Carbondale trustees pledge $1 million to support purchase of two mobile home parks

Carbondale trustees voted 5–1 on Tuesday to submit a nonbinding letter of intent committing $1,000,000 to a regional effort to buy two mobile home parks and preserve existing lots for current residents.

The board’s vote followed public comment from residents of the Aspen Mobile Home Park and the Aspen Basalt Mobile Home Park and a presentation by April Long, executive director of the West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition, who is coordinating local-government responses to the purchase effort.

Long told trustees the offer on the table to buy the two parks is $42,000,000 and that residents, with assistance from the nonprofit Thistle and lender Rock USA Capital, are pursuing a resident-owned-community purchase. She said the purchase will require a subsidy estimated at roughly $20,000,000 to keep lot rents affordable and that local governments and employers are pooling funds. Long said the coalition has so far secured roughly $11.6 million from local governments and private contributors, including $3,000,000 from Pitkin County, $3,000,000 from the City of Aspen, $2.5 million from Eagle County, $1,000,000 from the Town of Snowmass Village, $500,000 from the Town of Basalt, $100,000 from Glenwood Springs, $1,000,000 from Atlantic Aviation, and $500,000 from AspenOne.

Residents who addressed the trustees described long ties to the parks and warned that displacement would upend families and community connections. "This home isn't just walls and a roof. It's our safe place," said Noel Lee, who identified themself as a 16-year-old resident of Aspen Mobile Home Park. Annalie, a resident of the Aspen Basalt Mobile Home Park, said the parks sustain multigenerational households and supply workers to Aspen, Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs. Veronica Vargas said she has lived in the park 32 years and hopes to stay until retirement.

Trustees asked clarifying questions about timing, deed restrictions and how contributed funds would be protected and administered. Long said technical terms — including deed restrictions and the specific conditions attached to contributed funds — are still being worked out with lenders and would be part of a later, detailed agreement; she said the immediate need is a letter of intent to show local financial commitment before residents place a formal offer. Long said the deadline to submit an offer is in early August and that, if an offer is accepted, a due‑diligence and closing period would follow.

Trustee discussion showed differing comfort levels with the size of Carbondale’s commitment. Several trustees said they supported a $1,000,000 pledge; one trustee said they would vote against a $1,000,000 commitment and preferred a lower contribution because of other town housing priorities and a limited town housing fund balance. The motion to submit the letter of intent for $1,000,000 carried 5–1.

The letter of intent voted on explicitly stated that it was not an appropriation of funds; trustees and staff said any final contribution of public dollars would require a later, formal appropriation and documentation (including deed restrictions and enforceable conditions) before money would change hands.

Next steps described at the meeting include continued fundraising and coordination among participating local governments, private contributors and lenders, staff-level negotiations to draft the conditions for any public funding, and a follow-up for trustees to review proposed deed restrictions and final funding agreements prior to an appropriation.

The trustees’ commitment is meant to bolster a regional, resident-centered purchase that organizers say would preserve an estimated 139 households and avoid the higher cost and time of replacing comparable affordable housing.