Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Chaffee housing entities report acquisitions, project pipeline and need for deed-restriction guidance under new land-use code
Summary
Chaffee Housing Authority and Chaffee Housing Trust reported staffing hires, ongoing property acquisitions (mobile-home parks), progress on Jane's Place and the 505 project, and urged the county to adopt a master deed, AMI guidance and paperwork to administer deed-restricted units created under the new land-use code and Prop 123 commitments.
Chaffee County housing officials briefed commissioners on recent acquisitions, project progress, financial-system upgrades and the policy tools the county will need to make deed-restricted and inclusionary housing components operable under the new land-use code.
Key operational updates: the housing authority reported hiring a new housing services case manager who will split time between intake/navigation and community-management tasks; the organization has completed a QuickBooks nonprofit migration and a near-complete chart-of-accounts overhaul to enable fund accounting. The audit for 2024 is underway.
Projects and preservation: construction at Jane's Place was reported on schedule with three buildings up; Midland/505 and Alpine West projects are moving forward with the authority and trust supporting property-management transitions. The Chaffee Housing Trust closed on Mountain Valley Mobile Home Park (Poncha Springs) and is pursuing River Village (Johnson Village) with a closing slated for May 20; both acquisitions will be placed in a special limited partnership (SLP) structure jointly with the housing authority to obtain tax abatements and preserve affordability.
Funding and leverage: county operating support (lodgers tax plus other contributions) was leveraged—staff reported approximately $355,000 in operating support plus $180,000 placed into a debt reserve—into more than $7 million in loans and grants for housing investments. The trust and authority continue to pursue multiple state and federal grants, but staff cautioned that many federal reimbursements are “reimbursement only,” creating cash-flow timing risk.
Policy and Prop 123 commitments: staff highlighted that new state requirements (Prop 123 and related commitments, and expedited-review pathways for qualified affordable developments) link AMI targets to state funding and that many state grants support projects at 60% AMI (rental) or 100% AMI (homeownership). Staff said reaching very low-AMI (30–60%) rental goals in mountain resort areas is difficult without LIHTC or other large subsidies and recommended the county adopt a master deed, an ADU affordability covenant template, explicit AMI guidance tied to project types and a clear referral/engagement step so CHA can assist pre-applicants under the new code.
Why it matters: the county is counted under new regional commitments for Prop 1/2/3 and must track units and commitments; a master deed and standardized deed-restriction documents would reduce title/lender friction and streamline use of county or CHA assistance.
Ending: staff asked planning and the board to consider metadata updates at the June code review: a master deed, an AMI table for county-required public benefit units, and an ADU affordability covenant to allow CHA to help manage deed restrictions and to make deeded units bank- and lender-ready.
