Gunnison residents fight to keep affordable housing

Affordable housing is a priority in Gunnison. The Gunnison Valley Housing Market Update, which was compiled in 2021, found that the gap between housing need and market prices has widened, the number of housing units needed remains high and that the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the situation.

The situation is so bad that the report says 90% of employers call it “the most critical factor” or “one of the most serious” affecting the economy. This same report showed that in Gunnison, the price of a 2-bedroom rental increased by 45% from 2016 to 2021, from $975 to $1,413. To buy a house, a worker needs $750,000.

The report concludes that to meet the needs of working-class residents, the Gunnison Valley should add 960 affordable housing units by 2026.

“Like many rural mountain communities and resort communities, we are facing what all of Colorado is experiencing, which is a critical shortage of the type of housing that people who actually earn their living locally can actually afford,” said said Liz Smith, a Gunnison County Commissioner.

So on May 4, 2022, when residents of Country Meadows Mobile Home Park received a letter saying the park had been sold and their land rent was going up 70%, it was a devastating blow, not just for the residents. residents, but also the image of housing in Gunnison.

“As a county representative, I felt it was critical for us to do everything we could to keep this housing affordable,” Smith told CBS4.

Residents of the new Ski Town Village mobile home park were furious.

“People here can’t afford that kind of money. That’s why we live here,” said Hazel Bryant, a park resident of 20 years.

Bryant’s mobile home has been paid for for a long time, but she has other bills, including car payment, gas, hydro, phone and, of course, her land rent.

“I’m on social security and only get $895 a month to live on,” Bryant told CBS4.

Bryant and other residents are even more irritated by the increased rent on the lot given the condition of the property. Prior to the sale of the park, several offenses had been registered with the Department of Local Affairs. The road inside the property is potholed and poorly maintained, the trees on the property are overgrown and threaten mobile homes, and the units’ water service does not meet state standards.

Under the Mobile Home Parks Act of 2020 updates, park owners must maintain and repair water, sewer, trees, roads, and slopes on land.

“It was on for two hours, then it was off for five hours, then it was on for an hour, then it was off again,” Bryant told residents. “By law, he shouldn’t be able to charge us to fix something he bought.”

The mobile home park is located just north of Gunnison off Highway 135 on 8.7 acres. There are 72 lots on the property and over 50 mobile homes. An estimated 350-400 people live there, many of whom are retired, disabled or in front-line retail jobs.

Elizabeth McGee is a manager at a local grocery store. She has lived in the park since August 2021 and has invested a lot of money and work into her mobile home. Owning it has always been a dream for her.

“That wall was falling down, so we decided to put tin on that wall and put in new windows to get more sunlight,” McGee described as she described the improvements she and her boyfriend made to her land. . “It’s not what it is, it’s what you make it, and I make it my home.”

When McGee and his neighbors learned that the park was for sale, they decided to buy it themselves. Residents banned together and formed a homeowners association, called Organizacion de Nuevas Esperanzas (ONE). They began contacting River Walk Village LLC to begin crafting a suitable offer, but residents said they never received a response to their inquiries. Colorado state law gave them 90 days to make an offer, but residents said the time passed when they didn’t hear from the landlord.

“I think it would have helped a lot of residents here, knowing we would have owned it,” McGee added.

In early 2022, with the sale still unfinished, residents began working with Thistle, a Boulder nonprofit dedicated to developing, managing, and preserving affordable housing. He has become Colorado’s expert in transforming mobile home parks into resident-owned communities (ROCs). Thistle was working on a proposal on behalf of the residents of Country Meadows when the sale was made official. According to the Gunnison County Assessor’s Office, River Walk Village LLC sold Country Meadows to Ski Town Village LLC for $2,950,000 on 04/28/2022. This is the same day that Ski Town Village LLC was incorporated into the office of the Colorado Secretary of State.

“In the last year alone, we’ve become close family with most of these residents, and it’s truly heartbreaking,” McGee said.

“Residents here were in limbo for several months, wondering what the fate of their park was going to be. In the meantime, I was working with other state house officials, who were trying to improve the law on the protection of mobile home parks, so we can address issues based on what communities have been through,” Smith said.

Smith worked with state lawmakers on HB22-1287, Protections for Mobile Home Park Residents. The new law requires landlords to attend up to 2 town hall meetings with residents each year, clarifies that landlords are responsible for paying to repair damage to property caused by negligence, and gives residents 180 days to do so. an offer to purchase their fleet, instead of 90 days.

“It’s no longer possible, as I understand it, for the owners not to consider the offer,” Smith explained. “We were able to bring our history and our experience to these discussions and ensure that these improvements were made to the legislation.”

Another new state law, HB22-1082, establishes a Fair Housing Unit within the Department of Law. It gives the Attorney General’s office the power to bring civil and criminal suits related to housing.

“Our office will now implement a fair housing unit that will have the ability to ensure tenants are not abused,” Attorney General Phil Weiser said.

The new law and the problems the residents of Gunnison faced prompted Weiser to go there and meet with the residents. It was a survey trip. He has spoken to residents and will determine if the law gives him any authority in the situation.

“We are in the process of putting this unit together. It’s going to take some time. And part of what this visit was valuable for me was getting a sense on the ground of how our work will make a difference. difference for people,” Weiser told CBS4.

The legislative changes may have come too late for residents of Ski Town Village. Now they are turning to the courts. On June 30, 2022, with the help of attorneys William P. Edwards and Blair Kanis, residents filed a lawsuit against Ski Town Village LLC. They claim that the increased land rent violates state law and that the current state of the park violates state law. They ask a jury to make the final decision.

“I was very depressed and frustrated about it at the same time. But I’m not one to be a quitter. I’m one to keep fighting for what’s right,” McGee said.

CBS4 has reached out to Ski Town Village LLC and the registered agent of River Walk Village LLC for comment on this story. No entity responded.