Boulder reviews manufactured-housing strategy; owners decline rent-stabilization talks, city wins state rehab funds

City staff reviewed implementation of Boulder’s Manufactured Housing Strategy during the July 24, 2025, City Council special meeting, outlining actions taken since the strategy’s 2019 adoption and the 2022 update.

Kirk Fernhaver, director of the Department of Housing and Human Services, introduced the agenda item and said the strategy has broadened from a housing-focused effort into a cross-departmental program. "...there's been a real growth, that we've seen, within our city," Fernhaver said, describing collaboration among departments.

Molly, a housing staff member who led the presentation, summarized accomplishments, the status of the city’s five in-city mobile home parks and recent state-level changes that expanded resident protections and operating requirements. "The strategy was adopted in 2019 and updated in 2022," she said. Molly cited a recent in-park survey: "75% of our residents identified self identified themselves as having incomes below 40,000 a year," and said many residents are seniors or long-term community members who want to age in place.

Molly reviewed city actions and partnerships, including CDBG disaster-relief funds used after the 2013 floods, purchase of Ponderosa Park in 2017, coordination with Thistle (a community land trust) at Mapleton, code-enforcement support for habitability certifications, and community engagement work that provided neighborhood meeting support and small grants (noting typically up to $3,000 annually per park for community-building activities). She said staff estimate about $3,120,000 has been spent on manufactured-housing grants in recent years.

Molly outlined recent state legislation affecting manufactured housing, including expanded resident rights and improved notice and language-access requirements for park management, and noted the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment tested park water systems and posted results publicly. She said the state passed a cap benefiting some park owners (exemption for properties valued under $28,000, as described by owners); city staff and local resident advocates (CMOB) have been engaged in state-level advocacy.

Council members asked about resident resources, equity analysis, annexation and utility service for parks outside city limits. Molly said a resident guide exists and is being updated for accessibility and that the strategy predated the city's equity-review tool, but staff plan to revisit the strategy with the equity lens. Regarding annexation of parks outside city limits, staff said annexation is initiated by property owners and would require negotiation; no annexation steps are currently underway.

Staff reported meetings with private park owners about possible partnerships, including rent stabilization. "They were very gracious and provide us a lot of good information about how their parks operate," Molly said, but owners "stop short of the idea that they would begin to operate a, rent stabilization, some sort of a rent abatement or rent reduction program themselves." Owners did report accepting housing vouchers and working with nonprofit partners for resident assistance.

Molly and Kirk told council the city had secured $2,840,000 in state Proposition 123 funds to create a Boulder Rehab and Replacement program to support rehabilitation and replacement of manufactured homes as well as single-family owner-occupied homes. The funds may be used to buy and replace manufactured homes when needed, Molly said.

Utilities staff member Chris DuVille (deputy director of operations for utilities) answered questions about parks outside city service territory, noting that parks in Area 3 (for example San Sousi/San Sousi) are not currently in the city's service area and would need policy and comp-plan changes to be eligible for city utility services.

Councilmembers praised the cross-departmental work and asked staff to provide additional fiscal-note detail in future updates, pursue an equity review of the strategy, continue annual check-ins with park owners, and involve park residents and the CMOB coalition in budget and program planning. Staff said they will continue outreach, planning and monitoring and bring follow-up information to council as requested.