HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 05/13/2025 - Memorandum from Lori F. Schwarz re Development Approval Process ImprovementsCommunity Development and
Neighborhood Services
281 North College Avenue
PO Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522
970-221-6760
lschwarz@fcgov.com
CC: Clay Frickey, Marcus Coldiron, Maren Bzdek
MEMORANDUM
Date: May 7, 2025
To: Mayor and City Councilmembers
Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Caryn Champine, Director, Planning, Development & Transportation
From: Lori F. Schwarz, AICP, PDT Deputy Director: Community Development and
Neighborhood Services Director
Subject: Development Approval Process Improvements
BOTTOM LINE
At the March 25, 2025 work session, City Council requested that Staff provide an update on efforts
that the multi-departmental staff is undertaking to improve customer experience through the
Development Approval Process. This work began in early 2024 and multiple inter-related
initiatives are underway to simplify, streamline, and improve business processes.
BACKGROUND
The Development Approval Process encompasses the work of multiple divisions/departments
across the City of Fort Collins that have land development regulations. The Planning Department
serves as the custodian of the process during the Development Review phase; the Building
Services Department facilitates the permit approval process through final inspections and the
Certificate of Occupancy. The departments included in the standard Development Approval
Process are as follows:
• Planning
• Building
• Poudre Fire Authority
• Engineering
• Forestry
• Water Utilities
• Light and Power
• Traffic
• Water Conservation
• Energy Services
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Additionally, the following departments and/or agencies will review projects and have some level
of decision-making authority when applicable:
• Historic Preservation
• Parks
• Transfort
• Sustainability Services
• City Attorney’s Office
• Ditch companies
• Outside water providers
• Outside sanitation districts
• Railroads
• Colorado Department of
Transportation
In early 2024, members of various departments involved in the Development Approval Process
met to identify challenges and opportunities for improvements to customer experience. The
following themes emerged for the City to address:
• Multiple, complex and sometimes conflicting regulations
• Expectations are not clear and not driven through the organization
• Cross departmental collaboration can be challenging and inefficient
• Limited cohesive strategy, empowerment, and ownership
• Limited resources and training to support full workload
• Limited technology, digital solutions and resources
Once these challenges were recognized, the team developed draft guiding principles to shape
and inform the work necessary to effect change across the various departments as follows:
We are committed to shared community outcomes and a customer experience that is
efficient, effective and resilient through:
Strategy
• Proactive and early engagement between staff and customers for complex projects
• Identify early action items (data driven, high impact)
• Incentivize and celebrate rapid improvements and solutions
Partnership
• Clear and supportive communication among staff teams and leadership
• Consistent, open lines of communication with our customers
• Collaborative escalation of issues beginning with next level managers
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Resources
• Early identification of needs for complex projects
• Creative use of existing or new tools and resources
• Digital solutions that enhance customer experience and collaboration.
Work In Progress:
There are several interconnected activities that are underway to enhance the overall Development
Approval Process with a focus on continuous improvement. These are broadly covered under
several high-level themes that include:
• Development Review Oversight
• Regulatory Alignment
• Affordable Housing process improvements
• Customer Experience Improvements
• FC Clear: Digital Experience
An overview of each of these areas, as well as projects that are in progress, are described below.
Development Review Oversight:
Primary Purpose: As a continuation of the work begun in early 2024, there are two multi-
departmental working groups that are focused on ensuring communication between departments
during the Development Approval Process.
Timeline: Ongoing. The first group, comprised of primary development review staff across the
City, formally meets monthly to discuss opportunities for alignment on projects as well as areas
for process improvement. As part of the collaborative process, this team will engage in proactive
discussions when a customer has received two rounds of feedback but has been unable to resolve
issues. The team is testing different methods to solve problems with customers for addressing
outstanding comments.
The second team, comprised of senior level leaders of Development Approval departments and
Service Areas, meets bi-monthly to provide policy direction and provide an avenue to escalate
decision-making for topics that were not able to be resolved by the primary staff working group.
The senior level working group is considering moving to a monthly meeting in expectation of
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additional policy decisions that will arise as progress is made on streamlining the Development
Approval Process.
Deliverables: As each policy review occurs, decisions will be memorialized in a policy and
procedures document for all internal departments.
Regulatory Alignment:
Primary Purpose: As identified by City Council, there are multiple projects underway to provide
regulatory alignment across the Development Approval departments.
