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Home My WebLink About516 DEINES COURT, EXTRA OCCUPANCY RENTAL HOUSE - PDP - PDP120005 - CORRESPONDENCE - (33)Page 4 of 4 John Stitt 512 Deines Ct Ft Collins 2244348 3/23/2012 'Page 3 of 4 from Smith St which itself has a narrowed single lane entrance off of Prospect St and entrance on to Parker. The streets surrounding are of a narrower variety. Current residents are retired couples, singles young couples, young couples with small children and singles. First I disagree with the idea that only five unrelated people will be residing in this home. It may initially start as such but as with other cases I have come across, this number usually increases by at least 75%. And with that the traffic and parking needs also increase. My conclusion on this point comes years of working in the emergency services field within this city and having responded to dwellings throughout the city where it was quite evident there are residences which were not observing limited occupancy rules. Within our neighborhood this has occurred, and within in the past 3-4 years a residence at the entrance to Smith off of Prospect on the west side, held up 5-6 occupants. Which created parking issues and violations along that narrowed entrance. This however is no longer the case. In light of the proposed increase, it would bring a detrimental impact to the traffic within the court, the parking availability, (as it currently limited) and with the increase in the number of vehicles (any where from an additional 5 - 8 vehicles) a safety issue for the residents. There I sight, that the current residents are aware of the foot traffic, the bicycle traffic, and the children that play within this area. Current residents are aware of this and observe courtesies while driving within the area. I do not see this same awareness of the neighborhood with the drivers of at least 5 more vehicles with transient ties only to the neighborhood. The addition of this number of vehicle and drivers will decrease the relative safety within this area. With the current homes both family rented and owned, you see the pride in the care of the home, the yards, etc. You place five or more occupants in a small residence you will not see this same pride of residence where you see that the residence is being taken care of, kept up, etc. What we will have with this, is a large cement pad with at least four vehicles if not more parked, little or no front yard and the property itself will eventually show decline. By introducing this type of residence within this residential neighborhood, there will be effective decrease in surronding property values. Which can be documented. Another concern, in some multi occupant dwellings where there are numerous unrelated occupants in a small area, you do have potential for an increase in problems and with that, law enforcement involvement in dealing with those problems. You have residents who will not be long term, who will have no ties or concerns to the neighborhood. Granted, this also does occur with owner occupant residences as well. But you do have an increase in the problems with this type of setting, whether it be how the property is being maintained, the dynamics of a group of unrelated people living under the same roof, or an increase in the area criminal activity (there are examples of that can be sighted that have occurred in the area bordered by Stover, Stuart, Remington and Prospect). This is a neighborhood in the true sense. Residents know each, help each other, get together, etc. I urge to come to our neighborhood, drive around, meet the residents and then picture what the impact will be, should this zoning proposal go through. I urge you to turn down this proposal so that Deines Ct and the surrounding neighborhood can be maintained as a family style neighborhood. Thank you for your time. With respect, 3/23/2012 Page 2 of 4 Please let us know if you would like any additional information. (Debra Vnger Executive Administrative Assistant duriger fcgov.com City Manager's Office 300 LaPorte Ave, P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 Tel: 970 2216266 Fax: 970 224 6107 Tell me about my service ... I want to know! From: Gerry Horak Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 4:54 AM To: Darin Atteberry Subject: FW: proposal for zoning change at 516 Deines Ct (Council SAR #18705) Darin Please investigate. Thanks Gerry From: tonkam@comcast.net [tonkam@comcast.net] Sent: Monday, March 19, 2012 1:48 PM To: City Leaders Subject: proposal for zoning change at 516 Deines Ct Ladies and gentlemen of City Council. I write you all today in reference to the proposed zoning change for the property at 516 Deines Ct. The proposed change would allow for the increase in occupancy of the current single family residence to an extra occupancy rental. The proposal would allow for five unrelated renters to live in this home as opposed to three unrelated if were to remain as is. First let me say, I am not in opposition to idea of rental properties with this area. Currently there are several within the area of Deines Ct. and those are single family units with either families or low occupancy unrelated. They are part of the neighborhood and reflect that in how they are cared for, the occupants who have some longevity within the neighborhood as opposed to a transient renter population. The points that I have in opposing this proposal, are basically of what aspects associated that this multi party -unit will bring to a small residential neighborhood. The immediate area within Deines Ct is a small court with five homes lining each the street. Each home is a single level home with basement total sq feet of 1600 - 1800 sq feet single car garage with small front yards. Vehicle access is the one entrance to the ct and access to that 3/23/2012 Page I of 4 Steve Olt From: Debra Unger on behalf of Darin Atteberry Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 12:22 PM To: Gerry Horak Cc: Darin Atteberry; Diane Jones; City Council; Laurie Kadrich; Karen Cumbo; Polly Bennett; Mark Jackson; Peter Barnes; Steve Olt Subject: RE: proposal for zoning change at 516 Deines Ct (Council SAR #18705) Gerry, Please see the response below from Laurie Kadrich, Interim CDNS Director, re: your request concerning the proposal to rezone the property at 516 Deines Court as an Extra Occupancy Rental House: The City of Fort Collins first adopted an Occupancy Ordinance in 1964. The occupancy limit was determined within the definition of family and limited occupancy to no more than three unrelated people in any dwelling unit. Enforcement was difficult and the City heard increasing concerns about occupancy - related issues in neighborhoods. As a result, between 2003 and 2005 City Council took an in-depth look at a variety of ordinances and process changes/improvements in an effort to improve neighborhood quality of life. The code changes and process improvements gave the City a variety of different tools to address neighborhood concerns. The Occupancy Ordinance was one of the items Council discussed (in depth) and ultimately chose to revise. Council adopted revisions to the Occupancy Ordinance in 2005 and, following a public outreach and education campaign, those revisions became effective January 1, 2007. Those changes included defining the occupancy limit (rather than having it located within the family definition), decriminalizing the ordinance, requiring an occupancy disclosure form, and allowing Extra Occupancy Rental Houses (formerly known as Boarding Houses) in zoning districts planned for medium or high density. Districts were identified as locations suitable for Extra Occupancy Rental Houses. In addition to zoning districts planned for medium or high density, Extra Occupancy Rental Houses were approved for Low Density Mixed -Use Neighborhoods as well. 516 Deines Court is in a Low Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood District, wherein Extra -Occupancy housing is a permitted use. These houses are allowed to increase their occupancy when they are located in a zone that allows it, have enough off-street parking spaces, and are in compliance with the Rental Housing Standards. In addition to these, there are several apartment complexes in Fort Collins that are allowed to rent to four people. Hopefully, these options give people some affordable housing options when making their housing choices. The intent of the Occupancy Ordinance is to preserve single family neighborhoods (that were zoned as low -density, single family neighborhoods). An Economic and Market Impact Study conducted by Corona Solutions in 2009 concluded that, since the change in the Occupancy Ordinance in 2005, there has been a significant decrease in "violator households" and most of the decline has been due to voluntary compliance. Improvements in neighborhood quality and a decrease in violator households have coincided. Review and compliance measures are in place to address the concerns expressed by neighbors about the current proposal, and our Neighborhood Services Division will investigate any violations of the Extra Occupancy Ordinance. 3/23/2012