The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Hope for council vote in January
by Mark Reaman
The Crested Butte Town Council spent a two-hour work session on December 7 discussing how to implement an affordable housing budget, along with tightening up affordable housing guidelines.
The goal is to get about 90 more deed-restricted affordable housing units in town over the next five to seven years. The primary projects are the Anthracite Place rental complex at the entrance to town, which should be ready next summer, and installing infrastructure on blocks 79 and 80 for affordable units on the northeast side of Crested Butte. But the staff is admitting it needs partners to make the affordable housing plan a complete reality.
The town currently has about $35,000 in its affordable housing budget “and that has definitely impacted our abilities,” said town planner Michael Yerman.
He outlined some ways to increase the budget over time. Selling some lots in Paradise Park in 2016 will be the biggest contributor and start the ball rolling. Some of that revenue will go toward design and architecture costs for blocks 79 and 80. The town will also be increasing its contribution to the Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority (GVRHA) to have them help with the process of qualifying potential buyers and renters.
Yerman re-emphasized, “There is a serious need for town employee units.” The town currently owns seven such units and plans to add nine more to the mix. That will cost about $1.8 million. Some of the other lot partnerships will be done through a Colorado Department of Local Affairs “Space to Create” grant that focuses on housing for working artists. There are some lots set aside for local private businesses to own for employee rentals, a lot for the Fire Protection District, the county and Community Rebuilds, which is currently focused on a Mt. Crested Butte project.
Joe Rowan of the non-profit group Funding Partners gave the council several suggestions on how to manage the construction phase of the project. He suggested the town hire a so-called “Master Developer” to take the development burden off town staff. He said having an independent third party facilitate processes such as financing and construction organization could keep the project moving smoothly. It would also alleviate some state TABOR restrictions and provide access to additional funding mechanisms to help facilitate construction. He suggested that the housing authority could act as the Master Developer.
GVRHA executive director Karl Fulmer said that could be a possibility. Fulmer explained how it was his goal to tie in all the affordable guidelines across the county into a simple basic document. While the guidelines could be tailored to each community, they would start with some general commonalities.
“The stricter deed restriction would reference the guidelines and those guidelines could be changed upon an annual review,” Fulmer explained.
“Think of the guidelines as being the qualifications and the deed restrictions are there to keep things affordable,” said Yerman.
“The guidelines we have certainly aren’t perfect,” said Fulmer. “We learn more every year and make the adjustments as a result.”
Guidelines address income limits, the need to be a worker in Gunnison County, asset limitations, the length of time someone has resided in the county, and the need for the unit to be the primary place of residence.
Those who qualify would be entered into a lottery. People who have essential service jobs might get additional entries into the lottery.
As a note of clarification, people who hope to rent at Anthracite Place will not be selected through a lottery. Fulmer said because of federal regulations, those who qualify first would be given priority.
Yerman said those hoping to qualify for purchase or rental of deed-restricted property need to be educated. A couple of classes have already been offered. Yerman said it is not cheap to build even an affordable house. And once built, there are cap limits to how much you can sell it for. Credit concerns and the ability to obtain a construction loan all come into play.
As for the timeline, Yerman said next year would be spent qualifying those who had an interest in purchasing or renting the affordable units. Some lots would then be sold in 2016 and buildings would start going up in 2017. A similar plan would take place in 2018 and 2019 with years five to seven of the plan being focused on some rental units and perhaps developing block 76 next to Rainbow Park for more affordable housing units.
“We need details of these guidelines to be settled and in place soon,” said Yerman. “We are shooting for a lottery this spring. The [Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority] will be the qualifying agent and there is a lot of paperwork to go through. Our goal is to have the council vote on the guidelines at the January 4 meeting.”
Yerman said there are already about 150 people who have expressed interest in qualifying for the affordable housing lottery this spring. People interested in housing opportunities in blocks 79 and 80 should email Yerman at myerman@crestedbutte-co.gov to get on the town’s affordable housing waiting list.
