Carbondale candidates make affordable housing a top priority, point to deed-restriction tools and regional coalitions

Candidates at a town forum hosted by The Sopra Sun on April 7 agreed affordable housing is a top priority for Carbondale and described a mix of local tools and regional partnerships they say have expanded permanently affordable units.

Incumbent trustee and candidate Colin Laird said the board adopted a 10-year approach to increase deed-restricted housing and credited a combination of local programs and regional effort. "We've basically managed to deed restrict over 500 units in our community," Laird said, counting mobile-home park purchases and deed-restriction purchases tied to the Good Deeds program.

The nut graph: Candidates consistently pointed to inclusionary zoning, deed restrictions and regional coalitions as the primary levers to preserve housing affordability in a high-cost valley, but all said the shortage of funding is the biggest impediment to faster progress.

Several candidates noted recent policy changes. Erica Sparhawk praised the town's inclusionary zoning policy and said the requirement was raised from 20% to 25% for multifamily developments last year, which she said is slowly building affordable stock. "That has helped to build the stock slowly of affordable housing units in our community," Sparhawk said.

Speakers also highlighted the Good Deeds program, which they described as a pooled local funding source to buy down home prices and create deed-restricted ownership. Laird and others said regional collaboration was central to larger purchases: Laird described work with the West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition and other jurisdictions to mobilize funding for mobile-home park acquisitions.

Candidates described specific project opportunities and constraints. Sparhawk and other trustees said the Town Center site (the former Bonanza Mobile Home Park area) is a focus for mixed-use, deed-restricted housing, but acknowledged that funding and partnerships remain to be finalized. Several candidates also mentioned accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and streamlining their approval as a way to increase supply without large new builds.

Not all solutions were technical. Chris Hassig and Joanne Tipple emphasized process and community engagement — getting developers, neighbors and service providers at the table to craft durable projects — while multiple candidates said raising a local revenue source (for example a real-estate transfer fee) has limited political feasibility at present.

The forum closed with agreement that Carbondale has tools and local will to expand affordability, but that securing sufficient funding and coordinating regionally will determine the pace of progress. The candidates did not propose new binding townwide taxes or a specific dollar figure to meet the shortfall.

What's next: Candidates urged voters to weigh housing plans as part of the April 7 election and signaled that implementation of projects such as Town Center will require follow-up partnerships and financing work by the town and regional partners.