CB council reviews town housing goals and direction

Expectation to extend vacation rental license moratorium

[  By Mark Reaman  ]

Workforce housing continues to be a major focus with the Crested Butte town council. At the Monday, May 16 council meeting they discussed several topics related to the issue. They want to spread the word that people can camp on private property in Crested Butte this summer with property owner permission, but the town probably won’t provide camping on public property; are keeping an eye on where the town’s five-year affordable housing plan goals are heading and if they need adjusting; expressed some concern over the state of the Gunnison County Regional Housing Authority search for a new director; and want to make sure deed restrictions in the valley are being followed.

This summer…

Community development director Troy Russ said the town is continuing last summer’s private camping permit program for 2022. That program requires a camper and property owner to apply for a simple town permit that would then allow camping in town. That could be in a trailer, a tent or even a tiny house on a trailer. The town has approved one such permit so far this year and councilmember Anna Fenerty suggested the town increase public outreach about the program to get the word out. 

Russ said the town could do a better job of informing people of the opportunity. “We’ll do a more robust notification process,” he said. “We can always do better.”

As for camping on public property, the staff hasn’t seen “clear demand” for the service. They will try to reach out and ask people if there is a need but staff is hesitant to implement such a program because of significant management costs.

It is expected that seasonal town staff will pretty much fill most of the units in the Ruby facility this coming summer. Those private bedroom suites share kitchen and living space in the former bed-and-breakfast.

Five-year goals

As for the town’s five-year housing goals now in the fourth year, the town is holding steady and making some gains. Crested Butte housing director Erin Ganser went over the top three priority goals in the five-year plan. With the first goal of having 75% of the town’s residential units occupied by full-time residents, she said the current percentage is closer to 66%.

“To achieve 75% full-time occupancy, 129 more units would need to be occupied…” she reported. 

Councilmember Beth Goldstone said she would like to see data indicating how many of the current full-time residents work in local jobs. While appreciating the contributions of retirees and remote workers, she was concerned the local economy was struggling because even full-time residents weren’t working in county-centric jobs.

Councilmember Chris Haver said he wanted some specific metrics on why the goal numbers were what they were. “I think the council increased the goal to have 75% full-time residents because the previous council had it at 65% and that sounded better,” he relayed. “Why is 75% the right number? It might be but I don’t know. I think Breckenridge has only about 30% full-time residents living in their town. What are the metrics that drive the numbers we have?”

Haver also wanted some data on whether houses that had vacation rental licenses and gave them up went back to housing locals or became second homes.

“I’m hearing we may want to adjust the existing goals in the future. That’s future discussion fodder,” said mayor Ian Billick. “Coming out of the Compass process it might be good to ground some of these numeric goals.”

“Compass is not a miracle. It won’t give you all the answers,” said Russ. “It is meant to provide the framework for thinking to make decisions.”

For the second goal of having 30% of town residential units deed restricted, Ganser said the town is currently at about 25%. To get to 30% would require 61 more deed restricted units. 

The third primary goal of having the town own at least 15 rental units for town employees is being surpassed. Town currently owns 19 rental units, including a space in CB South, and all but one are occupied by town employees. 

Other updates to come

The town plans to look at updating Vacation Rental Regulations before the current moratorium is lifted and  staff will be asking the council at their June 6 meeting to extend the moratorium for another four to six months in order to collect more information on the issue. Since the moratorium started, the number of licenses have decreased through attrition going from 212 licenses to about 192.

The expectation is that a so-called “Good Deed” program that will pay non-deed restricted unit owners a fee to put a deed restriction on the property will go into effect this year. Russ said seven property owners have expressed interest in the program.

Other updates to be considered include looking at regulations governing Accessory Structure regulations. Town currently has a moratorium on accepting applications or issuing permits for heated and plumbed accessory dwellings.

Russ said the staff will look at updating Resident Occupied Affordable Housing (ROAH) regulations last updated in 2013. Town housing guidelines, Master Deed Restrictions and enforcement practices will be updated and Ganser estimated that about 9% of the deed restricted units in the county have some sort of issue where the restrictions are likely not being strictly followed. 

And finally, the hope is to develop a regional housing master plan to outline collaborative efforts between Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte, the City of Gunnison and Gunnison County.

Digging deeper

Russ said one future question for the council is where to focus funding for housing. Should town money stay within town boundaries, be allowed to fund projects in the North Valley or be used anywhere in the valley including Gunnison?

Fenerty said she was recently talking to individuals living in deed restricted housing they owned and were disillusioned. “They told me they would never recommend the scenario to anyone,” she said. “Are there different ways to expand the housing structure?”

Russ hoped to get in contact with the owners through Fenerty and dig deeper into the issue.

Councilmember Jason MacMillan said he too had heard some grousing that because deed restrictions for home ownership limit appreciation to 3% or annual inflation, whichever is less, some are irked as they watch free market housing values escalate so fast.

“The 3% seems particularly cruel given inflation rates that are starting to soar,” he said. “I’m not sure how to address it but it might be worth gathering more information.”

“With home ownership programs you can go for wealth creation or strictly housing,” said Ganser. “When public dollars are used, it is usually for housing. The question with wealth creation is whether that is the town’s job to create that wealth and who would get that opportunity?”

“I think Jason was asking for more information on using 3% or CPI (Consumer Price Index) for appreciation,” said Billick.

“Maybe there’s a good middle that could be used,” said MacMillan.

“More research needs to be done,” agreed Russ.

At the end of the town council meeting, Haver gave a somewhat dismal report to council that as a member of the Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority, the board was struggling to deal with the process of finding a replacement for GVRHA director Jennifer Kermode who announced her retirement in early February. He said the board would probably take the next three months to search for candidates. He indicated it could be another three months before a permanent replacement is hired.

He said the board was struggling to perhaps pick up some of the responsibilities themselves and planned to install GVRHA housing specialist Chris Peterson who has worked for the GVRHA for nine years as an interim director.  

“Crested Butte is luckier than some of the other government entities that rely more on the Housing Authority,” Haver concluded.

GVRHA board chair Roland Mason said his comfort level with the search status is higher than Haver’s. “There is always a chance the search could extend, based on applicants and ironically housing,” he said. “I feel comfortable with where things are. I would say we should have an E.D. by August.”