Pitkin County approves Phillips Mobile Home Park location-and-extent review after tense public hearing; staff to prioritize Riverside relocation planning

Pitkin County’s Board of County Commissioners on June 24 voted to overrule Planning & Zoning and approved a location‑and‑extent resolution that authorizes replacement of failing infrastructure at the county‑owned Phillips Mobile Home Park and advances a plan to add 40 new deed‑restricted housing units (combined with existing occupied spaces to a total of 73 units).

Staff and consultants presented five categories of deferred maintenance and safety risk at length: aging, undersized and non‑redundant water treatment facilities; inadequate domestic storage and no hydrants that left the park without required fire‑flow storage; failing septic systems located in shallow groundwater and floodplain areas; debris‑flow exposure in two drainage basins that can inundate lower‑river areas; and substandard access and unpaved roads.

Kevin Warner and design consultants told the board that existing water infrastructure currently passes water‑quality tests but lacks redundancy and is undersized for the number of occupied residences, creating emergency‑response risk. A county design lead summarized the infrastructure solution as “simple, robust and redundant,” including two new wells, dual pre‑filtration and disinfection trains and a storage tank sized to supply both domestic needs and fire suppression. Staff noted the proposed storage tank would be about "280,000 gallons" to provide both domestic storage and the fire suppression reserve discussed with the local fire marshal.

On fire protection, Roaring Fork Fire and Rescue’s requirements informed the project team’s calculations: staff explained that the fire‑flow target relied on an industry‑accepted approach (1,750 gallons per minute for two hours), which translates into roughly 210,000 gallons for firefighting reserves in worst‑case scenarios. Consultants also recommended mitigation work in the north drainage basin to reduce debris‑flow exposure for existing structures.

On wastewater, staff said the park currently relies on multiple aging septic systems, some unpermitted and some sited in areas not permitted today; the consultants advised a new package wastewater plant serving the campus with UV disinfection and redundant treatment trains and noted that effluent would be treated and released to the river consistent with state permits.

Commissioners pressed staff on many issues: whether new buildings would require sprinklers (staff confirmed new residential buildings in the proposed vertical phase will be sprinklered), whether all River‑sided homes must move immediately (staff said relocations would be handled case by case and the board directed staff to develop individualized relocation plans for Riverside residents), and whether electrified back‑up power or renewables might replace diesel backup for new water/wastewater systems (staff said generators were proposed as standby power but agreed to explore microgrid/battery options with Holy Cross Energy and grant partners).

The public comment period included many residents and longtime occupants of both Hillside and Riverside portions of Phillips. Riverside residents urged the county to commit to clear, individual relocation plans and said they feared displacement and increased lot rent. Multiple commenters asked whether residents would have priority for new units, how relocation would be funded, and what long‑term rents or lot rates would be. Staff cautioned that operating and capital cost estimates were preliminary and that the board had not set rents or subsidy levels; a staff slide modeled theoretical operating cost per unit if the county passed all operating costs—an exercise staff used to show how adding new units reduces per‑unit costs by spreading fixed infrastructure costs across more households.

After extended public comment and two hours of Q&A, the board voted to adopt the location‑and‑extent resolution, which includes seven findings directing staff to: maximize permanent open‑space conservation for portions of the property (parcels 3 and 4); preserve existing affordable housing through required infrastructure investments; maintain rural character through clustering on parcels 1 and 2; consider travel‑demand and transit options; allow reasonable adjustments to lot rental rates tied to the real costs of operation and maintenance; and to work directly with Riverside residents to develop relocation plans.

Motion and vote: Commissioner Patty made the motion to approve the resolution overruling the Planning & Zoning denial; Commissioner Greg seconded. The motion passed on a recorded voice vote.

What happens next: staff will proceed with the horizontal infrastructure package (water treatment, storage and distribution; package wastewater plant; debris‑flow mitigation grading; road and circulation upgrades) under the adopted findings, continue outreach and begin individualized relocation planning for Riverside households. The board emphasized that decisions about final subsidies, rent policy and vertical development financing remain to be resolved in later steps.

Sources: Consultants’ deferred‑maintenance report and BOCC hearing on June 24; direct testimony by Kevin Warner, Joe Farstad and design team; public comments from Phillips residents.