning process is just the beginning of the work to ensure that everyone has
stable, healthy housing they can afford. Implementation is when community, Council and City staff
will transition from “what” to “how” we achieve this vision. The following elements are key next
steps:
•Community Summit (Spring): To support moving from the planning phase to implementation,
staff is working with Home2Health partners to design a community summit that will focus
on mapping out implementation of the prioritized strategies in the Plan. More details on this
summit will be available at www.fcgov.com/housing.
•Implementation Roadmaps (Spring/Summer): With the community summit complete,
staff and community partners will develop an overall implementation strategy and specific
implementation roadmaps. These roadmaps will include metrics and indicators to evaluate
progress; an explanation of how projects will ensure accountability and embed equity for all,
leading with race; and clarification about specific roles required to implement the prioritized
strategies.
–To align with Strategy 10 to Refine the Affordable Housing Goal, the implementation
roadmaps will include more specific subgoals to achieve the vision.
•Council Work Session (Summer 2021): After the Community Summit, staff will present the
outcome of the Summit and roadmaps for implementation and ongoing tracking to City
Council in a Work Session.
As noted on page 10, centering
this work in equity includes both
process and outcomes:
Equity in process: Ensuring
everyone has meaningful
opportunities to engage and
provide input into the Housing
Strategic Plan process.
Equity in outcomes: Everyone
has healthy, stable housing they
can afford.
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It is important to note this plan does not commit dedicated funding for implementation. As with
any policy change, new program, or code revision, future City investments in moving the priority
strategies forward need to follow standard budget processes. These processes include evaluation
of costs and benefits, examination of relative cost effectiveness, and consideration of community
costs. And while cost effectiveness is a critical piece of future investment in implementation, it
must also be considered alongside other City priorities including equity and sustainability.
As noted above, in summer 2021 the City will lead a process to finalize implementation roadmaps
with specific metrics and indicators for success. Though additional indicators may be identified
for specific projects, the general indicators below be used to guide the development of all
implementation efforts. These indicators specifically address equity in process and outcomes and
are intended to ensure continued transparency and accountability as strategies are implemented.
Indicator Area Indicator
Equitable Process • Evaluate engagement in ongoing programs, processes, and services by
income and race
• Allocate resources in project budgets to achieve equity in process, e.g.,
language justice and compensation for community members’ time and
expertise
• Consistently provide language justice and access to interpreters/
translators at City events and in materials and programs, especially in
Spanish, and consider other languages
• Consistently provide childcare and other resources to remove
engagement barriers for all community members
• Develop and apply a consistent approach to embedding equity in
implementation
Equitable Outcomes • Affordable housing inventory
• Fort Collins’ Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) compared to western
states region HOI
• Housing stock in comparison to income levels (will be refined with the
subgoal development addressed in Strategy 10)
• Homeownership rates, disaggregated by race and income
• Accessible units
• Distribution of affordable housing throughout the city
• Percentage of cost-burdened homes (renters and owners)
• Jobs/housing balance
• Long-term homeless exits and entries
• Level of funding dedicated to affordable housing
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Biennial Planning Lifecycle
This work will be ongoing for decades. The steps below illustrate how the City will assess progress
and move forward to implementation on a biennial basis.
1. Assess Progress: Work with community members, including community partners,
stakeholders, and historically underrepresented groups, to measure progress against
established metrics. What is working? What could be improved? What did not work? Who
benefitted and who was burdened?
2. Revisit Priorities: As noted above, the housing market and system will always be evolving,
and community priorities should evolve with these changes. Based on iterative assessment,
revisit the full strategy list. Ask if new strategies should be considered. With community
partners and stakeholders, apply the guiding principles to consider annual priorities and work
plans.
3. Confirm Priorities: Create space for community members and City leadership to confirm
priorities and assess if others should be considered. Note tensions and opportunities as
they arise, especially from groups impacted by strategies, that should be considered in
implementation.
4. Design Summit Every Two Years: Continue efforts to partner with community members
to co-create work plans with community partners, stakeholders, and City staff. Create new
metrics to assess progress, as applicable, for new priorities.
These steps are just a starting point for checking in every two years—they will evolve as the City
and community partners gain more experience in equity-centered planning and implementation.
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Guiding Principles
To support this work moving toward implementation, the plan includes a set of guiding principles
to document how the City and community will make decisions in the future. They will support
future strategy selection and overall prioritization to determine annual work planning. While the
housing strategies may be updated or changed on an annual basis, the guiding principles will
continue throughout the lifecycle of this plan.
Why have guiding principles? Guiding principles recognize that the prioritization of strategies will
continue to evolve as they are tested, evaluated, and adapted. In addition, new strategies will arise
and initial ideas may prove not to have the intended impact. Finally, Fort Collins’ work on housing
is bigger than one person, one entity, or any one project, and transparently documenting how
decisions will be made going forward is critical for ongoing accountability.
When will the guiding principles be applied? These principles will largely be a tool for overall
prioritization of strategies in any given two-year period. While individual strategies will continue to
be assessed against the evaluation criteria, the guiding principles will support a holistic approach
to evaluating overall priorities for the housing system.
How will the guiding principles be applied? In the biennial planning lifecycle, the community
and the City will partner to apply the guiding principles, and decision makers will review the
subsequent priorities established at each design summit.
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Guiding Principles for the Housing Strategic Plan
Guiding Principles What the Principle Means
Center the work in
people
• One outcome, targeted strategies: achieving the vision that “Everyone has healthy,
stable housing they can afford” will require a suite of strategies that target different
income levels, geographies, and identities; the portfolio should support the entire
system of impacted players.
• Value of both content and context experts: prioritize strategies from technical and lived
experiences. Both forms of expertise should contribute to prioritization.
Be agile and adaptive • Review priorities annually for progress and overall work planning
• Priorities and strategies must be specific enough to generate real solutions and flexible
enough to address the changing landscape of the community, the region, and the
market.
• Evaluate when citywide solutions are needed and when place-based solutions are best.
Balance rapid decision
making with inclusive
communication and
engagement
• Be clear that the work requires action while also prioritizing time and space for all
community members, businesses, and stakeholders, especially those most impacted by
the decisions, to engage with and influence the outcome.
Build on existing plans
and policies – and
their engagement
• Review adopted plans and policies for informing policy priorities.
• Also review the feedback community members have already shared on a topic before
asking again – respect their time and prior engagement.
• Identify opportunities to complement and amplify existing goals, priorities, and where
strategies can advance the triple bottom line.
Expect and
label tensions,
opportunities, and
tradeoffs
• Recognize and name where limited resources impacted decision making, where
stakeholders are impacted differently and have different perspectives, and the tradeoffs
in moving forward with a given solution.
Focus direct
investment on the
lowest income levels
• Target limited financial resources for housing the lowest income households. Policy
should be used all along the continuum to stimulate a wide range of housing choice for
residents of all ages, income levels and life stages.
• Exceptions can include when an innovative technique or strategy is being applied at
higher AMI levels but generally should not exceed 120% AMI.
Commit to
transparency in
decision making
• Be clear regarding how the decision maker came to their conclusions and what they did
or did not consider.
Make decisions
for impact,
empowerment, and
systems (not ease of
implementation)
• Prioritize strategies for outcomes, not necessarily ease of implementation. However,
where high impact and ease of implementation overlap, take swift action to move these
efforts forward.
• Prioritize strategies that advance multiple priorities, the triple bottom line, and
partnerships that recognize all community members, businesses, and stakeholders are
needed to achieve the vision.
• Assess the entire portfolio of prioritized strategies for a mix of quick wins versus
longer-term transformational solutions that may require more dialogue and investment
to implement
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WHAT WE HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY
“I think any collection of new tools or adjustments will need to be coupled with an aggressive
public education campaign that addresses the cognitive dissonance in the voting public that
says they want affordable housing, but don’t actually want the solutions that would get us
there, at least not in their neighborhood.”
“There needs to be a systemic change to both wage and housing laws in order to address the
challenges. Responsibility for this would come down to legislators and elected officials, which
to an extent means the population that votes for them.”
“I don’t have a notable experience with housing because I am only 15, and my parents were
lucky when they bought our house years ago because we got a good deal. From hearing from
my peers, I think decision-makers need to know that we need more affordable housing in Fort
Collins and low-income housing as well.”
“I think affordable housing is long overdue and I am extremely in favor. I would be proud of
FoCo if it made plans to take care of more citizens. I love this city and the phenomenal ways I
see my tax dollars at work.”
“I’m a big fan of the language in the Draft Strategic Plan around accessory dwelling units and
missing middle development. While I like the idea of (subsidized) affordable housing, I think
increasing the housing supply will be a much bigger hammer. I’d like to see more changes to
zoning code to allow higher density without requiring parking. As a homeowner in an already-
dense neighborhood I understand that that will be politically difficult, but it’s necessary to
keep people living in the city they love.”
“As someone who is privileged enough to be able to afford to own a home in Fort Collins, I
support efforts by the community to improve affordable housing options. I support them even
more if they are creative, I’m not scared of co-housing and community gardens. I understand
and am fine with the fact that this might cost homeowners a little more. Our community is
only as strong as the most vulnerable and I’m more than happy for my city to make that a
little more equal.”
“I understand that the city of Fort Collins may not have enough funding allocated to put more
money into housing, but I think there are other avenues that can be explored. People should
advocate for further investment in housing and the city needs to change the u+2 law.”
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CONCLUSION
City Plan’s Vision calls for our community to “take
action to address the needs of all members of our
community and strive to ensure that everyone
has the opportunity to thrive. As a community, we
commit to building a healthy, equitable, sustainability
city – for our families, for our neighbors, and for
future generations.”
The Housing Strategic Plan responds to this vision
by advancing twenty-six strategies designed to
overcome the greatest housing challenges facing
Fort Collins today. With this Plan’s adoption, we
move into learning and testing mode and begin the
commitment to revisiting the prioritized strategies
every two years. If any place can do this, it’s Fort
Collins. Together, we will create a future where
everyone has healthy, stable housing they can afford.
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Home2Health Project Report 1
About the Center
The Colorado State University Center for Public Deliberation (CPD) serves as an impartial
resource to the northern Colorado community. Working with students trained in small group
facilitation, the CPD assists local government, school boards, and community organizations by
researching issues and developing useful background material, and then designs, facilitates,
and reports on innovative public events. The interpretations and conclusions contained in this
publication have been produced by CPD associates without the input of partner organizations to
maintain impartiality.
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HOME2HEALTH COMMUNITY
SUMMIT.
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Event Recruitment and Design
To solicit broader feedback on the Housing Strategic Plan (HSP) the Center for Public Deliberation, in
partnership with the City of Fort Collins and the Home2Health Core Team, designed a series of three
Community Summit events that addressed a different topic area each night. City partners on the
Home2Health Core Team examined the HSP and crafted three distinct nightly themes that would
encompass various strategies within the plan. The nightly themes were:
Increase Housing Supply and Choice
Improve Housing Stability and Health
Build and Preserve Affordable Housing
These themes were created to ensure that residents felt they did not need to attend all three events
to respond to the strategies that may most impact them or others in their communities. However,
many residents still opted to attend all three of the events. To encourage wider diversity of
participation and to honor the time our community members spent in conversation with one another,
we offered $40 stipends for each night of the summit. Approximately 30% of participants who
attended declined the stipend.
We created an RSVP survey and distributed it to the community with help from the Home2Health Core
Team and other City partners. During the RSVP process, we asked participants to select two strategies
to discuss as well as share certain demographic information.
When then used the information provided in the RSVP form to create breakout groups of between 8-
10 based on which strategies each participant had chosen to discuss. We attempted to make sure
each participant was able to discuss their top choices, though some strategies were collapsed into
other groups due to limited interest. The breakout groups consisted of community members with a
variety of expertise on housing issues. Some were developers or builders, some were landlords, some
were in local business, and many were community members with context expertise who lived in
manufactured housing communities, affordable developments, and a variety of other housing
situations.
Numerous breakout groups included both English and Spanish speakers and we utilized a Language
Justice Model of interpretation provided by the Community Language Co-Op. Language Justice allowed
all participants to communicate in the language they were most comfortable with and provided real-
time interpretation to both English and Spanish speakers.
Prior to the event, we provided all participants with an informational handout that contained specific
details about each of the strategies they would discuss at their Community Summit. Handouts were
provided in both English and Spanish. You can find links to these handouts in the Appendix.
Process
Each Community Summit was held on Zoom due to continued gathering restrictions. At the events,
small groups were facilitated by a Student Associate at the Center for Public Deliberation and
supported by a partner with the City of Fort Collins or a member of the Home2Health Core Team.
These support staff provided a ten-minute introduction about specific strategies in their unique
breakout groups and stayed in the groups to provide information and resources as needed to
participants. There was also a note-taker in each group tasked with recording all comments, questions,
and information shared by participants. Student facilitators guided the conversation by asking a series
of questions in two parts. Part one was aimed at building community understanding and consisted of
the following questions:
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What are the key issues impacting your community in relation to this strategy?
How might this strategy impact your community?
What would successful implementation of this strategy look like?
Part two focused more specifically on the strategy participants had chosen to discuss and asked the
following questions:
How might these strategies be adapted to better suit community needs and ensure equity?
How might you or others in your community help implement these proposals?
Are there barriers you can imagine to achieving successful implementation? How might we
address those?
Because there were both English and Spanish speakers present at the event, we had to coordinate up
to five additional Zoom meetings for breakout room discussions. These breakout groups were created
during the introduction of the event to ensure the meeting stayed within the proposed time and to
minimize lag time between the introduction and facilitated conversations. To facilitate sending all
participants to the correct breakout group, they were first sent to breakout rooms in the main Zoom
meeting. For the groups with Spanish speakers, their facilitator then posted a link to the new meeting
and remained in the breakout room until all other participants had joined the new meeting. Once all
members were present in their correct breakout groups, students facilitated a 50-minute discussion
about the group’s first selected strategy.
After the first 50-minutes had elapsed, all breakout groups were sent to the main Zoom. For those in
groups with interpretation, this meant sending another link to the main Zoom. All participants were
then given a 10-minute break to allow for the creation of new breakout rooms. When participants
returned from their break, they were again sent to their own unique breakout groups to discuss the
second strategy they had chosen for that evening. This second strategy was also discussed for 50-
minutes with the same question prompts provided above.
After the second 50-minutes had elapsed all groups were sent once more to the main Zoom for closing
remarks from the City of Fort Collins and other partners.
Once the three Community Summit events were complete, a small team of students compiled notes
from each event into one document. After the notes were compiled, each comment in the notes was
thematically coded and we compared themes across strategies and breakout groups. In the sections
below, we share brief demographic breakdowns for attendance at each Community Summit, as well
as major themes we identified. These themes are organized roughly according to the frequency with
which they appeared in the event notes.
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Thursday, April 22nd
Increase Housing Supply and Choice
Key
Information
The tables on this page
share only two
demographic categories
we asked on the RSVP
survey. You can find a full
accounting of the
demographic information
from participants of
Community Summit 1 in
the Appendix
Non‐
Hispanic/Latinx
Hispanic/Latinx
ETHNICITY
HOUSING STATUS
Rent Own
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Summit 1 Strategies
Strategies for the first Community Summit focused on issues related to building codes, builder
incentives, and resources tied to building costs. The following strategies were discussed:
Evaluate implementation of a visitability policy.
Remove barriers to allowed densities through code revisions.
Remove barriers to the development of Accessory Development Units (ADUs)
Recalibrate existing incentives to reflect current market conditions.
Explore/address financing and other barriers to missing middle and innovative housing
developments.
Increase awareness and opportunities for creative collaboration across water districts and
other regional partners around the challenges with water costs and housing.
Based on participant selections, the most popular strategies from this event are italicized above. This
was determined by the number of overflow groups required for each of those strategies. What follows
is a discussion of major themes that arose during these conversations which are divided into three
specific sections: community concerns, barriers to implementation, and successful implementation.
Community Concerns
At each summit, participants began their facilitated conversations by focusing on their current
experience with housing and concerns they had about the strategy itself or their current conditions.
Across all breakout groups and strategies, themes tied to concerns about resources, current definitions
of affordable housing, and potential impacts on current housing were identified.
Current affordable housing is inaccessible. Numerous participants at Summit 1 expressed
confusion and concern over how the City of Fort Collins defines what affordable housing is. They also
felt there weren’t enough affordable units being built in new developments and expressed a desire for
an increased percentage of required affordable units in any new development. Some participants went
so far as to say 75%-80% of housing in new developments should be set aside as affordable housing.
However, there was a great amount of confusion and disagreement over the City’s definition of
Affordable Housing with numerous residents saying they currently don’t make enough money to even
afford those units. Many participants across breakout groups felt that affordable units still catered to
higher income earners because of the current state of the local housing market. There were also
numerous participants living in mobile home communities who shared that owning a home is
unattainable and they were not interested in affordable apartments because of space issues, they just
wanted more stability in their current living situation. As one participant said:
“Housing is practically unreachable for us which is why we live in mobile homes. It would be
nice to have a house, but we need to be realistic as well. For me, I would not be willing to pay
for an apartment. I would be willing to invest money in a house.”
In addition to the above noted concerns, participants also noted their feelings that much of the
affordable housing being built, or on track to be built, in the City was not benefiting residents who
wanted single-family homes and was more often being built for Colorado State University students.
Overall participants were concerned that even with increased affordable housing being built in the
City, it still would not be accessible to the people who need it most.
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Impacts on current housing. Participants in their breakout groups also expressed concern that
code changes or allowing innovative types of housing might have an impact on their current housing
situation. Some worried about the changing landscape of their current neighborhoods if specific
building codes (especially those related to height restrictions) were relaxed. Many felt there are certain
neighborhoods in the City that are not well-suited for things like ADUs because of the lot sizes, so
they expressed a need for the City to make sure these codes are re-evaluated with that in mind.
Residents in mobile home communities expressed a deep fear that continued development of
affordable and innovative housing might eventually mean their communities would disappear, which
would put many in a precarious situation as mobile homes are currently the only types of housing
they can afford. As one participant said:
“The City’s strategies are not thinking of the population with low resources, so their strategy
is thinking big but [not] thinking in terms of increasing the number of resources needed. We
don’t have disposable income to access them [affordable units]. Keep people with low
resources in mind when developing. Growth will make mobile home parks disappear. Growth
should be applicable to us too, take us into consideration. Not everything needs to be super
expensive, conserve things that people with low resources can pay for.”
