On September 15th, Fort Collins City Council voted 5-2 to change how most new homes, townhomes, and apartments in the city get approved. For most of them, there's going to be no more public hearing. City staff sign-off is all. Supporters called it a moderate but meaningful step forward. Two council members voted no, and I'm going to walk you through why.

This blog covers the stuff happening in Northern Colorado that actually impacts your home, your neighborhood, and your wallet. In this article, we're going to talk about what passed, how it works, who it's for, who's against it, and the real numbers. At the end, I'll tell you what it actually means if you're buying, selling, or investing.

If you own a home here in Fort Collins or Northern Colorado and you've ever wondered what your home is zoned for, what could legally be built there then and now, my team and I can pull that for you free of charge. Give us a call, text, or email. We'd be happy to be an asset. And if you're thinking about buying, selling, or investing here in Northern Colorado, whether that's three months out or three years out, let's talk.

Table of Contents

• What Actually Passed: Ordinance 118-2026
• How the Approval Process Changes
• Fee Savings: The Numbers Behind the Ordinance
• Why Two Council Members Voted No
• Why Five Council Members Voted Yes
• What Planning and Zoning Recommended
• What This Means for Buyers, Sellers, and Investors
• Conclusion

What Actually Passed: Ordinance 118-2026

This is Ordinance Number 118-2026 , a change to the city's land use code. It came out of the City Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Affordable and Sustainable Growth, which has three council members: Mayor Emily Francis, Chris Conway, and Anne Nelsen. They directed it at their July 8th and August 5th meetings, and it ties to one of our city council priorities set this last February, which is promote affordability and sustainable growth by making development predictable, efficient, and cost-effective.

I will tell you, one of the biggest challenges going through the city of Fort Collins development process is the departments that aren't talking to each other, the lack of clarity, and the frustration that developers and builders have faced. That just adds costs and time to projects.

A little bit of backstory: it first came up on September 1st on the consent agenda, but council pulled it and postponed it two weeks to get more information on it. On the consent calendar, there are a lot of things that are expected to pass. But if there needs to be more information, they pull it for a discussion item. And then at that point, vote on it individually.

What Changes and What Stays the Same

Right now, many housing projects go through a hearing-based review. A Type 2 is a required neighborhood meeting before applying, then a public hearing in front of the Planning and Zoning Commission, which makes the decision. Or Type 1: no neighborhood meeting, but still a public hearing in front of a hearing officer.

The new rule moves these types of review to basic development review, a BDR . Staff reviews the project against the code and the planning director makes the decision. No neighborhood meeting, no public hearing. I can tell you, even on as simple of a project as a garage, we had to go in front of a public hearing. With my client, and ultimately got passed, but there was definitely some uncertainty about it and people could have given their input. So I will be interested to see how all of this goes.

Now what's staying the same is Clay Frickey said that the same code applies no matter the process. What changes is who makes the decision and whether there's a neighborhood meeting or not. Neighbors within the notice radius are still going to get letters in the mail and they are still going to be able to have comments accepted, which will be sent to the review committee. And then ultimately there will be a notice of decision.

A BDR decision can be appealed to Planning and Zoning, and from there potentially to City Council.

Housing Types Affected

Here are the housing types that are affected by this change:

• Single-unit detached : basically a regular single-family house
• Single-unit attached : townhomes
• Two-unit dwelling units : duplexes
• Multi-unit dwellings : apartments and condos
• Mixed-use dwellings : retail downstairs, residential upstairs

The one thing to remember: this does not change what can be built where. Nothing becomes legal that wasn't already legal. It only applies in zones where the uses are already permitted. One council member said it well: this doesn't change what can be built. It changes how fast it can be built.

The Exception for Commercial and Employment Zones

There is an exception in commercial and employment zones. Single-family homes, townhomes, and duplexes do keep the higher level of review. And why is that? Because the city plan wants those corridors to go dense: downtown, near CSU, along transit. So the fast lane really only applies or goes towards apartments and mixed uses there.

The city is basically saying, hey, we want to build dense on College and Harmony and we'll get out of your way. Build low density and you're still going to have to wait in line.

How the Approval Process Changes

Now this is where it gets a little interesting. A developer gets the fast lane and a big fee break. And one council member did the math on what it actually could save a renter. And her answer was pretty eye-opening.

