Clint Skutchan – Fort Collins Board of Realtors
The Fort Collins Board of Realtors in 2005 supported the update to the occupancy ordinance because we believed it would lead to safer rental homes and higher neighborhood quality. Once again, we find ourselves engaged in this discussion as the council is slated to review the ordinance.
Here are a few items that we hope will help the community to better understand why we favor maintaining the ordinance as is:
First off, there has not been enough time, and it’s the wrong time, to fully understand the impacts of the occupancy ordinance. The current laws have only been in effect for 2 ½ years, which is very little time to fully understand the impacts of the updated ordinance. Given the state of the rental housing and credit markets, this might not be the best time to make any significant changes.
Neighborhood livability is improving. As evidenced by the 2009 Corona Report update, this ordinance, in combination with other municipal laws, has contributed to a 46 percent decrease in complaints filed in neighborhoods.
Education and outreach have promulgated positive results. Voluntary compliance of the current occupancy ordinance brought about desired results as 85 percent of residents are aware of the ordinance, and, according to the Corona Report, a higher percent of respondents report having no neighbors violating the ordinance.
Many recent changes to rental housing will lead to greater compliance. Rental housing standards update, the Exterior Property Mainte-nance Code, International Property Maintenance Code, Unrecorded Dwelling Units Process and administrative changes, made just this spring, to enforcement of the occupancy ordinance are all laws designed to increase compliance.
Most neighborhood violations weren’t occupancy-related, according to the Corona Report update.
Animals running loose, criminal activity and disruptive parties were the large percentage of neighborhood violations.
Several high-density student-housing projects are planned but unable to get funding at this point. Drastic changes to the ordinance could lead to further delay in these projects, which as planned would help to alleviate the number of rentals in single-family neighborhoods.
The number and percentage of violators has already decreased significantly to a manageable level. According to census data included in the Corona Report, violators only make up 2.75 percent of the rental population and 6 percent of single-family homes in 2009, half of what they were in 2005.
As the Mason corridor comes on line, high-density housing is expected to follow. Redevelopment plans along this transit corridor call for mixed uses, which will include housing options for Colorado State University students and employees.
The path was set in 2005, and we are just now beginning to understand the results. All evidence, real and anecdotally, points to the fact that neighborhood livability has improved, and we believe that the five other ordinances passed in the past year, if given time, will lead to even greater compliance.
The board of realtors has worked hard to get beyond the emotional aspects of this issue. It is our hope that our community’s decision makers will do the same and ensure that their focus is on disciplined and rational thinking when determining if any changes are necessary.