Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 08/04/2020 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 101, 2020, EXTENDINAgenda Item 19 Item # 19 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY August 4, 2020 City Council STAFF Ryan Mounce, City Planner Claire Havelda, Legal SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 101, 2020, Extending the Moratorium on Certain Redevelopment Affecting Existing Mobile Home Parks Until December 30, 2020. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to extend a moratorium, through December 30, 2020, upon the City’s acceptance of any application for development of any kind that, if granted, could result in the partial or total closing or reduction in capacity of any existing mobile home park, to address the issues and concerns identified in the recitals contained in Ordinance No. 099, 2019. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION City Plan and the Strategic Plan identify several policies and objectives related to manufactured housing preservation and the fair and equitable treatment of residents in manufactured housing communities. Recent state legislation, including HB 19-1309, encourages counties and municipalities to enforce and adopt ordinances for the safe and equitable operation of mobile home parks. In August 2019, Council implemented a moratorium upon the City’s acceptance of any application for development which would result in the partial or total closing or reduction in capacity of any mobile home park. This moratorium was established for a period of one-year, ending on August 30, 2020, to allow the City time to research, formulate, and discuss amendments to the Municipal Code and Land Use Code that should be enacted. Over the past year, staff and Council have identified several strategies to help preserve manufactured housing communities and enhance residents’ rights and livability protections. These changes include the consideration of: • A new Manufactured Housing (M-H) zone district designed to preserve existing manufactured housing communities. The new zone district will be implemented through updates to the Land Use Code. Specific properties will also be considered for rezoning to the M-H district if it is adopted. • A series of updates to the Municipal Code to enhance the rights and livability of residents by clarifying roles and responsibilities for tree maintenance, utility billing practices, and establishing retaliation protections. Consideration of these Code changes and the potential rezoning of properties to the new M-H district was originally anticipated to occur during late spring and early summer. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Agenda Item 19 Item # 19 Page 2 cancelation of board and commission meetings and interruptions of planned stakeholder engagement has resulted in several months of delays. Both the Land Use Code and Municipal Code changes are now scheduled to be heard by Council in August; however, the application of the new M-H district through a rezoning process could only begin once the Land Use Code changes are in effect. This rezoning process is now anticipated to take place after the expiration of the redevelopment moratorium. If the rezoning process occurs after the redevelopment moratorium expires, property owners could submit a development application this fall under existing zoning rather than the new M-H district. Existing zoning designations for mobile home parks generally permit a wider variety of redevelopment options than contemplated by the new M-H district. If a redevelopment application is submitted under current zoning, there is greater potential for a closure or loss of manufactured housing units than if a development application is reviewed under the proposed M-H district. The rezoning process is likely to take several months to consult with stakeholders, hold neighborhood meetings, receive a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Board, and hold two readings before Council. There is also the potential some rezonings may first require updates to City Plan or relevant neighborhood plans to create consistency with the City’s adopted land use policies possibly resulting in adding several additional months to the rezoning process timeline. An extension of the moratorium for four months, to December 30, 2020, would allow time for the consideration of property rezonings to the new M-H district and the possibility that City Plan and/or relevant neighborhood plans may also need to be updated. Similar to the existing moratorium, Council may also end the moratorium extension early once regulations or changes have been established addressing the original issues and concerns with manufactured housing communities. PUBLIC OUTREACH Limited public outreach has been completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several stakeholders have discussed the potential for a moratorium extension to allow time for additional engagement and outreach for the consideration of property rezonings to the proposed manufactured housing zone district. Council discussed the moratorium extension at the July 28, 2020 work session. ATTACHMENTS 1. Powerpoint Presentation (PDF) Aug 4, 2020 Land Use Code Changes Manufactured Housing Zone District ATTACHMENT 1 Council Action Requested Adoption on First Reading § Extension of moratorium until December 30, 2020 upon certain development affecting existing manufactured housing communities 2 Background Moratorium Established – August 2019 § Limits City’s acceptance of development applications that could result in the partial or total closing, or reduction in capacity, of existing mobile home parks § Up to one-year duration (Aug 30, 2020). § Provide staff and Council time to research, formulate, and discuss what local ordinances it may want to enact to further City Plan principles and policies, uphold the principles of the state Mobile Home Park Act, and protect the citizens of Fort Collins 3 Original Timeline § Fall 2019 Understand issues; research § December 2019 Pursue new zone district and residents’ rights strategies § Early 2020 Develop standards & Code language; stakeholder outreach § May-Jun 2020 Code Adoption process. Consider property rezonings COVID-19 Delays § Postponed implementation of state Mobile Home Park Act § Engagement pause; cancelation of Boards & Commission meetings § Limits on the use of remote hearing processes (rezonings) 4 Revised Timeline § July/Aug Code adoption (in process) § Fall 2020* Continued engagement & consider property rezonings * * Rezonings requiring City Plan / Neighborhood Plan changes lengthens timeline 5 Considerations Moratorium Expiration – Aug 30, 2020 § City can