Greeley staff unveil Small Business Land Use Center and pilot microgrant to speed development reviews

City of Greeley planners on Wednesday introduced a Small Business Land Use Center designed to guide small business owners through development review, offer a single point of contact and provide a pilot microgrant to cover technical professional services.

The program "is really providing elevated customer service, a one stop shop, lots of collaboration," Caitlin Puga, planner 3 with Community Development, told the Planning Commission. Puga said the goal is to reduce unexpected costs and confusion for business owners by explaining code requirements and helping them prepare complete applications.

The nut of the proposal is twofold: staff will act as project managers and the public face of the center, funneling technical questions to planning, engineering, building and other departments, and a small technical-assistance grant will reimburse applicants for required professional work such as site plans, surveying, engineering and architecture. "The very, I think, bottom line is that things are very costly for small businesses, especially when they are wanting to locate in the city of Greeley," Puga said.

Planner Tina Close described recent cases that motivated the program: change-of-use projects that unexpectedly required civil engineering because of flood zones; a building purchased without identifying a major water line that required an easement; and an industrial-to-entertainment conversion that triggered site-plan requirements. Close said the microgrant program will be targeted to small, independently owned businesses or firms with fewer than 25 employees and limited development experience, and that the city has divided the grant area into three tiers—downtown (Area 1, aligned with the DDA boundary), a redevelopment district (Area 2) and the remainder of the city (Area 3).

Puga said the center will offer a concept questionnaire, a development-review guide and individualized case management. The microgrant is structured as reimbursement "up to those amounts," staff said, and is intended to cover only technical work to prepare a submittal, not large construction costs. The city will pilot the program with funds from the Community Development operating budget and does not expect a large initial uptake; staff said the pilot could be the basis for a future budget request during the 2027 cycle if demand grows.

Commissioners asked several operational questions: whether the center would create a single point of contact with a resource base to answer technical water and sewer questions, how quickly applicants could get answers through the funnel and whether the city will provide a list of qualified consultants. Puga said she and Close will initially act as project managers and that staff are training colleagues to handle inquiries; they will provide guidance on what to ask consultants rather than endorsing specific firms during the pilot phase.

Staff said a web page, concept questionnaire and development-review guide will be published after a content freeze lifts for the city website; the questionnaire will funnel requests directly to the center. Puga and Close said the written resources should make reviews more efficient and reduce the back-and-forth that can delay applicants.

The presentation was informational; no formal action was taken. Staff will present the concept to City Council in a work session later the same day to discuss funding options and next steps.

Less critical details: staff emphasized that the grant is intentionally modest and meant to "get somebody in front of a design professional" rather than replace existing economic development incentives or SBA loans. The city also noted the program will try to be valuable even if external grant funding is not available.