The Ruby Sisson Memorial Library, on South 8th Street, maintains a shelf full of discarded books in their entryway — free for the taking.
I assume these are mainly books donated by local citizens, that the librarians can’t find room for, on the library shelves inside… or, in some cases, they might be books that have been culled from the collection because they haven’t been checked out regularly?
I’m a sucker for free things. As many people are, I believe.
Last week, scanning the shelf, one of the titles caught my eye. To Change the World, by Ross Coggins, published by Broadman Press, 1964.
I had never heard of this little book, nor of the author, nor of Broadman Press. But I’m generally curious about people who want to tackle big projects… like, for example, changing the world.
When I opened the book, I found it to be an autographed copy, with the handwritten inscription: “To Mary Caywood, with best wishes in Christ. Ross Coggins”. Since I didn’t have any autographed books on my bookshelf at home, I thought this one might be a good addition.
The Preface of the 117-page book begins this way:
“In view of the extraordinary changes the past twenty-five years have brought, what is the meaning of Christian responsibility today? What is the relationship between the gospel and change? What is the role of the churches in a world of turbulent upheaval?”
I had to smile at Mr. Coggins perspective, as he sat at his writing desk in 1964. “Extraordinary changes?” If Mr. Coggins were still alive in 2022, (which is entirely possible,) would he still feel like the changes that occurred during the middle of the 20th century were “extraordinary”?
Maybe every generation feels they are living during period of extraordinary changes.
As I read further into To Change the World, it became apparent that Mr. Coggins had been a lecturer at Southern Illinois University, and had developed his ideas while preparing a series of lectures sponsored by the First Baptist Church in Marion, Illinois, as a memorial to a distinguished Baptist leader.
Before reading further into the book, I quickly made some assumptions about Mr. Coggins’ likely perspective, based on the right-wing political stance of many Christians here in America. Imagine my surprise, when I found Mr. Coggins’ ideas about society, in 1964, to be worthy of a contemporary left-leaning Democrat.
So I’m thinking, this morning, about change, and how change happens.
A couple of years ago, the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners were grappling with a potent political issue. Existing residential homes in the community were getting bought up and converted into vacation rentals — STRs, Short-Term Rentals — mostly by non-residents. This change, facilitated by large national corporations like Airbnb.com and VRBO.com, seemed to be having an impact on an already-difficult housing shortage, but no one could say exactly how big an impact the vacation rental industry was having.
At the same time, many people assumed the expanding STR market was having a positive effect on our tourism industry… but again, no one could say for certain how big the effect might be.
Already, many Colorado communities were putting regulations in place to control the negative effects of STRs. In some cases, the regulations were significant. In Denver and Boulder, for example — two large cities that are less dependent upon tourism than certain mountain resort communities — a property owner cannot rent out a residential house to vacationers unless the owner lives full-time on the same property.
The Town of Pagosa Springs was developing its own regulations, to limit the damage, while admitting that they were also limiting the possible benefits of a free-wheeling, unregulated vacation rental industry.
But faced with a lack of sharply defined data, and apparently influenced by the idea that tourists were more valuable to the community than full-time residents, the Archuleta BOCC rejected the idea of placing new STR limitations into the County Land Use Regulations. The BOCC did, however, require the rentals to obtain an annual permit.
That was a couple of years ago. Since then, the number of STRs registered in the unincorporated county has reportedly doubled. And, reportedly, the housing situation for retirees and working families has become more challenging.
This past July, the BOCC decided to take a harder look at the STR problem, and passed a six-month moratorium on new STR licenses to allow the community to explore reasonable regulations. The moratorium began on September 1, which implies that the community has until March 1 to make recommendations to the commissioners, before the moratorium runs out.
During August, the County staff solicited letters of interest, with the goal of putting together a ‘Vacation rental Task Force’ that would include representatives from more than a dozen stakeholder groups. A realtor, for instance. An STR owner. A person who lives next door to an STR. A retiree. A representative from the School District…
I have been appointed as a representative of the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD).
Presumably, this community-based task force will be able to review the existing data for Pagosa Springs, and will also look at what’s happening in other Colorado communities.
What are the facts, available? That’s a tricky question, because one person’s ‘facts’ might be, to another another person, merely ‘opinions’.
Here are some ‘facts’ included in the July 2022 Resolution approved by the BOCC:
WHEREAS, in recent years, the advent and increasing popularity of individuals and companies purchasing, advertising, and renting out residential properties as short-term lodging has resulted in almost 12% of all unincorporated Archuleta Countys housing stock being utilized as a vacation rental; and,
WHEREAS, the conversion of residential properties to vacation rental units has a variety of effects on the neighborhoods in which such units are located, as well as on the community as a whole, including without limitation, issues with increased noise at all hours, parking and traffic problems, life and safety issues related to noncompliance with the building code, and trash not being kept or disposed of properly; and…
WHEREAS, in order to combat the above issues and pursuant to its authority to regulate land use granted by law including, without limitation, Article 20 of Title 29 and Article 28 of Title 30, Colorado Revised Statutes, in May 2021, the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (the Board) adopted rules and regulations regarding the operation of vacation rentals in Section 5.5.6 of the Archuleta County Land Use Regulations (LUR), including the requirement that all owners and operators of vacation rentals obtain an annual permit; and…
WHEREAS, since the adoption of the amended LUR, the number of vacation rentals in the County has continued to significantly increase, causing continued conflict within neighborhoods, and contributing to the continued loss of local workforce housing stock as housing units in traditionally local areas transition from long-term to short-term occupancy; and,
WHEREAS, the County is continuing to experience a housing crisis whereby local workers are unable to find housing and are leaving the community, resulting in local businesses being understaffed and cutting hours and services due to the lack of employees; and…
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners has serious concerns that because of the above-referenced impacts from vacation rentals, unincorporated Archuleta County will continue to experience substantial additional loss of housing stock to vacation rentals in addition to what has already occurred…
I’m wondering if the new Vacation Rental Task Force will be able to accept the statements, above, as ‘facts’?