Proposed Colorado housing occupancy law could void Fort Collins' U+2 ordinance

House Bill 24-1007, a proposed law being considered at the state capitol in Denver, could soon change how many communities are able to restrict housing occupancy. The bill, which has support from Gov. Jared Polis, would prohibit cities from creating or enforcing laws that limit the number of people allowed to live in a home purely based on their relationship with others.

That law, if approved and signed, would directly impact Fort Collins' ordinance known as "U+2." That ordinance, which was created decades ago, prohibits more than three unrelated people from sharing one home, no matter the size or the number of bedrooms.

U+2 was initially created, in part, to preserve quiet and upkept neighborhoods in the northern Colorado city while also giving professionals and college students guidelines on how they can find roommates. However, in the last decade, the ordinance has received significant pushback from many, especially students at Colorado State University.

Fort Collins Mayor Jenny Arndt told CBS News Colorado's Dillon Thomas the city needs to find a way to modify their laws in order to provide more housing options.

"The city estimate is 15,000 empty bedrooms, and we are also having an affordability and availability housing crisis," Arndt said.

The city was already in talks of adjusting the ordinance, with some suggesting to increase the number allowed to four or five before HB24-1007 was created. However, once the bill was presented in Denver, the city elected to take a neutral stance on the bill and wait to see what came from it.

Arndt said the Fort Collins ordinance long put weight into the idea of the family unit. However, she said the definition of family has changed over the years, as too has the size of the city.

"The town kept growing, and the housing didn't keep pace," Arndt said. "We are talking about teachers wanting to live together, all the occupancies, and even seniors."

Even if a home is more than 8,000 square feet with a dozen bedrooms, only three individuals who are not related can occupy that home in Fort Collins.

Some opponents to changing U+2, and opponents of HB24-1007, have said they are concerned adjusting these laws could contribute to neighborhoods attracting more nuisance. Some sourced times when residents had loud neighbors with too many people living in the home, while others said parking on neighborhood streets can become a nightmare.

Arndt said she understood some of the concerns but personally felt Fort Collins could further enforce nuisance laws to curb those concerns while also opening up rooms to more people.

"Nobody wants to live next door to the house that is extremely noisy, doesn't shovel, doesn't mow," Arndt said. "I do think that is not really based on the number of people who live there."

The city hosted a workshop Tuesday night to review and progress on ideas in which they could modify their ordinance. However, they do not plan on making any formal changes until HB23-1007 is voted on.

Arndt said that with or without an order from Denver, Fort Collins will move forward with changes to their ordinance this year.

"I don't think increasing occupancy is the silver bullet to affordability. But, I do think it opens up bedrooms that wouldn't be opened up before," Arndt said. "It is time to modify the occupancy ordinance. We have people who need a place to live and empty bedrooms."