Why Development Review?#

Fort Collins is growing quickly. Our city government has a central responsibility to review and evaluate new development projects that are proposed on private property. 

As cities and towns grow and change, local governments must ensure that proposed developments meet the needs of the community. These needs include:

• safety and welfare of residents
• high-quality, consistent design
• protection of environmental resources 
• sufficient public infrastructure

When someone wants to build a new development project in Fort Collins, our development review team makes sure it matches what our community wants for Fort Collins. We also make sure the new project will design, build and install public improvements like sewer lines and streets according to our community's high standards. If the developers do not do this work themselves, they are paying the City to cover the costs of building those things. 

City of Fort Collins staff from many departments come together to review plans for proposed developments together. As a team, we are able to make sure that all plans meet all of the City's rules and standards. The public can also participate in this process to some extent. 

What Policies Regulate Development Review?

When City of Fort Collins staff are looking at plans for proposed new developments, they are checking those plans against rules written in a number of different codes. These codes help us to make sure that when we allow the city to grow and change, those changes meet the mission, vision, and values of the City of Fort Collins. 

Some of the codes we use to guide new development are:

- The Land Use Code,
- The Municipal Code, 
- The Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards, 
- Neighborhood, subarea, and corridor plans, 
- We also enforce some county, state and federal laws. 

The codes that the City of Fort Collins owns and maintains are based on ideas that originate with the community. These ideas are captured in a document called City Plan, which is created and updated by the participation of thousands of residents of our city.