On Tuesday morning, the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners — Veronica Medina, Ronnie Maez and Warren Brown — held a work session, and got an update from two local nonprofit organizations involved in housing issues.
Emily Lashbrooke, representing the Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation, gave a brief update on the ten ‘affordable’ homes currently under construction on tax-lien parcels donated to PSCDC by the BOCC. The homes, which I believe are expected to cost more than $350,000 each, will be sold to local households. In order to qualify for one of these ten homes, at least adult must have a job in Archuleta County.
The homes will be ‘deed-restricted’ to ensure future sales of the property will be to qualifying households, so the substantial government subsidies aimed at making the homes ‘affordable’ do not disappear into the seller’s pocket. PSCDC also wants to ensure that their subsidized homes don’t become Short-Term Rentals (STRs).
With the assumption that more than ten households are likely to apply for these ten homes, the PSCDC has developed a lottery system to choose the winning households. Ms. Lashbrooke was explaining the “Housing Opportunity Process” to the BOCC.
You can download the draft “Housing Opportunity Process” document here.
Ms. Lashbrooke also informed the BOCC that PSCDC has been designated a Community Based Development Organization (CBDO) by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. This designation will provide more funding opportunities that might incentivize builders to provide more affordable housing options in the community.
Lashbrooke noted there are only five CBDOs in the state, and PSCDC is the only one in Southwest Colorado.
Next up, at the morning work session, was Kristen Bair, representing Rise Above Violence. For any readers not familiar with ‘Rise’, here’s some information from their website:
Rise Above Violence is a private nonprofit organization. Our primary mission is to assist victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. We work to ensure victims rights are exercised and needs met.
Through the support of grants, donations, fund-raising efforts and volunteers, Rise provides the following services:
- Immediate crisis intervention available 24 hours a day by an advocate trained to listen and provide support.
- Court Advocate to explain the criminal justice system and assist with civil restraining orders.
- Emergency transportation to safe shelter. Shelter provided by the SW Safehouse.
- Advocates to assist with other community agencies and supportive organizations.
- Information and referrals.
- Housing and Legal Assistance.
We recognize that domestic violence is a repeating pattern and that recovery from either domestic violence or sexual assault can be a lengthy process. While our advocates are not professional counselors, they do understand. They are trained to assess your needs identify and discuss your options, access available services and provide information and referrals to other agencies available to help with your long-term issues…
As suggested by the above information, getting yourself out of an abusive relationship can be a long-term project. And a difficult one. For one thing, it can mean finding a new place to live. Thus, the need for housing.
We have a lot of ‘mostly vacant’ housing in Pagosa Springs. Perhaps 40 percent of the homes in this community — second homes, third homes, and STRs — are vacant for a significant part of the year. At the same time, a significant number of local employees are sleeping in RVs, cars, tents, and other less-than-satisfactory situations.
Pagosa doesn’t have a housing shortage. We have an “available and affordable housing” shortage.
For the past several years, the Town of Pagosa Springs — a municipality with a population of about 1,600 residents (2020 census) and about 108 STRs — has been limiting the conversion of residential homes into mini-motels, with regulations that put caps and density limits on this type of commercial use in residential neighborhoods.
Outside the town limits in the unincorporated parts of Archuleta County — population about 12,500 — STRs have been sprouting up like mushrooms, without any density limits, creating a situation where some full-time residents are completely surrounded by commercial vacation rentals occupied by a different tourist family every couple of days. Some of us believe the unrestrained growth of this industry has been largely responsible for for dramatic inflation of home prices and rental rates in Archuleta County, bringing us to a place where we are now the most expensive community in Southwest Colorado, according to Region 9 Economic Development District.
At last Tuesday’s Archuleta Board of County Commissioners meeting, our three commissioners spent nearly three hours discussing and debating dozens of adjustments to the County Land Use Regulations, related to the operation of Short-Term Rentals.
None of the amendments, however, will impose a cap or density limits on the industry. Apparently, our three commissioners believe there are no negative effects from unrestrained growth. And am thinking
The changes were related, instead, to minor details, such as what rooms can be classified as ‘bedrooms’… and how many parking spaces an STR must provide to accommodate their guest families, and whether the County should have the authority to enforce that requirement? (Answer: not necessarily.)
At the beginning of the discussion, County Attorney Todd Weaver had asked Commissioner Veronica Medina (a licensed realtor) a number of questions, seemingly aimed at determining whether she directly benefits from STR operations in Archuleta County. Mr. Weaver then offered his opinion that Commissioner Medina had no conflicts of interest, and was free to vote on Land Use Regulation changes related to STR operations.
About halfway through the hearing, Commissioner Medina made the following comments, partly in response to some public criticism delivered earlier by realtor Lauri Heraty, who accused the BOCC of spending too much time considering STR regulations, when the community has other pressing problems.
Commissioner Medina:
“I feel like… and I hope those who are in the audience and online, just going through this process… I feel like we are making positive changes. I too agree that we have spent way too much time on this topic, specifically. But unfortunately, the wheels had started turning prior to [my election], so they continue to turn. I was not able to stop the bus.
“But here we are, and we’re trying to address it, and we’re trying to address it in a better way.”