{"id":2448081,"date":"2019-08-28T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=311844"},"modified":"2019-08-28T07:30:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T13:30:00","slug":"snowmass-villages-push-to-create-more-affordable-housing-not-coming-fast-enough-for-workforce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/snowmass-villages-push-to-create-more-affordable-housing-not-coming-fast-enough-for-workforce\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowmass Village\u2019s push to create more affordable housing not coming fast enough for workforce"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"5.6212121212121\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-311844-873\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/coffey-atd-082019-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/coffey-atd-082019-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Maddie Vincent\/Snowmass Sun | A recent photo of the Snowmass housing department located on Deerfield Drive.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A recent photo of the Snowmass housing department located on Deerfield Drive.<\/strong><br \/>Maddie Vincent\/Snowmass Sun<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/coffey-atd-082019-2.jpg\" alt=\"A recent photo of the Snowmass housing department located on Deerfield Drive.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/snowmass\/snowmass-villages-push-to-create-more-affordable-housing-not-coming-fast-enough-for-workforce\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/snowmass\/snowmass-villages-push-to-create-more-affordable-housing-not-coming-fast-enough-for-workforce\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The sun beat down on over two dozen people weaving along the outer edge of Stallion Circle near Snowmass Town Park on Aug. 26.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Some were locals out for a bike ride or walk. Most were locals touring the development sites for the Coffey Place affordable housing units planned within the existing neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Town Council members set the tour up at their previous regular meeting after hearing a handful of concerns about the new housing project, mostly related to the planned increase in density of the area, land use and ownership.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Despite these concerns expressed by locals and council at this Aug. 19 meeting, one piece of common ground seemed to exist \u2014 Snowmass desperately needs more affordable housing options.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cTo let something like a bicycle trail not approve this would be disappointing to me,\u201d one local said at the Aug. 19 meeting. \u201cI have lots of friends who work in the village and would love the opportunity to live down there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The need for employee housing isn\u2019t new to Snowmass Village, the Roaring Fork Valley or even the state of Colorado. As the elected officials and locals walked around the staked out Coffey Place sites Aug. 26, they also walked by the town\u2019s latest affordable-housing development, Rodeo Place, a deed-restricted neighborhood completed along Stallion Circle in 2012. The last affordable-housing developments before Rodeo Place were completed between 2000 and 2009, town documents say.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But in early 2019, Town Council set a lofty goal to incentivize the \u201cnear-term\u201d creation of 200 affordable-housing units, including the proposed Coffey Place, in Snowmass Village for a wide variety of employees and their families.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Why is this big push for employee housing in Snowmass happening now? And how big of a problem is finding an affordable place to live in town, really?<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Priced out of a home<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">According to a regional housing study on the greater Roaring Fork communities, the valley generates more demand for housing than it has, especially in the Aspen-Snowmass area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspen-Snowmass is the highest-priced market in the region, which the study noted as a \u201cstatement of the obvious.\u201d The area\u2019s average free-market home sale price was $2.4 million in late 2018, the study said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Of course, not all people who work in Aspen or Snowmass want to live there. But even if they did, the study says there is a 4,000-unit shortfall spread across the entire affordability spectrum, except for people with an annual median income above $156,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The greatest lack of housing in Aspen-Snowmass exists for people making between $58,800 and $98,000 a year, and most people across the income spectrum rely on employee housing in Aspen, Snowmass or downvalley to make ends meet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Leah Aegerter, the digital fabrication lab technician at Anderson Ranch, is one local employee who relies on employee housing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In early February, Aegerter moved into a Snowmass employee unit Anderson Ranch leases from the town. When she moved to the Roaring Fork Valley over two years ago, she started as an intern at the ranch and eventually worked her way up to become a full-time staff member.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But during the in-between time when she wasn\u2019t working at Anderson Ranch, Aegerter said finding housing was hard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cMy partner and I couldn\u2019t find a place we could afford for couples, so we lived in our van and stayed at friends\u2019 houses when they were out of town,\u201d Aegerter said. \u201cEveryone seems to always be searching for housing. \u2026 It\u2019s a prevalent and constant conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Stewart Mann, events manager for the Limelight Hotel in Snowmass who recently moved into a town rental unit, shared similar thoughts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Mann said she worked in Snowmass for seven years, moved to North Carolina for a year and then moved back to the valley last summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">When she moved back, Mann said she went about things a little backward \u2014 she felt like she had to make sure she secured housing before applying for work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI definitely felt having housing was a factor in if I would get a job or not,\u201d Mann said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aegerter and Mann said they feel incredibly fortunate to have affordable housing and to live where they work. Both said they know housing is a constant worry on a lot of people\u2019s minds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aegerter said she has friends who had good paying jobs and still had to move away because they couldn\u2019t afford the cost of living.