Hundreds in the Southwest Colorado business community gathered Wednesday for the 2023 La Plata Economic Development Alliance Summit to discuss affordable housing.
The event welcomed multiple keynote speakers including Sally Thornton, Chief Executive Officer of Forshay, a California-based company that focuses on bettering workplace environments.
The event also marked the launch of the Alliance’s project with Fort Lewis College, called the Rural Upskill Network program, or Project RUN.
The program will create two annual micro-certifications for three years and is designed to drive economic mobility by training, upskilling and retaining the region’s diverse workforce. The professional certificates will be designed through a series of collaborative design sprints on an annual basis with representatives from regional industries.
“All desirable communities like ours are dealing with the same issues of affordability, which has directly impacted our workforce. Key sectors of our economy are not able to recruit or retain critical roles, so we have to look within,” said Michael French, La Plata Economic Development Alliance Executive Director. “Addressing skill gaps in the existing or potential workforce is a way we can impact those industries and the Alliance Summit is a perfect platform to create engagement with our business community.”
Members of the Regional Housing Alliance and the Economic Development Alliance also discussed the progress of developing workforce housing in La Plata County.
“If we don't get more affordable and workforce housing, we're going to lose the fabric of our community,” La Plata County Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norton said to start the segment.
Porter-Norton said the RHA started in 2004, understanding that housing in La Plata County was an issue. The group’s formation consisted of bringing together the municipalities of La Plata County to work toward housing solutions.
Porter-Norton presented information on how housing is defined. If housing takes up 30% of a person’s income, they are considered cost-burdened. Someone who has 50% of their income taken up by housing costs is considered severely cost-burdened.
“We obviously don’t want people on that scale of being more and more cost burdened by housing,” Porter-Norton said.
She added that this can impact how residents pay for child care, health care and a child’s education. The RHA has been looking at area median income to navigate how to develop affordable housing. AMI is a region specific formula for what a household can afford based on average income and size.
Porter-Norton said that if a two-person household makes $66,560, they would be considered at 80% AMI. She defined affordable housing as being under 60% AMI, whereas between 80% and 125% is considered workforce housing.
Pat Vaughn, at-large member of the RHA, said that for a four-person household earning 160% AMI, they would be able to afford a $640,000 house, which is still below the median housing prices in La Plata County and Durango.
Vaughn said many of the area's issues with the cost of housing derive from the 2008 recession where the housing development industry took a massive hit and experienced builders left the industry.
“This is a 15 year problem that’s going to take us a good while to dig our way out,” Vaughn said. “There’s not a button, there’s not a switch. This is a lot of hard work and it’s going to take a lot of creative minds to get there.”
City of Durango Housing Innovation Program Manager Eva Henson presented the city’s upcoming housing projects and Proposition 123, which created the state of Colorado’s affordable housing fund.
The law dedicates 1% of existing taxable income to permanent affordable housing solutions for the state. In order to receive funding from Prop 123, municipalities must have baseline commitments for what they are trying to achieve in terms of affordable housing.
These baseline commitments include 14 units in Bayfield and Ignacio, with 108 units in La Plata County as a whole over the next three years. For the city, the baseline requirement is to build 184 units over the next three years. All of these units will be 60% AMI or less, meaning a two-person household does not exceed $49,420 in yearly income.
Based on a needs analysis assessment for the region, the area needs to build about 900 units per year. This includes Montezuma and Archuleta Counties. This would mean each county would have to average building 300 units.
From Bayfield, town manager Katie Sickles discussed the timeline for the Cinnamon Heights deed restricted housing project. The town of Bayfield purchased 30 townhomes platted lots in May 2021, which was dedicated to the project. The land will be sold to builders in 2024 through the request for proposal process to start construction.
The development intends to provide Bayfield with homes between 80% and 120% AMI. Requirements for applying include living in Region 9 for a year or more and work at least 32 hours per week in La Plata County.
The town of Bayfield has recently secured a $2 million affordable housing grant and are looking for another $700,000 for infrastructure.
From Ignacio, Mayor Clark Craig updated attendees on the state of the town’s affordable housing projects. The theme of his presentation was that “it’s not easy.”
In 2003, the town purchased 70 acres just outside of downtown Ignacio.
“People had a vision something similar to Three Springs,” Craig said.
However, in 2011, nothing ended up being developed and the town had to sell some of the property in order to pay back the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, who provided the town with grant money for the land.
More recently, the town has been working on its Rock Creek housing project which is breaking ground this month. The town purchased 70 acres in May for $550,000, with $450,000 coming from DOLA funding. The town has also submitted a $690,000 American Rescue Plan Grant request to La Plata County.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
