If you visited mypagosa.org to access the draft ‘Housing Action Plan’ (HAP) that was discussed on Monday night at the joint Town Council-Board of County Commissioners meeting, you might have seen a public comment that read, in part:
If you’re truly trying to get community participation, hope you provide an ‘Executive Summary’ data/information vs. this 43-page Draft. Doubt the majority will take the time to read, as some of the info is redundant and I know it lost my attention midway (so struggled hard to keep reading). Suggest you pare this down, and get to what the residents really need and want to know, which is ‘where’ you anticipate the housing to be placed and what is the cost to taxpayers, etc…
…We will not be able to attend 8/24 meeting, but again, highly suggest you ‘pare down’ this report for the ‘common’ person to better understand project objectives. We understand there are many entities that need to be involved, but not sure you need to truly detail each and every step. Thank you for the continued work — it’s still much appreciated — as most know we need affordable workforce housing.
If we had placed a ceiling on VRBO permits, etc, when we had the opportunity, we might have had more ‘long term rentable’ homes for workforce (as an example).
This is an excerpt from one of only two public comments posted to that Town website prior to the August 24 joint meeting.
The other comment was brief:
In looking at the draft document, there is a lot of work to be done. I hope our organizations and governments work together and accomplish what is laid out in the HAP document. I look forward to the meeting on the 24th.
I have to agree. The HAP does indeed sketch out “a lot of work to be done.” That’s often one of the main problems with government plans. Too much to be accomplished… so nothing gets accomplished.
And when no priorities are established, we don’t have any priorities.
The draft HAP lists 22 actions in five categories that various government agencies and non-profits and businesses might tackle, either on their own, or working collaboratively.
How would I prioritize the five areas of proposed effort, if I were King? Below are the chapter headings, with my personal “prioritization”.
Am I qualified to rank these options?
Possibly. Since 2004, I’ve been researching and writing about government housing efforts (and lack of effort) here in Pagosa Springs. I served on the 2017 Archuleta County Housing Committee, helped write the 2019 ‘Roadmap to Affordable Housing’ adopted by the Town Council, helped found the non-profit Pagosa Housing Partners, helped write and approve the affordable housing fee waiver policy at PAWSD, and attended hundreds of government meetings where I often advocated for policies aimed at addressing the workforce housing shortage in Pagosa Springs.
But who, really, has the ‘right’ answers to this massive problem?
Nevertheless, here are the proposed HAP actions as general categories, ranked 1-5:
Create New Funding Streams for Housing Initiatives (that is to say, increase taxes and fees, or find matching grants.)
My Suggested Ranking: 3
Few things are as unpopular and threatening in Archuleta County as increased taxes and fees. Grants, on the other hand, are spoken of as if they’re handed down from heaven — but anyone who has accepted a grant knows about the ‘strings’ attached. One problem with higher taxes: they hurt the people who are already struggling to afford housing.
The problem with grants: they are short-term fixes. But what we need is a permanent change in the community’s direction.
Remove Barriers to Building New Housing (that is to say, revise government regulations to legalize affordable housing in neighborhoods where it’s currently illegal.)
My Suggested Ranking: 1
This process doesn’t require increased taxes or fees, but it requires community leaders to have thick skin, because people will angrily accuse the government leaders of “lowering my property values”. Do our elected leaders have the cojones necessary to grab the bull by the cojones?
Support Preservation of Affordable Housing for Low to Moderate Income Households (that is, create ways to preserve whatever affordable housing we now have in the community.)
My Suggested Ranking: 2
This process might require increased taxes or fees, but preserving existing buildings is often much less expensive than building brand new buildings.
Organize Partnerships to Meet Housing Needs (that is, centralize and formalize the ‘organizing process’.)
My Suggested Ranking: 5
In my experience, collaboration can happen naturally when different groups have the same goals. We certainly need a variety of advocates and project leaders, but maybe not ‘centralized’ administration. As discussed yesterday in Part Three, however, the three County Commissioners obviously have some strong feelings about who should be administering what.
Expand Housing Resources and Education (that is, educate community leaders and the public about the crisis.)
My Suggested Ranking: 4
Any and all of these five categories of possible actions might make a difference, over the long haul. But after 20 years working to provide a useful, educational website, I know that most community members and even most community leaders won’t (or can’t) take the time to access accurate (but sometimes complex) information. Maybe one person out of ten will ever get involved in trying to discover and implement solutions to our community’s challenges, and it’s that 10% who need to be reached by any educational effort.
Making an effort to reach the other 90% would be pretty much a waste of time.
Does that sound cynical? Maybe so. Yet here I am, writing about the issue, thinking that education and information can be beneficial for my community.
The Town of Pagosa Springs posted the 43-page draft Housing Action Plan to the MyPagosa.org website late last week, giving the community about five days to find it, read it, and consider it, prior to Monday night’s joint Town Council-Board of County Commissioners meeting.
A total of two people had posted written comments on the draft plan. Only one of them indicated an intention to attend Monday night’s joint work session.
The other indicated that the document was somewhat redundant and challenging to read.
Read Part Five… tomorrow…