The latest La Posta Road Development Plan appears to be a bait and switch. The bait is federal urban renewal funding to pay for the sewer extension. The switch is from commercial/light industrial to high density residential. Who wins?
The developer who builds cheap housing to be offered at market rates. Who loses? The quality of life of 1,000 prospective residents. The feds are apt to see through the ruse of requesting urban renewal funds to build a workforce ghetto.
The Phase 1 development plan for La Posta Road is inhumane, unsafe and fiscally risky. The plan lacks parks, playgrounds, a school or a fire station. Sandwiched between existing rural housing and proposed commercial/industrial buildings would be 347 dwelling units – housing 1,000 people. The high-density portion could have 550 people on 7.6 acres.
Where do 200 school-age children play? In the flood plain along the Animas River, or in parcels next to gas well pads or in a narrow strip next to commercial/industrial buildings? Would you accept this for your children? The city should be acquiring land now to provide an acceptable level of public facilities.
Phase 1 development appears to be substandard relative to Durango, yet presumably at market prices. Affordable housing requires public subsidies. In 14 years of operation, Durango’s Fair Share Program saw one instance of a developer opting to build affordable units – every other residential development chose to pay an opt-out fee.
What is the pricing, size and quality of Phase 1 housing? Are there deed restrictions? How much of the housing is rental versus owner? Will the city sufficiently increase the penalties for not building affordable housing to make a difference?
Consciously creating a potential sociological cauldron is unwise. Depriving south Durango residents of public facilities available everywhere else in the city plants the seeds of resentment – especially in the young. The urban planners learned these sociological lessons in the 19th century. Treating all our families with dignity is in the best interests of the entire community.
Initiating Phase 1 without financial commitments for adequate public facilities could condemn Phase 1 residents to substandard living conditions indefinitely. Future federal and state development grants may diminish as the federal budget deficit is addressed. And the American Rescue Plan Act funds are depleting.
Simultaneously developing Three Springs, Durango Mesa and La Posta Road presents fiscal risks. We estimate the build-out of Three Springs’ infrastructure to be approximately $100 million (75-acre park, elementary and intermediate schools, associated infrastructure). The projected build-out of Durango Mesa was $105 million in 2018 (festival site, athletic facilities and infrastructure). We guestimate the full cost of La Posta Road sewer extension and road improvements could be $50 million or more. While partial federal and state funding may become available for the Three Springs and Durango Mesa projects, the La Posta Road plan’s moral deficiencies may preclude such funding.
Will voters approve further tax rate increases? The 20% increase in La Plata County real estate prices is producing a similar jump in 2024 property taxes. The county commissioners already have indicated a 2025 mill levy increase is likely (e.g., the Road and Bridge Department is severely underfunded). The proposed Three Springs’ schools may require a city tax increase. In addition, local homeowner insurance rates are taking a step function up to reflect increasing wildfire risks.
Expediency often makes for poor public policy. We need more affordable housing, but let’s not create a workforce ghetto. Please, share your concerns with the Durango City Council and the La Plata county commissioners.
Tom DeHudy of Durango has four decades of institutional investment experience and a master’s degree in public policy.
