Mobile home neighborhood opposed to town zoning changes

But what about the next generation of owners?

[ by Mark Reaman ]

Residents and neighbors of Crested Butte’s Mobile Home Park on the west side of town came out in force to the May 18 town council work session on zoning code updates to let the council know they were not in favor of changes to their neighborhood being discussed by town. Those proposed changes include incentives such as allowing future homes in the newly named “Residential Small Lot District” to be up to 24-feet tall or replacing a current mobile home with a modular or stick built home in exchange for a deed restriction requiring occupancy by a full-time owner or long-term renter to a working local.
In the staff report to council, it was made clear that “As with all incentives in the zoning update, participation is voluntary and comes with meaningful community benefit requirements.”
Community development director Mel Yemma said the proposed deed restriction would limit the buyer pool and thus suppress selling prices to keep units somewhat affordable.
“I want to make sure it couldn’t just be a vacation home,” said council member Beth Goldstone.
“My feeling is that it looks like the neighborhood is headed toward being one of second homes,” said mayor Ian Billick.
Town manager Dara MacDonald said the restriction would guarantee the units were being lived in and not just a second home property.
“I’m concerned with price appreciation and want to keep them affordable and not super expensive. We’re seeing trailers sell for more than $700,000,” said council member John O’Neal. “I like the idea of bigger units there for families with kids.”
But about a dozen residents attended the council meeting and did not appreciate what those changes would mean to their daily lives. They cited increased density concerns in an already dense neighborhood, a loss of sunlight and views, the potential for developers to start overrunning the neighborhood and the potential loss of neighborhood character and decreasing property values.
The residents indicated they had had a community neighborhood discussion about the proposals and few if any were in favor.
“We are concerned about the second story idea and the possibility of stick-built houses being constructed,” said longtime resident David Watkins. “Parking is also a concern with allowing bigger units. It’s already crowded.”
“No one will spend a couple hundred thousand dollars for those upgrades and then put a deed restriction on it,” said resident Brandon Burns. “That sounds like it is made for a developer who can afford to make the places bigger, then rent them. There are 30 units over there and only 60 off-street parking spaces. We also don’t like town’s idea of allowing large day care facilities or bed-and-breakfasts there. You don’t know what we have over there. It’s a real neighborhood and no one likes any of your proposals and we’ll do what we can to stop them. It feels like we’re in a hurry to change the town when new projects like Whetstone are not even done yet.”
Yemma said small, home-based daycares could be allowed in any neighborhood and B-and-Bs were not a given so could be excluded in the zoning code if council decided.
“What are your goals?” asked Michelle English. “Life in the trailer park is great. A lot of families have been there and kids raised there over the years. Families are already welcome. Parking is a real issue so adding more people is not a good move.”
“I’m here to support everyone in the mobile home park,” said resident Eric Baum. “There is a great thing going in the neighborhood. Nothing is broken there. I could see the town’s unit there being the first to go stick-built with two stories. That would encourage developers. It’s already the highest density neighborhood in town. You don’t need to double it.”
Molly Minneman lives in the Red Lady Trailer Park and she asked what was coming there. “Scale is important in both neighborhoods,” she said. “I would like to see a drawing of what it would look like with 24-foot buildings next to 16-foot buildings. That size can impact sun and views. This has always been a neat neighborhood, and it has provided the opportunity for some people to start off in town. I’m not in favor of this plan.”
“My wife and I moved to that neighborhood because we love it as it is,” said Xavier Fane. “It is a great place. The proposed density increases would make it a very different place than it is now.”
“The trailer park is part of who we are,” noted citizen Tallie Morrison. “Even with them selling for $500,000, it is filled with locals.”
Resident Ted Connor gave a little history of the area and reminded the council that safety was an issue with such a tight neighborhood.
Nearby resident Megan Reamer also supported the mobile park home residents. “Why change what these folks have?” she asked.
“The purpose of any change is to protect the community for the next generation of people who might live there,” said Goldstone. “When current homeowners sell their homes, is there any way to keep them affordable for the next generation of owners? I would love to see that if you have any ideas. How can you build deed restrictions for the next generations of owners?”
“That is the concern,” agreed council member Kate Guibert. “It’s the next generation of owners. Are there other options to incentivize deed restrictions?”
Burns suggested a plan similar to the currently suspended CB Good Deed program. That program paid a homeowner a percentage of the home’s current value in exchange for a fairly-loose deed restriction that requires full-time residency or a long-term rental (but not an appreciation cap). While not budgeted for recently and not well used when in operation, Billick and the council asked staff to start thinking about revising the program.
Yemma emphasized there would be no deed restrictions imposed on those already there unless they wanted to use the incentives. Bush said he would be significantly impacted however, if say his neighbors on both sides used incentives to build second stories next to his trailer.
“To be frank, I think there is a problem. There is an affordability issue in the community,” said Billick. “I struggle with the pace of change. For me, if we got one or two over there to use the incentives in exchange for deed restrictions, it would be a success. Can we cap the number of taller trailers allowed there?”
“People say it’s a great place to live. Have you considered ideas to retain that character when there are now so many locals living there and not second homeowners?” council member Mallika Magner asked the residents.
Council members and staff all said they appreciated the feedback on the zoning update plan and were more than willing to meet with the residents outside of the council meeting.
“There is still lots of opportunity for public comment before any vote is taken on this,” Billick assured the citizens. They will no doubt take him up on that.