City of Cortez Housing Action Plan & Code Update

Housing action plan and land use code update to expand housing options and reduce regulatory barriers in southwest Colorado.

Client

City of Cortez

Location

Cortez, Colorado

Deliverables

Housing Action Plan, Land Use Code Assessment, Code Amendment Drafts

73 → 22

Homes built per year

50%

Of homes 50+ years old

35–85

Units needed per year

Cortez builds 22 homes a year. In the 1970s, it built 73. That production gap — and what fills it — shaped the city’s housing action plan. Nearly half the homes in Cortez are more than 50 years old. The community needs 35 to 85 additional units a year just to keep pace.

The work started with common ground. Residents disagreed about rent caps, tax incentives, and density, but they agreed on the production gap and the condition of the older homes. Shared facts kept the conversation moving, even where the fixes stayed contested.

Western Spaces prepared the housing action plan and land use code assessment, and wrote draft code language for each fix, ready for adoption: zoning limits, parking minimums, approval steps, and the ADU ban. A housing plan that ends with “consider allowing ADUs” gathers dust. One that hands the city council a finished ordinance gets on the agenda.