accept development applications for redevelopment under current zoning designations § Preservation standards of M-H district not applicable Moratorium Extension – Dec 30, 2020 § Additional engagement opportunities and rezoning process completes under moratorium as originally anticipated 6 -1- ORDINANCE NO. 101, 2020 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS EXTENDING THE MORATORIUM ON CERTAIN REDEVELOPMENT AFFECTING EXISTING MOBILE HOME PARKS UNTIL DECEMBER 30, 2020 WHEREAS, City Plan Neighborhood Livability and Social Health Principle LIV 6 is to “[i]mprove access to housing that meets the needs of residents regardless of their race, ethnicity, income, age ability or background”; and WHEREAS, Principle LIV 6 is supported and advanced by the following policies related to affordable housing relevant to mobile homes: LIV 6.4, Permanent Supply of Affordable Housing, LIV 6.9, Prevent Displacement, and LIV 6.10, Mitigate Displacement Impacts; and WHEREAS, City Council acknowledges the significant contribution of manufactured housing communities to the City of Fort Collins and recognizes them as important sources of affordable housing for lower income working families, seniors, and people with disabilities living in Fort Collins; and WHEREAS, the redevelopment of mobile home parks can create unusual hardships if residents cannot afford to pay to move their mobile homes or belongings or cannot find affordable replacement housing; and WHEREAS, manufactured housing homeowners are in a unique situation because they are both homeowners of their individual home and tenants of the mobile home communities because they do not own the land on which their home is located; and WHEREAS, on May 23, 2019, House Bill 19-1309 (“HB19-1309”) concerning the regulation of mobile home parks was signed by the Governor; and WHEREAS, HB 19-1309 acknowledge that mobile home park residents and landlords have rights and responsibilities under the state’s Mobile Home Park Act (the “Act”) and encourages local governments to play an active role in ensuring the Act is upheld, by giving counties and municipalities the power to adopt and enforce ordinances and resolutions to provide for the safe and equitable operation of mobile home communities in their jurisdictions; and WHEREAS, City Council seeks to promote the preservation of the currently existing mobile home parks within Fort Collins and on August 20, 2019, City Council passed Ordinance No. 099, 2019 imposing a moratorium on certain development affecting existing mobile home parks (the “Moratorium”) until August 30, 2020; and WHEREAS, City Council wishes to continue to reduce the likelihood of resident displacement and loss of affordable housing units by creating and encompassing the existing mobile home parks into a new zone district developed specifically for them; and -2- WHEREAS, during the original one-year moratorium period, City staff researched, formulated, and discussed what amendments to the Fort Collins Municipal Code and Land Use Code should be enacted with community members, landowners, the Planning and Zoning Board, and City Council; and WHEREAS, during the initial moratorium period, City staff made significant progress in identifying strategies to preserve mobile home parks engaging in outreach to local owners and residents of such communities, and developing proposed methods to enhance residents’ rights and livability protections; and WHEREAS, staff has also presented for Council consideration an ordinance to create, by amendment of the City’s Land Use Code (LUC), a new manufactured housing (“M-H”) zone district designed to preserve certain existing mobile home parks; and WHEREAS, staff is proposing that a number of existing Fort Collins mobile home parks be considered by City Council for rezoning into the new proposed M-H zone; and WHEREAS, staff has also presented for Council consideration updates to the City’s Municipal Code to enhance the livability of manufactured housing community residents; and WHEREAS, on June 30, 2020, Colorado’s Governor signed House Bill 2020-1196 (“HB 20-1196), that: 1) provides greater rights and privacy protection for homeowners within manufactured housing communities; 2) clarifies management’s duties concerning maintenance and repair of the manufactured housing communities; and 3) requires greater transparency by park owners to residents regarding to water costs; and WHEREAS, the passage of HB 20-1196 indicates State support for the preservation of manufactured housing communities as viable affordable housing options within Colorado communities; and WHEREAS, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, City staff’s outreach efforts, and the Planning and Zoning Board’s and City Council’s review, analysis, and feedback on staff’s recommendations were delayed; and WHEREAS, if Council enacts a new M-H zone district, Council will then consider staffs’ recommendations regarding which existing manufactured housing communities should be rezoned into the M-H zone district until the district is established by amendment of the LUC after the Planning and Zoning Board completes its review and makes its recommendations to Council; and WHEREAS, in addition, Council may choose to consider modifications to City Plan, corridor, neighborhood and sub-area plans, after additional community outreach, and review by both Planning and Zoning and City Council, before such rezoning could occur; and -3- WHEREAS, should the proposed M-H zone district be implemented, the Moratorium would need to be extended until at least December 30, 2020, to accomplish all the required procedural steps to properly effectuate any rezoning; and WHEREAS, if the Moratorium is not extended, landowners may submit redevelopment plans under current zoning and City Council’s ability to preserve certain mobile home parks could be significantly diminished; and WHEREAS, the extension of the Moratorium serves the public purpose of preserving and maintaining current manufactured housing communities within the City and is in the best interest of the citizens of Fort Collins. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. Section 2. The City Council hereby extends the Moratorium on certain development of mobile home parks enacted by adoption of Ordinance No. 099, 2019, until December 30, 2020. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 4th day of August, A.D. 2020, and to be presented for final passage on the 18th day of August, A.D. 2020. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________ City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on this 18th day of August, A.D. 2020. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________ City Clerk