City staff on Wednesday briefed the Grand Junction City Council on housing needs, strategies and recent actions the city has taken to increase housing supply and affordability.

Ashley Chambers, housing manager for the city, summarized recent local housing data and the city’s updated housing strategy. Chambers said the city uses HUD’s area median income (AMI) benchmarks and defined affordable rental housing as income‑restricted units serving households at 60% AMI and below (for ownership, staff said 100% AMI is the standard point for ownership affordability). She said the local median rent is about $1,500 and that median home price has risen to about $420,000.

Chambers noted vacancy rates are very low (10‑year average roughly 1.9–3%), the Grand Junction Housing Authority waitlist is about 2,692 households, and staff estimate roughly a 2,200‑unit deficit for households under 60% AMI. She told council the city updated its housing strategies in 2024 to focus on land‑use changes, incentives, leveraging city land, building a dedicated revenue source and preserving existing subsidized housing.

On development incentives and projects, staff said the city acquired about 21.78 acres at the Salt Flats earlier this year and is planning an initial concept that could produce between roughly 324 and 550 units; staff currently estimate about 465 total units as a working target for that site and said the parcel remains in planning. Chambers reviewed a 2024 linkage fee study and said staff did not recommend a housing linkage fee; she also described the city’s accessory dwelling unit (ADU) incentives (the city funded impact fees for 21 of 34 ADUs permitted in 2024 and reported 13 ADUs in process in 2025).

Chambers briefed council on recent grant awards and capital commitments, including a $500,000 award benefitting the Grand Junction Housing Authority and a $2,000,000 infrastructure grant for the Salt Flats project. She said the city has committed roughly $46.3 million to housing and homelessness initiatives since 2004 and that the city’s 2025 commitments include about $7 million in funding and grant activity.

The housing manager described tenant and landlord programs launched in 2024: a Rent Smart tenant education series, a landlord incentive fund (up to $2,500 per tenancy and a $300 signing bonus), and partnerships with local agencies to deliver tenant services. Chambers reported 62 people completed Rent Smart classes, 40 income‑qualified alumni were created, five landlords had received incentive payments and the city’s rental registry lists about 3,000 units.

Council members asked about private activity bonds (PABs), the scale of funding needed for large increases in housing supply and timelines for expedited review required under state Prop 1/2/3 legislation; staff said PAB allocations are limited and that Prop 1/2/3 requires expedited review processes to be in place by the end of 2026.

No council vote occurred during the briefing; staff said several of the items they described (ADU code updates, interim housing code, grant awards) resulted from prior council actions or administrative approvals.