CB council focuses on moving affordable housing forward

Hiring a housing expert and filling in vacant lots

[ by Mark Reaman ]

After a four-hour retreat on affordable housing issues last week, the Crested Butte town council appears ready to hire a new housing specialist for the planning department and take action that could result in a new 60-80 unit, deed restricted development in the Slate River Subdivision starting construction in the spring of 2022. Council also is ready to fund the completion of building opportunities in Paradise Park that could result in another 13-15 units. An additional three units could be included if the county is ready to build on the lot they own in the neighborhood.

The council along with town staff, Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority executive director Jennifer Kermode and affordable housing consultant Willa Williford touched on several topics from regional coordination of projects in the county, to clarifying deed restrictions and guidelines to talking about how to fund future housing projects. On that last topic councilman Will Dujardin wanted to resurrect discussion over the idea of a tax on second homes that sit empty in town but there was little enthusiasm voiced from the rest of the council.

Progress countywide
While there are a number of affordable housing projects in the works or on the drawing board, the three principle north valley projects in the wings appear to be the opportunity in the Slate River Subdivision just north of the Gas Cafe, the North Village project in Mt. Crested Butte and on the county’s Whetstone property south of Crested Butte across from the Corner at Brush Creek parcel.

“Given the fact that the Slate River property has infrastructure and entitlements in place, it is the most likely project to move forward first,” explained Crested Butte community development director Troy Russ.

Williford agreed that while progress is being made with the North Village and Whetstone properties, the Slate River property has a big step up given approvals and nearby town infrastructure. She also said that an updated housing study should be completed in early May and that can help delineate what type of housing might be most appropriate for each site.

“It is worth noting that even if the town hits the high density mark with Slate River and a Paradise Park build-out, we will still be under our stated goals for occupancy in town,” said Dujardin. “We need to actually commit to serious action on affordable housing and not just talk about it.”

Williford complimented the town on having a pretty full “tool box” to address the housing issue. She noted that Crested Butte uses incentives, regulations, various funding methods and partnerships to address the housing problem.

Filling in the gaps
“There are some holes and gaps in the overall program,” said Williford. “One example would be to have a full-time person working on the development of affordable housing in the valley.”

Russ made it clear that the current CB planning department does not have a housing specialist within its ranks. Town manager Dara MacDonald said there was some talk with Mt. Crested Butte before the COVID pandemic struck that the two towns might split such a position. “We could keep someone busy with just Crested Butte projects right now,” she said. “So stay tuned.”

“I’d be really excited to have a housing expert on town staff,” said councilwoman Mona Merrill. “Having someone to know the details of what is needed, where and work on how to get such projects completed would be great.”

Russ presented the council with a potential plan to fill in the remaining lots in the Paradise Park neighborhood. A number of single family, duplex, and triplex units could be built and depending on the numbers, the cost would fall between $2.7 million and $3.8 million. Dujardin asked that every lot be developed to the max to get as much density as possible, even if it meant increasing the number of water taps on each lot.

Council gave Russ the go-ahead to research getting proposals from a builder to complete the Paradise Park construction.
As for the Slate River subdivision project, there are two parcels that are designated for workforce housing. One needs some cleanup from the old dump and the other is ready to go. Russ said the two projects could likely be done simultaneously.
“Regional coordination is important but the readiness and the scale of the Slate River property could attract a developer,” said Williford.

“It is important to get the right information to proceed thoughtfully and carefully. That’s where a new full-time housing specialist can guide us,” said Merrill.

Councilman Chris Haver suggested that at least some of the units be prioritized for seasonal workers who would like to live in a dormitory situation. Russ said Telluride has a good example of that type of housing that might be implemented here.
Mayor Jim Schmidt said he felt there was talk about the North Village or Mt. Crested Butte supplying that sort of housing near ski area jobs. “Crested Butte was originally designated a place for ‘For Sale’ units,” he said.

“That is where the updated housing study will also help guide us,” said Russ.

“The rental track is important but the North Village, Whetstone and Slate River projects could all offer such opportunities,” said Williford. “Those will give us a good pipeline over the next five or 10 years.”

“We’ve been wanting Mt. Crested Butte to do something for decades so we can’t wait for the North Village,” said Dujardin. “Our responsibility is to put as much density as possible in the Slate River site. It is a super opportunity for our community in the long run to take a bite out of affordable housing.”

“I think with the new Mt. Crested Butte lodging tax that should bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars every year and a council that seems intent on addressing the housing issue, I am more confident in Mt. Crested Butte,” said Schmidt.

Paying for it…
Council also discussed the possibility of buying land for future housing, perhaps purchasing already built condo units and placing deed restrictions on them, purchasing deed restrictions on existing homes and agreeing to come up with creative ways to fund housing projects.

“We should be looking and at least investigating every opportunity and idea,” suggested Dujardin. “Whether it is Kent’s (Cowherd) idea of using what is currently designated as wetlands by the school for housing or looking at the elephant in the room of the Alpine Lumber property that might be moving.”

Dujardin repeatedly suggested the council reconsider an idea discussed pre-COVID about taxing second homes in Crested Butte to pay for new affordable housing projects. “It feels like there was some support for the idea but that funding suggestion was not held in earnest before COVID shut everything down,” he said. “Maybe we didn’t get the idea out there correctly. Maybe it should be called an affordable house tax. But I’m curious if the council could support such a tax being on the ballot this year or next.”

Schmidt said he thought the discussion had been discussed in depth and there was not unified support for a tax on second homes. “It was beaten to death before,” he said. “I am very much against it. I don’t think it is fair and there are many reasons it is not equitable, especially to some of the old-timer families that may have inherited a house here. The last time it was discussed a lot of bad blood came out of it.”

“I am for having a discussion of out-of-the-box ideas to fund affordable housing but I am less interested in a tax and more interested in organizing contributions that are significant and make a dent in the housing issue,” said Merrill. “Let’s look for a more positive way to fund solutions to the issue.”

“Before COVID there was a small but real group that offered to donate and help the housing cause,” said Schmidt. “If we think the ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units) are hard to enforce, this would be really hard.”

“I agree it would be hard to implement,” said councilman Jason MacMillan. “And some of the old-timers should be exempt somehow but there could be creative ways to deal with funding.”

“An altruistic approach has worked,” said Williford. “There are success stories with that in other communities such as Jackson.”
“I’m still waiting on the second homeowners to step up and donate to the Valley Housing Fund,” said Dujardin. “We should be doing both things actually. I’m not into the equity argument when someone who inherited a house worth who knows how much might be asked to pay $1,000. This could bring in a lot of money.”

Deed restrictions and guidelines
Also during the retreat, Kermode spent time with the council suggesting ways to smooth out its various deed restrictions and affordable housing guidelines on the books. Kermode said one good indicator for the valley is that while an emergency assistance fund for mortgages was set up for deed restricted properties in the county a year ago to deal with potential COVID hardship, no one has applied for any of the funds. The plan is to keep the fund open until March of 2022.