Prior to this week’s regular meeting, Basalt Town Council held a work session and presentation on early designs for a planned affordable housing/community center in Willits.
The center is planned to be built on two to three acres of Town-owned land known officially as Sopris Meadows Parcel 2E. Located on Lewis Lane, just across the street from TACAW, the property was acquired by Basalt and designated for “civic uses.” After Town Council directed staff to explore the potential for affordable housing on the site, they secured a More Housing Now grant from the State of Colorado in 2024 for design and engineering fees on the project.
The Town of Basalt contracted Aspen-based Charles Cunniffe Architects for the design and subcontracted architecture firm Design Workshop to manage community outreach which would inform the final design of the center. In the winter of 2024, Design Workshop held nine focus group sessions, two pop-up events and an educational session at Basalt High School to get a sense of what teens might want out of a potential community space.
Participants in the in-person events and online surveys supported the construction of a YouthZone space with after-school events for different age groups, flexible use rooms, outdoor spaces and even a community kitchen.
After compiling all this feedback, the design team drafted a conceptual plan which includes a full-sized basketball court (the #1 request from Basalt High School students), two miniature parks and a climbing wall. In terms of housing, the site is planned to have 44 residential units, 23 of which will be in the same building as the Community Center with the remaining 21 existing as townhomes separate from the main building.
Now that a conceptual plan is complete, the design team will go back out into the community, gather feedback on the new design and collect that feedback to draft an official sketch plan to be completed by October.
Aspen-Basalt Mobile Home Park
During the public comments portion of the meeting, Town Hall swelled with dozens of attendees from the Aspen-Basalt Mobile Home Park. The attendees, including representatives of the park’s homeowners cooperative and families who have lived in the park for several years, requested financial support from the Town of Basalt to help cover acquisition costs and development expenses for the purchase of the park for conversion into a resident-owned community.
Lorena Vargas, who spoke for the homeowners cooperative, stated that the park is facing pressure from outside investors looking to purchase and redevelop the land, which would displace 74 households and around 250 individuals — including 84 children. The average resident has lived in the park for roughly 15 years, and according to the many residents who came to speak at the podium, losing their property would mean Basalt would lose business owners, workers, classmates, elders and entire families.
Vargas urged Town Council to offer financial support so as to safeguard increasingly rare affordable housing and not to repeat past mistakes, perhaps alluding to redevelopment of Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park 10 years ago.
Town Manager Ryan Mahoney responded that local jurisdictions have been discussing how to financially support the purchase-by-residents of both Aspen-Basalt Mobile Home Park and Mountain Valley Mobile Home Park in Carbondale, which have received offers of purchase for $26.5 and $15.5 million respectively from an anonymous buyer. According to Mahoney, since it is a full price offer, the $42 million-total price tag can’t be talked down. Mahoney suggested the Town contribute $250,000 toward the purchase of the mobile home parks. This value is approximate and subject to change as it is formalized.
Town Council unanimously agreed that the word needs to be spread across the Basalt community in order to raise funds, suggesting outreach at the Sunday Market and other community events in order to reach business owners and potential private donors. “Everybody has to help in some way – that’s the only way,” said Mayor David Knight.