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Foreward and Plan Overview
City Plan illustrates how we envision Fort Collins over the next twenty years, to the year 2025 - and shows us how we can get there, step-by-step.
A Collaborative Development
 A large body of work performed by citizens, officials and staff throughout the last twenty years forms the foundation for City Plan. This has been integrated by an intensive effort to create City Plan - a truly comprehensive plan for the City of Fort Collins.
The initial formulation of City Plan in 1995 involved a two-year process working with City Council, the City Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC), City staff, a consulting team and the public. The original creation of City Plan included extensive public involvement including the use of a visual preference survey. For the City's comprehensive plan to function over time, periodic updates are necessary to respond to significant trends or changes in the economic, physical, social or political conditions of Fort Collins. The original plan directs the City to update this plan every five years. In response to a quickly growing population, the need for a five-year update and other changing conditions, the process to update City Plan began in 2002.
The process was divided into two parts. The first part focused on asking our community to answer a single question: "What is the future size and character of the City of Fort Collins?" Working closely with City Council, a Citizen's Advisory Committee, City staff, the public, a consulting team and various boards and commissions, the question was answered in March of 2003 with the adoption of characteristics describing our future community. These are described further in Appendix D (document download is located at the top of this page). The second part of the City Plan update process was to modify the document to reflect the adopted characteristics. The updated document was adopted on May 4, 2004.
 At every step of the City Plan update process, public workshops and open houses were held to inform and invite feedback from all of Fort Collins' citizens. Several City Council workshops were videotaped and shown repeatedly on Cable 14, the City's cable TV channel. Public outreach was expanded through the use of a community preference survey. Periodic articles broadened the invitation for informed public participation. Every citizen comment was reviewed and considered in relation to the update process. In many cases, significant changes were made to improve the product.
To further enhance the collaboration between City Plan and other planning processes, the update of City Plan was conducted simultaneously with the update of the Transportation Master Plan. These symbiotic planning efforts shared information, conducted coordinated presentations and held joint public open houses and workshops. Two other planning processes were begun during the City Plan update process. Key principles and polices of the Natural Areas Policy Plan and Air Quality Plan were developed in conjunction with the City Plan update process to ensure consistency among the plans.
The result is a document that is truly a multi-faceted synthesis of many points of view represented in our community. It is reflective and respectful of the very thoughtful efforts and recommendations of many people who have dedicated their efforts to Fort Collins' future.
Vision and Goals
 The Community Vision and Goals is driven by our community values, and provides the direction for the rest of the City Plan process. It will be these ideals that the plan seeks to implement, to literally create our preferred city of the future.
Structure of the Community
The City Structure Plan builds on the existing features that shape Fort Collins - the Poudre River and other drainageways, the established streets, neighborhoods and infrastructure, and the foothills, to name a few. The City Structure Plan illustrates a future city made up of four basic kinds of "places" - neighborhoods, districts, corridors and edges. The organization of these places - their "structure" - gives meaning and form to our community's vision. To get the most current map of the City Structure Plan, visit our GIS department.
Principles and Policies
The City Plan Principles and Policies answers the questions, "How do we do it?" and "What will it look like?" A "principle" is a "general or fundamental rule, doctrine, or assumption." A policy is "a definite course or method of action selected to guide and determine present and future decisions." City Plan Principles and Policies will be the yardstick against which proposed ordinances and programs can be measured.
Building Upon the Past
 City Plan is the City's comprehensive plan. City Plan consolidates the ideas and direction of many other planning documents which have been adopted over time that make up the City's comprehensive plan. It blends what has worked really well in the past with new ideas from local residents. City Plan will also serve in the future as a framework to integrate and coordinate new plans and policies as they are prepared and adopted.
Getting There From Here
This plan is intended to manage growth and change in Fort Collins for the next twenty years. The future described in this plan cannot be achieved all at once. A 20-year plan will take a full twenty years to be realized. If City Plan is to be successful, it will require both public and private efforts. The Action Plan, located in Appendix B, describes some of the actions which are important in attaining the City Plan vision.
A Useful Tool
City Plan is intended to be a practical guide for making decisions on specific land use and development issues in the City of Fort Collins. It is a touchstone, a clear picture against which programs and proposals can be weighed to determine if they will in fact support what this deliberate process has described as our vision of the future. It will help prioritize City actions in the face of limited resources. It can help public and private sectors work in concert to build a Fort Collins with a better future for ourselves and the generations to follow.
We welcome you to City Plan.
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