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWith all of the tourism and the lifestyle here, you lose the soul of the place because it\u2019s too expensive for people to live in year-round,\u201d Aegerter said. \u201cI wish more people could afford to be here and establish a long-term local community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It\u2019s not a secret that Snowmass and Aspen rely heavily on tourists to thrive as year-round communities, which means tourism-related employers are often just as concerned about affordable housing as their employees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In the Aspen-Snowmass area, the Roaring Fork regional housing study\u2019s 2017 data shows there were 7,606 people employed in retail, arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation or food service industries out of the 15,177 total area employees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In Snowmass Village specifically, 1,434 people are employed in these industries out of 2,473 total village employees, which is about 58%, according to town data.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Like Anderson Ranch, which has on-site employee housing and a unit it leases from the town, the Westin Snowmass Resort also provides some housing for its higher-level employees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Roughly 200 people work for the Westin resort and Wildwood hotel. A small number of these employees live in Snowmass, according to complex general manager Jeffery Burrell, while a large number commutes from places such as Carbondale and Basalt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHousing is the first question we ask prospective employees because the challenge here is so monumental,\u201d Burrell said. \u201cEven if you pay someone $15 or $20 an hour, it\u2019s still not enough to live here comfortably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Burrell said there are three town employee units and 34 hotel rooms within the Wildwood reserved for resort management staff, and that the resort helps pay for commuting employees\u2019 bus tickets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">However, the resort has a pretty high rate of turnover, which Burrell believes has to do with the cost of living.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIf we want to continue the mountain lifestyle, provide good service and good food, there has to be a solution,\u201d Burrell said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Steve Sklar, co-owner of the Big Hoss Grill, expressed similar thoughts. The Village Mall restaurant leases an employee unit from the town, but Sklar feels the overall lack of affordable housing impacts its ability to connect with its customers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEveryone in Aspen and Snowmass is in some sort of customer service job and you cannot provide good customer service with a transient workforce,\u201d Sklar said. \u201cVisitors want to see the same faces. \u2026 We need to give them the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Improving the affordable-housing situation<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sklar and Burrell acknowledged they\u2019re willing to take part in finding a solution to the local lack of affordable housing, which they feel has to be a collaborative, community effort.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sklar said he is a huge supporter of the town\u2019s housing department and the affordable units it offers, but thinks more need to be created.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe employee-housing program is wonderful; I wouldn\u2019t be here without it,\u201d Sklar said. \u201cBut more needs to be built, it\u2019s a big concern and it has to get done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">And as of early 2019, more affordable units in Snowmass are on the horizon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">On April 15, the re-elected Town Council adopted a set of goals to focus on for the \u201cnear-term,\u201d including incentivizing the creation of 200 new affordable-housing units, like Coffey Place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe need to create new housing and make sure what we have available is in good condition,\u201d said town-housing director Betsy Crum. \u201cMore and more families are coming to the community and want to stay here, so we need to make sure we have a real range of house types and costs available to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">According to Crum, the language in the recent town goal statement was carefully crafted. While she is in the process of working with planning officials to map out areas in Snowmass where new affordable units for families across the income spectrum can be \u201ctucked into\u201d existing neighborhoods, Crum said the town also is open to private developers and businesses helping create more employee housing in Snowmass \u2014 so long as their projects align with the town\u2019s 2018 Comprehensive Plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHousing is a community issue, so the more opportunity we have to partner, the better our chances are of reaching the 200-unit goal,\u201d Crum said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Right now, Crum said the town has 247 affordable rental units in six apartment complexes and 176 affordable deed restricted homes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">None of the units was available for rent or for sale in mid-August, Crum said, and about 200 people were on the rental waiting list. For both rentals and deed-restricted units, Crum said precedence is given to Snowmass Village employees who have been working in town for several years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Moving forward, Crum plans to continue ensuring the homes created and renovated are attainable for Snowmass employees with varying income levels in hopes of addressing the affordable-housing gaps that exist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe pay a lot of attention to quality and fairness, and to what\u2019s right for the community,\u201d said Crum of her department and Snowmass town government. \u201cIt\u2019s about creating beautiful places to live that have low (financial) impact, and making sure the housing growth is in manageable bites.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/snowmass\/snowmass-villages-push-to-create-more-affordable-housing-not-coming-fast-enough-for-workforce\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent photo of the Snowmass housing department located on Deerfield Drive.Maddie Vincent\/Snowmass Sun Show CaptionsHide Captions The sun beat down on over two dozen people weaving along the outer edge of Stallion Circle near Snowmass Town Park on Aug. 26. Some were locals out for a bike ride or walk. Most were locals touring [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2448081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 19:47:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2448081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448081\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}