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Boulder staff outlines manufactured-housing strategy, flags aging stock and infrastructure needs
Summary
City staff presented an update on Boulder’s manufactured‑housing strategy, describing decades‑old home inventories, flood‑damaged infrastructure, recent land purchases and state law changes; staff said it will pursue grants and resident supports while warning repair and replacement costs and legal limits could complicate preservation.
City of Boulder staff presented an update to the Boulder Housing Advisory Board on May 14 about the city’s manufactured‑housing strategy, outlining the age and condition of homes in local mobile home parks, infrastructure needs after the 2013 floods and steps staff are taking to preserve affordability.
The strategy presentation was led by Molly Tayer, identified to the board as a senior housing policy project manager. Tayer said the city purchased the Ponderosa mobile home park in 2017 using Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG‑DR) funds after flood damage and that the city has been reviewing an action plan first adopted in 2019 and updated during the pandemic.
Why it matters: Boulder’s mobile and manufactured housing communities provide lower‑cost home‑ownership and rental options in a city with high housing costs. Tayer told the board that a large share of the manufactured stock is old and that both private owners and the city face technical and financial challenges to preserve the housing and prevent displacement.
Tayer summarized the housing stock and infrastructure risks: about 37% of manufactured homes in Boulder’s mobile home communities were constructed before 1976 and another 29% were built between 1976 and 1995, leaving roughly two‑thirds of units older than 1995. She said some parks rely on wells and aging on‑site systems, and that state testing has been ongoing for water quality in parks that are not on municipal water.
Tayer noted the city is using the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan (policy 709) as a policy anchor and pointed to state law and recent legislation that change disclosure, notice and resident protections in mobile home parks. She summarized the city’s guiding principles for action as accountability, affordability, community and viability—quoting the plan language that “manufactured housing will continue to serve as an affordable market rate home ownership opportunity.”
Staff described actions and funding the city is pursuing: the Ponderosa purchase (CDBG‑DR funds), ongoing resident outreach and programs run through neighborhood relations, one‑time grants for home repairs and climate‑related grants for energy and cooling. Tayer said staff have applied to or plan to apply for state Prop 123 (state affordable housing trust) funding that includes rehabilitation and replacement money and noted a preliminary vendor quote suggesting new, all‑electric, energy‑efficient manufactured homes could be installed for roughly $120,000 per unit under a replacement program.
Board members and residents raised practical constraints. A resident asked, “If it's condemned, are they given any compensation for it? Are they just like, you gotta move out.” Board members and staff replied that condemnation and replacement raise complex due‑diligence and financing questions: locating replacement housing, securing loans and matching eligible residents to funds can be time‑consuming and may cause displacement if not carefully managed.
The presentation reviewed ownership types across parks (private for‑profit owners, nonprofit owners and resident‑owned cooperatives) and cited resident‑support programs such as CMOB (Coalition of Mobile Homeowners in Boulder), neighborhood navigators, and repair grants. Tayer described resident‑owned community models (often called ROC or resident cooperatives) and noted these can be difficult to organize and finance because they require collective loan underwriting by many households.
Staff and board members also discussed state legal frameworks: Tayer referenced the Colorado Mobile Home Park Act (Title 38) and state laws that require park owners to provide public notice and, in some cases, a first right‑of‑refusal period to residents when a park is listed for sale. Board members noted those statutes can be technically complex and hard for residents to use without legal help.
No formal city policy decision or vote was taken at the meeting; the manufactured‑housing presentation was an informational item intended to gather board feedback. Tayer said staff will continue resident outreach, pursue applicable grant programs (including Prop 123 and climate‑related retrofit funds), continue meeting with private park owners and return to the council as the strategy evolves.
The presentation prompted board suggestions for additions to future materials—maps showing park locations and demographic overlays, clearer language about resident impacts and more visual material to convey the communities’ social value.
Taper: Staff asked the board for feedback and said the next steps include continuing outreach to park owners and residents, pursuing grant funding and returning with more detailed action items and an updated work plan for the city council’s consideration.
