Perhaps the containers could be shipped with the workers already in them. Then if those workers didn’t do an adequate job of scrubbing the floors and toilets in our short-term rentals, we could ship them right back to West Virginia or East Timor whence they came…
— From a Letter to the Editor, published in the weekly ‘Pagosa Springs SUN’, May 13, 2021.
As mentioned before, the Pagosa Springs Planning Commission approved the preliminary plans for developer George Brown’s ‘shipping container’ housing project on Majestic Drive on April 27… but due to a ‘noticing’ error, the proposal will come before the Planning Commission for another look on May 25.
Homes made from modified metal shipping containers are appearing now in many communities, as the US struggles with a widespread shortage of workforce and affordable housing, and with skyrocketing home prices and rental rates.
Earlier this week, when I interviewed local businessman George Brown — the person proposing to build six one-bedroom shipping container duplexes, on two parcels on Majestic Drive at the top of Putt Hill — I asked him to briefly summarize his reasons for making this proposal to the Town government, and he gave two basic reasons. One, to provide affordable housing for local individuals. Two, to benefit himself financially.
I’ve been involved in affordable housing discussions for the past decade, here in Pagosa, especially since the creation of the Archuleta County Affordable Housing Task Force five years ago, and have found certain assumptions common to those discussions.
1) Pagosa Springs is in the midst of a housing crisis, and it’s gradually becoming more serious.
2) Given the cost of vacant land in Archuleta County, and given the cost of government fees, and given the skyrocketing price of building materials, and given the shortage of available workers in the local construction industry… given those factors, it is nearly impossible for a private developer to build new housing that’s affordable to the average working individual or family… and still turn a profit… without government assistance.
3) Most Pagosa home builders love building homes, but don’t necessarily want to become long-term landlords; they want to build custom homes for paying customers, or build spec houses and sell them as quickly as possible. The hot market in Pagosa is for single-family homes. As a result, very few apartment buildings have been constructed over the past decade.
4) Our local governments have a hard enough time, competently doing the jobs they’ve already taken on — public safety, street maintenance, social services, tax collection, tourism promotion, land use regulation, parks maintenance, water and sewer treatment, and so on. It’s unreasonable for us to expect local government to also construct and manage housing.
5) Our community leaders want Pagosa to be an attractive place, with attractive buildings and well-maintained infrastructure and safe, quiet neighborhoods. “Affordable housing” is often not the most “attractive” type of housing. (More about that, tomorrow, in Part Four.)
6) The people who work at jobs in Pagosa Springs, and keep the economy humming, should be able to live in the same community where they work. We don’t want to create a community where our workers have to commute here from distant towns.
These are some of the key assumptions I hear during housing discussions.
So when a developer like Mr. Brown comes forward, claiming that he can create affordable homes and still make a profit — without the need for government subsidies — he is naturally challenging some of these assumptions.
Mr. Brown:
“People have been screaming for affordable housing around here, for years. And I want to provide it.
“Right now, the first step is dealing with the hill above my property. I’ve got to contact my engineer again; he’s got some pictures, and I’ve got to see what he has to say about it.”
Mr. Brown’s building site on Majestic Drive is nestled against a steeply sloping hillside — mostly shale. In the architect’s rendering, the hillside behind the duplexes is covered with greenery, but at the moment, it’s still mostly rock. The rendering also shows hints of a retaining wall up against the hillside.
“Whether this project goes forward or not, depends partly on what my engineer has to say about the hillside. If it’s going to cost me $100,000 to do a retaining wall, or if there’s some other remediation to be done, then that’s going to slow the project down. Probably wouldn’t end up being built this year.
“I’m going to get the site graded, and start on the project as soon as possible. I’ve got to get it graded out, and get utilities in. That’s the start. Utilities, and the foundations. Once I get to that point, it’s going to go pretty quick. The foundations are piers, if you’ve seen the plans.”
I understand pier foundations are fairly inexpensive, compared to certain other types of foundations. Here’s a photo of an existing shipping container project very similar to the duplexes Mr. Brown is proposing, set on a pier foundation. Used shipping containers comes in two standard sizes: 20×8 feet, and 40×8 feet. The proposed units on Majestic drive would each consist of a 40 foot container joined to a 20 foot container.
“The construction should go pretty quickly. Footings, piers, and then drop the can. It’s getting spray foam insulation, so I will need to shoot the bottoms before I stack them… the bedroom and bathroom will be in the 20-foot section… and each unit will have a washer and dryer, a kitchen, living room… there will be fences between the units, to provide a bit of privacy for the yards.”
The design of storage areas for the residents is another aspect still in the planning stages.
“I didn’t much care for the comments published in the newspaper, about ‘shipping the workers back’ inside the containers. I mean, people need places to live…
“And I don’t want the site to get cluttered. It’s a clean. modern look. And I want to keep it that way…”