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May 25, 2000
Dennis Web
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
May 25, 2007
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Elected officeholders from Aspen to Parachute agreed Thursday night on the value of a regional housing authority but differed on how big it should be.
"Glenwood (Springs) is closer to Copper Mountain than Parachute is to Aspen," said Glenwood City Council member Dave Merritt, who worries about the challenges of creating an Aspen-to-Parachute organization to focus on providing affordable housing.
Garfield County Commissioner Trési Houpt said there are economies of scale in working regionally. And she points to the fact that people from Parachute commute to Aspen, and the Aspen Skiing Co. is buying housing in Carbondale.
"Whether we like it or not, whether it's easy or not, we are a pretty large region and we impact each other," she said.
The region's elected officials met in Glenwood Springs Thursday at the urging of Congregations and Schools Empowered, a citizens organization that is calling for regional participation in Valley Housing Partners.
Valley Housing Partners is a new entity that is resulting from the merger of the Garfield County Housing Authority, Mountain Regional Housing Corporation and Roaring Fork Housing Fund. Garfield County, Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs have financially supported the Roaring Fork Housing Fund in the past, and Valley Housing Partners is seeking more widespread backing for its efforts.
Bonnie Osborn, executive director of the Summit Combined Housing Authority, told participants in Thursday's forum how four communities in Summit County came together to create the authority there and obtain voter approval to fund it.
"It's unheard of that the towns ever agree to do anything with the county and they did," she said.
But some local officeholders think the situation between Aspen and Parachute is different, as it includes nine communities and all or parts of three counties - Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield.
One concern is whether so many diverse governmental entities could agree on the proper way to fund an authority, and could win voter approval for it. Communities also would have to consider how to divide up revenues, and how comfortable some of them would be in accepting increased density to meet housing needs for people who might be working elsewhere.
Snowmass Village Mayor Doug Mercatoris recognizes some of those issues but said a model for regional cooperation in the area already exists in the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority.
"It takes a while but we have proven that we can work regionally and can work together," Mercatoris said.
Osborn said a regional housing authority doesn't have to start out big.
"Start with something you know can work and then build," she recommended.
Some government officials argued that any discussions about affordable housing aren't complete without looking at development requirements and the degree to which they hinder creation of affordable housing.
"If we're going to solve the housing, let's approve some of the proposals that are coming forward instead of overregulating them. ... We're just too selective on what we want to see," said Garfield County Commissioner John Martin.
Glenwood council member Chris McGovern said it's also important to bring private developers into the discussion.
Community leaders agreed to meet again on the housing issue, with part of the focus being on each community's existing affordable housing requirements.
Basalt developer David Fiore attended Thursday's discussion and welcomed the recognition given to the problems that development requirements can cause. He's working to try to replace his flood-prone, 52-unit Roaring Fork Mobile Home Park with a 115-unit, deed-restricted affordable housing project. But he said in an interview that he's running into difficulty doing that in Basalt because it has an urban growth boundary and there's no property within the boundary where the project could be built.
"We need the town of Basalt to support us, which would support their own (affordable housing) efforts," he said.
Contact Dennis Webb: 384-9119
dwebb@postindependent.com
Post Independent, Glenwood Springs Colorado CO
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Housing Authority Dilemma
Housing Authority Dilemma: How regional is too regional?May 25, 2000
Dennis Web
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
May 25, 2007
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Elected officeholders from Aspen to Parachute agreed Thursday night on the value of a regional housing authority but differed on how big it should be.
"Glenwood (Springs) is closer to Copper Mountain than Parachute is to Aspen," said Glenwood City Council member Dave Merritt, who worries about the challenges of creating an Aspen-to-Parachute organization to focus on providing affordable housing.
Garfield County Commissioner Trési Houpt said there are economies of scale in working regionally. And she points to the fact that people from Parachute commute to Aspen, and the Aspen Skiing Co. is buying housing in Carbondale.
"Whether we like it or not, whether it's easy or not, we are a pretty large region and we impact each other," she said.
The region's elected officials met in Glenwood Springs Thursday at the urging of Congregations and Schools Empowered, a citizens organization that is calling for regional participation in Valley Housing Partners.
Valley Housing Partners is a new entity that is resulting from the merger of the Garfield County Housing Authority, Mountain Regional Housing Corporation and Roaring Fork Housing Fund. Garfield County, Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs have financially supported the Roaring Fork Housing Fund in the past, and Valley Housing Partners is seeking more widespread backing for its efforts.
Bonnie Osborn, executive director of the Summit Combined Housing Authority, told participants in Thursday's forum how four communities in Summit County came together to create the authority there and obtain voter approval to fund it.
"It's unheard of that the towns ever agree to do anything with the county and they did," she said.
But some local officeholders think the situation between Aspen and Parachute is different, as it includes nine communities and all or parts of three counties - Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield.
One concern is whether so many diverse governmental entities could agree on the proper way to fund an authority, and could win voter approval for it. Communities also would have to consider how to divide up revenues, and how comfortable some of them would be in accepting increased density to meet housing needs for people who might be working elsewhere.
Snowmass Village Mayor Doug Mercatoris recognizes some of those issues but said a model for regional cooperation in the area already exists in the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority.
"It takes a while but we have proven that we can work regionally and can work together," Mercatoris said.
Osborn said a regional housing authority doesn't have to start out big.
"Start with something you know can work and then build," she recommended.
Some government officials argued that any discussions about affordable housing aren't complete without looking at development requirements and the degree to which they hinder creation of affordable housing.
"If we're going to solve the housing, let's approve some of the proposals that are coming forward instead of overregulating them. ... We're just too selective on what we want to see," said Garfield County Commissioner John Martin.
Glenwood council member Chris McGovern said it's also important to bring private developers into the discussion.
Community leaders agreed to meet again on the housing issue, with part of the focus being on each community's existing affordable housing requirements.
Basalt developer David Fiore attended Thursday's discussion and welcomed the recognition given to the problems that development requirements can cause. He's working to try to replace his flood-prone, 52-unit Roaring Fork Mobile Home Park with a 115-unit, deed-restricted affordable housing project. But he said in an interview that he's running into difficulty doing that in Basalt because it has an urban growth boundary and there's no property within the boundary where the project could be built.
"We need the town of Basalt to support us, which would support their own (affordable housing) efforts," he said.
Contact Dennis Webb: 384-9119
dwebb@postindependent.com
Post Independent, Glenwood Springs Colorado CO
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