PHOTO: Pagosa Springs Apartments, July, 2023.
Yesterday in Part Six, I shared the information that the Pagosa Springs Apartments wanted to convert 98 motel rooms into tiny apartment units… but the Town zoning would have allowed only 66 units. Instead of changing the zoning rules — which would have allowed many, many properties besides the Pagosa Springs Apartments to build more housing units — the Town Planning Department negotiated a new ‘density bonus’ that allowed the Apartments to have their full 98 units, so long as 25 units were kept “affordable” for seven years.
From a Town document about the Apartments:
The property is 4.19 acres which would allow up to 66 dwelling units, thus the applicant is requesting a density bonus of an additional 32 dwelling units. The Town’s Density Bonus policy adopted on April 22, 2021, requires 25% of the total units be deed restricted for income levels up to 120% of Area Median Income (AMI) determined annually by Colorado Housing Financing Authority (CHFA) for a minimum period of 7 years.
Our local governments… and our state government… and our homeowners associations… are in general agreement, that families ought to have homes to live in. They generally agree that homes are a good thing.
But they’re so used to preventing people from building homes, with various rules and regulations, that they can’t seem to get out of their own way.
We’ve discussed the problem with the word “affordable”. When you are talking about government regulations, “affordable” doesn’t mean “affordable” in a community like Pagosa Springs. It means “unaffordable except for highly-paid workers.” A two-bedroom apartment being rented out at Archuleta County’s “120% of Area Median Income” will rent for $2,349. A studio apartment will rent for $1,827.
Like I said, when a government is writing rules, “affordable” doesn’t necessarily mean “affordable”.
The Livable Wage study published by Region 9 Economic Development District, last year, indicated that Archuleta County has the highest cost of living in southwest Colorado, due mainly — according to Region 9 — to the high cost of housing:
The 2022 Colorado minimum wage is $12.56 per hour, which amounts to $26,527 per year working full time. We found that in Region 9, Montezuma County is the least expensive ($71,292 annually), and Archuleta County is the most expensive place to live ($92,796 annually) for a family of four. Using housing and childcare costs specific to each community we found that the Town of Pagosa Springs is also the most expensive community in the region for a family of four ($21.97 per hour for each working adult) due to the high cost of housing…
I was pleased to see the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners take a small step in the direction of solving our housing crisis last week, by amending the County Land Use Regulations (LURs).
We discussed yesterday (briefly) a new idea that’s been inserted into the LURs. “AWHU”. The “Affordable Workforce Housing Unit”. This unit must be a single-family unit. It cannot be an apartment unit.
If you own less than 10 acres, but more than one acre, you can now build a “AWHU” on your land, so long as you meet all the County requirements. (Previously, you could have only one dwelling unit on 10 acres.)
5.6.8.4 AWHU Standards.
(1) Rental must be via a lease or other legal written agreement for a Long-Term Rental lease term. For as long as the parcel is subject to a Deed Restriction, the property owner must submit to the Development Director a copy of each signed lease for each AWHU on the parcel. Copies of all signed leases must be submitted to the Development Director within ten (10) business days after execution.
(2) Monthly rent for each term must be set at or below the Maximum Rents identified in the Residential Incentives Program and updated annually. Fees and deposits required by the lease may not exceed the amount of one (1) month’s rent in addition to the monthly rent.
(3) At the beginning of each lease term, the tenants must provide proof (pay stub, verification from employer, etc.) that at least one adult tenant in the household is employed a minimum of 30 hours per week at a job located inside Archuleta County. Remote work for a job located outside Archuleta County does not satisfy the local job requirement. Also, the tenants’ household income must be no more than 120% of AMI, adjusted for household size. Property owners must obtain information from tenants verifying employment and income standards and provide copies to the County with each subsequent lease.
As I mentioned, apartment buildings do not qualify. Even though we desperately need more “affordable” apartment units, in a town where half of the households earn less than $65,000 a year.
But with that in mind, let’s look once again at the Pagosa Springs Apartments. 98 units located on four acres. If these units were rented for an average of $2,000 a month, that means the owners could be bringing in $2.4 million a year (before expenses.)
98 units, on four acres. Is that an obscene concept? Are the people living in the condos across the street from the Pagosa Springs Apartments ‘up in arms’ about housing in their neighborhood? That doesn’t seem to be the case.
But a few blocks away — once you get outside the Town limits — a 10-acre parcel is allowed two dwelling units?
A Daily Post reader sent me an email yesterday, listing many of the reasons why no one in their right mind would build an “AWHU” as it’s now defined… and jump through all the hoops listed in the newly-updated County LUR.
He wrote:
I’m actually a strong advocate for infill, but the plan (as-is) really has nothing to do with infill. I’ve tried picturing the land around my own, out in the county, and I simply can’t think of a single neighbor who has the money, patience, or guilt to civic duty to commit to this.
The neighbors would, almost to a person, likely just default to giving a friend a 20/30/50A electric hookup, a heat-taped garden hose connection, and a riser pipe to the existing septic in their backyard and call it good.
I have to agree. But like I’ve been saying, I’m not complaining. The amended County LURs are proof that our BOCC finally understands they’ve been handling things badly all along.
At this rate… a few more years, and we might get to a point where we have a functionally perfect community.
I’m hopeful.