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City zoning ordinance that would require
more affordable housing also in the works
by Missy Votel
Aspen has one, as do Boulder
and Vail. So do Archuleta and Montezuma counties for that matter.
And, if everything goes as planned,
La Plata County will soon be home to a regional housing authority.
“It’s really something
our elected officials think would be a good thing,” said
Greg Hoch, Durango planning director.
Hoch said a regional housing
authority would be a collaborative effort between the county and
all its municipalities with the main goal being affordable housing.
“A housing authority can
be like a nonprofit housing developer, with the purpose being
to make housing happen,” he said.
Stacey Patton, long-range county
planner, said affordable housing is one of the top two problems
facing the county.
“We all know we need affordable
housing, and hopefully this will provide guidelines to work with,”
she said.
Although it wouldn’t be
the first regional housing authority in the area – Durango
briefly had one in the late ’40s – the authority would
bring Durango up to speed with much of the rest of the state.
“Telluride, Boulder, almost
all the mountain towns have one now,” said Millissa Berry,
a city planner who also sits on the Affordable Housing Task Force,
which hatched the idea for the authority.
In studying the concept, the
city and county have looked at housing authorities in Fort Collins,
Loveland, Vail and Aspen as well as Arapahoe, Summit and Pitkin
counties.
In order to facilitate affordable
housing, the authority would take on many roles, Hoch said. These
would include advising local government on housing infrastructure
needs, establishing a housing land trust, identifying vacant land
and acquiring land for affordable housing.
In addition to setting up a
housing authority, Hoch said an affordable housing ordinance also
is being studied. Called an “inclusionary zoning ordinance,”
the directive, which was the result of a New Jersey legal case,
would require all projects to contain some element of affordability
in them.
However, Hoch notes such an
ordinance is not always popular among everyone.
“It’s a very controversial
topic,” he said. “Homebuilders hate it and say if
they have to supply affordable housing they will just pass the
cost on to the consumer.”
The city plans on going through
an analysis of ordinances passed elsewhere before making a final
decision. Hoch said he expects it to pass within the next couple
of months. Although the county has no plans for an inclusionary
zoning ordinance, it has required employee housing of some of
the larger developments, such as DMR and Tamarron. The county
also is considering adding required work-force housing for larger
developments to its planning code, which is being revised at the
moment, Patton said.
Hoch said he expects the regional
housing authority to pass in a few months as well, but the sooner
the better.
“Affordable housing is
a big problem here, and it’s getting worse,” Hoch
said. “There’s been a fair amount done, but the problem
is so broad, and there’s just so much more to do.”
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