Other residents noted that relaxing codes could lead to fewer available single-family homes, especially
if the occupancy codes were changed. This was coupled with a concern for currently existing homes
being removed and replaced with newer housing that could potentially lead to gentrification. Residents
wanted assurance that changes to codes would still work to preserve currently existing housing.
Concern for resources. In several groups, participants continually discussed concerns around
where additional resources would come from to fund many of the suggested changes or updates to
code. The term resource in this conversation encapsulates not only financial resources, but also
building resources, natural resources that determine the cost of new builds, and community resources
like transportation. Numerous participants had questions about the funding mechanisms for strategies
and expressed concern there would be an impact on the cost of living in the form of increased taxes
to create these additional funding mechanisms. Additionally, participants noted that simply building
more housing and providing more choice will not necessarily solve any problems if community
resources like grocery stories and transportation lines weren’t also in proximity to this housing. As one
participant noted, regarding potential costs:
“Regarding fee waivers and subsidies: someone always has to pay for it. What the City may
not be considering is the value added to the tax base when you’re providing to income levels
not served by the market.”
Participants across numerous breakout groups discussed a desire for the City to be sure these changes
do not increase financial burden of other community members.
Barriers to Implementation
Participants were also asked to consider what barriers might prevent successful implementation
of their selected strategies. In these conversations, two clear barriers revealed themselves:
current community attitudes about affordable housing, and lack of education and awareness
about housing issues and the Housing Strategic Plan.
Lack of education/awareness. One of the largest themes cutting across all breakout groups
was that many participants did not understand what numerous strategies were proposing. This
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was especially true for strategies that were more technical in nature. Participants expressed a
need for more information and more opportunities to be educated not only on the specific
strategies within the HSP, but also about housing issues more generally. While all the
participants were able to self-select into their strategy groups, it was clear many attended this
event in hopes it would be an informational session lead by the City rather than a small group
conversation soliciting community feedback. While resources were provided in advance, they
didn’t appear to provide enough background information for some of the strategies participants
were discussing. At times this led to conversations in breakout groups becoming question and
answer sessions, rather than focusing on the discussion questions.
One participant noted that limited access to education on housing issues was a larger problem in some
communities than others:
“Lots of people don’t know about rules or grant opportunities. [They] may not be able to get
information unless they have a younger person or community leader that can help them with
that sort of thing. People often feel intimidated by the process. People of color even more so.
There’s a trust issue. Take information to them.”
There were numerous questions to context experts about current codes, rules surrounding ADUs, and
what was already happening in the community regarding many of these issues. Participants also
mentioned they had a hard time understanding where to access current information about the HSP or
housing issues generally. Some participants expressed hesitance about moving forward with any of
the strategies until more research had been done by the City of Fort Collins and builders/developers.
Though English-speaking community members had access to the entire Housing Strategic Plan, it may
not have been accessible (participants in Phase 4 of Community Guides noted some of the language
was challenging). There also was not a Spanish version of the HSP available before the event itself.
Providing more accessible information about the various strategies in the HSP will likely help many of
these issues.
Community attitudes about affordable housing. Echoing one of the barriers identified in Phase
4 of Community Guides, participants identified negative attitudes and social stigmas as one of the
biggest barriers to pushing many of these strategies forward. Numerous residents reflected on how
their neighbors are either reluctant or completely against having affordable housing or innovative
housing built near where they live. Mentions of NIMBY attitudes happened across several breakout
groups. In addition to community member attitudes in general, many participants also felt that HOAs
and their attitudes about neighborhood appearance would create barriers to meaningful change.
Many of the conversations seemed to acknowledge that residents in Fort Collins, especially those who
have lived here for many years, don’t want to see the character of their neighborhood changed due
to updated codes that allow for more housing types. Some participants noted that many
neighborhoods throughout the City are not well-suited for increased density because of these aesthetic
concerns.
Participants also acknowledged that desire for open space and nice views were likely driving many of
the negative attitudes toward the proposed changes and there was a conversation about how to get
the community on board. Some also acknowledged that open space does not benefit everyone in the
community equally. As one participant noted:
“People have an ‘I was here first’ attitude. [We] need to point out the advantages of changes
to the community. Why is it so important for people to ‘lock in’ when they move here? We
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need to understand what that is to move the conversation on change. [There is a] tension
with open space. Who do open spaces benefit? Not usually poor folks. Green space is nice,
but you can’t enjoy it if you can’t find a place to live.”
Many participants noted the importance of keeping community involved and informed to potentially
address this barrier. Increased collaboration is seen as a key factor in changing community attitudes.
Successful Implementation
Participants and their groups were also asked to consider what successful implementation of
their chosen strategies would look like and how they might change or improve the current state
of building or attaining more affordable housing in the City. Three main themes were identified
in participant notes: reduced bureaucracy, increase collaboration within the City, and increased
housing choice and diversity.
Limiting bureaucracy. Conversations around successful implementation focused heavily
around making building affordable housing and creating innovative housing a more streamlined
process. Participants noted that a decrease in “red tape” would be a positive outcome of many
of the strategies discussed. Many of these discussions focused on how reducing the amount of
City involvement in decisions about what owners can do with their own land would create much
more opportunity for a variety of housing types and more people would be willing to experiment
without fear of violating the building codes.
The reduced fear associated with more relaxed building codes was also discussed often by
participants. There was a clear understanding that many residents in the City are currently
violating codes to make their housing more affordable, but constantly worry about being
caught. Many noted they rely on others in the area being “good neighbors”, so they don’t get
reported to code compliance. As one participant said:
“People often reach out and talk to neighbors versus reporting them to the City. It’s
hard to stay in compliance all the time—it’s tough to keep up with everything! Codes are
there, but it’s difficult to know all the rules. People simply need to continue living and
often don’t have the time to know, understand, and follow all the rules.”
While most participants felt that reducing bureaucracy was a net benefit, many also mentioned the
City would need to work hard in the face of these changes to ensure neighborhoods were still safe.
Some of the codes participants appreciated were those tied to neighborhood safety. There was also a
strong desire to make sure neighborhoods didn’t become segregated and that there could be diverse
neighborhoods while also creating a community that honored where people had chosen to live.
Increased collaboration within the City. Another marker of success for participants was a
potential for increased collaboration between the City, residents, developers, and other community
players who have a role in housing in the community. Many participants felt that ongoing community
engagement efforts and previous conversations have opened the door to create less of an “us vs.
them” mentality between residents and City leaders and they were excited about the potential to
continue increasing collaboration.
Participants also noted that for many of these strategies to be successful, creating a Resident Council
would help keep the community involved and maintain collaborative links while also getting
communities access to information about housing policy within the City. Participants liked the idea of
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allowing a diverse group of community members to be on this Council and able to represent
community needs at City Council meetings and in other places where decisions are being made. They
also noted this would allow for more residents in the community to get to know each other and
understand the unique experiences of various residents.
Finally, participants discussing the strategy tied to collaboration across water districts recognized how
important the City’s role is in building and maintaining these relationships. Some expressed concern
that as water districts currently operate, they are mostly suited to serve agriculture, and to have
success there would need to be increased collaboration to equip them to better serve urban and
suburban areas. In addition, participants expressed hope that bringing water districts together in
conversation may have a positive impact on the cost of water, not only as it relates to new builds, but
also for current residents who are feeling the strain of rising water costs where they live.
Increased housing choice and diversity. A final theme in the discussion about successful
implementation focused on how many of these strategies could result in more diverse neighborhoods
and a wider variety of housing types for people to choose from. Like participants in Phase 4 of
Community Guides, participants in these breakout groups expressed excitement about the idea that
new people may be able to live in their neighborhoods. Numerous participants were also curious about
how inclusionary zoning may help make new neighborhoods more accessible to people across the
income spectrum.
Additionally, participants discussed how relaxed barriers on density and ADUs would be beneficial for
residents who wanted to age in place, or for families who wanted to be able to support their adult
children transitioning into college. One participant said:
“One positive would be senior housing. With families wanting to put a residence in the back
yard for parents or grandparents. College students that want to move out but not be in mom
and dad’s home. This could be an opportunity.”
It’s important to remember, however, that participants also expressed a desire to maintain their
current neighborhoods and living situations, so for them housing diversity also means preserving what
is already there while allowing for continued innovation.
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Saturday, April 24th
Improve Housing Stability and Health
Key
Information
The tables on this page
share only two
demographic categories
we asked on the RSVP
survey. You can find a full
accounting of the
demographic information
from participants of
Community Summit 2 in
the Appendix.
Non‐
Hispanic/
Latinx
Hispanic/
Latinx
ETHNICITY
HOUSING STATUS
Rent Own
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Summit 2 Strategies
Strategies for the second Community Summit focused on issues related to renter protections and
landlord education, expanding family definitions and occupancy limits, and increasing access to
housing assistance and equal opportunities for housing across the City. The following strategies were
discussed:
Explore the option of a mandated rental license/registry program for long-term rentals and
pair with best practice rental regulations.
Explore revisions to occupancy limits and family definitions.
Fund foreclosure and eviction prevention and legal representation.
Support community organizing efforts in manufactured home communities and increase access
to resident rights information, housing resources, and housing programs.
Develop small landlord incentives.
Implement the 2020 Analysis of Fair Housing Choice Action Steps
Based on participant selections, the most popular strategies from this event are italicized above. This
was determined by the number of overflow groups required for each of these strategies. Themes
identified in event notes are organized in the following sections: community concerns, barriers to
implementation, and successful implementation. For this Summit we have also added an additional
section tied to the U+2 ordinance and Colorado State University’s role in affordable housing issues in
the City. This section was added to more fully address the robust conversations had by our participants
surrounding these topics.
Community Concerns
Strategies at this Summit were more directly tied to resident rights and healthy housing. As such,
common themes aligned closely with these concepts and we identified three specific areas of concern:
accessibility of affordable housing, lack of residents’ rights, and impacts on small landlords. Some of
these themes are echoed from Summit One, others are new. In the sections below we provide more
detail for each theme.
Accessibility of affordable housing. Much like participants at Summit One, participants across
breakout groups had numerous conversations about how in its current state, even housing deemed
affordable by the City is unattainable for many residents. These conversations touched on financial
accessibility and physical accessibility.
Some participants noted current rents are rising faster than wages and people are struggling to keep
up and maintain their housing. Participants in these conversations mentioned the stress tied to
continued price increases negatively impacts their health in many ways. Like conversations in previous
phases of Community Guides, participants discussed how many residents in the City are having to
choose between paying their housing costs or taking care of other necessities, and because they do
not want to be displaced, they choose the housing costs. This choice then leads to other negative
outcomes in their ability to pay for health services, utilities, and healthy foods. As one participant said:
“They need support in the form of direct credit, not from a bank with a high interest rate. The
cost of their housing is increasing putting them at risk for displacement, with more money
needed for housing they cannot afford other bills.”
Concerns tied to affordability of current housing were also raised by residents of Hickory Village mobile
home park, some of whom attended all three nights of the Summit. Many feared they would not be
able to afford the purchase on their low incomes and were struggling to decide what choice would be
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most beneficial for them. Residents noted they did not have any other housing options so if they could
not afford the purchase, they weren’t sure what would happen with their housing situation.
Finally, residents addressed concerns tied to the physical accessibility of affordable housing in the
City. Many participants said there are numerous places throughout the City that are not accessible to
people with disabilities. Some even mentioned things like the steps at their own home being a barrier
for older family members visiting without difficulty. In addition, residents discussed the state of
sidewalks throughout the City and said it would be important for certain accessibility requirements to
be met on any new affordable structures built. While difficulty accessing affordable housing was a
problem discussed across incomes and ability levels, most participants acknowledged this was an even
greater challenge for residents with mobility issues.
Lack of resident’s rights. Numerous participants at Summit Two shared stories about their
experiences specifically with either renting a home/apartment or renting a lot in a manufactured home
community. Many of these stories demonstrated a concern for their lack of rights in the City. In several
groups, unsafe living conditions were discussed. Residents said they had lived in homes without heat
every time it snowed, experienced insect infestations, and struggled to get their landlords to take care
of basic maintenance in their homes. In addition to this, many participants noted that residents will
continue to live in unsafe conditions or homes in disrepair because they fear retaliation from their
landlords and do not feel protected by the City. Participants also mentioned they felt it was a common
occurrence for landlords to raise rents in response to maintenance requests. One participant said:
“My home state had better landlord/tenant laws. I feel like here they don’t care as much
because they know someone else will rent the property.”
In manufactured home communities, residents mentioned feeling victimized by landlords who continue
to increase rents and create strict rules about how they can access amenities in their own community.
For example, one participant discussed rules about when and where their children could play in the
neighborhood. In addition to concerns about landlords, many residents in manufactured home
communities felt they were not sufficiently protected from displacement if their communities were
turned into other types of affordable housing.
Some participants, though they recognized the burden on smaller landlords, expressed frustration that
landlords weren’t financially prepared to take care of properties and provide safe housing for their
tenants. They felt that if owners were going to rent homes to other residents of the City, they should
be held accountable for making sure they could take care of regular maintenance in a timely manner
and that residents weren’t living without heat or in dangerous conditions with pests or mold.
Overall, there seemed to be a concern that low vacancy rates, high costs, and lack of oversight and
education for landlords created problems for tenants. These problems ranged from unsafe housing
and hidden charges for maintenance visits, to what was perceived as a general apathy for maintaining
properties for their tenants.
Impacts on small landlords. While many participants across breakout groups discussed power
dynamics between tenants and landlords as a major concern, there were also many conversations
acknowledging that smaller landlords often had limited resources and experienced their own
challenges. Some worried how changing policies or requiring more affordable rents would impact
those landlords who just own one additional home and rent it out or inherited a property from family
with limited knowledge on how to properly maintain it. Participants acknowledged that while access
to affordable housing was particularly challenging for renters, landlords also faced unique struggles
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and could often not afford to keep rents lower because of the costs associated with maintenance and
general upkeep of their properties.
In some groups, participants tried to differentiate between large property management companies
who had numerous properties and strong financial stability and smaller landlords who did try their
best to maintain properties and keep rents affordable for their tenants. Many noted that while there
are issues related to lack of residents’ rights, there are also limited supports available for these smaller
landlords which often puts them in difficult situations. One participant shared:
“The landlords I know it is a question of financial resources. I know mom and pop landlords.
They may not have the money to replace all these things. I’m concerned what it would be like
to have the City come in and tell them they need to fix a lot of things they can’t afford. How
could they do this?”
Finally, some participants expressed concern that additional requirements for landlords would be
overly burdensome for those landlords who already have limited resources and time. They noted that
those with property management companies and other supports would likely have an easier time with
rental registries and other updated requirements, but small landlords would likely bear most of that
burden.
Barriers to Implementation
In conversations about potential barriers to implementing strategies from Summit Two, we identified
two clear themes: lack of education/awareness (which was echoed throughout each of these events)
and landlord reluctance or unwillingness. In the sections below, we provide more detail on these
themes.
Lack of education/awareness. This barrier encompasses not only lack of education about the
specific policies in the HSP, but also a general lack of knowledge and awareness about the various
housing programs and resources available for renters, landlords, and homeowners. Strategies at
Summit Two were considerably less technical than the other two events, so there were fewer instances
of extended question and answer conversations, but there was still a lot of confusion about potential
impacts of the strategies.
In terms of tenant supports, numerous participants shared they were not aware of many of the
resources available throughout the City. Often, support staff in the breakout rooms shared information
about specific programs or resources and most participants said they didn’t even know about them.
Further, many noted there was difficulty even knowing where to access information about programs
and resources, especially for Spanish speakers or those without reliable access to internet.
This lack of education was especially salient around issues of resident rights. As we discussed in earlier
sections, many participants expressed concern that tenants were being forced into unsafe living
conditions and did not hold landlords accountable for fear of retaliation. Because many participants
were not aware what resources were available to them, they stayed in unsafe or unaffordable
situations. As one participant said:
“If I had known about the resources available, that would have helped me as a renter. You
have to have the bandwidth to deal with these problems. I wish I would have known before
signing a lease how the landlords were rated by their past tenants.”
Furthermore, residents in manufactured home communities posed many questions about how
community organizing efforts would be supported by the City and mentioned they do not have enough
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information about what is going on in their own communities to feel secure in their housing. Spanish
speakers in those communities expressed a desire for more bilingual education opportunities to help
close the accessibility gap.
Most participants tended to agree that without increased education, many of these policies could not
be successfully implemented because the residents who need the support most would still not know
how to access the appropriate supports and resources.
Landlord reluctance/unwillingness. In earlier sections, we discussed community concerns about
the resources and bandwidth of landlords—especially small landlords without the support of property
management companies. In conversations about barriers, many participants felt that on the flipside
of this, many landlords are either reluctant or completely unwilling to engage in new programs or
systems. These residents noted that without buy in from landlords and property management
companies, many of these strategies would be difficult to implement well.
Participants also mentioned landlords may feel overly burdened by additional steps they might need
to take to participate in a registry program or educational classes about best practices. Many asked if
there could be ways to streamline these processes so landlords would be more willing to participate.
Some even went so far as to say these increased requirements would discourage landlords from
renting their properties entirely.
In addition to landlords, property management companies were also discussed as a specific barrier to
implementing many of these strategies. Some participants felt property manager apathy or reluctance
was an even bigger issue than the reluctance of landlords to participate in new programs. There were
landlords present in several breakout groups who expressed their frustration with poor communication
and service from property management companies. They said many of these companies would simply
not participate in registry programs or educational programs. This feeling seemed especially true in
discussions about high-volume property management companies.
Some participants shared they felt property managers were not even following required guidelines
now, so it seemed unlikely they would get on board if additional requirements were added to their
plates. They felt most property managers were simply doing the bare minimum to avoid legal
ramifications and didn’t put much effort in otherwise. One participant said:
“I live in an apartment complex with an on-site property manager. There is not training for
the property manager. It is a low-income housing complex with diverse people living there
and sensitivity training would be so important for property managers who interact with these
people.”
Based on the conversations across these various groups, it seems clear that the City will need to
consider steps to bring landlords and property managers alike on board for any future changes.
Successful Implementation
Participants at Summit Two shared various examples of what successful implementation might look
like for their chosen strategies. We identified two major themes in these conversations: Increased
support and resources, and increased collaboration and connection between the City and
community. These are discussed in more detail below.
