HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE - PURCHASE ORDER - 91913207/25/19
Fort Collins City Plan Implementation
Overview
The 2019 version of City Plan places new emphasis on community priorities and emerging issues to
develop and maintain more affordable and attainable housing, diversify the types of housing available,
create transit-supportive corridors, and evaluate the quality and quantity of employment and industrial
land supply. The Plan identifies a number of implementation actions to help achieve these goals and
priorities, many of which may result in changes to Fort Collins’ development standards and processes.
While Fort Collins regularly updates Land Use Code standards, most changes are minor or relate to
process and procedural considerations. A thorough audit of standards to ensure that local development
standards are advancing the community’s goals and adequately responding to shifting priorities and
changes in social and market conditions has not been completed since the Land Use Code was first
adopted in 1997.
The following scope of work describes two tasks designed to help Fort Collins City staff understand the
strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities in the Land Use Code as they relate to new City Plan policy
direction. Completion of these tasks will set the stage for future Land Use Code revisions and other
implementation strategies.
TASK 1 – LAND USE CODE AUDIT
Task 1 includes a review and evaluation of the Fort Collins Land Use Code to identify outdated, missing,
or misaligned standards and processes, especially as they relate to City Plan community priorities to
promote additional housing types, affordable housing, transit-supportive development, and suitability of
the location and quantity of employment/industrial land.
In completing the audit of the Land Use Code, key elements should include:
▪ An overall review of the Fort Collins Land Use Code to identify broad areas where standards and
standards and processes fail to promote or are out of alignment with new or revised City Plan
policy direction.
▪ Review the general residential development standards in Article 3 of the Land Use Code for City
Plan alignment and focus on the more specific residential zone standards in the most applicable
residential zoning districts.
▪ Review and evaluate permitted residential uses in all zoning districts for City Plan policy and
place types alignment.
▪ Review and evaluate processes for development within identified high frequency transit
corridors for City Plan alignment.
▪ Review and evaluate the permitted uses and standards for minimum and maximum percentage
of different land uses in Employment, Harmony Corridor, and Industrial zone districts (see also
Task 2).
In addition to these key elements, staff is also interested in:
▪ Understanding best practices and peer City comparisons of development standards or incentives
related to affordable and attainable housing, ‘missing middle’ housing types, transit-oriented
development, and compatibility standards for infill development.
▪ Discussions and/or facilitated workshops with Land Use Code and development stakeholders,
including City staff, local developers and land planning consultants, affordable housing
developers, local board and commission members, and others.
▪ A prioritized list action items or ‘next steps’ for City Staff to help identify future work plans and
efforts for specific changes or additions to the Land Use Code.
Deliverable: The primary deliverable for this task will be a targeted Land Use Code Audit. The Code
Audit report will identify areas where the Land Use Code is out of alignment with City Plan policy
direction, and provide recommendations on specific changes or types of changes and additions to
consider in future Land Use Code revisions.
TASK 2 – EMPLOYMENT & INDUSTRIAL STANDARDS
Task 2 includes a more specific and in-depth review of employment and industrial Land Use Code
development standards. This task is designed to help City staff better understand how existing standards
impact the supply and suitability of employment and industrial land in the Employment, Harmony
Corridor, and Industrial zone districts.
This task overlaps slightly with and is designed to coordinate closely with work generated in Task 1 as
Fort Collins’ existing employment areas closely align with City Plan’s identified high frequency transit
corridors.
Key elements of this task should include:
▪ Review and evaluate the permitted uses and standards for minimum and maximum percentage
of primary and secondary land uses in the Employment, Harmony Corridor, and Industrial zone
districts.
▪ Review and evaluate standards and restrictions for light-industrial land uses in zoning districts
outside the Industrial (I) zone district, such as outdoor storage, loading/unloading areas, and
buffer yards or other mitigation measures.
▪ Review and provide recommendations on the suitability of light-industrial land uses in other
commercial zone districts (e.g. General Commercial zone district)
▪ Provide recommendations on potential Land Use Code changes that promote greater mixing of
uses or place making, such as providing a greater mix of uses and nearby employee amenities,
general place-making and walkability.
▪ Provide ideas or recommendations on potential retrofits or redevelopment opportunities for
large single-use employment campuses or infill sites (e.g. parking lots).
In addition to these key elements, staff is also interested in:
▪ Discussions and/or facilitated workshops with Land Use Code and employment/industrial land
stakeholders, including City staff, local developers and consultants, local employers or property
owners, board and commission members, and others.
Deliverable: The primary deliverable for this task should include a list of recommendations to City
staff of potential Land Use Code changes or recommendations that specifically address the
primary/secondary land-use minimums or maximums in the Employment, Industrial, and Harmony
Corridor zone district, as well as other Land Use Code changes as appropriate based on the review
and evaluation of existing standards.
PROPOSED APPROACH
The proposed approach below outlines a sequence of steps to complete Tasks 1 and 2. Because there is
significant overlap between the two tasks, they will be completed concurrently.
Steps in the Process Tentative Timeline
Stakeholder interviews/focus groups (Assumes one full
day of meetings w/time for prep – includes both
residential and employment specific meetings)
Late August/Early-September
Best Practices Research/Summary (brief white paper) Late-July through-August
Land Use Code Audit Report Outline/Preliminary
Recommendations
Late October
Follow up meetings with stakeholders to present
recommendations (lunch time focus group(s), City
Council, other separate meetings? ) – assumes one full
day w/prep time
Early-Mid November
Finalize Land Use Code Audit Report Late November/Early December
Preliminary Cost Estimate - City Plan Implementation
Task EPS Total
White Elliott Wafaie Donnegan Prosser
Billable Rate $/Hour $175 $225 $140 $85 $180
Stakeholder Interviews/Focus Groups 16 16 16 16 16 80
Best Practices Research/Summary 24 4 4 80 4 116
Land Use Code Audit Outline/Preliminary Recommendations 100 24 16 100 8 248
Stakeholder Meetings 16 16 0 16 16 64
Finalize Land Use Code Audit Report 32 12 8 50 4 106
Coordination Meetings with Staff 16 8 8 16 4 52
Project Total Hours 204 80 52 278 52 666
Project Total Fees $35,700 $18,000 $7,280 $23,630 $9,360 $60,980
Expenses (mileage, parking) $400 $250 $650
Total Budget $61,630
Clarion