Holiday council keeps Royal Holiday Hills affordable-housing hearing open after condo owners ask for delay

In a lengthy public hearing Thursday night, Holiday Hills condominium owners asked the City of Holiday to delay approval of the Royal Holiday Hills affordable-housing agreement so they could review its legal and long-term governance effects.

Terry Yeckley, who said she spoke for many condo owners, told the council that owners had invested about $40 million in the project and were asking for 30 days to review written legal analysis and meet the developer. "We are here tonight to request a delay in the approval process for the proposed affordable housing agreement for Block E," Yeckley said. "Approving it now would leave the record without substantial evidence that the project complies with public procedures and private contractual obligations."

City staff and the developer described the agreement as an effort to meet a long-standing Redevelopment Agency (RDA) obligation to place 100 deed-restricted affordable units in the city. City manager Gina outlined key terms the council was considering, including a milestone that schematics and concept design for Block E be agreed by June 30, 2026, and a requirement that construction start no later than May 1, 2028, to allow approximately $2,000,000 of RDA funds to be expended before a May 1, 2029 statutory deadline. Gina said the agreement keeps the deed-restriction term at 20 years and requires interest on an advanced payment to be reserved for affordable-housing purposes within two miles of the project.

Developer representative Wade Budge said the developer was "committed to the timelines that have been outlined" and would work with staff to meet schematic deadlines and provide updates to the RDA. "The intent is to make sure that you feel like there's adequate progress all the way along," Budge said.

Condo owners raised governance and information gaps they said remain unanswered: they said Block E has no filed governing documents (no CC&Rs or master declaration yet), they do not know whether amenities will be shared between Blocks D and E or how costs will be allocated, and they have not seen designs for a proposed pedestrian bridge. Yeckley argued those uncertainties mean the proposed agreement has policy-setting effects that merit fuller public notice and process. "We don't know what Block E is. It's a mystery," she said.

Council members and staff disputed that the city was being asked to resolve private contractual or amenity disputes between the developer and property owners. The mayor and staff noted the council's RDA obligation under the 2008 entitlement to place affordable units and said the agreement before the council addresses the financial and timeline commitments tied to those RDA funds. Staff also pointed out that design-level reviews, condo plats and the planning commission's permitting process will trigger separate public notices and opportunities for input once the developer submits site plans.

After hearing public comment, the council voted to keep the public hearing open and to continue the item at a joint RDA/city meeting next week at 6:00 p.m., allowing council and staff to review the condo owners' written submission. The mayor invited condo owners to provide their full document for the council packet.

Next steps: the council will review the owners' submission, staff will continue negotiating agreement language with the developer, and the item returns for the continued public hearing and possible vote next week.