Increased support and resources. It was clear throughout the event notes that participants saw
an increase in support and resources as one of the biggest benefits to implementing many of these
strategies. They focused not only on resources for tenants, but also on resources for landlords.
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Residents felt that true success would mean folks across the housing spectrum would have access to
all the resources they needed to live in healthy, stable housing and that landlords would have access
to necessary supports to take care of their properties and their tenants.
In terms of resident rights, some shared ideas for streamlining the complaint process for tenants or
potentially creating an app or other resource where tenants could share information about their
experiences with landlords and specific housing developments. Participants felt this would increase
transparency and give them valuable information necessary to make the best housing choices for
their families and their financial situation.
Additionally, participants felt that increased access to education for both landlords and tenants
would be a key marker of success for these strategies. It was clear in numerous conversations that
both tenants and landlords struggled to understand where to find the information they needed
about resources, support programs, and requirements. Participants noted that to achieve success all
this information should be readily accessible, available in English and Spanish, and that increased
transparency and communication between landlords and tenants was key.
Some participants also expressed excitement about the possibility for the community to become
more involved in the education process. One resident said:
“There are huge benefits to living in a college town in addition to the drawbacks. I would
love to see neighbors help educate students on the impacts they can have on the
neighborhood/community. For first time renters living on their own they may not know this,
so having members from that neighborhood who can help teach them would be a great
idea.”
Landlords in several groups mentioned that increased access to these resources and supports would
address many of the burdens they face currently in regard to maintaining their properties and staying
connected to their tenants. Many participants also expressed a desire for more opportunities for
tenants and landlords to access education together. Residents felt this would create stronger
community connections and support networks. In addition to this, participants said the City could help
encourage landlords to form an educational collaborative where they could share knowledge about
rental practices, their experiences, and provide support to one another.
Finally, some participants noted that providing some incentives to landlords and property managers
to make them more willing to participate in education opportunities and learn new rental practices
would be key. As we noted in the sections above, some companies and landlords in the City already
feel burdened by the current rental practices, so participants felt extra encouragement may be helpful
in bringing more people on board.
Increased collaboration and connection between the City and community. Participants at
this Summit also expressed a lot of excitement around how these strategies could improve the way
communities are connected to each other, and to City leaders. Many shared a desire for the City to
be more actively involved in conversations between landlords and tenants, rather than acting as a
passive source of information.
For many, this looked like increased community engagement on a variety of levels that was accessible
to residents across the City. Some mentioned opportunities for the City to have one-on-one
conversations with various community leaders to learn more about their experiences and provide
information and support that was tailored to their needs. Participants also noted how important it
would be for the City to be proactive in their engagement and outreach rather than reactive. They
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mentioned how often, the City doesn’t intervene between landlords and tenants until situations are
already tense. Participants envision a scenario where the City can step in before relationships are
strained and provide appropriate resources to help both parties.
Additionally, residents discussed potential for numerous coalitions to form across the City to make
sure all communities are involved in decision-making processes and conversations about affordable
housing. Participants wanted the City to make a concerted effort to recruit culturally competent
community leaders to bring information to residents who have historically been excluded from these
efforts. One resident shared the benefit of empowering these community leaders:
“Would be good to have folks who understand about our culture. Many times people speak
Spanish, but they criticize or judge us. If we are asking for help it is not because we want
them to make us feel like we are less or they are superior.”
Participants also had conversations about the best ways to recruit community leaders and culturally
competent community members who would be willing to help build bridges and provide vital
information. Because many of these residents are volunteers, there are numerous barriers tied to their
full investment. One participant suggested:
“Maybe community leaders could get paid for their time. People are busy and have other
responsibilities. [It] might be fair for the City to offer some kind of payment to people who
are there to serve and learn to support our community.”
Overall, participants expressed a desire for the City to become more actively involved as a bridging
institution between communities, residents, landlords, and other groups who are working on issues
tied to housing affordability.
U+2 and the Role of CSU
While we attempted to keep consistent categories across all three nights of the Community Summit,
discussions at this event contained a lot of information and feedback about not only the U+2
ordinance, but also Colorado State University’s role in addressing affordable housing issues. We felt
the sheer volume of these comments warranted their own section to discuss community concerns,
barriers mentioned, and what successful updates might look like.
Community Concerns: Participants identified various negative impacts they felt U+2 was having
on housing in the City. One of the most frequently discussed was the perception that this ordinance
was one of the major drivers of increased housing costs because fewer residents could occupy one
home without violating the ordinance. Participants stated this caused vacancy rates and housing
stock to be lower because residents who would typically choose to live with numerous people—like
students and multi-generational households—were unable to do so legally and had to occupy
additional housing that would otherwise be available to other residents.
Additionally, participants said the current occupancy limits put a strain on lower-income residents
who would benefit from splitting rent across several tenants in housing that can accommodate them
safely. They expressed frustration that they were not able to utilize space more efficiently in their
current housing. This frustration was shared by owners and renters alike.
Another issue discussed by numerous participants was the feeling that U+2 was pitting students and
families throughout the City against one another and making it more challenging for diverse people
in neighborhoods to build relationships and community with one another. Ultimately, participants felt
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U+2 was overly restrictive and hampered the ability for neighborhoods to have diversity in race,
income, age, and ability.
Participants did acknowledge and understand the original reason for the current ordinance, but
many of them felt it did not appropriately address the problems it sought to solve, namely student
partying and parking issues in neighborhoods. Residents said these problems still exist, and because
many across the City are willingly violating the policy in order to make ends meet, it may make more
sense to shift more responsibility onto landlords or management companies to address these issues
rather than a City-wide ordinance.
Some potential solutions discussed the option for family definitions to incorporate multi-generational
households or additional family members who may not be related by blood or marriage. Another
option proposed was to make occupancy limits based on the number of bedrooms in a house rather
than a set number across all types of housing. One participant provided a few more specifics:
“Are there factors which can be considered to adjust it? Size, driveways, parking, etc.?
These factors could be considered. Bedrooms are not the only factor. I have friends with
huge houses but only three bedrooms. Balance factors such as parking availability, size,
space, bedrooms, rental licensing factors, etc.”
Participants in these breakout rooms grappled with the complexity of changing or updating the
current ordinance, acknowledging there is no easy answer or solution. However, most did feel that
U+2 was overly restrictive, and a more case-by-case approach should be taken by the City.
CSU’s role in housing students. In most conversations about occupancy limits and student
populations, the role of Colorado State University becomes an additional topic of discussion. Summit
Two was no exception to this. While participants discussed potential adjustments to U+2, they also
talked about how CSU could play a bigger role in making sure students had access to housing that
wouldn’t deplete housing stock throughout the rest of the City.
Some participants felt that up until recently, CSU had not been appropriately involved in matters tied
to student housing and overall affordability issues in the City. Additionally, some expressed
sentiments that CSU was not a “good neighbor” for many residents in the City, especially those who
live near campus or the stadium. They expressed frustration especially tied to parking—permits
required to park near their own homes, lack of parking on game days, etc. Many felt that CSU
needed to play a more active role in making sure single-family homes did not get rented out by
students due to a lack of available student housing.
Many also wondered how Off-Campus Life and other resource centers at the university might be
able to take a more active role in housing policy throughout the City, especially in conversations
about occupancy limits and relationships between families and students who may live in the same
neighborhood. Participants felt that in terms of student behavior and accountability, CSU should be a
stronger partner with the City to enforce certain rules and expectations. There were employees of
CSU in these conversations. They noted there were certain resources already in place but said it
may be beneficial for CSU to work harder on educating students about being good neighbors.
Overall, Participants struggled with balancing the desire for diverse neighborhoods including students
and families with the desire for single families to have access to affordable housing as well. They were
hopeful CSU could play a bigger role in future conversations about these issues.
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Monday, April 26th
Build and Preserve Affordable Housing
Key
Information
The tables on this page
share only two
demographic categories
we asked on the RSVP
survey. You can find a full
accounting of the
demographic information
from participants of
Community Summit 3 in
the Appendix.
Hispanic/
Latinx
Non‐
Hispanic
/Latinx
ETHNICITY
HOUSING STATUS
Rent Own
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Summit 3 Strategies
Strategies for the third Community Summit focused on issues related to building and preserving
affordable housing. Things like financing for development, the ability for tenants or non-profits to buy
affordable housing and examining the City’s current affordability term. The following strategies were
discussed:
Create a new dedicated revenue stream to fund the affordable housing fund.
Expand partnerships with local Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to offer
gap financing and low-cost loan pool for affordable housing developments.
Require public sector right of first offer/refusal for affordable developments.
Extend the City’s affordability term.
Allow tenants right of first offer/refusal for cooperative ownership of multifamily or
manufactured housing communities.
Assess displacement and gentrification risk.
All strategies at this event had at least one overflow group, indicating many participants wanted to
discuss them. What follows is a discussion of major themes that arose during these conversations
which are divided into three specific sections: community concerns, barriers to implementation, and
successful implementation.
Community Concerns
The concerns identified by participants at Summit Three were similar to those discussed at our first
Summit on Thursday, April 22nd. These themes cut across each night of the Summit in unique ways
and were explained somewhat differently depending on the strategy participants discussed.
Participants again shared concerns about the inaccessibility and cost of affordable housing and
numerous concerns about how changes might impact their current housing or financial situation.
Affordable housing is inaccessible to many. A common refrain in numerous breakout groups
across all three Summit events was the acknowledgment that affordable housing in its current state
is still unattainable for many residents who live in the City of Fort Collins. Participants noted that in
the last several years, more people have been pushed out of the City due to increasing housing prices
and that residents with accessibility issues are often even more impacted by these issues. Additionally,
participants mentioned knowing numerous people in the City who have been on waitlists for affordable
housing units for years and still have not been able to get into housing. One participant noted a
particular concern about lack of choice:
“I currently live in an affordable housing community. One thing about this strategy that
concerns me is the City giving Housing Catalyst all the affordable housing properties/projects.
There would be little equity in this approach as it gives those that depend on affordable
housing little option in terms of choice.”
Some participants expressed frustration at people outside the City who buy smaller, more affordable
housing to fix up and sell at an increased cost, further reducing the available stock of affordable
housing. Many acknowledged that simply building more housing would not necessarily guarantee it
was affordable to all—the City would need to take steps to ensure that would be the case. A few
participants who lived outside the City shared their frustration that they cannot live where they work
and that most affordable housing is either too expensive, or already occupied.
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In groups that discussed the right of first offer/refusal for affordable developments and multi-family
communities, some participants expressed concern that even that is unaffordable for many who live
in those communities. Many wondered what mechanisms would be in place to make sure these
residents had enough time to secure the funding to complete these purchases, and additionally, what
might happen years down the road if many of the cooperative owners could no longer afford their
share of the payment.
Overall, participants seemed to realize affordability is an issue that cuts across the income spectrum.
There was also much discussion about wages in the City, with many noting that the issues tied to
affordable housing may not be solved unless there is an increase in the minimum wage. As one
participant said:
“I don’t know if the City can solve it. I think it’s an income issue more than anything else. I
think minimum wage is too low and has been for a long time. It just adds to the overall
problem long term. Perhaps the City can raise the minimum wage within the City. That could
help but would require a lot of political will and would face a lot of opposition.”
Impacts on current housing/neighborhoods. In breakout groups discussing the strategy tied to
assessing displacement and gentrification risk, participants expressed numerous concerns about how
continued changes and improvements to the City would permanently change the shape of some
neighborhoods. Participants noted concerns about historic districts and changing views if high rises
were allowed in the downtown area or in other places throughout the City, some noted these
continued improvements may eventually make currently affordable areas unaffordable. One
participant said:
“I have previous experience with gentrification. People with lots of disposable income came
in, purchased and renovated to drive up the price. This was previously an artist community.”
Many homeowners participating in the conversation shared concerns that adding funding to a land
bank or trying to find additional resources to build affordable housing would have the consequence of
increasing their already high property taxes. Participants understood that additional resources were
needed but were concerned about their ability to pay more. Additionally, residents in mobile home
parks were concerned that cooperative ownership would make their living situation more expensive.
Some participants noted that owning a home does not necessarily mean you are more financially
secure and that additional costs added on to owning a home would impact those with the lowest
incomes the most. One participant noted:
“You could argue that tax would be tougher equity-wise. The idea that a big home was already
paid for once, could not keep going at the current rate. It would be detrimental for people
who are money-insecure.”
Across all three nights of the Summit, it became clear that residents in manufactured home
communities are deeply concerned about how the changing landscape of affordable housing and the
City itself would impact their current living situation. Many noted they feel the City does not give them
enough information or resources to understand what could happen to their homes in the future. Some
expressed concerns that if Hickory Village became a cooperative and then residents eventually wanted
to move, they would not be able to do so.
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Barriers to Implementation
Participants at the third Summit discussed clear barriers tied to a lack of education and awareness
and overall lack of resources, support, and collaboration throughout the city for affordable housing
needs. These barriers are similar to those shared in the previous Summit events.
Lack of education/awareness. The strategies at this Summit were the most technical of all the
strategies discussed over the three events, which created much confusion in breakout groups. As we
explained in the previous section about event design, there was a representative from the City or the
Home2Health Core Team in each breakout group to provide background information about each
strategy and answer any questions participants had. In reading the notes from this Summit it was
often clear that participants had more questions than answers. In many groups we noted that
facilitators struggled to keep the conversation tied to discussion questions, and often time was spent
in question and answer with the City representative.
Participants asked clarifying questions about everything from property taxes, definitions of
gentrification, land banks, and many topics in between. They seemed to struggle to come up with
definitive answers to many of the discussion questions because they did not have enough information
about the strategy being discussed or the specifics tied to many of the more technical approaches.
Additionally, many participants noted there are many residents in the City of Fort Collins who do not
have access to education or resources that would help them maintain their current housing. One
participant was discussed helping a person at risk of losing their home and how lack of awareness can
be harmful for renters:
“He was cratered financially, and my desire was not to throw him out but figure out how we
can get him and his two kids to the next step. The property management company went to
Neighbor to Neighbor, which was great. The other thing I would say is that when he rented
the house, he didn’t know what renting the housing meant. [He] didn’t realize utility payments,
property maintenance, etc.”
Regarding the strategy addressing cooperative ownership of manufactured home communities,
participants noted the City would need to do a lot of work to properly communicate to residents on
the front end of these potential transactions. Participants wondered what the process would be for
informing residents their community is going up for sale and how much time they would have to pool
their money and put in an offer before it was released to the wider market. Numerous participants
noted a need for the City to examine the practices in other states that had been successful and work
to model their programs off those successes rather than starting with a blank slate.
Lack of resources and collaboration. Similar to conversations at the other Summits, participants
again noted their concern for a lack of resources throughout the City to meet its affordable housing
goals and how it would be possible for the City to increase those resources without creating an
additional burden on residents. Additionally, they noted that lack of collaboration across sectors and
within the City itself made it difficult to make progress on many of these issues.
Numerous participants said that land is one of our most valuable and scarce resources, so while it is
important to continue building affordable housing, if we don’t look at innovative ways of doing so, we
will eventually run out of space to build. One participant said:
“While increasing supply is one thing, we can’t build ourselves out of the problem. We will
sooner run out of resources and the prices will still go up. We need to consider land capacity.”
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In relation to this, many participants also discussed the recent Hughes Stadium vote which focused
on what the City should do with the new parcel of land left by the vacated stadium. Participants
understood the importance of open space to many in the community but felt that setting aside such
a large parcel of land for open space was a “missed opportunity”. Discussions centered around the
tensions between open space and utilizing land for additional housing. Many participants also noted
that code changes would be necessary to make sure we could utilize land more efficiently.
Additional discussions focused on how the City could conserve resources by updating and repurposing
housing and areas that already have certain infrastructure in place rather than focusing solely on new
builds. This was identified as one possible solution to the lack of resources.
While discussions about land and other natural resources happened across multiple groups,
discussions about financial resources also happened frequently. Many participants noted that the cost
of building housing continues to increase, and the City is already struggling to provide enough funding
and incentives to developers and builders of affordable housing. Across numerous groups participants
acknowledged this challenge and hoped the City could find creative ways to increase their funding
sources without placing excess burdens on residents in the community.
To this end, participants talked often about the need for increased collaboration across many sectors
in the City to address this challenge. Some discussed a potential solution tied to bringing private
businesses on board who might be willing to pay an increased tax to create more funding for affordable
housing. Additionally, they noted that the cost of housing is often made more expensive because of
insurance and liability issues for builders. A few participants noted that it’s often a challenge to get
the proper insurance to begin building housing developments like condominiums and wondered how
the City might be able to provide more financial support for those builders and developers.
Ultimately, participants acknowledged that lack of financial resources and figuring out how to secure
more of those resources would be a considerable barrier to implementing many of these strategies.
Many felt that additional changes to codes and the way the City prioritizes money would need to be
made to address this barrier. As one participant said:
“All the approaches that will be taken by the City are going to cost money and the City doesn’t
prioritize enough to reduce the disparity between incomes, largely due to zoning and policies.
The City needs to prioritize budgeting to address this disparity ahead of ‘feel good outcomes.’”
Successful Implementation
As with the other major themes noted above, most of the themes about successful
implementation were similar to previous conversations at the Summit events. Participants at
this event identified three major markers of what successful implementation of these various
strategies might look like in the community: increased access to affordable housing, increased
community support and collaboration, and more access to education and awareness.
Increased access to affordable housing. Many participants discussed how they feared Fort
Collins was becoming a resort town like Vail with lots of great things in the community, but
limited housing options. They noted many strategies at Summit Three would work to ensure the
City could have great jobs, a great university, and great housing stock to match the demand.
An ideal scenario for many of the participants was housing growth to match the job growth in
the City.
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Numerous participants also discussed the need for workforce specific housing to address
continued job growth. Across several groups participants felt that bringing in businesses to help
make this a reality would be beneficial. One participant said:
“I would suggest that if you have Habitat [for Humanity] be your developer to do
workforce housing, they should stay as workforce housing for 50-60 years. If they sell it,
it still has to remain workforce housing.”
In one group, the conversation focused on how increased partnerships with local Community
Development Financial Institutions would provide more funding to create new developments.
They argued that even if not all housing in a given development was affordable, increasing the
inventory overall would be a net benefit for affordable housing in the City. Many noted more
flexible funding that didn’t rely heavily on grant cycles would also allow the City to build and
maintain more housing.