Fee Savings: The Numbers Behind the Ordinance

Here is what the city charges today versus what it could charge under the BDR:

• Basic development review : up to $16,900
• Project development plan plus a final plan : up to $49,250
• Combined PDP and final plan : $27,650
• Limited scope review (smaller projects under 10 units): about $6,925

Most residential projects today file both a PDP and a final plan. So a typical project saves about $32,350 . Smaller projects that file a combined application save about $10,000 . A single duplex really sees no fee change, but it would still qualify for the limited scope fee.

Affordable housing projects and multi-unit projects in transit centers are already going through a BDR today because of a recent state law change. What this ordinance does is it extends that process to market rate housing in most zones.

What Past Projects Would Have Saved

Staff went back and looked at every project from 2022 to 2026, roughly 31 projects, and they would've paid roughly $873,400 total less if this rule had already been in place. These are projects like Bloom, Union Park, Polestar, Timberlark. So relatively big projects that could have saved substantial dollars.

There is one thing that our planning manager pointed out: there's a real issue for the budget to fix. The city may need a different way of assessing fees if review level no longer matches how complex a project is.

The Budget Timing Problem

There is some awkward timing with this because in that same council meeting, they were talking about the '27-'28 budget and they were talking about having to tighten the belt. The city's working through a roughly $10 million annual gap . They have 30.75 vacant positions that they're eliminating. So the city's actually giving up fees and revenue while it's tightening its belt. And that could be why maybe some of the council members voted no on this project.

If you're sitting on land or a bigger lot and wondering if a duplex or a couple of townhomes pencils out, that's a conversation my team and I would love to have with you. So shoot us a text and we can kind of go down that path about what it looks like.

Why Two Council Members Voted No

This was not a 7 to 0 vote. Not everybody was in favor of this. This actually went to a 5 to 2 vote and Councilmembers Amy Hoeven and Councilmember Melanie Potyondy voted no on this. And we're going to talk about why.

Both clearly support the goal. But their objections are the process. They felt the rest of council was told the recommendation rather than brought along the process. Paglianti put it this way: basically, an ad hoc committee should inform the judgment of the council, not substitute for it. And Hovind said that the ad hoc committee is the only council committee whose meetings aren't recorded and have no meeting minutes.

The mayor replied that not all committees have minutes or recordings. And Hellman also said that it was a mistake to bring this proposal on the consent agenda with two options.

The Duplex vs. 100-Unit Argument

Paglianti said, hey, listen, a duplex next door is very different than a 100-unit apartment complex, and they should not get the same level of public involvement. The ad hoc committee said, hey, listen, we will commit to having meeting minutes, a six-month calendar, and the mayor as a chair will give regular reports to council.

Hovind's Austin Comparison

Hovind came back and said, hey, she did some substantial homework on that and kind of walked through a similar city comparatively. She compared us to Austin, Texas , and gave us some examples here.

She said that Austin grew its housing stock 30% in 10 years and built 12.5% of its stock in just two years between 2023 and 2024. The results? Vacancy hit 14% and rents fell 7%, reportedly one of the biggest drops in any major US city. Now housing starts are down 75% in Austin and forecasters are saying they expect rents to actually push up again here soon.

Then you got Fort Collins: about 56,000 housing units 10 years ago, roughly 22,000 were permitted in the last 10 years. That's about a 40% increase , which is more than Austin's 30%, about 2,200 units a year spread out steadily instead of one big spike. The decade before that, we actually only saw about 12,000 permitted.

Her takeaway was that to get Austin-style rent drops, Fort Collins might need around 10,000 units in two years.

The Midtown Apartment Case Study

She looked at a case study at an apartment complex in Midtown that's 197 units, 397 beds. She estimated its cost around $12 million, about $300 per square foot. Its fee savings under this rule would have been about $10,775 , less than one-tenth of 1% of the cost.

A two-bedroom there rents for about $2,200 a month. Spread over five years, the fee savings works out to be a lot less than 50 cents a month per tenant .

Her research on build costs was about $200 to $450 per square foot in total, roughly 60% hard cost, 20% soft cost, 10% city permits and fees, and 10% land. Her conclusion was this: the fee savings are probably becoming a developer profit, not going to lower rent.

She also questioned walking away from about $225,000 a year in fees during a tight budget.

