Boulder advisory board reviews manufactured-housing strategy as aging parks, flood recovery and resident protections top concerns

The Boulder Housing Advisory Board on May 14 heard an informational presentation from Molly Tayer, senior housing policy project manager, on the city's manufactured-housing strategy, a council priority that staff say focuses on preserving and improving mobile-home communities across the city.

Tayer told the board the strategy seeks to preserve the housing type as an affordable owner-occupied option and to protect residents while upgrading aging infrastructure. "Manufactured housing will continue to serve as an affordable market rate home ownership opportunity," she said.

The presentation traced the housing type's local history, flood impacts and policy response. Staff outlined that much of Boulder's manufactured-housing stock is decades old: Tayer reported roughly 37% of units in Boulder mobile-home communities predate 1976 and a further roughly 29% were built between 1976 and 1995, leaving about two-thirds of the stock older or relatively old. The city purchased Ponderosa Mobile Home Park after major flood damage; that purchase used Community Development Block Grant disaster-relief (CDBG-DR) funds, staff said.

Why it matters: Manufactured and mobile homes house low- and moderate-income Boulder residents, including older adults and longtime community members. Board members and residents told the meeting that changes to parks ' whether redevelopment, stricter code enforcement or conservation actions ' risk displacement unless paired with clear funding and relocation or replacement plans.

Key details from the presentation and discussion

- Ownership and types: The board heard that local parks have mixed ownership: some parks are privately owned, some are nonprofit or resident-owned, and the city owns Ponderosa. Staff described resident-owned co-ops and nonprofit land-trust arrangements as one preservation model. Thistle Community Housing and other local organizations were cited as active partners.

- State and local regulation: The presentation referenced the Colorado Mobile Home Park Act (Title 38) and the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan (policy 709) as governing frameworks staff must navigate when designing interventions. Tayer summarized legislative changes in recent years that aim to increase disclosure to residents, require notice in residents' languages and create a resident right-of-first-refusal process when parks are offered for sale.

- Infrastructure, water and flood risk: Many parks rely on aging wells and on-site infrastructure. Tayer said state testing has identified failing water systems in some parks; when testing reveals unsafe water, addressing the repairs can require substantial capital. The 2013 flood and subsequent federal and state relief shaped later investments and the city's 2017 acquisition of Ponderosa.

- Costs and replacement: Staff discussed costs using recent estimates: staff said new, energy-efficient manufactured homes under some replacement programs can be procured and installed for roughly $120,000 per unit, while the panel noted typical new multifamily affordable construction in the region is far more expensive (on the order of hundreds of thousands per unit). Staff and board cautioned that poor-condition older homes sometimes fail repair-level inspections and that replacement without relocation support can produce hardship.

- Resident impacts and legal process: Board members emphasized that many mobile-home residents own their home but not the land and that eviction practice differs from mortgage foreclosure. Staff described legal complexities, including technical statutory procedures and the practical advantage that property owners often have access to legal counsel in disputes. Board members also raised language-access needs and fears that government inspection could lead to condemnation and displacement if no funded replacement is available.

- Outreach, grants and next steps: City staff identified ongoing efforts: a community group for mobile-home residents (CMOB), targeted grant programs for repairs and energy upgrades, and applications for state replacement and rehab funds (noted as Prop 123 funding streams in the presentation). Staff said they will continue outreach to private park owners, though some owners told staff they do not want rent restrictions and prefer to work on voluntary subsidy or infrastructure partnerships.

Board discussion and next steps

Board members asked staff to bring more visuals and resident stories to future council briefings (including maps showing park locations and neighborhood demographics), and to continue exploring funding options for replacement, rehabilitation and infrastructure. Staff said they will pursue grant funding and continue engagement with park owners and resident groups; they also flagged a need for more legal and financial counseling for residents who might organize to buy parks.

Votes at a glance

- Minutes: Motion to approve March 26, 2024 minutes; outcome: approved (6-0). Motion and second recorded during the meeting; no individual roll-call recorded beyond the committee tally.

- Leadership elections: Karen Kleyman elected chair of the Housing Advisory Board (unanimous vote recorded 6-0). Corinne Hoskin was elected vice chair (unanimous vote recorded 6-0).

- Letter on homelessness: The board voted to submit a letter to city council outlining the board's work on housing solutions for homelessness and to offer a subcommittee to assist council after the consultant report is released; outcome: approved (unanimous vote recorded 6-0). The board amended the final sentence of the draft letter before approval to remove a list of housing types and conclude with a general statement that the subcommittee will return recommendations to the board for approval.

What staff emphasized and some open questions

Tayer and other staff repeatedly stressed the tension between improving housing quality and avoiding displacement: repairing or condemning a home without an affordable replacement creates hardship, board members said, and some residents avoid grant programs for that reason. Staff listed several active funding sources and programs but said many solutions depend on external grant awards and legislative changes.

The board asked staff to return with: clearer maps of parks and their jurisdictional status (city vs. county), a spreadsheet of action items and timelines from the existing strategy, and concrete estimates of replacement and retrofit costs tied to specific grant programs. Board members said they plan a summer site tour and asked staff to pursue language-access materials and resident storytelling to include in future briefings to council.

Ending

The presentation was informational; no new policy was enacted at the meeting. Staff said they will continue outreach, seek replacement and rehab funding, and refine the manufactured-housing action plan based on board feedback. The board scheduled its next meeting for June 25 and formed a subcommittee on housing solutions to homelessness to work with council-directed action items and the consultant report when it becomes available.