As participants continued to discuss the increase of affordable housing that may happen as a
result of these strategies, they also focused on how true success would be marked not only by
more affordable housing, but more accessible housing as well. This meant many things for
participants: housing that can be accessed by people with disabilities, housing that is closer to
community resources like grocery stores, bus lines, and open spaces, and diverse types of
housing that can meet the needs of each unique resident in the City.
Participants did stress however, that the City needed to make sure to focus on making
affordable housing available not only to owners, but to renters as well. There was consensus
among the groups that these strategies would only be fully successful if affordable housing was
available across income spectrums and housing types.
Increased community support and collaboration. At each night of the Summit, and in
numerous discussions during our Community Guide conversations, residents and participants
noted lack of community support as a major issue. In these groups, participants felt many of
the strategies they were discussing would solve this problem and they felt that in order to fully
achieve success, it would take an increase in support programs and collaboration across many
sectors.
Participants in the group discussing displacement and gentrification risk noted that increased
community supports for those with mental health conditions or those suffering from addiction
would be vital to success. Many felt the current support structures were not designed to help
these residents, rather to penalize them. They discussed that support systems were available in
other cities that could be implemented in Fort Collins. One participant noted how challenging it
can be when you’re experiencing homelessness with limited supports:
“When people lose their homes, they are abused by police here. That’s making it
impossible for them to get back on their feet. You need to make $2,000 a month to get
help from Habitat. They’re being blamed for a situation we are creating.”
This group discussed a model from Pueblo that sends social workers out with police officers to
assist with calls related to people experiencing homelessness. The social worker can then help
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residents connect to resources. Numerous participants felt a similar model would be beneficial
here as well.
In addition to community supports for those having trouble maintaining housing, participants
discussed how important it would be for the City to provide more support for builders and
developers. As mentioned in the previous section about barriers to implementation, for many
builders and developers there is an incredible liability risk that drives up the cost of building
housing. Numerous participants felt that in order for any of these strategies to be successful the
City would have to collaborate with diverse groups and funding institutions to provide support
to make building housing more affordable so developers could then pass those savings on to
owners or tenants.
Overall, participants acknowledged that strong collaborative ties across the City would be one of
the most helpful ways to ensure the success of the various strategies they discussed. They were
hopeful these new collaborations would not only provide more funding to build housing, but
also help people throughout the City have greater access to vital resources they need to stay
housed and healthy.
More access to education and awareness. Finally, participants again discussed the
importance of education and awareness in making any of these strategies successful. It was
especially clear at Summit Three that many participants did not have all the information they
needed to fully discuss the more technical strategies. They noted true success would be
dependent on continued education efforts throughout the City.
When participants discussed cooperative ownership for multi-family units or manufactured
housing communities, they expressed a desire for some entity within the City to teach them
how to complete the process of purchasing. They said information would need to be readily
available for them to be willing to take on such a risk. One participant shared some things that
would be helpful for them regarding education:
“Printed materials in English and Spanish. People from the community to spread the
information to others. Meetings to explain and debrief on what the documents mean.
Helpful to have people that speak both languages as well.”
Other participants noted that while there may be information and resources available
throughout the City, there needs to be an improvement in how that information is shared with
the community so everyone is aware they have access to it.
Participants also continued to express interest in being more involved in the implementation of
many of these strategies. Noting they would be willing to attend more educational events,
community conversations, and be involved in various ways if the City provided them with
accessible opportunities to do so.
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NEXT STEPS.
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Next Steps
In the sections above we presented information that highlights many important insights for the
City of Fort Collins to consider as they move forward with implementing various strategies in the
Housing Strategic Plan. Below, we detail some potential next steps and lessons learned.
Education is key. Across all three Community Summit events, it was clear that more information is
needed about various strategies included in the Housing Strategic Plan. Numerous participants
expressed a need for more information and many others shared confusion about what specific
strategies were proposing to change or fix. Participants self-selected the strategies they discussed,
but this did not always mean they had a clear understanding of those strategies. More likely, many
participants attended these events hoping to get more information from the City. To have fuller, more
informed conversations about the HSP and its various strategies, we suggest that the City of Fort
Collins continue to provide education and awareness about the plan and offer a variety of ways for
residents to engage with and learn information about the strategies within it. A desire for more robust
and accessible community engagement was articulated throughout each Phase of the Community
Guide process as well as during the Community Summit events. Providing educational opportunities,
especially for the more technical scenarios in the HSP, would be beneficial to making sure the
community has a full understanding of the document itself and feels more confident staying involved
in future engagement efforts.
The need for change needs to be balanced with the unique needs of neighborhoods. There
is also still a considerable tension around the need for expanded affordable housing options and the
needs of neighbors and neighborhoods. Many of these needs are diverse and change depending on
which neighborhood you’re discussing. However, most participants across all phases of Community
Guides and at the Community Summit events were aware that lack of affordable housing was a
problem and recognized a need for change, but many were also reluctant to have that change happen
in or near their neighborhoods. They expressed many concerns tied to their property values, the
changing landscape of the area, decreasing amounts of accessible green space, and potential changes
to the skyline. Many residents are also concerned about how affordable housing developments will be
funded without creating and additional cost burden on them through increased taxes. Additionally,
many residents were aware that NIMBY attitudes would create a significant barrier to implementing
numerous strategies within the HSP, but also seemed to feel those attitudes could be changed with
additional community conversations and more intentional City outreach.
Continue to reflect on the impacts of COVID-19 on community engagement. Most of the
engagement during this two-year process was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the
resulting economic shutdowns and gathering restrictions. We noticed a measurable drop-off in
Community Guide participants and engagement during Phase 2 which coincided with the beginning of
the pandemic. It was clear throughout the remaining phases of this process community members
were overwhelmed. Many experienced personal issues tied to housing, health, job security, and
childcare. The result of these stresses often meant fewer participants in Community Guide
conversations, and fewer attendees at the Community Summit events, as well as the Community
Summit Wrap-Up event held on May 3, 2021. At each event, we experienced between 30%-50%
attrition when comparing attendee lists to RSVP lists. There are likely many intersecting factors causing
this, but one of the most prevalent was “Zoom Fatigue”. While residents expressed a strong desire to
be part of this engagement process and create partnerships for implementation, they made it clear
that online conversations were challenging and often less rewarding than face-to-face interactions.
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We are hopeful that more robust face-to-face engagement becomes possible as many of these
strategies move toward implementation. We would also encourage the City to consider unique forms
of community engagement that could address many of these barriers as we move toward more
normalcy. Hybrid options for the community will likely be helpful going forward as numerous residents
may still feel unsafe or uncomfortable with in-person events in the coming months.
Address concerns and fears in manufactured home communities. At each Community Summit
event, several residents in mobile home parks across the City attended so they could voice their
concerns and opinions. We would be remiss to not highlight that here, as often residents in these
communities are not represented in conversations about affordable housing. Residents of these
communities expressed fear that increased building of affordable housing may annex some of their
mobile home communities and confusion and concern about the current topic of the Hickory Village
purchase. Most often, we noted that residents in mobile home parks feel they don’t have access to
important information they need about their rights as tenants, how to access legal and other housing
support, and what the future holds for manufactured home communities across the City. It is key to
make sure future engagement efforts continue to include these residents and that increased education
opportunities are provided.
Accessibility is vital. As we mentioned above, there continue to be numerous barriers to fully
engaging the Fort Collins community on issues that directly impact them. Language is one of the
biggest barriers, and funding from the Health Disparities Grant allowed us to see what truly is possible
with community engagement when we utilize interpretation and translation services from professionals
who are embedded in these communities. While the logistics of accommodating two languages in
breakout groups were challenging to navigate, this work is essential for authentic and inclusive
community engagement. The Language Justice Model is a transformative tool for these conversations
and we heard from Spanish-and English-speakers alike who appreciated the experience of being able
to communicate together in the language of their hearts. We hope to have created a model for the
City and other partners showing what is possible as they look toward the future and implementation
of strategies in the Housing Strategic Plan. We also hope to continue this work by examining what
other languages we can incorporate into our future events to make them as accessible as possible.
We would encourage the City to continue their efforts toward language accessibility and also consider
how to address other barriers to community engagement to improve equity and inclusion.
Continued community involvement is necessary. Finally, there is a clear desire among many
residents to stay involved in conversations about implementation. These desires were echoed
throughout the two-year process. Based on community input, it seems vital that any future community
engagement efforts be coupled with an educational component. As mentioned in the sections above,
many participants, including those who had more technical expertise on the various strategies, needed
more information about many of the strategies in the HSP. There is also interest among many
communities to build a stronger collaborative relationship with the City of Fort Collins. We see this as
an opportunity to continue engagement processes like the Community Guide program, and potentially
implement educational workshops that the community can attend to learn more about the HSP and
provide additional input about the strategies within it.
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MEMORANDUM
To: City of Fort Collins
From: Mollie Fitzpatrick, Root Policy Research
Re: Affordability Goal Refinement
Date: May 6, 2021; revised June 10, 2021
In 2015, the City of Fort Collins adopted the following affordability goal: 10% of housing
stock be deed restricted and affordable [to households earning less than 80% AMI1] by
2040. This goal provides a clear target and an important benchmark for the City as it
works to ensure that everyone has healthy, stable housing they can afford.
However, as noted in the 2021 Housing Strategic Plan, “the goal, as it is currently
defined, reflects a broad approach to affordability and does not address targeted needs
by price point or tenure… The nuances in housing needs, as well as the importance of
tailoring new tools and strategies to achieve the city’s affordability goal, suggest that the
City should consider defining subgoals.” To that end, the Housing Strategic Plan
prioritizes refining the local affordable housing goal. Specifically, goal refinement would
set more specific housing goals by income level so that it is easier to track progress and
convey housing goals to developers.2
It is important to note that the primary objective is not to fundamentally change the
current goal, but to refine the income targeting to ensure effective implementation of
policies, programs, and funding designed to achieve the goal. City staff evaluated each
of the following considerations to determine effective refinements to the goal:
Current housing needs (by income) and gaps in supply/demand for housing;
AMI requirements (and/or constraints) of critical non-local funding sources;
AMI targets of key partners in housing development (and service provision); and
The City’s sphere of influence (existing and new tools to achieve the City’s
affordable housing goal).
This memo documents the considerations outlined above and the City’s refinements. It
begins with an overview of goal progress to date.
1 AMI or “Area Median Income” is set annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for local
areas and is generally the metric by which households qualify for various housing programs.
2 https://www.fcgov.com/housing/files/20-22913-housing-strategic-plan-no-appendices.pdf?1618855189
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How Are We Doing So Far? Are We Meeting Our Goal?
In 2015, affordable housing made up 5% of the City’s housing stock. Over the past five years
since Council adopted the 2015 plan, the City and its partners have added 373 new
affordable homes with 240 under construction. However, the total number of housing units
has also increased proportionately to 70,692, which means that affordable units still make
up only 5% of the overall housing stock. Overall, Fort Collins has 3,534 affordable units in its
affordable housing inventory, which falls short by 708 units of where we should be by now. To
get back on track to achieve our 10% goal by 2040, we need to increase the amount of
affordable housing by 282 units every year from 2020 onward. Every year the community is
unable to reach its annual affordable housing target requires current and future generations
to make up the difference. -- 2021 Housing Strategic Plan, page 26
Figure 1, below, summarizes the excerpt above from the City’s Housing Strategic Plan.
Figure 1.
Goal Tracking: How are we doing so far?
Source: City of Fort Collins Housing Strategic Plan and Root Policy Research.
In total, there are about 3,500 affordable housing units in the City of Fort Collins. The
majority of these (3,131) are rental units and the remainder (337) are ownership units.
On average, the city has built about 120 affordable units per year (111 rental units
and 9 ownership units) since the year 2000. This means the City will need to more
than double its annual affordable production (or preservation) to reach the target
of 282 units per year required to achieve the goal by 2040.
Figure 2 (on the following page) displays annual affordable unit production by tenure
since 1972 (it does not include units currently in the pipeline). The City acknowledges
that current resources and incentives for affordable housing are not sufficient to meet
the city’s affordability goal.
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Figure 2.
Affordable Units Built by Year and Tenure
Source: City of Fort Collins and Root Policy Research.
As shown in Figure 3, 60 percent of affordable units are designated for households
earning less than 50% AMI. However, affordable units built in recent years are more
likely to target households at 60% or 80% AMI.
Figure 3.
Affordable
Inventory by
AMI
Source:
City of Fort Collins and
Root Policy Research.
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Existing Needs and Gaps
The first step in refining the goal is better defining the City’s housing needs. The
following figures compare supply and demand for both rental and ownership housing at
different income levels (as a percentage of AMI). The figures illustrate that:
Rental needs are concentrated below 60% AMI; while
Ownership needs are concentrated below 120% AMI.
A shortage of rental or owner housing at any given affordability level means the
households in that income range must “rent up,” (or “buy up”), spending more than 30
percent of their income to find housing. Note that the figures show cumulative supply
and demand, meaning each bar builds upon (and includes) the preceding affordability
category (e.g., the 0 to 60% bar includes inventory from the 0 to 30% bar as well).
Figure 4.
Gaps Analysis, Fort Collins, 2019
Note: Income limits assume a 2-person household and allow for 30% of monthly income for housing costs including 30-year
fixed mortgage with 4.0% interest rate and 10% downpayment.
Source: 2019 ACS, Larimer County Assessor Sales Database 2020, HUD 2019 Income Limits, and Root Policy Research.
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AMI by Program, Partner, and Funding Source
In addition to targeting the City’s housing needs, it is also important to consider the AMI
requirements (and/or constraints) of critical, non-local funding sources and the AMI
targets of key partners in housing development (and service provision). The City’s
affordability goal should help leverage existing funds and programs while targeting
resources to identified needs. Refinements to the goal should not create barriers to
utilizing existing funding by setting priorities in conflict with allowed use of federal or
state funds and programs.
Figure 5 shows the income requirement or target of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit
program and the Private Activity Bond program—both state administered funding
sources that drive affordable housing development. It also shows the income targets for
strategic local partnerships—the organizations delivering the highest volume of
affordable rental and ownership units (Housing Catalyst, Habitat for Humanity, and
Elevation Community Land Trust).
As indicated, most rental programs target 60% AMI and below, while owner programs
go up to 80% or 150% of AMI.
Figure 5.
AMI by Program,
Partner, or
Funding Source
Source:
Root Policy Research.
State Program or Local Partner Income
Requirement/Target
Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) 60% AMI (rental)
Private Activity Bond (PAB) 60% AMI (rental);
115% (ownership)
Housing Catalyst 60% AMI (rental)
Habitat for Humanity and
Elevation Community Land Trust (ECLT) 80% AMI (owner)
Metro Down Payment Assistance 150% AMI (owner)
AMI targets for current City of Fort Collins housing programs are shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6.
City of Fort Collins
Program Targets
Source:
City of Fort Collins and Root Policy
Research.
City Program Income Target
Incentives <80% AMI; <30% AMI for fee credit
Land Bank Align with Housing Strategic Plan;
rental must be <60% AMI
City Funds Align with Housing Strategic Plan
Conclusion: Refined Affordability Goal
In conclusion:
Current needs and gaps are concentrated at less than 50%/60% AMI for rental and
less than 80% or 120% for ownership;
AMI requirements by funding source and strategic partners are concentrated at
less than 60% AMI for rental and either 80% or 150% for ownership; and
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The City’s sphere of influence applies to both existing and new tools (as proposed in
the Housing Strategic Plan). At present existing tools are designed to align with the
Housing Strategic Plan but also specifically target less than 30% AMI rentals
(through feed credit requirements), less than 60% AMI rentals for land bank
developments, and less than 80% AMI units for other programs.
Based on the considerations summarized above (and detailed in this memo), the City
has articulated the following refinements/subgoals to the adopted affordable housing
goal:
Fort Collins aims to have 10% of its housing stock be deed restricted and
affordable [to households making <80% AMI] by 2040.
As the City works toward this goal, it will continue to prioritize rental
affordability that focuses on 60% AMI and below.
The City will continue to prioritize ownership affordability that reaches 80%
AMI and below, but also acknowledges the gap in ownership affordability for
households earning between 80% and 120% AMI. To that end, the City may
consider future tools and incentives that help address this need outside the
scope of our existing goal.
