Logan Simpson partnered with the City of Cortez to deliver a comprehensive update to its Land Use Code focused on modernization, clarity, and housing accessibility. The project included streamlined application procedures, updated zoning and land use standards, enhanced graphics, revised subdivision regulations, sustainable development provisions, and a significant emphasis on removing barriers to housing. New standards introduced flexible housing options such as tiny homes, micro homes, and cottage clusters, alongside updated natural resource protections, dark sky lighting standards, enhanced parking requirements, tailored landscape standards, and fully reformatted nonconformity and administrative procedures.

Complementing the code update, our team prepared a Housing Action Plan that established data-driven policies and implementation strategies to improve housing availability and affordability across the community. A hallmark of the project was its robust public engagement process, which included over 40 listening sessions, four multi-day open house series, participation in eight community summer events, ongoing collaboration with a community working group, and multiple joint work sessions with Planning Commission and City Council. Community feedback throughout the process was overwhelmingly positive, with residents noting that they felt genuinely heard. The updated code was unanimously adopted in April 2025 and celebrated by City Council as a major community achievement.