Sometimes it doesn’t matter how many heavy hitters are on your side or how many of your ducks are in a row, those in a position of power just won’t budge. That was the case at Monday’s Garfield County Commissioner (BOCC) meeting when a group of said heavy hitters, supporting residents of the 98-lot Cavern Springs Mobile Home Park, who want to purchase the park, showed up bright and early for the public comment period.
Last year, Aspen-Basalt and Mountain Valley mobile home park residents in the Roaring Fork Valley successfully purchased the parks for $42 million. April Long, executive director of the West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition, told The Sopris Sun that local governments, businesses and donors gave $16 million to the project and the park residents borrowed the rest through a lender provided by brokering group Thistle Rock. “[The residents] borrowed the remainder which allowed rents to stay affordable and reduced the risk to those families,” she explained.
Cavern Springs (formerly H Lazy F) lies between Glenwood Springs and Carbondale. About 300 people live there, including longtime resident Sue Brinkman, who opened Monday’s discussion. “I’m here with a whole lot of other community members and homeowners that are here to support our efforts to present our case to you guys,” she said, inviting all the supporters to stand up.
Brinkman explained that, over the last few years, the park has been purchased by investor equity firms that raised the lot rents by $100 a year. “When I first moved here 20 years ago, it was $350 lot rent. It’s now over $1,000,” she said. “So in order to maybe end that and give ourselves a little more secure place to live, we have started the process of becoming a [resident-owned] mobile home park.”
“Private investment firms have no interest in the stability of our community and our workforce,” Long told The Sopris Sun. “That’s not their interest.”
She told the BOCC that the park is once again at risk of being purchased by an out-of-state private equity investor and that residents are worried about skyrocketing rents or having to move away.
“We have until June 13 to raise $23 million to become owners of the park and keep our park affordable indefinitely,” she said. “We are working to raise $10 million in equity from municipalities, philanthropy and companies to match a $14 million loan that the residents will pay off over time.”
Cavern Springs was listed last year by current owner Horizon Land Management for $28 million. “The owner was selling it with another parcel that had storage units on it,” Long said. Since then, she added, the owner separated the two properties, which reduced the sale price for the park.
After Brinkman, a few residents voiced concerns in Spanish without an interpreter. Other community leaders including John Fox-Rubin, chief financial officer of Premium for the Planet and innovation manager for Clean Energy Economy for the Region, Lindsay DeFrates, chair of the Roaring Fork School District (RFSD) Board of Education and April Long spoke in favor of the project and urged the BOCC to contribute funds.
Their concerns collectively reflected the domino effect created by housing loss, including childcare issues, school enrollment, homelessness and displacement. DeFrates explained that enrollment in the RFSD is down. “Based on recent demographer projections, we’re looking at another decline of enrollment of around 130 students next year in addition to the 200 that we were not able to welcome this year,” she said. “And that loss implicates a potential revenue loss of around $900,000 to this school district.” She added that the reasons for the decline are varied. “But the affordability of housing is always at or near the top of that list, especially for rural Western Slope schools like ours,” she explained.
Fox-Rubin observed that the county is looking at $115 million in reserves next year. “If you imagine making a one-time investment in Cavern Springs, the return on that investment is permanent affordability without any government interaction,” he said. “It’s not part of an affordable housing project with ongoing costs.”
Long added that the sale price of Cavern Springs is more than double the county valuation. “You can tell that the buyer intends to increase the lot rents by more than double what the residents are paying now in order for that to make sense,” she said. “Those are prices that these workers can’t afford and if they have to move, their next affordable option is further down the I-70 corridor, further from where they work now, which means increased traffic, increased commute times, increased time away from their families and their family’s needs.”
But the BOCC chose not to help Cavern Springs residents take control of their housing. Commission Chair Tom Jankovsky said that the county has reserves now but may not in the next 10 years if oil and gas revenue does not return, and that the budget is tight. “We cut $3.5 million last year out of our salaries — 35 positions we didn’t fund in Garfield County — because we didn’t have the funding,” he told the audience. “We cut back our capital projects from $15 million to $5 million. And that $5 million goes right against reserves. So, at least this commissioner doesn’t see us in a position to help with this.”
County communications officer Renelle Lott, told The Sopris Sun in an email, “The county has not contributed public funds to assist in private/owner purchases of mobile home parks or individual homes.”
Commissioner Mike Samson said, among other things, that if the county helped out with Cavern Springs, what would they say to others who want to do the same thing?
The rest of the meeting included approving the consent agenda, letters of support for two ditch companies, a fairgrounds fee waiver for the Flat Tops Rodeo Bible Camp, a chip/seal contract and a paving contract. The meeting was adjourned after two and a half hours.
You can find archived BOCC meetings at the Garfield County website.