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EQUITY AND OPPORTUNITY ASSESSMENTFORT COLLINS, COATTACHMENT 41.4Packet Pg. 54Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
Equity & Opportunity AssessmentEquity and Opportunity Assessments (EOAs) are commonly used to identify and understand the social and economic challenges and opportunities of a city and help create policies for inclusive and equitable development.‘The concept of inclusive, equitable development is to improve neighborhood livability, while working to ensure that new development and neighborhood change does not disproportionately impact current residents.’ -Bates, 20131.4Packet Pg. 55Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
Equity & Opportunity AssessmentEOAs explore the dynamics between three important components:ŏDisplacement vulnerabilityindicators, such as race, income, housing tenure and educational attainmentŏMarket pressureindicators, such as change in housing costsŏCommunity opportunities, such as walkability, transportation access, education and employment opportunities1.4Packet Pg. 56Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
Equity & Opportunity Assessment1. DISPLACEMENT VULNERABILITY2. GENTRIFICATION RISK3. ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITIESEOAWhere might residents be at risk of displacement if investments or policy changes occur?What opportunities do certain locations provide to current and future residents? How can deficiencies be addressed?How are market pressures currently impacting vulnerable communities?1.4Packet Pg. 57Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
Gentrification and Displacement – Bates MethodologyThis methodology is adapted from a section of a 2010 study* by Dr. Lisa Bates for the City of Portland •Bates’ risk assessment is a sophisticated multi-part analysis assessing the susceptibility or risk of gentrification for different neighborhoods.•We use the methodology from her housing displacement vulnerability index, part of the first level of her analysis. •This assessment does not include a full gentrification susceptibility study* “Gentrification and Displacement Study: implementing an equitable inclusive development strategy in the context of gentrification”Bates’ analysis resulted in a neighborhood typology classification that represented different stages of gentrification.1.4Packet Pg. 58Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
Bates methodology – where used?•Portland, OR•Urban Displacement Project – City of Portland Dataset•Austin, TXBy Cascadia Partners:•Pittsburgh, PA•Salem, OR•Lake Oswego, OR1.4Packet Pg. 59Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
Benefits of Approach•Replicable•Simple / Explainable•Uses open data sources•Separate elements allow for more flexible policy use.Bates, 2013 -1.4Packet Pg. 60Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
Scale of Analysis: Census TractsRight: Census Tract Boundaries for Fort Collins1.4Packet Pg. 61Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
1. Displacement Vulnerability IndexThe displacement vulnerability index helps us understand what neighborhoods have residents with characteristics that make resisting displacement more difficult.It is not a measure of how much displacement has occurred or is occurring. Rather it is a measure of the potentialfor displacement if market pressure increases. 1.4Packet Pg. 62Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
The displacement vulnerability index (DVI) uses a set of demographic indicators to measure resident’s vulnerability to residential displacement. These factors include:•Education: % of Pop who lack a college degree•Income: % of Pop whose income is below 80% MFI•Housing Tenure: % of Pop who rent their home•Race: % of Pop who belong to a Community of Color•Disability: % of Pop with any disabilityCensus tracts designated as vulnerable have above average populations with characteristics that make resisting displacement more difficult.1. Displacement Vulnerability IndexVulnerable tracts defined as those that have at least 2 of these 5 factors. 1.4Packet Pg. 63Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
1. Displacement Vulnerability IndexVulnerability Factor Data Source% Renters Census ACS (2015 - 2019) 5-year estimates, Census Tracts% Communities of Color (CoC)*Census ACS (2015 - 2019) 5-year estimates, Census Tracts% Population age 25+ w/out a bachelor’s degree Census ACS (2015 - 2019) 5-year estimates, Census Tracts% Population with a disability Census ACS (2015 - 2019) 5-year estimates, Census Tracts% Households with Income at or Below 80% of Larimer County HAMFI** HUD CHAS (2013 - 2017) 5-year estimates, Census Tracts* Communities of Color defined as total population excluding “Non-Hispanic White”** HUD CHAS is not produced on the same schedule as the ACS. HUD Area Median Family Income (HAMFI) takes family size into account.1.4Packet Pg. 64Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
2. Gentrification RiskRisk of gentrification and displacement are measured by census tract, combining the three following elements into a typology:Displacement vulnerability indexDemographic change indexHousing market appreciationEARLY STAGESMID-STAGESLATE STAGESNeighborhood Typologyrepresents stages of gentrification1.4Packet Pg. 65Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
Neighborhood Typology6 stages of gentrificationEARLY STAGESMID-STAGESLATE STAGESStage 1:SusceptibleStage 2: Early - Type 1Stage 3 :Early - Type 2Stage 4:DynamicStage 5:LateStage 6:Continued Loss- Housing market in nearby tracts are high value and/or high appreciating. - Experiencing little to no demographic change.- Above average levels of vulnerable populations.- Tract experienced high appreciation rates over the last decade but home values remain low or moderate. - Experiencing demographic change indicative of displacement. - Still has above average levels of vulnerable populations.- Housing market is high value but still potential for further loss of affordable housing. - Tract experienced gentrification -related demographic change. - Few remaining vulnerable households are at high risk of displacement.Data sources: Decennial Census, ACS, CHAS 1.4Packet Pg. 66Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
3. Access to OpportunityŏDensity - jobs and populationŏDistance to transitŏDesign - intersection density or block sizeŏDiversity of usesŏDestinationsʊEmployment AccessʊEducational AccessʊParksʊGrocery stores or retail (if available)Factors and weights to be determined in August 20211.4Packet Pg. 67Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
3. Access to Opportunity1.4Packet Pg. 68Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
3. Access to Opportunity1.4Packet Pg. 69Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
3. Access to Opportunity1.4Packet Pg. 70Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
Production ScheduleŏTask 1: Refine Methodology -JuneŏTask 2: Displacement Vulnerability Index -July 30thŏTask 3: Opportunity Index -July 30thŏTask 4: Gentrification Stages Typology -Sept 3rd1.4Packet Pg. 71Attachment: Strategy 1 - Equity and Opportunity Assessment Methodology (10447 : Housing Strategic
1
Communication & Public
Involvement
215 N. Mason Street
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6882
970.221.6586 - fax
fcgov.com
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PLAN
PROJECT TITLE: Land Use Code Update: Phase 1
OVERALL PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT LEVEL: Involve/Collaborate
The City of Fort Collins Public Engagement Spectrum (Attachment 1) provides guidance for the most
appropriate levels of engagement and techniques that may be employed during the LUC Phase 1 Update.
Overall, staff has identified the “involve” and “collaborate” levels as the most effective approach to
community engagement for this project.
PROJECT PURPOSE: Through code reorganization and housing-related code updates, implement key
policy direction in both the Housing Strategic Plan and City Plan.
BOTTOM LINE QUESTION: How should the City update housing-related requirements in the Land Use
Code to achieve the Housing Strategic Plan vision that everyone has stable, healthy housing they can afford
and to align with the policy direction in City Plan?
ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY: The engagement strategy for the LUC Phase 1 Update will focus on strategic
outreach and communication to three primary groups of stakeholders: City leadership/decision-makers,
frequent users of the LUC, and the broader community.
City Leadership – Inform and educate leadership about the current state of land use regulation, the case(s)
for changing the LUC, and the expected impacts, benefits, and tradeoffs of housing-related LUC changes.
Communicate with leadership about the feedback we are hearing from the community on LUC topics.
Frequent LUC Users – Convene focus groups of people with expertise in housing, affordable housing, real
estate, finance, and/or development to align existing efforts, provide input, and advise City staff and
consultants. Participants should have familiarity with the LUC in addition to content expertise. Engagement
techniques may include working meetings, interviews or small-group discussions, and/or brainstorming
sessions.
Broader Community – Convene a working stakeholder group of people with lived experience and/or
content expertise in the housing and land use system. Participants may or may not be “code experts” or
frequent code users. Focus on how to reach those most affected by proposed LUC changes to understand
what these issues mean to them in the context of their lived experience. This critical feedback will be
integrated into community conversations about potential options for LUC housing topics (e.g. accessory
dwelling units, density, parking, etc.). Clearly communicate ways for the broader community to play a role
throughout the process. Engagement techniques may include monthly working meetings, expert panel
discussions, and/or brainstorming sessions.
All engagement efforts throughout this process will be aligned with other concurrent City efforts as much as
possible. Examples of potential areas of collaboration include staff-led projects investigating Occupancy
and Rental Programming, Manufactured Housing, Building Code Updates, and Impact Fee Updates.
Engagement for this project will have four distinct stages:
1.Confirmation (June 2021) – confirm scope, list of potential changes, priorities
2.Information (August-September 2021) – topic-specific educational/information events
3.Input (October-November 2021) – topic-specific community dialogues about proposed changes
4.Adoption (January-March 2022) – present final draft to decision-makers for adoption
ATTACHMENT 5 1.5
Packet Pg. 72 Attachment: Strategies 7, 13, 14, 15, 16 - LUC Phase 1 Engagement Plan (draft) (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
2
KEY STAKEHOLDERS:
Leadership:
• City Council
• Executive Lead Team (ELT)
• LUC Phase 1 Steering Committee or Affordable Housing Executive Team
• Planning and Zoning Commission
Frequent LUC Users:
• Chamber LUC committee
• Board of Realtors
• Downtown Development Authority
• Residential developers and builders (multiple scales – small to large)
• Affordable Housing developers
• Home2Health participants with LUC expertise
• Members of LUC Updates Core Team or Subject Matter Experts (as appropriate)
Broad Community:
• Residents, both property owners and renters
• Business Associations
• Chamber of Commerce
• Non-profit partners and service providers
• Residential developers and builders (multiple scales – small to large)
• Affordable Housing developers and residents
• Home2Health participants with interest in LUC updates
• Low-income and/or cost-burdened residents
• Students
• “First time/last time” development customers
• HOA representatives
• Homebuilders’ association or apartment association
PROJECT GOVERNANCE AND MEETING FREQUENCY:
Steering Commi�ee
Role: Strategy, Exec Support
Advisory Team
Role: Guidance, Decision -Making
Core Team
Role: Working Team, Content
Subject Ma�er Experts
Role: On-Call Expertise
Quarterly
Monthly
Weekly
TBD
•City Manager
•Deputy City Manager
•City A�orney
•PDT Director
•Chief Sust. Officer
•U�li�es Director
•Planning Manager
•CDNS Director
•Housing Manager
•City Engineer
•Deputy PDT Director
•Meaghan Overton, co-lead
•Noah Beals , co-lead
•Planning
•FC Moves
•Engineering
•Social Sustainability
•City A�orney ’s Office
•Water U�li�es
•Building Department
•Neighborhood Services
•Equity Office
•Historic Preserva�on
•Finance
•Light and Power
•CDBG Staff
•Communica�ons
•Our Climate Future Team
•Housing Catalyst
•Larimer County
•Other SME as iden�fied
Advisory
Commi�ees/Groups
•Affordable Housing Board
•P&Z Board
•Econ. Advisory Comm.
•Landmark Preserva�on
•Home2Health Core Team
•AH Execu�ve Team
•AH Task Force
•AH Providers Panel
•Others as iden�fied
1.5
Packet Pg. 73 Attachment: Strategies 7, 13, 14, 15, 16 - LUC Phase 1 Engagement Plan (draft) (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
3
OBJECTIVES:
1. Succinctly explain project goals, scope, process, and purpose
2. Articulate clear topic/problem statements and provide compelling analysis that outlines potential
approaches and options for land use changes
3. Improve leadership understanding and capacity for action around land use changes
4. Build community support and collaborate to identify and prioritize specific land use changes that
could address existing disparities and barriers to housing stability, health, and affordability.
5. Improve community capacity to participate in policy processes and collaborate with local
(City/County) government on housing affordability and health issues.
TARGET POPULATIONS:
The target population for this project is users of the LUC and residents who will be directly impacted by
proposed changes. In particular, staff will actively engage the development community and affordable
housing providers, lower- and moderate-income (up to 120% of Area Median Income) residents who
spend more than 30% of their income on housing, neighborhood advocates/HOA representatives, and
development customers at a range of different scales who have experienced barriers to their housing
projects. For this outreach process to be successful, these populations must play an integral role throughout
the community engagement process. Trust-building, capacity building, and working closely with cultural
brokers and partner organizations will all be critical to reaching the target populations for this project.
GOALS:
1. Participants (both online and in-person) are representative of the Fort Collins community’s
geographic, ethnic, age, income, and other demographic distributions.
2. Data collection is an integrated part of every engagement strategy such as public meetings, online
surveys, social media, etc. Data evaluations will be completed midway and at project close.
• Data collection should include the following at minimum:
i. Number of participants
ii. Demographics (Income level, % of income spent on housing, renter/owner,
race/ethnicity)
iii. Role (developer, HOA rep, etc.)
• Conduct pre- and post-survey for info sessions
3. The core team and community partners are building relationships with local community groups and
individuals that represent some of the harder to reach demographics.
• Outreach materials will be translated into Spanish whenever possible, and at minimum will
include instructions in Spanish for contacting the City for more information on the project.
• Spanish or language justice interpretation will be provided at key public meetings
• Child care, food, incentives, and other best-practice engagement elements will also be
incorporated into key public meetings.
4. On a quarterly basis, measure who we are reaching and take steps to improve engagement
SUCCESS:
1. The engagement process will be successful if we interact with City leadership, City staff and a
representative group of community members throughout the project and specifically engage
traditionally underrepresented groups (low-income residents, renters, seniors, youth, Spanish-
speaking residents, small developers, etc.).
2. The engagement process will be successful if participants can clearly see how their involvement
and input shaped the proposed LUC changes.
1.5
Packet Pg. 74 Attachment: Strategies 7, 13, 14, 15, 16 - LUC Phase 1 Engagement Plan (draft) (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
4
POTENTIAL TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
•Working groups and/or technical teams
•Lunch and Learn series for City Leadership
and Staff
•One-on-one interviews
•Issue or topic-specific focus groups or tours
•Targeted workshops
•Board, Commission, and Council work
sessions
•Presentations to community groups
•Design/scenario charrette
•Targeted pop-up demonstrations
•CSU student-focused event
•Coordination with existing programs related
to housing and health equity
Small Group/Stakeholder Engagement
Expert panels or outside speaker events
Community issues forums
Workshops
Community tours
Open houses
Intercept events
Surveys and questionnaires
Meeting-in-a-box/outreach toolkit
Design/scenario workshop
Coffee chats
Land Use book club (collaboration w library)
Community-Wide Engagement
•Direct mailings
•Email newsletters -both Housing Plan
specific and via other City newsletters
•Business association and HOA email lists
•Flyers, posters, cards, art/murals
•Press releases
•News article series (Coloradoan, Collegian,
etc.)
•Feature on local TV, radio, or movie theater
•Utility bill mailers (City News)
•fcgov.com spotlights
•Citynet spotlights (City Staff)
Broadcast Notification
•FCGov.com website
•Social media -Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
NextDoor, Instagram
•LUC introductory or vision video
•Online questionnaires
•Keypad Polling at events
•Videos/live event coverage (FCTV)
Online + Mobile Engagement
1.5
Packet Pg. 75 Attachment: Strategies 7, 13, 14, 15, 16 - LUC Phase 1 Engagement Plan (draft) (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
5
DETAILED PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PLAN
The detailed objectives and tasks for year 1 are further described below. This working Public Engagement
Plan is intended to be revised and updated periodically throughout the planning process.
TIMELINE: June 2021-March 2022
Key Messages:
Key Questions for Each Outreach Meeting:
• What is staff informing/educating the audience about?
• How is staff asking for and using input?
• How is staff communicating where they are in the process?
• How is staff communicating the next step?
JUNE: CONFIRMATION
• Website w comment form
• Finalized List of topics
o ADUs
o Missing Middle
o Parking
o Occupancy and Rental Programming
o Affordable Housing Incentives
o Development Review Process
o Design Standards
o Density/Transit-Oriented Development
• Synthesis of confirmation meetings with Council, P&Z, and previous Housing Plan/City Plan
engagement
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER: INFORMATION
• Topic specific info sessions: (virtual, online, in-person) - Record, offer live version after recording
o Current State
o Perspective: Speaker/panel? Video?
o Barriers/reasons to change/problem statement
o Options
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER: INPUT
• Topic specific input sessions (virtual, online, in-person)
o Brief overview of options
o Preferred approach
o Benefits/drawbacks
JANUARY-MARCH: ADOPTION
• Public comment period
• Council Work Session
• Presentations and hearings at Boards and Commissions
• Council Hearing
1.5
Packet Pg. 76 Attachment: Strategies 7, 13, 14, 15, 16 - LUC Phase 1 Engagement Plan (draft) (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Housing Strategic Plan: Implementation Work Session
July 13, 2021
Jackie Kozak Thiel, Caryn Champine, Meaghan Overton
ATTACHMENT 6 1.6
Packet Pg. 77 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Questions for Consideration
What feedback do Councilmembers have on the
early implementation of the Housing Strategic Plan?
2
1.6
Packet Pg. 78 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Strategic Alignment 3
•NLSH 1.1 Improve and increase
availability and choice of quality
housing that is affordable to a
broad range of income levels.
•HPG 7.3 Improve effectiveness
of community engagement with
enhanced inclusion of all
identities, languages and needs.
•Everyone has stable, healthy
housing they can afford
•10% affordability by 2040
•Biennial implementation cycle
•Guiding principles shape
prioritization and implementation
•LIV 5: Create more
opportunities for housing
choices
•LIV 6: Improve access to
housing …regardless of their
race, ethnicity, income, age,
ability, or background
1.6
Packet Pg. 79 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Key
Outcomes
Increase
Housing
Supply &
Affordability
(12)
Increase
Housing
Diversity /
Choice (12)
Increase
Stability /
Renter
Protections
(11)
Improve
housing
equity (11)
Preserve
Existing
Affordable
Housing (9)
Increase
Accessibility
(2)
Housing Strategic Plan 4
1.6
Packet Pg. 80 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
5Housing Strategic Plan Vision
Everyone has healthy, stable housing
they can afford
1.6
Packet Pg. 81 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Greatest Challenges
Challenge #1:Price escalation impacts everyone
& disproportionately impacts BIPOC* and
low-income households.
Challenge #2:There aren’t enough affordable
places available for people to rent or purchase, or
what is available and affordable isn’t the kind of
housing people need.
Challenge #3:The City does have some tools to
encourage affordable housing, but the current
amount of funding and incentives for affordable
housing are not enough to meet our goals.
Challenge #4:Housing is expensive to build, and
the cost of building new housing will likely continue
to increase over time.
Challenge #5:It is difficult to predict the lasting
effects of COVID-19 and the pandemic’s impacts.
Challenge #6: Housing policies have not
consistently addressed housing stability and
healthy housing, especially for people who rent.
