Navigating affordable development in urban growth areas might be the biggest challenge La Plata County faces as planning commissioners tackle one of the most weighty components of the comprehensive land-use plan: housing.
“I have kids, I want them to be able to afford to live here,” County Planner Jason Meininger said. “The housing affordability gap has grown, not shrunk. This is an opportunity to turn the tides to create more affordable housing options for a variety of income levels. There’s the saying, ‘drive until you qualify.’ For some, that means leaving the state.”
Over the past 15 years, home prices have left income in the dust; the median home price has risen 63 percent in the county, and 73 percent in the city of Durango, while median household income has increased only 48 percent.
Local housing experts project that average yearly home builds need to increase from about 300 homes to 700.
That deficit looms large over county officials as they shape the land-use plan’s housing element. Objectives outlined in the draft focus on keeping and spurring development of affordable units, providing relief mechanisms for the elderly and low-income households, and expediting planning processes.
Planning Commissioner Charlie Minkler said he has experienced roadblocks in the planning processes firsthand as his daughter is trying to buy her first home in La Plata County.
“I’m in the building business,” he said. “Just so you know, these are the permits I’m required to get: driveway, electrical, mechanical, building, septic, well and plumbing. That’s seven to build a house. Don’t misunderstand me; our building department is great, but let’s not add to this list.”
The La Plata County Regional Housing Alliance has studied housing trends extensively and found that the size of homes, lots and families are all getting smaller. And some of the most affordable housing is located in the county, removed from jobs and services.
Karen Iverson, executive director of the RHA, said the county is going to have to accommodate two groups: older residents who want to age in their homes, and cresting millennials who want to move out of the urban core as they advance their careers and start families.
She said simplifying the planning processes for developing near urban growth boundaries will be the keystone to accommodating those demographics.
“I think the most important thing to do is simplify the planning process in those joint areas,” Iverson said. “That is the most important next phase of growth around the city of Durango, around the town of Bayfield. If you can figure out how to make that work better, if you do one thing, that would be it.”
Accomplishing that, according to one resident, will mean overcoming issues with the city.
“You say, ‘build the stock,’ but a big reason we don’t have stock and have that (400-house) deficit is that the city has created monopolies,” said county resident Dick Norton, noting the difficulty for county subdivisions to get city water. “You need to start thinking about who’s in the way, what’s in the way, if you’re going to solve the problem.”
The county comprehensive land-use plan, which addresses a range of land uses including extractive resources and historic preservation, is being updated incrementally. Planning staff members will continue reworking the language of the plan until the final draft is approved by planning commissioners, then the county commissioners.
jpace@durangoherald.com
