Please don’t sign the petition
to overturn Ordinance 033 that protects our Old Town homes.
to overturn Ordinance 033 that protects our Old Town homes.
Some realtors, builders and speculators from outside our neighborhoods are pitting themselves against homeowners and neighborhood residents of Old Town. They’ve started a petition to repeal the very reasonable housing protections that City Council adopted on March 5th. (Ordinance 033)
Old Town is being exploited for the benefit of real estate special interests and speculators who profit when our Limited Edition homes are torn down and replaced with overly large and tall houses that damage the look and feel of our charming residential Old Town. These giant houses block solar access, affect privacy, destroy historic homes, and would not be allowed in most Ft. Collins subdivisions with homeowner’s associations.
The new standards are modest. They put reasonable caps on only the largest houses. Under the rules, the larger the lot, the larger the house allowed. The protections still allow for “scrape-offs”, pop-up additions, remodels, and expansions. In fact, the vast majority of all remodels and expansions we currently have would be allowed under the new protections. The rules only limit the few, very egregiously tall and largest of houses.
Over the past year, neighborhood surveys, open houses, and workshops all showed that a large majority of neighborhood property owners support these standards. In fact, at the large public meeting held at the Lincoln Center on November 5th, 2012, 70% supported solar access protections, 72% supported changing how the house heights are measured, and 58% supported changes in the bulk/size rules.
If the ordinance goes to a special election, the taxpayers will pay $160,000 for a city-wide vote. Please join us in protecting our Old Town homes and don’t sign the petition. Post the back of this flyer in your storm door or front window so petitioners won’t bother you. And please encourage your friends and associates, wherever they live, to not sign the petition. Thank you!