6
*Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
1.6
Packet Pg. 82 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Challenges Remain 7
Median Home Price
Median Income of a Family of 4
Median Income of All Households
Widening gap in who can afford median home price
Half as many renters can afford the median home price (23% in 2012; 11% in 2018)
1.6
Packet Pg. 83 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Guiding Principles
•Why:
•No one has solved this –stay
in testing & learning mode
•Ever changing environment
•Accountability & Transparency
•When: Applied biennially to
develop overall priorities
•Evaluation criteria à Individual
strategies
•Overall prioritiesà Guiding
Principles
•How: With community, reviewed
by decision makers, basis for
design summit
8
•Center the work in people
•Be agile and adaptive
•Balance rapid decision making with inclusive
communication and engagement
•Build on existing plans and policies –and their
engagement
•Expect and label tensions, opportunities, and tradeoffs
•Focus direct investment on the lowest income levels
•Commit to transparency in decision making
•Make decisions for impact, empowerment, and
systems (not ease of implementation)
1.6
Packet Pg. 84 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
9Metrics and Indicators
Equitable Process
•Demographic analysis (e.g., by income
and race) of ongoing programs and
services
•% of project budgets allocated to
achieve equity in process, e.g.,
language justice and compensation for
time and expertise
•# of events that provide language justice
and access to interpreters/translators
•# of events that provide childcare and
other resources to remove barriers to
engagement
•Develop and apply a consistent
approach to embedding equity in
implementation
Equitable Outcomes
•Affordable housing inventory # and % of units
•Fort Collins’Housing Opportunity Index (HOI)
compared to western states region HOI
•Mix of housing stock and prices
•Homeownership rates, disaggregated by race
and income
•# of accessible units
•Geographic distribution of affordable housing
•Percentage of cost-burdened renters +
owners
•Jobs/housing balance
•Long-term homeless exits and entries
•Amount of funding dedicated to housing
1.6
Packet Pg. 85 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Tr ansition to Implementation
2021:
•Community Summit (April-May)
•Implementation Planning
•Council Work Session
Ongoing:
•Biennial Implementation
Process
•Evaluation framework for
potential new strategies
•Guiding Principles for overall
Prioritization
10
2. Revisit
Priorities
3. Confirm
Priorities
1. Assess
Progress
4. Design
Summit
1
2
3
4
Implementation Process (2-years)
1.6
Packet Pg. 86 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
April Community Summit
•Three workshops + wrap-up night:
•Build and Preserve Affordable Housing (6 strategies)
•Improve Housing Stability and Health (8 strategies)
•Increase Housing Supply and Choice (6 strategies)
•To p priorities overall:
•Barriers to missing middle housing (Strategy 15)
•Funding for housing (Strategy 11 )
•Revisions to occupancy limits (Strategy 21)
•Successes and Lessons learned
•Logistics + importance of simultaneous
interpretation
•Amount of pre-work and information needed
•Critical role of partners
11
1.6
Packet Pg. 87 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
12Next Steps: Summary
A S O N D
Equity and
Opportunity
Assessment:
Create indices
LUC Phase 1: Analyze
options, reorganization
framework,
engagement
Revenue:
Discuss with
Council Finance
Committee
Occupancy and Rental
Programming:
Work Session, engagement
J
LUC Phase 1:
Draft code changes,
engagement
* Next steps also include regular memo updates on implementation progress
1.6
Packet Pg. 88 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Early Implementation Update 13
Timelines
•Quick(er) Wins: <1 year, 10 strategies
•Tr ansitional: 1-2 years, 8 strategies
•Tr ansformational: 2+ years, 8 strategies
Progress in 2021
•3 strategies completed
•18 strategies underway
•$735,000 allocated to implementation
LUC Phase 1,
$350,000
Manufactured Housing,
$200,000
Foreclosure/ Eviction
Prevention, $125,000
Displacement Analysis,
$35,000
Occupancy/Rental
Programming, $25,000
0 100000 200000 300000 400000 500000 600000 700000 800000
1.6
Packet Pg. 89 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
14Equityand Opportunity Assessment
§HSP Strategies: 1
§Greatest Challenges:
§Price escalation impacts everyone
& disproportionately impacts
BIPOC* and low-
income households.
§When: Underway; completed by
September 2021
§Resources Committed: $30,000
§Next Steps: Create displacement and
access to opportunity indices
§Future Council Involvement: Low –
memo update
1.6
Packet Pg. 90 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
15Land Use Code (LUC) Phase 1: Housing
§HSP Strategies: 7, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16
§Greatest Challenges:
§There aren’t enough affordable places available for
people to rent or purchase, or what is available and
affordable isn’t the kind of housing people need.
§Housing is expensive to build, and the cost of
building new housing will likely continue to
increase over time.
§When: 2021-2022; Underway
§Resources Committed: Staff core team; $350,000
appropriation
§Next Steps: Analysis of options; framework for code
reorganization; fall engagement
§Future Council Involvement: High -decision-maker
1.6
Packet Pg. 91 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
16Occupancyand Rental Programming
§HSP Strategies: 20, 21, 26
§Greatest Challenges:
§Housing policies have not consistently addressed housing
stability and healthy housing, especially for people who
rent.
§When: 2021-2024; Underway
§Resources Committed: Staff core team, $25,000 for
consultant (Root Policy Research) analysis of occupancy
demographics and peer city programs
§Next Steps:Focus groups with landlords to explore potential
incentives,propose options for rental programming and
associated costs, seek additional Council input and community
engagement this fall; potential 2023 budget offer
§Future Council Involvement: High -decision-maker
1.6
Packet Pg. 92 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
17Revenue Options for Housing
§HSP Strategies: 11
§Greatest Challenges:
§The City does have some tools to
encourage affordable housing, but
the current amount of funding and
incentives for affordable housing are
not enough to meet our goals.
§When: 2021-2024; Underway
§Resources Committed: Staff time
§Next Steps: Council Finance Committee
(early fall 2021); further Council discussion
§Future Council Involvement: High -decision-
maker
1.6
Packet Pg. 93 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
§Since 2000, we have produced or preserved about 120 affordable units per year on average.
§To achieve the 10% affordability goal by 2040, our community needs to more than double the annual
production and/or preservation of affordable housing to 282 or more units per year.
18Revenue Options for Housing
1.6
Packet Pg. 94 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
19Next Steps: Summary
A S O N D
Equity and
Opportunity
Assessment:
Create indices
LUC Phase 1: Analyze
options, reorganization
framework,
engagement
Revenue:
Discuss with
Council Finance
Committee
Occupancy and Rental
Programming:
Work Session, engagement
J
LUC Phase 1:
Draft code changes,
engagement
* Next steps also include regular memo updates on implementation progress
1.6
Packet Pg. 95 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Questions for Consideration
What feedback do Councilmembers have on the
early implementation of the Housing Strategic Plan?
20
1.6
Packet Pg. 96 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
21
BACKUP
1.6
Packet Pg. 97 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Policy and Planning Foundation…
•Affordable Housing Redevelopment Displacement
Mitigation Strategy (2013)
•Housing Affordability Policy Study (2014)
•Affordable Housing Strategic Plan (2015)
•Social Sustainability Strategic Plan (2016)
•City Plan (2019)
•Council Priorities (2019-2021)
•City Strategic Plan (2020)
•Home2Health (2019-2021)
•Housing Strategic Plan (2021)
22
1.6
Packet Pg. 98 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
23…Leads to Action
Results: 373 affordable homes in last 5 years & 248 under construction (Need: ~300 /year)
2014 -2019
Minimum house size
Fee waiver eligibility
Land Bank
Incentive Policy
Affordable Housing Capital
Fund (CCIP)
### units built
2019 -2021
Manufactured Housing focus
Impact Fee / Inclusionary
Housing Study
Appropriation for Land Bank
purchase
Mason Place funds
Housing Manager
Fee Waiver Process
Improvements
Revised Metro District Policy
Metro DPA p rogram
### units built
2021+
Buy/Sell Land Bank parcels
Oak 140 AHCP funds
Continue eviction and
foreclosure prevention
COVID recovery
LUC Phase 1 Update
Occupancy/rental
programming
Close revenue gap for housing
Goal: 282+ units built per year
MO10
MO11
1.6
Packet Pg. 99 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Slide 23
MO10 Update these numbers, were from Dec 2020
Meaghan Overton, 6/12/2021
MO11 Get these numbers
Meaghan Overton, 6/12/2021
1.6
Packet Pg. 100 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Housing Strategic Plan Process 24
Step 8:
Implement*
(Spring +)
Step 7:
Consider
Adoption*
(Feb/Mar)
Step 6:
Prioritize
Strategies*
(Jan)
Step 5:
Evaluate
Strategies
(Dec)
Step 4: ID
Strategies,
Criteria
(Nov/Dec)
Step 3:
Engage
Community
(Oct/Nov)
Step 2:
Greatest
Challenges
(Sep)
Step 1:
Vision
(Aug)
Progress to Date
50+Strategies Identified
Thus Far
Consultant
Support
Community
Engagement,
Priorities Peer Cities
& Leading
Authors Initial Set of Prioritized Strategies (26)
Evaluation Criteria
Everyone has healthy, stable housing
they can afford
1.6
Packet Pg. 101 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Strategies by Ti meline
Quicker Wins (<1 year)
1. Assess displacement and gentrification risk (New)
4. Implementation, tracking and assessment of
housing strategies (Expand)
8.Extend the City’s affordability term (Expand)
9. Off-cycle appropriation to advance Phase One of
the Land Use Code (LUC) Audit (New)
10. Refine local affordable housing goal (Expand)
13.Recalibrate existing incentives to reflect current
market conditions (Expand)
14. Create additional development incentives for
affordable housing (New)
17. Reconsider affordable housing requirements/funding
as part of metro districts (Expand)
24.Support community organizing efforts in
manufactured home communities and increase
access to resident rights information, housing
resources, and housing programs (Expand)
25. Foreclosure and eviction prevention and legal
representation (Expand)
25
Summary: 10 strategies (3 new, 9 expanded) –2 completed, 10 underway
Key Outcomes:
Increase housing supply and affordability, increase housing diversity/choice, increase
stability/renter protections, improve housing equity
1.6
Packet Pg. 102 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Strategies by Ti meline
Tr ansitional Strategies (1-2 years)
5. Advocate for housing-related legislation at state and
federal levels (Expand)
7. Remove barriers to the development of Accessory
Development Units (Expand)
12.Expand partnership(s) with local Community
Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to offer gap
financing and low-cost loan pool for affordable housing
development (Expand)
15. Explore/address financing and other barriers to
missing middle and innovative housing
development (New)
16.Remove barriers to allowed densities through code
revisions (New)
18. Increase awareness & opportunities for creative
collaboration across water districts and other regional
partners around the challenges with water costs and
housing (Expand)
21. Explore revisions to occupancy limits and family
definitions (Expand)
22. Public Sector Right of First Refusal for Affordable
Developments (New)
26
Summary: 8 strategies (3 new, 5 expanded) –0 completed, 4 underway
Key Outcomes:
Increase housing supply and affordability, increase housing diversity/choice, increase
stability/renter protections, improve housing equity, preserve existing affordable housing
1.6
Packet Pg. 103 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Strategies by Ti meline
Tr ansformational Strategies (2+ years)
2. Promote inclusivity, housing diversity, and affordability
as community values. (Expand)
3. Implement the 2020 Analysis of Fair Housing Choice
Action Steps (Expand)
6. Visitability policy (New)
11 . Create a new dedicated revenue stream to fund
the Affordable Housing Fund (Expand)
19.Bolster city land bank activity by allocating additional
funding to the program (contingent on adopting
additional revenue stream policy) (Expand)
20.Explore the option of a mandated rental
license/registry program for long-term rentals and
pair with best practice rental regulations (New)
23.Te nant right of first refusal for cooperative ownership of
multifamily or manufactured housing community (New)
26.Small Landlord Incentives (New)
27
Summary: 8 strategies (4 new, 4 expanded) –0 completed, 4 underway
Key Outcomes:
Increase housing supply and affordability, increase housing diversity/choice, increase
stability/renter protections, improve housing equity, preserve existing affordable housing,
increase accessibility
1.6
Packet Pg. 104 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
282022 Housing Funding (Est.)
•Competitive Process
•AHCF will also be replenished with $500,000 in January 2022
•To tal funding expected: $5.5 million
Source Est. Amount
Affordable Housing Fund $1,000,000
HOME (Federal)$725,000
CDBG (Federal)$750,000
HOME/HUD American Rescue Plan Act (Federal)$2,600,000
TO TA L $5,075,000
1.6
Packet Pg. 105 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
29Manufactured Housing
§HSP Strategies: 23, 24
§Responds to the greatest challenges by:
§When: 2021-2024; Underway
§Resources Committed: Manufactured Housing Liaison (1.0 FTE), $200,000 toward
conversion of Hickory Village to a Resident-Owned Community
§Next Steps: Explore options for consistent ROC policy; Council Work Session
§Future Council Involvement: Medium –adoption of consistent ROC policy
MO3MY2MO4
1.6
Packet Pg. 106 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Slide 29
MO3 [@Marcy Yoder] here's the slide for MHC
Meaghan Overton, 6/14/2021
MY2 [@Meaghan Overton] this works session is the same night. Lots happening and not enough space to
share as well as probably too far into the weeds.
Marcy Yoder, 6/15/2021
MO4 Excellent! I'm looking for ways to make this shorter, so I can move this to backup.
Meaghan Overton, 6/16/2021
1.6
Packet Pg. 107 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
30Foreclosure and Eviction Prevention
§HSP Strategies: 25
§Responds to the greatest challenges by:
§When: 2021-2024; Underway
§Resources Committed: $125K for 2021,2022 BFO offer
§Next Steps:
§Future Council Involvement: Medium –work session
MO5MY3
1.6
Packet Pg. 108 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Slide 30
MO5 [@Marcy Yoder] here's another one - not sure if this slide will stay in or not, but want to be prepared.
Feel free to pass on to JC if that's easier!
Meaghan Overton, 6/14/2021
MY3 [@Meaghan Overton] JC is buried in Council prep for tonight's Immigration Fund - lots of public
comment still coming in! We can add more later. Rather than next steps, maybe share a result stat.
Not a lot of additional action from NS other than managing the contract and funding. Maybe
Social?Sue has more to add?
Marcy Yoder, 6/15/2021
1.6
Packet Pg. 109 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
31Affordable Housing: Current Funding
§Average annual funding: $2 million -$3 million a year
§Competitive Process (CDBG/HOME) funding –$1.5-2.5 million
§Affordable Housing Capital Fund (CCIP) -$500,000
§Next year: approx. $5.5 million total due to $2.6 million HOME/HUD ARPA f unding
§Average subsidy, 2015-2020: ~$39,000 (yield 38-77 units per year)
§Estimated annual funding need: $10-11 million (additional $8-9 million)
1.6
Packet Pg. 110 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Housing Affordability Along the Income Spectrum 32
AMI 0%
Below 80%AMI is City’s
Definition of Affordable Housing
80%
$75.3K/yr
200%100%
$94.1K/yr
120%
$112.9K/yr
Market Housing
Purchase Price
Goal is defined by AHSP
(188-228 units/year)
Fewer attainable options are
available to Middle Income Earners
Goal is harder to define & City influence
may be outweighed by market forces
$450K$300K $375K
1.6
Packet Pg. 111 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Themes We Heard –Must Absolutely Do 33
Community-
centered, remove
barriers
§Partnerships
§Engage with targeted communities –break down barriers
§Equity in process and outcomes (clear commitment)
§Identify innovative and disruptive actions and approaches
§Clearly communicate to multiple audiences
Be specific,
quantifiable, and
achievable
§Establish goals, timelines, and accountability tools –& be agile
§Establish specific, quantified housing priorities & financials
§Role definition for the City
And…
§Recognize housing is interconnected with all systems/outcomes
§Al ign with community goals and plans –build off engagement
§Begin regional strategy
1.6
Packet Pg. 112 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
34Everyone Has Stable and Healthy Housing They Can Afford
MO13LE1MO14
1.6
Packet Pg. 113 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
Slide 34
MO13 What do you think about including this? It's a good summary of the issues/connection between
housing and health. Comes out of the H2H Health Impact Assessment.
Meaghan Overton, 8/11/2020
LE1 what do you think about backup slide if they ask about the connection between housing and health?
We've already got a fairly long slide deck...
Lindsay Ex, 8/12/2020
MO14 Yep, that works!
Meaghan Overton, 8/12/2020
1.6
Packet Pg. 114 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
THANK YOU!
1.6
Packet Pg. 115 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10447 : Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update)
DATE:
STAFF:
July 13, 2021
JC Ward, Senior Planner
Emily Olivo, Neighborhood Liaison
WORK SESSION ITEM
City Council
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION
Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Mobile Home Park (“MHP”) Residents’ Rights Team is currently developing a comprehensive enforcement
program for mobile home parks to improve livability in parks across Fort Collins, improve the City’s relati onship
with MHP managers and owners, and increase manager and owner accountability.
An education program with community clean-up days leading up to regular proactive Code Compliance patrols
would be implemented over the next three years, with a concentrated engagement effort in 2021 and 2022 that
would enable staff to learn the full scope of the work, build relationships with residents and management, and
support MHP’s compliancy prior to any official inspection. In 2021, we have already begun this engage ment effort
with senior (55+) MHP’s and have two grant-funded, volunteer-based clean up and resource fair events planned
in each senior MHP this fall. Other engagement techniques planned include mock inspections and neighborhood
walks with code enforcement staff to answer questions and prepare managers.
The final MHP enforcement program is anticipated to include regular proactive patrols and investigation of
complaints, an annual inspection, annual park registration, and annual MHP property manager certi fication.
Priority enforcement focus areas will be periodically reviewed and updated to ensure emerging and important
issues are addressed.
GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
What feedback do Councilmembers have about the mobile home park enforcement options and timeline?
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT
Community & Neighborhood Livability:
• 1.5 Enhance the quality of life in neighborhoods, empower neighbors to solve problems, and foster respectful
relations.
• 1.8 Preserve and enhance manufactured housing communities as a source of affordable housing and create
a safe and equitable environment for residents.
• 1.11: Maintain and enhance attractive neighborhoods through City services, innovative enforcement
techniques, and voluntary compliance with City codes and regulations.
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Economic Health:
• 3.5 Invest in and maintain utility infrastructure and services while ensuring predictable utility rates.
High Performing Government:
• 7.2 Maintain the public trust through a high performing board, as well as organizational transparency, legal
and ethical behavior and regulatory compliance.
• 7.3 Improve effectiveness of community engagement with enhanced inclusion of all identities, languages and
needs.
HOUSING STRATEGIC PLAN
• Strategy 2: Promote inclusivity, housing diversity, and affordability as community values.
• Strategy 20: Explore the option of a mandated rental license/ registry program for long -term rentals and pair
with best practice rental regulations
• Strategy 23: Allow tenants right of first offer/refusal for cooperative ownership of multifamily or manufactured
housing community
• Strategy 24: Support community organizing efforts in manufactured home communities and increase access
to resident rights information, housing resources, and housing programs
DISCUSSION
Council identified mobile home park preservation and resident protections as Council priority issues in 2019 and
has provided staff with guidance on programs and initiatives to improve mobile home park livability and viability as
a housing option in Fort Collins. In August 2019, Council instituted a one -year moratorium on the City’s
acceptance of any development application which would result in the closure or loss of housing units within
existing mobile home parks. This moratorium was extended through December 2020 due to delays in public
engagement activities caused by COVID-19. The moratorium on redevelopment was intended to protect residents
from displacement while staff developed options for long-term preservation of mobile home parks as “naturally-
occurring” affordable housing.
In December 2019, staff provided an update at a work session that a new zoning district for manufactured
housing communities is one of the strongest local tools availabl e to preserve existing manufactured housing
communities/mobile home parks and introduced a number of new residents’ rights and livability strategies
planned for implementation between 2020-2022.
The cross-departmental MHP Residents’ Rights Team, established in September 2019 to support Council
priorities around mobile home park livability, continues to meet monthly to implement projects that improve
transparency and accessibility of resources, encourage collaboration among City departments working in the
mobile home park and affordable housing spaces, provide a support network for residents, and develop or
enhance enforcement mechanisms.
