We occasionally check in with our colleagues at The Fort Collins Coloradoan about the stories they're following. This time, The Coloradoan Executive Editor Eric Larsen joined us to talk about how Fort Collins residents could see occupancy regulations on the November ballot.
“Fort Collins housing has been kind of regulated—for what seems like time immemorial now—by what's called ‘U+2’ or ‘three unrelated’ [policy],” Larsen told KUNC. “What that means is that if we have, say, a two-bedroom house and I'm living with three other people who I'm not related to - you know, perhaps three other college students - we're technically breaking that limitation.”
What a citizen initiative hopes to do is change that rule to a per-bedroom ordinance that would only institute restrictions on the number of people who share the same sleeping space.
“What they're proposing is that, no more than one adult per bedroom at or below 99 square feet, and no more than two adults per bedroom at 100 square feet,” Larsen said.
The change could make life easier for college students and other members of non-traditional family units or households.
“The definition of family has kind of changed among some Americans," Larsen said. "You have, say, maybe two married couples who might want to live together, considering themselves kind of a family unit. And right now they would be, you know, skirting this regulation.”
