HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 04/15/2025 - Memorandum from Kirk Longstein re Natural Habitat Buffer Zones (NHBZ) and Nature Based Solutions Master PlanPlanning, Development & Transportation Services
Community Development & Neighborhood Services
281 North College Avenue
P.O. Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580
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fcgov.com
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DATE: April 10, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
THRU: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Caryn Champine, PDT Director
FROM: Kirk Longstein, Senior Environmental Planner
RE: Natural Habitat Buffer Zones (NHBZ) and Nature Based Solutions Master Plan
The purpose of this memo is to provide an update on a Nature Based Solutions (NbS) master
planning effort to be funded through a recently awarded Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) grant. Council will be asked to vote on the grant appropriation at the May 6
Regular Council Meeting.
By leveraging these grant dollars, staff strive to achieve the following project goals:
1. Adapt existing environmental and stormwater standards to align with urban infill and the
redevelopment of commercial centers
2. Remove policy conflicts and improve customer predictability with the development
review process
3. Promote development plans that are arranged to provide ecosystem services
Background
Through the development review process, NHBZs are identified, preserved, and often enhanced
with restoration efforts such as nature-based designs, pollinator resources and native plantings.
This approach helps integrate conservation into the community, reinforcing habitat protection
and climate resilience principles amid Fort Collins’ growth. Development activity has played a
vital role in protecting NHBZs by identifying and protecting many of these natural habitat buffer
zones that otherwise would remain unregulated, and subject to degradation from non-
conforming uses, invasive species, and a lack of long-term stewardship.
Relying on guidance provided within City Plan, Nature in the City, Our Climate Future, as well
as the land use code, the protection of approx. 370 acres of NHBZs has resulted in the
enhanced habitat values and connectivity to approx. 6,200 acres of city-owned Natural Areas
(city limits only), since 1997.
Additional achievements:
• In order to provide greater predictability, the City's Natural Habitats and Features
Inventory has been updated on the city’s website and reflects changes since these
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features were last delineated in 2002. The new publicly available resource for
development applicants is available online -
fcgov.com/developmentreview/environmental-planning
• In 2024, Environmental Planning reviewed 124 development applications with NHBZs;
and with City Council’s support, the new NHBZ/zoning inspector provided more than 100
visits to 32 active development sites with natural habitats and features.
As Fort Collins shifts from greenfield development toward more infill and redevelopment, NHBZ
development standards must adapt to ensure continued environmental benefits. With a strategic
refresh, over the next two years, the environmental planning team intends to take an intentional
approach to expand strategies, refine goals, and establish a unified community vision for
NHBZs that extends beyond traditional ecological restoration approaches of the past.
NHBZ Role in Stormwater Management
There are approx. 900 acres of current stormwater detention basins that are not already
protected with a NHBZ. In recent years, developers have increasingly recognized the benefits
of integrating NHBZs with stormwater facilities, particularly on smaller, space-constrained
development sites. When designed intentionally, naturalistic stormwater features help reduce
flood risks, improve water quality, and support climate resilience. By leveraging natural
processes for runoff management and water quality, these solutions often result in lower long-
term maintenance costs compared to conventional stormwater infrastructure.
To support these approaches, environmental planners and stormwater engineers have
collaborated to align goals and assist the development community in implementing nature-
based solutions. However, a key challenge remains: the lack of predictability and consistency in
the design process.
To address this, the Environmental Planning team secured a $398,000 FEMA Building Resilient
Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant from the State of Colorado Hazard Mitigation
Office, supplemented by the City’s in-kind staff contributions. This funding supports the
development of a Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) Master Plan, which will guide the integration of
natural stormwater management strategies into urban infill and redevelopment projects.
The NbS Master Plan aligns with City Plan policy goals that encourage increased density and
the transition from greenfield development to infill redevelopment. Recognizing that different
neighborhoods in Fort Collins have unique needs, the plan aims to align development standards
and stormwater design criteria to maximize environmental sustainability, resilience, and
community well-being. Aligning environmental protection standards and stormwater design
criteria will help ensure that stormwater management solutions are both effective and adaptable
across various stormwater basin master plans and will minimize conflict between two sets of
development standards.
Through a community focused planning process, staff seeks to solve the following barriers to
advancing the community’s environmental planning goals:
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• The Land Use Code currently lacks sufficient consideration for NbS within landscape
treatment areas, street trees, natural habitat buffer zones, and stormwater facilities
within an approved development plan.
• The current Stormwater Design Criteria Manual does not include standards to include
habitat-based landscape design standards. E.g., requirements whereby different layers
or levels of vegetation exist at varying heights, creating diverse microhabitats within a
single area, allowing different species to occupy specific niches based on their feeding,
nesting, or movement needs.
• Stormwater design criteria lack clarity on how to enhance ecological function to the
existing wetland characteristics without infringing on water law (e.g., multi-use basins &
constructed wetlands).
With these barriers in mind, staff seek to find predictable, simple solutions for developers who
wish to overlay natural habitat protection zoning standards, heterogeneous habitat landscape
design, and naturalized stormwater facilities.
Next Steps
Staff will bring forward an unanticipated revenue ordinance for Council discussion at the May 6
regular meeting to present further details on the FEMA grant and looks forward to continued
community conversations about creative solutions and strategies to further enhance natural
habitats and features. Staff plan to bring back updates of the project plan, and community
engagement efforts, starting in November 2025. The grant deliverables will update the 2021
Larimer County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) that will inform policy
questions for council’s consideration related to both the Land Use Code and Utilities stormwater
design criteria, in Q3 2026.
CC:
Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager
Nicole Poncelet-Johnson, One Water Executive Director
Jill Oropeza, Senior Director of Planning and Sciences
Ken Sampley, Civil Engineering Director
Lori Schwarz, Community Development and Neighborhood Services Director
Clay Frickey, Planning Manager
Katie Donahue, Director, Natural Areas Department
Heather Jarvis, Assistant City Attorney
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