At work sessions on July 9, 2019; December 10, 2019; and April 28, 2020, staff received guidance from
councilmembers to pursue specific strategies to improve livability and address issues identified by the community,
property managers, and mobile home park owners. At the December 10th and April 28th meetings, staff received
Council direction to explore a licensing and/or enforcement program for coordinated response and abatement of
issues in ways consistent with enforcement in other neighborhood types across the city that is also mindful of
some of the special conditions in mobile home parks that do not exist in other neighborhood types.
For City planning, development, and policy documents, the term “manufactured housing communities” (“MHC”) is
used to align with federal housing definitions, while public-facing materials and references use the term “mobile
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home park” (“MHP”) in accordance with the State of Colorado’s preferred language in the Mobile Home Park
Oversight Act and Updates and Mobile Home Park Oversight Dispute Resolution Program. Throughout these AIS
materials, the term “mobile home park” will be used.
Mobile Home Park Livability Projects
Through public engagement work with MHP residents, property managers, MHP owners, industry associations,
internal stakeholders, and staff from other Colorado cities with robust MHP programs; the Residents’ Rights Team
identified the strategies in the table below as reasonably calculated to address issues and enhance livability in
local mobile home parks. (Attachment 1)
Completed In Progress/ Underway Long Term / Resources Req.
MHP Webpage Neighborhood Liaisons (highest need parks) Enforcement of Municipal Code
(Section 18) & State Legislation
(Limited, Need-Based)
MHP Mini-Grants LHIP & Emergency Grants Housing Unit Single Metering
(water)
Maintenance
Responsibilities Code
Changes
Partner/Contractor Projects CARE; LCCC Negotiated investments
Section 18 Residents’
Rights Updates
MHP Handbook* Liaisons (all parks)
Limitation of Required
Upgrades
Utility/Water Services Billing Transparency ROC support (shifted from
notice of sale/opp to purchase
work)
Local Complaint
System
Education & Outreach to Support
Enforcement
MHP Licensing*
*Project on hold temporarily to align timing and consistency with other ongoing efforts
Ongoing Engagement
Since August 2019 MHP Residents’ Rights Team has been conducting community engagement with r esidents,
managers, and owners of MHP’s within the City and Growth Management Area (“GMA”) to better understand
needs and priorities, more effectively respond to complaints and inquiries, gather input on potential long -term
solutions, and to empower all with knowledge and tools.
• Residents’ Associations Modeled after the Neighborhood Connections program, Staff are supporting the
development of Residents’ Associations (RA’s) in MHP’s including Skyline MHP, North College MHP, and
Hickory Village. Once established, RA’s have support but not guidance or input from the city and are entirely
run by residents. RA’s improve outcomes for residents and managers by streamlining and strengthening
communication, organizing projects and initiatives, and enhancing the sense of community within a park.
• Relationship Building- Through neighborhood meetings, individual phone calls/emails/meetings, responding
swiftly to resident concerns and requests for resources, as well as other engagement with managers and
residents, city staff have been establishing and building relationships that will be crucial to the success of this
and other MHP programs.
• MHP Clean-ups and Repair Days- Neighborhood Services was recently awarded a grant to fund two kick off
events for this enforcement program. In October we will host a clean-up, repair, and resource event at the
senior MHP’s, jumpstarting the path to voluntary compliance while providing education and community
resources.
• Complaint-based Enforcement- Though proactive enforcement has not been occurring within MHP’s, Staff
from Neighborhood Services, Utilities, Building Inspection, and other departments have conducted complaint -
based enforcement. This has resulted in improvements to lot grading, water quality, and nuisance issues like
weed overgrowth.
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Need for Local MHP Enforcement Program
1. State Mobile Home Park Oversight & Dispute Resolution Program (“MHPOP”) is not meeting the current need
or urgency for Fort Collins MHP residents
A. The Colorado MHPOP was implemented in May 2020 but not fully staffed until December 2020 causing a
backlog of investigations into complaints which are averaging months (several Fort Collins cases filed in
August 2020 have not been investigated until May 2021 or are still open).
B. Renters and other non-homeowner residents cannot file complaints with the MHPOP.
2. Gaps exist in state laws related to flat-rate water billing or inclusion of water utility costs in lot rent, protections
for renters, and protection of anonymity for residents filing complaints.
3. Section 18 of City Municipal Code relating to mobile home parks has limited enforcement mechanisms.
4. Current compliance programs do not cover full scope of mobile home park issues.
A. Coordination of inspections and enforcement is distributed across City departments.
B. Complaint-based enforcement in MHP’s is taking place through several departments, but there is no formal
process for reporting, collaboration, or tracking of the reports and enforcement in MHP’s.
5. Water infrastructure beyond the master meter is owned and maintained by mobile home parks is aging and
can result in clogged/compromised sewer systems and decreased potable water quality due to maintenance
issues. There is limited authority for the City to inspect the system or ability to p rovide financial support to
property owners to help address these issues.
6. Mobile Home Park residents do not receive bills directly from the water service provider but are rebilled by
property owners/managers. This rebilling system limits auditing by ut ility providers or confirmation of charges
by residents because of limitations on customer information or usage data disclosure to non -customers,
including residents.
A. Reports of high water bills that vary for a unit; retaliation through water rebilling; inconsistent calculations of
monthly water charges; and failure to disclose the MHP’s monthly water bill, amount paid, or formula/rates
used to calculate each unit’s share of the water cost required under state law are complex to investigate
without resident or non-Utilities City Staff access to certain customer data.
B. Because mobile home park residents are not the direct Fort Collins Utilities or other water district customer,
they are ineligible for income-qualified assistance programs for water and wastewater rates.
ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM FOCUS AREAS
1. Local Park Registration
• Each year, owners of city MHP’s would be required to register (or update their registration) with
Neighborhood Services. The timing of this registration would align with the st ate registration deadline, and
there would be no-cost.
• Park owners would meet with City Staff and provide/confirm park details, contact information, and review
MHP policy changes.
• Considerations:
- The Housing Strategic Plan calls for the exploration of a mandated rental license/ registry program for
long-term rentals, in line with best practice rental regulations. The staff recommendation for a MHP
registration program is to align implementation timelines with those of the Housing Rental
Licensing Strategy Team, ensuring consistency and efficacy.
- We anticipate that increased city staff time to process the registrations as well as the
development of penalty structures for non-compliance are the only resources required.
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2. Manager Certification
• This component would require property managers to: certify or re-certify annually with the City by
acknowledging they have read the MHP Handbook (and updates), meet with members of the MHP
Residents’ Rights Team at least once per year, and complete at least one City continuing education activity
per year.
• Continuing education opportunities would be offered in a variety of formats to be adaptive to emerging
community needs while remaining accessible for all managers. Topics could include:
1. MHP 101 course on Repairs, fire code, ADA code, tree health/maintenance,
environmental/sustainability initiatives, air quality; Utilities 101 on billing, repairs, legislation,
conservation, xeriscaping, and stormwater
2. Interpersonal - cultural sensitivity, equity, mediation, working with senior citizens
3. Legal - Know Your Rights, legislation overviews, eviction, Fair Housing Act, Occupancy restrictions
4. City programs - Sustainable Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Night Out, Our Climate Future, FC Moves,
Mini Grants, Block Parties, Healthy Homes, CityWorks, Planning Academy, City -convened collaborative
meetings with other MHP managers
• Certification would be required for all managers in year one of implementation, all newly hired managers,
and all managers who have failed to certify or lost certification. Re-certification would be required annually
for all managers who certified the previous year.
• Considerations:
- Under state law (Colorado Revised Statutes 12-10-101 & 12-10-201), property managers are
required to hold a real estate broker's license and complete 24 hours of continuing education every 3
years. However, on-site, live-in managers (like those at most mobile home parks) are an exception to
this requirement. This proposed certification program would fill that gap with locally relevant, MHP-
specific education opportunities for managers. A low hour requirement and lack of fees would ensure
that property management remains accessible and attainable.
- Resources required will be increased city staff time to process the registrations and
develop/administer the education programs, as well as the development of penalty structures
for non-compliance.
3. Comprehensive Annual Inspection
• Annual inspection could address typical building or site issues inspected through ot her City programs and
those not generally addressed through proactive enforcement or those that could require expertise from
City subject matter experts. Examples include inspection, assessment, and/or documentation of
plumbing, electrical, tree health and safety impacts, utility infrastructure, street issues, signage, and
site/lot grading.
• The City would not have necessary allocated resources to begin annual inspections until year 3 of the
enforcement program implementation at the earliest. We would begi n prior to year 3 with mock
inspections, mini-grants, and other resources provided to parks in order to support them in compliance
and reduce the risk that the costs of repairs would be passed onto residents.
• Considerations:
- This component may require significant upgrades to parks to be made, which may result in rental
increases for residents.
- City Staff could assist parks and/or residents in applying for grants and could provide our own mini -
grant funds to help offset the costs.
- Annual inspections would require the development of a penalty structure for non -compliance
and increased staff time from multiple departments to develop and/or conduct the inspections.
4. Proactive Enforcement
• Following the operational procedures of our Code Compliance team, proactive enforcement in MHP’s
would occur in 4-6 week intervals with responsive prioritization to seasonal or emerging issues with a goal
of +90% voluntary compliance.
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• The most common issues found in MHP’s, as identified by code staff, are inop erable vehicles, outdoor
storage, and rubbish.
• Considerations:
- Proactive enforcement, along with the annual inspection, would remove the pressure that is currently
on residents to report issues and would, over time, help prevent these issues from occu rring,
increasing safety and livability for MHP’s across the city.
- Citations issued to residents could be a financial strain, and citations issued to parks may result in
those costs being passed onto residents. However, a long -term roll out of this component paired with
education and funding opportunities would create higher levels of voluntary compliance and reduce
potential citations prior to official implementation.
- Proactive enforcement would require increased staff time from our Code Compliance
Inspectors to meet the addition of 9 neighborhoods. It would also require the development of
a penalty structure for non-compliance.
5. Education, Engagement, and Support
• Education, engagement with residents/owners/managers, and financial support plans inc lude:
- “Meet your code enforcement officer” neighborhood walks: These walks, conducted for both
managers and residents, will build a relationship and familiarity between code staff and MHP’s while
providing education on potential violations without a threat of penalties. These walks will begin in Fall
2021 and continue until enforcement begins in 2023.
- Neighborhood clean-up and repair days: These volunteer-led events will focus on removing
outdoor rubbish & household hazardous waste, repairing dilapidated fences, removing weeds &
overgrown vegetation, and performing minor exterior repairs; proactively eliminating potential code
violations. These programs will begin in Fall 2021 with a grant -funded event for each of the 55+
MHP’s, Skyline and North College.
- Mock inspections: Mock Inspections will educate park managers and owners on what to expect
from their annual inspection, available resources for addressing problem areas, and who they have
as “point-person" staff for their questions and concerns. Similar to the neighborhood walks, these
mock inspections will support voluntary compliance without a threat of penalties, though official
complaints received by the city may still be subject to enforcement. Mock inspections would begin
early 2022.
- MHP Handbook: This handbook is expected to be completed in Fall 2021 and distributed to
residents, managers, and owners. The handbook will provide information on MHP laws, maintenance,
utilities, community and city resources, and the enforcement program. Developmen t of this handbook
has been occurring since 2020 but has been delayed due to changes in legislation, utilities
processes, and the development of this enforcement program. Additionally, due to the increased level
of collaboration across city departments to address MHP issues, certain matters have come under
the scope of different work areas. For example, lot grading complaints were previously directed to
Stormwater. They are also under the purview of Building Inspection, which has different processes
and enforcement capabilities. As this collective work evolves, we continue to update the plans for the
handbook.
• Considerations:
- Education, engagement, and resource support will be critical to the success of this enforcement
program. By heavily focusing on supporting parks into compliance prior to conducting inspections and
enforcement, we will see greater, more consistent outcomes in livability and will prevent associated
costs of park repairs and improvements from being passed onto residents or from being t oo costly for
park owners and managers.
- Staff will continue to conduct a pre-enforcement needs assessment to gain a complete
understanding of the scope of work and what level of funding, staffing, and other resources
are needed as the program evolves. Increased staff time to develop and administer the
education programs will be required, along with funding for clean -up days and mini-grants.
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6. Code Changes to Address Water Services Rebilling Issues
• As part of the Enforcement Program, the MHP Residents ’ Rights Team has identified potential solutions
to some concerns related to water services that require further research, analysis, cost assessment, and
discussions/agreements with water service providers. Several currently being explored would require
Municipal Code changes that might come before City Council in the future, including:
- Notice of leaks or continuous water consumption in mobile home parks to residents to encourage
water conservation and decrease water costs to residents and MHP owners
- Prohibiting “flat rate” water charges or inclusion of water charges in lot rent to provide
residents with a monthly line item and water charges allocated
- Requiring Fort Collins Utilities formula or submetering to assure consistent distribution of water
charges throughout the MHP or to assess actual water usage per household via submetering
- Authorizing disclosure of MHP water bills (or portions) to the public, residents, or non -Utilities
City Staff to allow greater resident control over confirming accurate water charges
• Considerations: In addition to possible Municipal Code changes, MHP Residents’ Rights Team
discussions on improvement in water services transparency and rebilling led to consideration of metering
or submetering individual mobile homes. The complex issue of mobile home park water infrastructure
ownership and maintenance requirements may be a consideration for future Staff research and analysis.
The central questions regarding metering or submetering individual homes revolve around the high cost
(in the tens of millions of dollars per mobile home park if the City were to upgrade water infrastructure and
meter homes); payment of the costs for any changes to the current ownership and maintenance structure
that might be passed to residents, property owners, or other Utility ratepayers; and feasibility (the layout
of some mobile home parks may result in loss of housing units to upgrade water infrastructure and
questions remain about the ability of equipment necessary to upgrade water infrastructur e to access all
areas of the MHP). The benefits and drawbacks of each option would be further explored by Fort
Collins Utilities and other water districts and brought before Council if it is determined by
Councilmembers that infrastructure changes should b e further considered as possible solutions.
Timeline
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Year One (2021- 2022)
• Individual and group meetings with park managers, owners, and residents (Ongoing)
• Respond to complaints (Ongoing)
• Park clean-up & repair days for senior parks (Q4)
• Mock inspections and Neighborhood Walks (Q4 - Year 2 Q4)
• Complete and distribute MHP Handbook (Q4)
• Begin Needs Assessment (Q4 - Year 2 Q4)
Year Two (2022-2023)
• Manager Certification
o Develop education components and conduct outreach (Q1-2)
o Implement, with completion deadline by Q1 of following year (Q3-4)
• Clean-up & repair days for all parks (Q1-4)
• Provide MHP mini-grants (Q2 on)
• Update Handbook (as needed)
Year Three (2023)
• Annual inspections (Q2 on)
• Proactive enforcement (Q2 on)
Resources Needed
Resource Description Estimated Amount & Program
Year Needed
Staffing O Increased Code &/or Inspection Staff for 9
MHP neighborhoods o Increased Program Staff
for certification & registration o Increased
Administrative Staff for complaint intake
o $50,000 in 2022 for needs
assessment & community clean-up
supplies (BFO offer already
submitted) o TBD in 2023/24
(based on needs assessment) o
TBD ongoing 2025 forward (based
on program evaluations &
community need)
MHP
Neighborhood
Improvement &
Community
Building Grant
Fund
o Temporary fund for MHP residents, property
managers, & owners to assist with mitigation of
existing Code violations in advance of proactive
Code Enforcement o Community enhancement
& renewal fund for safety lighting, bike path
connectivity, increased public transportation
options, community gathering space,…*
o $200,000 in 2023/24 ($100,000
per calendar year)
Code Updates &
Penalty
Structures
o Additional updates to applicable City Code are
anticipated to address the following topics already
identified as ongoing issues and currently under
discussion among City departments: o Water
Services Rebilling & Transparency - possible
options could include: eliminating flat rate billing
and inclusion in lot rent; requiring individual water
submetering on each housing unit or use of a
specific formula; water leak notifications disclosed
to residents o Street Maintenance Standards
o MHP Manager Certification Requirements o
Disclosure of Documentation & Information -
average lot rents, current park rules, contact
o No associated additional costs
for updating Code. Additional
staffing required as indicated
above.
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information of owners and property managers,
and infrastructure maintenance o Annual
Inspections o Alignment of penalty
structures with existing inspection, enforcement,
and certification penalties with consideration of
the special circumstances in MHP’s
*This grant fund would model best practices and incorporate lessons learned from the 2017-2018 Vibrant
Neighborhoods Grant Fund for neighborhood-led projects throughout the city and the 2015-2016 Renewal of
Neighborhoods in a State of Change funds supporting reinvestment to older neighborhoods.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Mobile Home Park Residents' Rights Team Completed and Ongoing Projects (PDF)
2. Mobile Home Park Water Services Background Information (PDF)
3. Powerpoint Presentation (PDF)
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1
Attachment 1 – Mobile Home Park Residents’ Rights Team Completed & Ongoing Projects
Mobile Home Park Residents’ Rights Team
Completed & Ongoing Projects 2019-2021
Completed Projects
•Mobile Home Park Webpage
https://www.fcgov.com/neighborhoodservices/mobile-home-park-communities provides
up-to-date information about mobile home parks in Fort Collins, eviction avoidance
programs, and links to the State MHP Dispute Resolution Program and local Access Fort
Collins complaint/communication system.
•Mobile Home Park Mini-Grants
$50,000 allocated by City Council in 2019 as a mid-cycle budget appropriation for mini-
grants awards of up to $5,000 per project to neighbors, property managers, and/or
property owners through an application-based approach with selection criteria developed
collaboratively by mobile home park residents, City staff, property managers, and mobile
home park owners. Funded projects included replacement of windows and doors, tree
trimming and removal, water quality testing, and testing of water utility submeters.
•Municipal Code Changes
Review of Municipal Code and enforcement processes in 2019 revealed gaps in resident
protections and a need to strengthen some Municipal Code provisions. Code changes
expanded protections for participation in community meetings, limited required upgrades
to homes, clarified responsibility for tree maintenance and costs, and added
transparency and language equity requirements to property management and
emergency contact postings.
•Local Complaint System
State MHP Dispute Resolution complaints exclude renters and other non-homeowner
residents from filing complaints. The state system does not allow anonymous
complaints, which led to fear of retaliation from property managers or owners. The
existing Access Fort Collins system for questions, comments, and service requests allow
anonymous complaints and requests from all residents. A special section for Mobile
Home Parks was added to the “Neighborhoods” topic area with submissions routed
directly to the MHP Residents’ Rights Team for review, investigation, and customer
service by a Neighborhood Liaison.
