Greeley unveils Affordable Housing Land Use Center; expedited 90‑day review and predevelopment grants featured

GREELEY, Colo. — City staff proposed a new Affordable Housing Land Use Center Wednesday designed to speed affordable housing projects through coordinated technical assistance, a concierge review process and new funding opportunities tied to Colorado’s Proposition 123.

Don Threewood from Community Development and Deb (Director of Housing Solutions) briefed council on the four program elements of the Land Use Center: a concierge development-review contact, a 90‑day expedited review for eligible housing projects, brownfields planning and technical assistance, and planned predevelopment grants for owner‑occupied affordable housing.

Threewood said the city has onboarded a housing planner funded by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) to act as a primary point of contact and to track performance metrics. He said the city intends to have the expedited development-review process fully implemented by December 2025 to satisfy Prop 123 requirements (the state-mandated fast-track for affordable housing), noting the statutory compliance deadline is January 2027.

Under the proposed fast-track program, staff will aim to provide a decision within 90 days after an application is deemed complete. Applicants could opt out of the expedited process or request extensions; staff may request a 30‑day extension when necessary. Threewood said the city will increase pre-application engagement and focus on referral and interagency review times, which staff identified as the largest bottleneck.

The program also includes financial supports: staff described a DOLA predevelopment grant of up to $25,000 for eligible projects and noted the city is eligible for a $50,000 implementation bonus from the state if it meets the program milestone by year end. Brownfields assistance would include technical assessments and help applying for cleanup funds for redevelopment sites.

Councilor Hall asked whether PUDs and rezonings — which typically carry higher scrutiny and public process — would be accelerated; staff said those project types remain complex and will not be covered by the 90‑day requirement, but the department is exploring zoning tools, such as affordable housing overlays, to reduce the need for rezoning in suitable locations.

Threewood and Deb listed local projects that could have benefited from concierge support, including StarRise, Hope Springs (Habitat project), Immaculata Plaza and City Line. Staff said the center will position Greeley to be more competitive for state and federal funding and to make the city a “city of choice” for affordable housing development by reducing procedural friction.

Next steps: staff will continue development of the dedicated affordable‑housing code and timeline; implement the expedited review by December 2025; and explore predevelopment funding for owner‑occupied projects in the fourth quarter of 2025. Council members expressed support for measures that reduce barriers for affordable housing while urging careful local tailoring of code changes.