Why Five Council Members Voted Yes

So if it's not about the fees and it probably won't cut rent next month, why did five council members vote yes, some of them enthusiastically? Their answer is time, and in development, time is absolutely money.

It's About Predictability and Efficiency

One talked about it, that this ordinance is not about fee reduction, it's about making the development more predictable and efficient because today every day is money. She suggested that they're not tasked with reducing rent by a certain amount. It's essentially a supply problem. The city is behind. She said that roughly 700 units behind today and nearly 7,000 units behind over the next 10 years . And these are estimates.

Another council member said that he took time between meetings to sit down with staff and his colleagues before deciding. He called the city's rules death by a thousand cuts . More standards and more reviews stacked up over the years. He thought about adding an amendment for a unit threshold, but decided against it. He prefers to take small steps and quick wins over one gargantuan package. He also said the city doesn't have a silver bullet. Interest rates and federal policy matter a lot.

Fort Collins Was the Only Colorado City Without By-Right Multifamily

Another council member said that he believed that until this year, Fort Collins was the only city in Colorado with no by-right permitting for multifamily . Essentially, if you meet the code, you get approved. No hearing, no politics.

In this world, I don't know if by-right is a good thing because I can say we are seeing some of that in this AI data center build, that they're finding these by-right opportunities and not having to go through these public hearings and public meetings. Which is really adding a lot of strife and pain and anxiety to citizens, councils, and municipalities. So I don't know if that's a bad thing per se, but I will say there's a balance between having way too many authorities and hearings and time and having a by-right ability to build.

The Complexity Problem

Ann Nelson , who is on the ad hoc committee and works in this, said that the time, cost, and complexity in the development process here in Fort Collins is higher than in our peer communities. She suggested that we're a month away at this point from closing some schools right now because families with children can't afford to live in our community .

She did add though that she'd like to see big multifamily and mixed-use projects go through and still get a P&Z hearing. She called this a partial fix on the way to something better and ultimately voted yes.

Builders Want Feedback Early, Not at the Finish Line

There were some builders who came in and talked as well and said, hey, listen, we need feedback and feedback matters. Public feedback matters, but we need it at the beginning and not at the finish line because last-minute changes at a hearing can seriously and even kill a project that's been in design for years.

I've heard that time and time again, that these departments aren't necessarily talking to each other. And sometimes while you're hearing one thing from fire and emergency, you could be hearing something completely different from streets and curb, and they could not necessarily align. And you're making changes, architectural reviews, all of these things add time and money to all of these projects.

There were other commenters who came in and talked about different areas who have easier review standards for specific processes. And, you know, PUDs, and they're only holding hearings for rezonings, not individual buildings.

Fort Collins Is a Well-Planned Community

I think, you know, while we have a lot of great intentionality behind what we build, and I will say this, Fort Collins, for the process that it takes to go through it, it is something that is extremely special. When you drive through Fort Collins comparatively to other peer communities, you can tell that every project is well thought out. It's not just does this fit today? It's does this fit today and in our future plans for the area, for what we see as going in and around this spot versus some peer communities that you walk in or you drive through and you're like, why is that building in the middle of everything else? It just doesn't make sense.

So to give Fort Collins credit about its process, it's a very well-planned community with very clear boundaries and uses in different areas. It'll be interesting to see how this really plays out, but we're going to see it along the Harmony and transit corridors, North College, Harmony, and ultimately see density in these areas and go through that BDR process a little bit quicker.

If you're in one of these corridors, a TOD, a transit overlay district, these are going to be conversations that you're going to want to understand what can be built now and into the future around you, because it could impact what is sitting next door.

What Planning and Zoning Recommended

One interesting thing: while City Council voted this 5 to 2, Planning and Zoning voted this 5-0 , but had one big comment. They do think that you need to treat big projects differently. Their point: a 5-unit building and a 200-unit building get the same review today. They wanted kind of like a tiered threshold. Units, acres, building size that keeps the hearing for larger projects.

Council did not add that threshold on September 15th, but they did say they could come back to it and potentially adjust that in the future. And for me, that makes sense because the reality is, yeah, a duplex or a fourplex, 5-unit building, something along those lines might not necessarily be super desirable next door to you. But a 200-unit complex completely changes the dynamic of where you live. And I could see that being more impactful, more meaningful for people to be able to get involved.