Timeline: Ongoing, with focus on adoptions throughout 2025 and the first half of 2026. Within
CDNS, these regulatory projects include:
• Land Use Code for Commercial Corridors and Centers;
• Building Code, in conjunction with the 2024 International Code Council (ICC) updates; and
• Historic Preservation Code updates.
The Land Use and Building Code updates are expected to move forward for adoption in Fall 2025
with the Historic Preservation Code update planned for adoption in early 2026.
There are also several other plans and code processes underway that are being led by other
departments, such as: Energy Code update; Fire Code update; Development Impact Fee
framework; Water Efficiency Plan; audit of Street Standards; Stormwater Standards, and
Development Agreement improvements. While there is obvious tension between differing plan
priorities, Staff is continuing to work together to navigate areas of conflict. Future workplan items
have also been identified including an update of the 2019 City Plan that ensures alignment of
subarea plans and other city-adopted plans pertaining to land use development.
Deliverables: Land Use Code for Commercial Corridors and Centers, 2024 Building Code, Historic
Preservation related updates, as well as other regulatory updates across multiple departments.
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Affordable Housing Process Improvements:
Purpose: Staff have been working with a consultant to develop a 90-day review process for
Affordable Housing projects, in accordance with Colorado Proposition 123. The consultant
conducted interviews with key staff members and external partners in the winter. During this time,
the consultant also built workflows for how staff currently review affordable housing projects and
identified areas for improvement. The consultant met with staff in March 2025 to review their work
to date and discuss what process improvements would be most effective for creating a 90-day
review process.
Timeline: Staff received the report outlining the consultant’s work to date with a proposed 90-day
review process on May 2, 2025. Final recommendations must be completed, implemented and
demonstrated by November 1, 2026.
Deliverables: After receiving the report, staff will work with the consultant to test their
recommendations and further refine the proposed affordable housing review process. Staff
anticipate that some of the affordable housing consultant recommendations may be transferable
to the overall development approval process improvements.
Customer Experience Improvements:
Purpose: There are several projects currently underway to improve customer experience through
development submittal and approval. The primary focus for this work is the in-person customer
experience; however, there are also significant efforts to leverage technology that also improve
the digital experience.
Timeline: Ongoing and currently underway. There are several overarching City projects that focus
on enhancing customer experience, such as:
• Accessible and informative municipal website,
• Qualtrics experience management software, and
• BlastX analytics to improve the most frequent customer queries.
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Specific customer experience improvements completed and underway within the Community
Development and Neighborhood Services (CDNS) department include: enhanced front counter
coverage; increased usage of Development Review Coordinators; improved signage and
messaging at 281 North College; dedicated customer meeting areas within the West Atrium; an
interactive kiosk for accessing City campus information; and, a computer dedicated for visitors to
meet with staff working remotely.
Deliverables: The CDNS team is working on internal policies and procedures to further improve
customer service through consistent response timelines across the department, streamlining
internal processes, and improved communication and coordination across work teams.
Digital Experience – FC CLEAR:
Purpose: One of the largest digital transformations that the City of Fort Collins has undertaken is
the replacement of the legacy software program that manages the development review process.
The current system is approximately 20 years old with several functions at end of life. In 2023,
the City initiated a Request for Proposal to evaluate the most appropriate technology solution for
our evolving development approval process. Tyler Technologies, Inc was selected as the vendor
of choice, following extensive due diligence based on lessons learned from prior technology
implementations.
Timeline: Upon completion of the procurement process, the multi-departmental software
implementation kicked off on May 2, 2025. The project, internally referred to as FC CLEAR (City
Licensing, Enforcement, Approval and Review), is headed by teams in CDNS and Information
Technology. The project includes a focus on Operational Change Management, facilitated by
Prosci, to ensure that workflows and processes have been optimized across departments to
deliver a streamlined and efficient experience for our customers. All of the Development Approval
departments are involved in the design and implementation of this new software, as well as: City
Clerk’s office, Finance, Purchasing, Communications and Public Information Office, and
Sustainability Services: Rental Housing and Economic Health. With an expected go-live date of
Summer 2026, this software implementation includes at least 120 business processes that will
reduce manual submissions and further automate existing digital processes.
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Deliverables: The new technology will provide improved digital access to the Development
Approval Process, allowing our customers 24/7 access for submittals and tracking of their
development applications.
NEXT STEPS
Staff will provide milestone updates on the key initiatives as a memorandum, every other month,
to keep Council apprised of the city-wide efforts to improve the overall Development Approval
Process. This will be in addition to other specific agenda items that will be taken to Council for
discussion and direction. Further, Staff will be developing metrics to track progress that will be
included in future updates.
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