Reports & Publications

Fort Collins, Colorado: Regulatory Reform

The City of Fort Collins has a long history of addressing regulatory barriers in order to achieve housing affordability. As early as 1984, local land use controls provided for density bonuses to developers of affordable housing, a technique just now being adopted in many communities. Following the creation of an affordable housing task force in 1992, the City undertook a series of major regulatory changes. Fort Collins institutionalized regulatory reform by creating a public/private Affordable Housing Board whose primary responsibility is to recommend to the City Council new regulatory reform proposals. As a result, a continuing series of reform actions have been put in place over a ten-year period. Over the past decade, more than 1,000 units of market-rate and assisted affordable housing have been built.

Specific Actions Taken:

• The city offers developers "density bonuses" for affordable housing.

• Fort Collins created an Affordable Housing Board to recommend new reform efforts to the city council.

• Payments of impact fees are delayed until occupancy and impact fee rebates are offered for affordable rental housing.

• Reducing the required widths of streets and sidewalks significantly lowered the cost of housing.

• Priority is given for processing of affordable housing developments reducing the time between permit application and development.

• Sales and use tax rebates are offered on materials builders purchase for the construction of rehabilitation of affordable housing.

• The city provides exemption on fees for inspections, right or way, and street cuts on affordable housing developments.

• Fort Collins requires a cost –impact analysis prior to any changes to the city's building code.

• Affordable housing builders enjoy more relaxed bonding and landscaping requirements.

• The review time in Fort Collins has been cut by 40 percent due to tighter timelines controls and increased staff assigned for conflict resolution.

• The city initiated a major affordable housing market effort.

Fort Collins, Colorado is a 2005 recipient of the Robert L. Woodson Award.

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