Town looking for Affordable Housing feedback and ideas

Seeking better ways to provide workforce housing

By Mark Reaman

It has been seven years since the Crested Butte Affordable Housing guidelines were updated, so the town is in the process of reviewing and potentially revising the regulations. Public input is being solicited and a meeting will be held on Thursday, November 9 to gather more ideas and feedback.

Town had sent out a survey to a variety of people associated with the affordable housing program, including owners of deed restricted units, owners of property with Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), owners of residential units in commercial buildings and those on a list of people interested in future housing opportunities. 

Thus far, feedback is asking the town to re-examine several things including how affordable housing lottery tickets allocations are determined. Some want longevity in the valley to count more than the number of years of local employment, for example. Other issues brought up include how to not strictly prohibit an increase in equity with deed restricted homes, looking at what constitutes a “full-time” worker in the valley and relooking at who might qualify to buy a larger unit.

Most survey respondents said workers should be the focus, but the general feeling was to not exclude local workers from eventually retiring in their deed restricted homes.

It was clear that the lottery process has been stressful and sometimes confusing. Carving out essential workers was considered by some to not be necessary since a common theme was that “all workers are essential.” And the prohibition of owning property like a house outside the county was also raised as being too strict.

Crested Butte housing director Erin Ganser said since guidelines were last approved, it’s time to review them. “The current guidelines were adopted in 2016 and are due for an update,” she said. “We’re updating to incorporate industry best practices, guidance for new housing programs, and to make the guidelines more easily understood and implemented. The update is part of our larger effort to better address the housing crisis.”

Ganser said the feedback has provided interesting thoughts from those in the system. “The feedback was great and included some interesting ideas. A big takeaway for me includes the need for additional education. There is a lot of misunderstanding of the existing guidelines and deed restrictions, as well as the role of the guidelines vs. deed restrictions, roles of the Town vs. GVRHA, etc. I think it is safe to say that some shortcoming or another, either with the deed restriction or guideline process, is identified in every lottery,” she admitted. 

Originally, the town’s housing programs were conceived as a stepping stone into market rate unrestricted housing. However, Ganser said that scenario is, in most cases, not realistic given the increased cost of market rate housing. “Many respondents want to see an increase in the allowable appreciation, which would let them build wealth and improve their chances of buying a market rate home,” she said. “However, increasing the appreciation cap also makes the home more expensive and less attainable for the next deed restricted buyer. Traditionally, government-sponsored housing is in the business of building homes, not building individual wealth. This is an important discussion topic for council to consider.”

Ganser said now is the time for people to get involved and provide feedback. She said the town wants to hear the good and the bad of the program. “We’d really love to understand the aspects of the programs that cause personal hardship; does the program need more flexibility around allowances/processes for an owner’s absences from a deeded home?; should the years of local employment be based on cumulative vs. consecutive; what are suggested changes to the lottery ticket allocation (i.e. less or more weight on the longevity of work history), change the weight given to right sizing units with households? All policies have shortfalls and lotteries are not a perfect method of awarding a critical need such as housing. We understand that and are open to suggestions to make the programs and policies better,” she emphasized in an email.

More information is posted on the Crested Butte “Get Involved” web page under the Housing Guidelines Update. Everyone is invited to the public meeting that will be held November 9 at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall. As an incentive, pizza and refreshments will also be served!