What This Means for Buyers, Sellers, and Investors

If you own a home here, you're trying to buy one, or you're looking at an investment property, this is the part that's going to matter most for you.

Timeline and What's Next

The ordinance lists a second reading October 6th and then effective October 16th if it passes. In the proposed 2027-2028 budget council is working through right now, a new development services navigator position is available. You can think of this as a guide to help applicants through this process.

Additionally, a $2 million placeholder in 2027 for form-based code or other sustainable growth is in the works. Zoning based on what buildings look like and how they sit on the street instead of strict use categories, that would be a very significant change and bigger than this one. They've also got $1.3 million in capital tax money for affordable housing in 2027.

The budget public hearings are going to be on October 6th and 20th with a final adoption of November 17th. We're going to have to pay attention to these ad hoc committees because they're clearly having a pretty large impact on city council. And we're going to start watching that a little bit more and we'll report back to you when we can see it and cover it.

This Won't Drop Home Prices Next Month

This is not going to drop home prices in the next month. Interest rates, construction costs, and land matter way more . And even the council said there's no silver bullet. But what it can do over the next few years is get more units built and get built sooner. More supply over time is going to take pressure off the demand.

For Buyers and Renters

If you're a buyer or a renter thinking about buying, expect more townhomes, condos, and apartments in the pipeline, especially along College, Harmony, and North College, and near CSU . More rentals over time can mean more options for renters and less pressure on rent increases. And that gives renters more room to save.

For first-time buyers, attached products, townhomes and condos are going to be a good entry point in Fort Collins. And more of them is good news for you and your budget. And it's going to be over time. But don't wait for this to crash prices or impact prices dramatically. It probably won't. Just always consider and buy when it makes sense for you.

For Sellers and Current Homeowners

If you're a seller or current homeowner, if you live near a corridor, a vacant or a vacant parcel, what's already allowed there can now get approved without a neighborhood or public hearing. You're still going to get a letter and you can still comment. But in writing to staff, not at a microphone. Decisions can still be appealed.

That's a big reason to know what your zoning is and your neighbor zoning, and that's why at the beginning of this video I told you if you need to understand what your zoning is, what the zoning is around you, what can be built there, and how quickly, that's why you reach out.

If your lot is in a zone that already allows duplexes or multifamily, it may be worth more to a builder now than it was just a few weeks ago . A faster, more predictable approval process makes land easier to underwrite. Now, that's a big may because there still are a lot of costs associated with it and time and efficiency is only one aspect of it.

As a seller, more construction also does mean more competition for resale of homes. Pricing and presentation are going to matter more than ever if you've got a new build next door.

For Investors

If you're an investor, and I am, small-scale plays are an interesting consideration. A duplex, a few townhomes, a small multifamily unit on the right lot get a lot more predictable staff-level approval in zones where they're already approved. The fees don't necessarily impact the process very much, but timing does.

One thing I've talked to a lot of people who've asked me about investing, my real estate career, is I've told them that one thing I would never touch is development because you could start a development in an up market and end when your products are ready to sell in a recession, down market, interest rates are up and you fricking lose everything. Now a little bit smaller developments and things of that nature probably aren't as scary and a quicker review process for you removes some of that uncertainty. But obviously there's still massive risks involved.

One thing I am watching: if you're holding long-term rentals like I am, more new apartments along the corridor means more competition for tenants . So you've got to keep your product sharp. You got to keep your rentals in good clean condition. And I would say your rent compression, you could see it if we do see a large influx of new rentals.

If you've got a larger lot or you want to look at investment with opportunities to build ADUs and extra units, square footage, redevelop, those are things that I absolutely love to talk about. Me and my partner Caleb are heavily invested in Northern Colorado and absolutely enjoy that process. And we'd be happy to talk to you about any questions that you might have. An intro Zoom call would be great for that.

Conclusion

Here's a quick recap of what we just talked about. What passed was a BDR for most housing, and the debate was really fees versus time and process concerns. What is next is on October 6th, the second reading happens, and it would take place October 16th.

I'm interested to know, are you for or against this? Should a big 200-unit project still get a public hearing? Let me know. And if you're thinking about buying, selling, or investing here in Northern Colorado, whether that's three months out or three years out, call/text me at 970-893-3533 or book a FREE consultation here. No pressure, no scarcity. Just honest conversation about what makes sense for you.