La Plata County is considering buying property for use as a managed camp after opposition to the county’s current proposed site near the Durango Tech Center.
County commissioners held a closed executive session last week to discuss purchasing property. The county is making progress, said County Manager Chuck Stevens.
“It’s been an exhaustive effort and we are currently in conversations with landowners right now on potential properties,” he said.
Stevens would not say how many properties the county is reviewing, but he said the county is juggling multiple locations. The county has been approached by landowners and has also assessed properties it has seen for sale.
“We’ve had potential sellers approach the county saying, ‘Hey, maybe we can help,’” he said. “We’ve vetted those properties and then there’s properties that we became aware of either through the community or we’ve seen ‘for sale’ signs.”
The properties the county is considering are at different stages in the review process, with some nearing negotiations and others still in initial conversations. They are all located within the city limits of Durango, Stevens said.
“We’ve really narrowed our focus,” he said. “We’re trying to stay within 3 miles of the city of Durango’s social services campus.”
While the county remains mum about specific sites, the locations it is considering would address some of the concerns raised by residents of the Crestview and Ella Vita neighborhoods, Stevens said.
On Dec. 13, La Plata County held a public meeting to discuss its plans to begin a land-use application for a managed campsite on county-owned land near the Durango Tech Center.
Stevens had previously led a search that considered various county-owned properties, identifying the site as the only viable candidate.
But residents of the Crestview and Ella Vita neighborhoods in west Durango, who were affected by dispersed camping from 2015 to 2018, objected during the meeting. They argued the camp should be constructed, but elsewhere.
“It’s a very clear divide: The people who live in this community versus the people who don’t,” said Erika Stensen, a resident of west Durango, during the meeting.
“If you live in this neighborhood, you know the problems, you know the interactions you’ve had in the past, you know the impacts on your family,” she said.
Residents who attended the meeting later approached the city and the county with a list of additional sites for consideration. The list includes 18 sites owned mostly by the city, but also by the county and private landowners.
They spanned parking lots, vacant lots, the Best Western along U.S. Highway 160, the former Durango 9-R Administration Building, River City Hall and the recently demolished Mason Center, among others.
The list has factored into the county’s recent efforts to purchase another property for a managed camp.
“We’ve looked at those and we’re making a determination as to whether or not they’re viable candidates,” Stevens said. “Some of the properties identified in that list were properties that were for sale and we’ve reviewed and vetted those, and in some cases made contact with the listing agent and had some initial conversations.”
Both the county and the city, in conjunction with the Neighbors in Need Alliance, an unhoused advocacy coalition, have established a set of criteria that were used to conduct a managed campsite analysis released in March 2021.
One of those criteria is the impact on adjacent properties and residential neighborhoods, which Crestview and Ella Vita residents voiced during the December meeting.
The sites that the county is considering would minimize the potential neighborhood impacts of a managed camp, Stevens said.
“There’s not a piece of land anywhere in the city of Durango that doesn’t have a neighbor, so there’s always going to be neighborhood impacts. But as far as a residential neighborhood, we are looking at some properties that don’t have a residential neighborhood,” he said.
While purchasing a property could address residents’ concerns, La Plata County faces a few hurdles to finalizing an agreement. Arguably the most significant obstacle the county faces is the use of public funds generated by the entire county.
“If we were to buy anything, we’re using taxpayer dollars,” Stevens said. “We’ve got to be able to demonstrate to the public that what we’re spending taxpayer dollars on is worth what we spent on it.”
The county does not have a timeline for the purchase of a property, but the goal is to have a managed camp in place by next winter, Stevens said. Any site must undergo a land-use application and other scoping before a managed camp can open, spurring a sense of urgency from the county.
“This is definitely top-priority,” he said. “As far as timeline, it’s just we want to get it done as quickly as we can.”
After several unsuccessful years of searching for the ideal location for a managed camp, the county is shifting its approach. The hope is that taking a more pragmatic approach will finally bring a managed camp to fruition.
“We’ve got to try and find the best possible site, but the least objectionable site as well,” Stevens said.
ahannon@durangoherald.com
