Wellington planning commission reviews housing needs assessment; staff to draft code changes for March

The Wellington Planning Commission on an evening meeting discussed a draft Housing Needs and Affordability Assessment prepared with Matrix Design Group, heard community survey results and strategy options, and agreed staff should prepare draft code amendments for review in March.

The assessment, funded by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, shows a median household income of about $101,000 (2018–2022 5-year ACS) alongside signs of affordability stress: more than 41% of renters are cost-burdened and 23% of homeowners with mortgages pay over 30% of income on housing costs. Consultants said median base rent in recent market checks was near $2,400 and the typical sale price in the dataset was about $480,000, which Matrix estimated would require roughly $160,000 in household income to afford under a 3x income rule.

Those findings, consultants said, point to shortages at lower income tiers: the report identifies a deficit of units affordable below 120% of area median income, with a shortfall described in the presentation as “close to 40 units” at the lowest tier. The resident survey also found household impacts: 40% of respondents reported they had limited consumption of food, medicine or other essentials in the past year to cover housing costs.

"We are really in the…