David Katz is a senior broker with Waypoint Real Estate, a commercial real estate company in Fort Collins.  He is also the head of the Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Commission. 

“Waypoint Real Estate is a full service commercial real estate firm specializing in brokerage, management, and investments.” Katz said.

Katz’s voice in the Fort Collins real estate industry is unique because he has the perspective of  an experienced real estate broker as well as the Planning and Zoning Commission chair.

The Planning and Zoning Commission makes recommendations to the city council regarding zoning, annexations and major public and private projects. Katz was appointed as chair of the P&Z commission in 2019. 

“We are not the decision maker, we are an advisory committee,” Katz said.

While Waypoint did not have a view on the Land Development Code, Katz did have some personal views on the Land Development Code, stemming from his real estate career in Fort Collins and time on the Planning and Zoning commission. 

Katz thought that there were parts of the Land Development Code that would have been beneficial to Fort Collins, though he did have apprehension about parts of the Land Development Code. 

As part of his role as Planning and Zoning Commission chair, he felt that he had to recommend the Land Development Code to City Council. 

“I try to see the forest through the trees,” Katz said. “I believe there were some positive changes being proposed so I did recommend it, with conditions,”

Katz went on to explain that he thought there were some parts of the Land Development Code that would increase the housing supply in Fort Collins but there were also some parts of the code that he did not support, however.

“Its probably the first time, and I haven’t admitted this to a lot of people but a few, but it was probably the first time in my P&Z career that I’ve had a little bit of regret.” Katz said. “I didn’t have any issue with it being repealed.”

The regret came from some of the changes that could have occurred from changes suggested in the Land Development Code, specifically changes that would have occurred in single family neighborhoods. 

“You’re never going to make everyone happy,” Katz said of the city trying to rewrite the Land Use Code. It is fundamentally hard to write policy that will leave all parties satisfied but the city seems intent on trying to do so. 

The city’s first conversation around rewriting the Land Use Code took place on April 26, with the Center for Public Deliberation hosting a deliberative forum to engage citizens with city council members. 

Professionals like Katz have a deeper understanding of real estate and housing than the typical citizen and that gave Katz a better understanding of the Land Development Code than the average citizen would have. A common argument for the Land Development Code and the similar Land Use Bill, which died as the clock ran out on the legislative calendar, is that housing is a supply and demand issue. 

“The demand is always going to be very strong here,” Katz said. “Will the increased supply offset the cost, I don’t know, time will tell. It won’t hurt.”

Katz went on to explain that in a highly desirable place to live like Fort Collins, it makes sense that housing prices would be higher. 

The Land Use Bill has taken many different forms through its journey in the legislature. When it was first introduced, the bill would have drastically changed land use codes throughout the state.

The bill died in the final hours of the legislative session and now the focus has shifted back to the Fort Collins Land Use Code.

“Housing is an issue and nobody can deny that and what we’ve been doing hasn’t worked so we certainly need to make a change,” Katz said. “Something needs to change.”

The city has created an entire website dedicated to the Land Use Code update project. According to the website, the city is transitioning from community engagement to community analysis. 

Based on the community backlash, though it was from a very select group of citizens, this could be interesting for the City. Nonetheless, the city appears to have learned from the last Land Development Code catastrophe and is really emphasizing community engagement. 

As always, feel free to reach me at michael.stella@colostate.edu or @Michaelstella_.