The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Sam Noblett Andrew Ives and Courtney Sullivan, assistant director and director for Community Affairs of the Associated Students of CSU, respectively, look over notes from the City Council's meetings Monday in the ASCSU office.

Two weeks after the City Council's two-year comprehensive review of the Fort Collins occupancy ordinance, CSU student government officials said they are looking to form a new plan of action to fight the ordinance.  

During its work session the City Council agreed to further investigate five possible changes to the ordinance, which limits occupancy to three unrelated people per house.

These possible changes, councilmember Kelly Ohlson, D-5, said would include:

Rental licensing,

Rental registration,

Zoning districts,

Redefining family and,

Special exemptions for specific groups.

"See, the thing about work sessions, they're conceptual," Ohlson said, later adding that he "supports looking into those things" but couldn't say whether or not he would vote for them after all the research had been done.  

In response to the City Council's decisions, the Associated Students of CSU is looking at a series of options for its plan of action, said the Director of Community Affairs Courtney Sullivan. 

These options include:

Reopening the letter writing campaign,

A bumper sticker campaign,

Utilizing Facebook and Twitter to increase student involvement,

Conducting a student voice survey,

Setting up a ballot box on campus, and

Motioning to make U+2 a citizen ballot initiative.

 Sullivan said her department intends to launch a "very public" campaign centered around awareness and education, and said without a citizen's vote the ordinance will never see change.

"We need to hold our elected officials accountable for the decisions they're making and the fact that some of them support a city ordinance that blatantly discriminates against a certain population.

"It's appalling," she said, later adding that every voter in Fort Collins should think it's appalling. 

In September, ASCSU launched its campaign to promote reform to U+2, also known as 3-Unrelated, in an effort to make it more student friendly. With this, they presented a proposal to the City Council suggesting changes including: 

Continued...

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