HomeMy WebLinkAboutWORK SESSION SUMMARY-12/08/2020-Work Session
Social Sustainability
222 Laporte Ave.
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6758
MEMORANDUM
DATE: December 11, 2020
TO: Mayor and City Council
THRU: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Affordable Housing Executive Team1
FROM: Lindsay Ex, Interim Housing Manager
Meaghan Overton, Senior City Planner
RE: December 8, 2020 Work Session Summary: Housing Strategic Plan Update
The purpose of this item was to provide a Housing Strategic Plan update, including a summary of
fall community engagement, strategy identification, draft evaluation criteria, and consideration of an
off-cycle appropriation to initiate the first phase of updating the City’s Land Use Code. All
Councilmembers were present virtually and offered the following feedback:
Community engagement
x Appreciation for engagement process, initial findings, number of residents engaged, and
staff efforts to reach out to historically underrepresented groups, especially in the context of
the ongoing pandemic.
x Encouragement also to engage proactively with neighborhood groups and homeowner’s
associations as strategies are prioritized, including Land Use Code changes.
Strategy Identification
x Support for the approach to strategy identification and breadth of strategies considered
x Interest in prioritizing strategies
x Recognition that multiple strategies and levers will need to be pulled to make progress –
there is not a single solution that will achieve the vision
x Identification of a need to consider solutions that incorporate all kinds of neighborhoods,
with and without formal Homeowners’ Association (HOA) structures.
x Desire in both strategies and prioritization to think about how we respond to the present
while also “future proofing” to stay agile over time
Evaluation Criteria
x Desire to look at both near-term actions and transformational changes
x Support for evaluation criteria approach
Off-Cycle Appropriation to Advance the First Phase of the Land Use Code (LUC) Audit, with an
emphasis on housing-related updates
x Overall support for bringing the off-cycle appropriation forward in Q1 of 2021;
x Aligns with how ad hoc committee has been focusing on near term actions.
1 Jackie Kozak Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer; Theresa Connor, Utilities Executive Director; Caryn Champine,
Planning, Development, and Transportation (PDT) Director; Julie Brewen, Housing Catalyst Executive Director;
Dave Lenz, Finance Planning and Analysis Director; Beth Sowder, Social Sustainability Director
2
x Desire to respond to current needs, identify what and where affordable housing incentives
can be expanded or improved, modernize code, and create a flexible approach to future
development, e.g., energy-efficient and innovative building techniques, aligning housing
strategies with transportation needs, etc.
x Councilmembers expressed interest in a more detailed scope of work; this scope will be
provided in the materials for the January 26 Work Session and will include what this first
phase of LUC changes will achieve as well as a proposed date for First Reading of an
appropriation ordinance.
Overall Feedback – Continue Planning and Doing at the Same Time:
x Support to continue the plan and taking action at the same time, and recognition of the
importance for the plan to include prioritized action steps. The housing needs in our
community are urgent and require both planning for the future and strategic action now.
x Recognition of the action Council has already taken to achieve their priority of Affordable
Achievable Housing strategies, including the following:
o Supported preservation of manufactured home communities (MHC) by establishing
a specific MHC zone district;
o Increasing residents’ rights in MHC;
o Improving the fee credit process for affordable housing projects;
o Evaluating the City’s metro district policy, which includes a component on affordable
housing; and
o Establishing a legal defense fund via CARES-CVRF resources to support residents
at-risk of eviction.
x Additional quick wins, as identified, may be brought forward at the January Work Session.
Next Steps
x Staff will host a series of strategy evaluation workshops in December and January.
x A public draft of the Housing Strategic Plan will be published January 7, with a public
comment period January 7-21, 2021.
x At the January 26 Work Session, staff will share the outcomes of initial strategy
prioritization, draft plan indicators & guiding principles, finalized scope for LUC updates, and
additional quick(er) wins as identified by the Ad Hoc Committee.
x Council will consider adopting the Housing Strategic Plan on February 16 (first reading).