With the promise of hundreds of thousands of new Northern Colorado residents over the next 40 years, Ken Waido, chief planner for the city of Fort Collins, has his work cut out for him. As rent rises and available affordable housing continues to disappear, we asked him where the city was planning to put the newcomers, and how it would make sure the growth doesn’t force out low-cost housing – along with those that depend on it.

Question: Tell us what the city is doing to ensure adequate affordable housing.

Answer: We are trying to be proactive. We’ve adopted development incentives for the private sector to assist in providing more affordable housing. One of the incentives is a zoning district that gives a density bonus for including affordable housing in a project; another is delaying the collection of some of the impact fees until a project is completed.

We also have financial assistance available for private-sector developers and nonprofit housing agencies to assist in ways they feel are appropriate. Most of the time the funds are used for land acquisitions or the payment of city fees. This financial assistance is distributed through a competitive process