The study that forms the foundation of this plan, the Housing Affordability Policy Study (HAPS), looked at Fort Collins’ entire housing inventory and system. HAPS found the City has gaps in affordable housing inventory at all income levels, but the biggest need was for the lowest wage earners. HAPS also showed that many middle-income households are spending more on housing and earning less. With increasing housing costs and stagnant wage growth, households all
along the affordable area median income (AMI) spectrum need help with affording houses. The five strategies target different segments of the population,
ensuring that people of all incomes and life stages have access to affordable housing. Each strategy contains a specific action plan that identifies the kind of action needed for implementation. The action plans contain ongoing, short-term, medium-term, and long-term items so that progress can be made in all phases of the Plan. Metrics accompany each strategy so that the City can measure the progress of each strategy and its action plan items. The City’s regulatory role is to eliminate barriers to the development of affordable housing. Many of the City’s regulations add time and costs to housing projects. The City implemented these regulations to maximize the quality of development in the community. However, many developers see some of these regulations as driving up costs and over-processing projects that they could accomplish in other communities with relative ease.