Projects Currently Underway &/or Ongoing
•Neighborhood Liaisons for highest need MHP’s
Neighborhood Liaison positions are designed to build a bridge between community
needs and City/community resources, with an emphasis on equity to enhance the
capacity of residents to participate in public engagement activities, decision-making at all
City levels, and self-determination through community organizing. North College MHP
and Skyline MHP are the only 55+ MHP communities in Fort Collins and a neighborhood
liaison is assigned to each. The Mi Voz community group supported through La Familia-
The Family Center programming also has access to City resources and programs for
residents of MHP’s in the North College corridor, Hickory Village MHP, Poudre Valley
MHP, and Parklane MHP.
Staff is currently building capacity for community organizing and neighborhood action
planning to shift from a convenor role to a support and sustain role for resident
ATTACHMENT 1 2.1
Packet Pg. 125 Attachment: Mobile Home Park Residents' Rights Team Completed and Ongoing Projects (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
2
Attachment 1 – Mobile Home Park Residents’ Rights Team Completed & Ongoing Projects
associations to allow assignment of Neighborhood Liaisons to additional mobile home
parks.
• Larimer County Home Improvement Program (“LHIP”) & Emergency Grants
Low to no interest rate loans with flexible terms are available through LHIP to meet a
homeowner’s budget to repair or improve their home for low- to moderate-income
Larimer County homeowners. The program includes mobile/manufactured home repairs.
Emergency fund grants up to $3,000 for individuals 50% or below the area median
income for emergencies such as no hot water, burst pipes, gas leaks.
• Colorado’s Affordable Residential Energy Program (“CARE”) & Larimer County
Conservation Corps (“LCCC”)
CARE Program provides energy audits, education, and upgrades including low-flow
fixtures, Energy Star refrigerators, air sealing, insulation, and HVAC upgrades. The
CARE program was piloted in 2020 and funding has been requested for 2021 forward.
LCCC conducts a basic inspection of your home, appliances, windows, toilets, and
heating/cooling system and installs appropriate efficiency measures based on your
home’s needs, such as LED light bulbs, water conserving shower-heads and aerators,
smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, clotheslines and high-efficiency toilets.
• Mobile Home Park Handbook
This handbook is expected to be completed in Fall 2021 and distributed to residents,
managers, and owners. The handbook will provide information on MHP laws,
maintenance, utilities, community and city resources, and the enforcement program.
Development of this handbook has been occurring since 2020 but has been delayed due
to changes in legislation, utilities processes, and the development of this enforcement
program. Additionally, due to the increased level of collaboration across city departments
to address MHP issues, certain matters have come under the scope of different work
areas. For example, lot grading complaints were previously directed to Stormwater. They
are also under the purview of Building Inspection, which has different processes and
enforcement capabilities. As this collective work evolves, we continue to update the
plans for the handbook.
• Utility Billing Transparency
Through extensive outreach with residents, community partners and the City have
received reports of high water bills that vary widely for a unit; retaliation through water
rebilling by property owners; inconsistent calculations of monthly water utility charges;
inconsistent fee structure between housing units; and failure to disclose the MHP’s
monthly water bill, amount paid, or formula/rates used to calculate each unit’s share of
the water cost required under state law. Fort Collins Utilities has been able to fill that gap
in outreach and education related to changes in water utility rebilling transparency at the
state level, but since participation in these activities is voluntary, few MHP managers or
owners are taking advantage of the resources. Fort Collins Utilities is available to assist
any mobile home park in their service area, including some large properties in the GMA.
• Education & Outreach to Support Enforcement
Since August 2019 MHP Residents’ Rights Team has been conducting community
engagement with residents, managers, and owners of MHP’s within the City and Growth
Management Area (“GMA”) to better understand needs and priorities, more effectively
respond to complaints and inquiries, gather input on potential long-term solutions, and to
empower all with knowledge and tools. See AIS section “Enforcement Program Focus
Areas #5 for additional details of ongoing engagement.
2.1
Packet Pg. 126 Attachment: Mobile Home Park Residents' Rights Team Completed and Ongoing Projects (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
1
Attachment 2 – Mobile Home Park Water Services Background Information
Mobile Home Park Water Services Background Information
Background
Through outreach to residents, property managers, MHP owners, and community groups over
the last three years, the issue of water billing inconsistency and lack of transparency emerged
as one of the biggest concerns impacting mobile home park livability in MHP’s throughout Fort
Collins and the Growth Management Area (“GMA”). Property managers and owners are
confused by the changes at the state level and do not feel they had sufficient notice or support
to implement the new changes. Fort Collins Utilities has been able to fill that gap in outreach
and education, but since participation is voluntary, few MHP managers or owners are taking
advantage of the resources. Fort Collins Utilities is available to assist any mobile home park in
their service area, including some large properties in the GMA.
12 MHP’s are in a Fort Collins Utilities service area. Of these, 3 are in the GMA (Aspen, Poudre
Valley, and Timber Ridge).
Park Name Electric Water Wastewater Stormwater
Aspen - 400 S. Overland Trail x x x
Harmony Village – 2500 E. Harmony Rd. x x x x
Hickory Village – 400 Hickory St. x x x x
Montclair - 1405 N. College x x x x
North College - 1601 N. College x x x x
Northstar - 1616 Laporte Ave x x
Parklane – 411 S. Court St. x
Pleasant Grove - 517 E. Trilby x x
Poudre Valley – 2025 N. College Ave. x
Skyline - 2211 W. Mulberry Ave. x x x x
Stonecrest - 1303 N. College x x x x
Timber Ridge - 3717 S. Taft Hill Rd. x x
Mobile Home Park residents identified additional issues related to water utilities, some
stemming from those cited by MHP managers and owners and others related to lack of
infrastructure upgrades and the master metering of mobile home parks.
In mobile home parks in Fort Collins, the City provides a “master meter” and services the
infrastructure up to and including that meter. This is the meter that the City relies on to charge
for providing water to the entire mobile home park. All infrastructure beyond the master meter,
throughout the park, and up to the connections from the pad into individual homes is owned and
maintained by the MHP property owner.
ATTACHMENT 2 2.2
Packet Pg. 127 Attachment: Mobile Home Park Water Services Background Information (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
2
Attachment 2 – Mobile Home Park Water Services Background Information
2.2
Packet Pg. 128 Attachment: Mobile Home Park Water Services Background Information (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
July 13, 2021
Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program
JC Ward, Senior City Planner
Emily Olivo, Neighborhood Liaison
ATTACHMENT 3 2.3
Packet Pg. 129 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
2
Direction Sought
What feedback do Councilmembers have about mobile home park
enforcement options and timeline?
2.3
Packet Pg. 130 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
Overview
1.Strategic Alignment
2.MHP Residents’Rights Team
3.Background
4.Current Conditions
5.Summary of Options
6.Additional Support or Resources Needed
7.Estimated Timeline
3
2.3
Packet Pg. 131 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
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Strategic Alignment
City Strategic Plan
•Neighborhood Livability & Social Health:1.5, 1.8, 1.11
•Economic Health:3.5
•High Performing Government:7.2, 7.3
H Housing Strategic Plan:Strategies 2, 20, 23, 24
2.3
Packet Pg. 132 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
Mobile Home Parks Residents' Rights Team
5
•JC Ward, MHP Residents’Rights Team Lead, CDNS
•Sue Beck-Ferkiss, Social Policy & Housing Program
Manager, Social Sustainability
•Leo Escalante, Public Engagement Specialist, CPIO
•Jamie Gaskill, Program Specialist Supervisor,
Utilities Community Engagement
•Ryan Mounce, City Planner & MHP Zoning Lead, CDNS
•Emily Olivo, Neighborhood Liaison, CDNS
•Wendy Serour, Public Engagement Specialist, Utilities
Strategic Accounts
•Julie Wenzel, Mini-Grant Coordinator, CDNS
•Marcy Yo der, Neighborhood Services Manager, CDNS
2.3
Packet Pg. 133 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
Background –Projects & Programs
Completed In Progress/ Underway Long Term / Resources Req.
MHP Webpage Neighborhood Liaisons (highest need parks)Enforcement of Municipal Code
(Section 18) & State Legislation (Limited,
Need-Based)
MHP Mini-Grants LHIP & Emergency Grants Housing Unit Single Metering (water)
Maintenance Responsibilities
Code Changes
Partner/Contractor Projects CARE; LCCC Negotiated investments
Limitation of Required Upgrades MHP Handbook* Liaisons (all parks)
Section 18 Residents’Rights
Updates
Utility/Water Services Billing Transparency ROC support (shifted from notice of
sale/opp to purchase work)
Local Complaint System Education & Outreach to Support Enforcement MHP Licensing*
*Project on hold temporarily to align timing and consistency with other ongoing efforts
2.3
Packet Pg. 134 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
Background -Ongoing Engagement
•Support for Residents’Associations
•Relationship building with managers and residents
•Kick-offs and clean-ups at senior MHPs this Fall (grant-funded)
•Utilities, building inspection, and nuisance enforcement
(complaint-based)
7
2.3
Packet Pg. 135 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
8
Current Conditions
Ongoing Issues:
•Wa ter Services –Wa ter billing/rebilling transparency,infrastructure maintenance
•Park Rules –Legality, inconsistent application, lack of transparency, frequency of
changes
•Maintenance Responsibilities –Tr ees and snow removal
•Retaliation
•Safety –Lighting, speed limit enforcement, loitering, lot grading
•General Nuisance Violations –inoperable vehicles,weeds, rubbish, outdoor
storage
•Manager/Owner Accountability –manager turnover and education,
communication with City
2.3
Packet Pg. 136 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
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Current Conditions & Ongoing Need
•State Mobile Home Park Oversight Program is not enforced to level needed
•Some residents (renters) are excluded from the state’s Dispute Resolution
Program
•Section 18 of City Municipal Code on mobile home parks has limited
enforcement mechanisms; problems persist
•Current enforcement programs and components do not address full scope of
issues
•Ag ing w ater and sew er infrastructure owned by mobile home park
•MHP residents have limited access to data to confirm accurate water services
rebilling, customer service from Fort Collins Utilities, & income-qualified programs
2.3
Packet Pg. 137 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
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Program Goal
Enforcement Program Goal:
Support residents, owners, and managers into achieving
voluntary code compliance through education/engagement
and comprehensive enforcement, increasing livability and
safety across mobile home parks in Fort Collins.
2.3
Packet Pg. 138 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
Summary of Options
1.Local Park Registration:Park owners meet wi th city staff to provide park
details and acknowledge MHP policy changes.
2.Manager Certification: Annual certification/renewal by completing
education requirement, acknowledging MHP handbook, and meeting with
MHP Residents’Rights Team.
3.Comprehensive Annual Inspection:Addresses issues that proactive
enforcement does not prioritize and that require expertise from City Subject
Matter Experts.
11
2.3
Packet Pg. 139 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
Summary of Options (continued)
4.Proactive Enforcement:Aligns with Code Inspection in other
neighborhoods across the city
5.Education, Engagement, and Support: Community clean-up days, mock
inspections, and mini-grant support leading up to official enforcement in
2023, supporting MHP’s in achieving voluntary compliance.
6.Code Changes to Ad dress Water Services Rebilling: MHP leak notices
to residents, prohibiting flat rate water billing or inclusion in lot rent,
requiring submetering of units or use of an approved allocation formula,
authorizing disclosure of MHP water bills (or portions) to certain parties
12
2.3
Packet Pg. 140 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
Summary of Options
Short-Te rm (1-6 months)Mid-Te rm (6-12 months)Long-Te rm/Resources Req.
(1 year+)
Complaint-based Response Mock Enforcement Inspections Local Park Registration
Support Formation of
Residents’Associations MHP Mini-grants Manager Certification Program
Clean-Up and Repair Days
(Senior Parks)
Clean-Up and Repair Days (All
Parks)Proactive Enforcement
MHP Handbook Conduct Needs Assessment Annual Park Inspections
Wa ter Services Solutions
Possible Municipal Code
Updates
2.3
Packet Pg. 141 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
Estimated Timeline
2.3
Packet Pg. 142 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
Support & Resources Needed
•Staffing
•Code and other inspectors for proactive enforcement and complaint
response
•Neighborhood Services staffing for outreach and management of
park registration and manager certification programs
•Mini-grant funding for repairs, clean-ups, maintenance
•Application of penalty structures and additional Municipal Code
Changes
15
2.3
Packet Pg. 143 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
16
Direction Sought
What feedback do Councilmembers have about mobile home park
enforcement options and timeline?
2.3
Packet Pg. 144 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10443 : Mobile Home Park Enforcement Program)
DATE:
STAFF:
July 13, 2021
Ginny Sawyer, Policy and Project Manager
Colman Keane, Broadband Director
WORK SESSION ITEM
City Council
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION
Fort Collins Connexion Update.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this item is to provide to Council and the public an overview and update of the Connexion
municipal fiber build-out.
GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
1. What questions does Council have for the Connexion team?
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
Connexion staff will provide an overview approximately every 3-4 months throughout the build to bring general
updates to Council and the public.
The Connexion team, along with partners Atlantic Engineering Group (AEG) and OnTrac, continue to build and
install fiber to the home service throughout the city. This voter -approved initiative began in 2018 and the main
build of the system is on target for completion in 2022.
To date over 550 miles of fiber and more than 22,000 underground vaults have been installed. Connexion is
gearing up for a large ramp up of service availability in the coming months.
2021 MARCH-JULY UPDATES
The Build
This is the largest municipal broadband underground project in the nation. As discussed in previous work
sessions, the design-build approach to the project has allowed construction to move quickly and adds an element
of schedule uncertainty. Staff continues to message that residents can antici pate service availability within 6-9
months of initial construction in their area.
The Design portion of the Design-Build process is nearing completion. Having design complete will help to inform
any adjustments potentially needed to the capital budget and costs through build completion. More than half of
the city is currently under construction including Downtown. A bi-weekly newsletter update is being provided to
downtown businesses through a Downtown Development Association (DDA) distribution list. D owntown
construction is anticipated to last 6-weeks.
Private irrigation damage and repair continues. Locating private irrigation that has been installed in the public
right-of-way is the responsibility of the owner of the system. These systems and their owners, while required to be
registered with the 811 system, rarely are and locating is not being done. Although AEG and the City are not
legally responsible for damages, efforts are being made to mitigate impacts and provide exceptional customer
service. Any irrigation damage caused by Connexion to private residences are repaired at no cost to the
homeowner.
3
Packet Pg. 145
July 13, 2021 Page 2
Transparency and Customer Experience
Connexion’s Design-Build process creates numerous customer touch points from construction to service and staff
has mapped these opportunities to better understand resident needs, to determine appropriate and effective
communication tools, and to identify metrics to ensure customer expectations are met. This work is in the early
stages but survey data to date is positive.
Connexion launched an address look-up tool and static status map in June. These tools are intended to provide
greater transparency into the build and service availability as well as provide more information to residents on the
timeframe in which they may be able to sign up for Connexion service. The site had over 750 unique hits in the
first two weeks of availability.
General
In August, Network Engineering and Network Operation staff are anticipating moving to a permanent location at
700 Wood Street. This move will allow staff to co-locate resulting in needed efficiencies, a more professional
trouble-shooting setting, a shared lab for testing and learning which will provide a higher level service for
customers.
Connexion will continue to update Council and the public through monthly reports (available online at
fcconnexion.com /reports <https://www.fcconnexion.com/reports>) and quarterly Council work sessions.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Powerpoint Presentation (PDF)
3
Packet Pg. 146
City Council Work Session
July 13, 2021
ATTACHMENT 1 3.1
Packet Pg. 147 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)
Purpose
2
1.Construction: Schedule and Progress
2.Customer Service Mapping
3.General Updates
3.1
Packet Pg. 148 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)
Build/Construction
•Downtown Progress
•Irrigation Lines
•City Collaboration
3
3.1
Packet Pg. 149 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)
New Splicing Truck & Trailer
4
3.1
Packet Pg. 150 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)
Fiber Areas Completed
5
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Y 2019Jan-20Feb-20Mar-20Apr-20May-20Jun-20Jul-20Aug-20Sep-20Oct-20Nov-20Dec-20Jan-21Feb-21Mar-21Apr-21May-21Jun-21Jul-21Aug-21Sep-21Oct-21Nov-21Dec-21Jan-22Feb-22Mar-22Apr-22May-22Jun-22Jul-22Aug-22Sep-22Oct-22Nov-22Dec-22#of AreasActual Forecasted
3.1
Packet Pg. 151 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)
To tal Fiber Pulled
6
0 Ft
1,000,000 Ft
2,000,000 Ft
3,000,000 Ft
4,000,000 Ft
5,000,000 Ft
6,000,000 Ft
Y 2019Jan-20Feb-20Mar-20Apr-20May-20Jun-20Jul-20Aug-20Sep-20Oct-20Nov-20Dec-20Jan-21Feb-21Mar-21Apr-21May-21Jun-21Jul-21Aug-21Sep-21Oct-21Nov-21Dec-21Jan-22Feb-22Mar-22Apr-22May-22Jun-22Jul-22Aug-22Sep-22Oct-22Nov-22Dec-22Fiiber Pulled in FeetActual Forecasted
3.1
Packet Pg. 152 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)
Overall Schedule
3.1
Packet Pg. 153 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)
Fiber Areas Q3 2020 vs Q2 2021
8
Q3-20 Q2-21
In Design 147 41%63 18%
Under
Construction
150 42%143 40%
Construction
Completed
60 17%151 42%
To tal Fiber Areas 357 357
3.1
Packet Pg. 154 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)
General Updates
•Regional partnerships
•County assessment
•Federal opportunities
•Majority of staff will soon be co-located
•Network Security and Reliability
•Customer Experience
9
3.1
Packet Pg. 155 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)
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3.1
Packet Pg. 156 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)
Ta ste of Fort Collins 2021
11
Connexion is a proud sponsor of the 2021 Taste of Fort Collins!
Saturday, July 24th & Sunday,July 25th at Washington Park in Old Town
3.1
Packet Pg. 157 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)
QUESTIONS?
3.1
Packet Pg. 158 Attachment: Powerpoint Presentation (10446 : Fort Collins Connexion Update)