Affordable Housing Requirements and Incentives for Developers

Line drawing of a cityscape with houses, trees, clouds and the sun in medium blue.

City of Longmont Affordable Housing Program

In 2015 the Longmont community began a two year planning effort, coming together to document hopes for the City’s future and to outline the path to reach those goals. Envision Longmont, a multimodal and comprehensive plan provides strategic direction and guidance for Longmont over the next 10 - 20 years. Providing housing for all is an interwoven theme throughout the Envision Longmont comprehensive plan. The plan includes the goal of providing a range of incentives for development that includes affordable housing units. This page includes both the requirements for affordable housing and the incentives that were created in 2018 to implement the housing goals of Envision Longmont.

Minimum Affordable Housing Requirements

For-Sale Projects: 12% of all residential units in new development should be affordable to low- and moderate-income residents (households at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) by selling for a price determined by the City, updated annually).

Rental Projects: 12% of the rental units must be permanently affordable to households at or below 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Depending on the project’s agreement with the City, unit rents must follow one of two rental standards: CHFA or HOME. Please consult your agreement with the City to determine which rent standard your projects uses.

Ways Developers Can Satisfy the Requirements

On-site: Provide required affordable housing within the development
Fee-in-Lieu: Pay square-footage fees to the City’s affordable housing fund
Off-site: Build the required affordable housing in another location
Land Donation: Donate land to the City or a non-profit housing developer
Voluntary Alternative Agreement: A developer and/or builder can propose to City Council an alternative way of meeting the requirements that are not in the Ordinance
Redemption of Credit: A developer and/or builder may acquire Surplus Unit credits from another developer/builder that built more than the minimum required affordable units and was issued credits by the City.
Middle-Tier or Attainable Housing: Provide housing units that are affordable for households earning 80-120% AMI to reduce the required affordable units. A Voluntary Alternative Agreement is required.

Some options require approval of City Council. More information regarding affordability requirements may be found on the City’s Inclusionary Housing page.

illustration of four homes of various sizes in blue

Available Incentives for Developers

Land Development Incentives

Five Mixed-Use Zones: Residential buildings are permitted as primary or secondary uses in the designated mixed-use zones (MU-N, MU-C, MU-D, MU-E and MU-R).
No Density Limit: There is no density limit for residential builds in the five mixed-use zones.
Density Bonus: Up to 20% of increase in density over what is allowed within a specific zoning district for projects providing affordable housing on site.
Diverse Housing Types: There are expanded options for housing types in the residential mixed neighborhood (R-MN) and residential multi-family zoning districts (R-MF).
Accessory Dwelling Units: Building Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) is permitted in all residential zones.
Building Height: Increased building height is available for buildings with a vertical mix of uses, developments providing affordable housing, or developments in close proximity to transit.
Reduced Development Standards: Reductions may apply to such standards as setback and landscaping, as allowed by the land development code.
Reduced and Flexible Parking Requirements: Only one space per affordable housing unit is required. The City of Longmont will also consider alternative parking plans to accommodate innovative proposals.
Density Bonus: Up to 20% increase in density over what is allowed within a specific zoning district for projects providing affordable housing on site.
Lot size and lot width reduction: A reduction to lot size and lot width for projects providing affordable housing on site.
Reduced Development Standards: Reductions may apply to such standards as setback and landscaping, as allowed by the land development code.

Financial Incentives

Approved projects that provide more than the minimum requirement are eligible for additional incentives, subject to available funding, including:

Fee Waivers: A percentage of certain development fees may be waived for qualifying projects. Reductions can range from 50% to 100% for for-sale units and from 20% to 50% for rental units.
Fee Deferral: As part of the Impact Fee Deferral Program, new residential developments in the City of Longmont are eligible to defer payment for several City-relate fees.
Subsidy for Water/Sewer System Developments Fees: Projects that provide more than the minimum required affordability may qualify for a percentage of the fees to be subsidized.
Offsets for Cash-in-Lieu of Raw Water Deficits: A project that provides a minimum of 25% of total units in a development as affordable may be eligible to receive an offset for a percentage of the raw water deficit cash-in-lieu owed to the City. This incentive is only available to projects that are being platted; redevelopment projects are ineligible.