Fort Collins church's affordable housing project Heartside Hill up for review
The Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Commission will decide Thursday on an overall development plan for Heartside Hill, 82 affordable housing units at 6501 S. Brittany St., on land owned by Heart of the Rockies Church.
Plans include 71 multifamily dwellings and 11 lots for single-family dwellings, part of a collaboration among the church, CARE Housing, Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity and Friends of L’Arche to address some key housing issues in Fort Collins.
Dwelling units will include deed-restricted affordable homes for sale and rent, homes supporting adults for people with development disabilities, and a shared multipurpose community building.
The multifamily units will be for residents earning 60% or of the area median income or less. Nine of the 11 single-family lots would be built by Habitat for Humanity and the other two by Friends of L'Arche, which specializes in serving community members with disabilities.
Fort Collins' area median income, as established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is $75,200 for one and $107,300 for a family of four. One person earning 60% AMI would make about $64,380; a family of four would have an income about $85,800.
An overall development plan is considered a blueprint for the overall vision for the site. Each development piece will require its own review and approval.
The 11-acre site is subdivided into two lots, including 2.4 acres on which the church sits and the remainder for the housing projects.
The church went through a lengthy process last year to select partners to develop the unused tract of land with an emphasis on organizations that focused on affordable housing. It eventually chose Habitat for Humanity, CARE Housing and Friends of L'Arche.
A group of neighbors living in Brittany Knolls has opposed the density of the project and traffic it will bring to the area. Some residents asked developers during neighborhood meetings to decrease the building height from three to two stories and add more buildings to achieve the desired density. Others suggested three-story buildings to minimize the number of buildings on the site.
As it stands, the 71 apartments are in six three-story buildings ranging from one-bedroom to four-bedroom units. The 11 future single-family lots are on the northern part of the site along Brittany Street.
Access to the development will be from Brittany Street to the north and west, and from East Trilby Road to the south.
Planning and zoning meeting for Heartside Hill
The Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, at City Hall, 300 Laporte Ave. Public participation can be in person or on Zoom by visiting https://fcgov.zoom.us/j/98026151814. The full agenda is posted at fcgov.com/cityclerk/planning-zoning.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins affordable housing project Heartside Hill up for review
