An event planned for 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15 at the Poncha Springs Town Hall, 330
Burnett Ave. will focus on solutions for affordable housing within Chaffee County. The interactive event is part of the Housing and Health Speaker Series, funded through the Health Disparities Grant Program.
Erick Mueller and Eric Bruno, both professors from the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, will be leading what Chaffee County Director of Housing Becky Gray calls “a highly interactive, mind-stretching, inspiration-building workshop.”
“Creating affordable housing here in Chaffee is bigger than one family, one neighborhood, even one developer,” said Gray. “ It’s going to take all of us, the entire Chaffee community, to think about creative solutions.”
The event is specifically focused on attracting small-scale developers, those interested in adding housing solutions to the county through individual efforts that could have big impacts on Chaffee County’s housing realities, as opposed to large-scale development.
“By using the power of entrepreneurship combined with your great ideas, together we can tackle the challenges of housing affordability and availability and leave with practical, tangible next steps to implement,” adds Gray.
Following the day’s interactive sessions, a reception will follow at a local establishment. Lunch is included, as well as one drink ticket for the evening reception.
Those interested in attending should RSVP to Gray at BGRAY@CHAFFEECOUNTY.ORG or call 719-530-2590.
I am assuming that the reply will be attached to the proper article on the workshop for affordable housing. Chaffee county is actively gentrifying and has intentionally allowed the elimination of what was existing affordable housing for the profit of those who flipped them and eliminated them from the market for their personal gain. This activity caused the disparity and caused the lack of affordable housing along with the short term rental boom that was not prevented. Now that the slugs have made their money and run everyone out they intend to pretend to care about affordable housing? They should not have allowed the buying up of such housing for the profit of outsiders on short term rentals. They should not have allowed the local profiteers to flip home after home for their own profit. They should fix the problems they have caused with their “yes” votes on everything and their lack of prevention of the running off of the workers because of their allowance of the flippers and exploiters and they are on record at a meeting stating that they are only concerned for the quality of life of the million dollar homes being built. What is the point? It is to little too late. They have destroyed our right to enjoy even one minute in our paid for home with their lack of care of quality of life for the working class. They are running us out with noise from the new hospital and pot grow which have made our home unbearable with light pollution, dust, noise and a 24/7 365, painful low frequency buzz that has robbed us of over a year of sleep and any possibility of ever enjoying our own home in peace. They will surely punish us further with new laws to harm us further and new development to enlarge our already giant dust bowl and more dust to feed our now weekly dust storms. They are doing nothing to solve these issues because it is apparently their desire to eliminate us and those like us from our own homes and from this area. Nobody needing affordable housing can afford to live in this rotten county. Whatever is built will be sucked up by more exploiters for more rentals for tourists. Meanwhile more ground will be broken and the dust bowl will increase. More development will torment those who live here for peace and will never have it again. We have not had peace in our home since HRRMC moved. That is a long time to be robbed of your rights to your home. The only people who have rights here are big business and the wealthy who have destroyed the area. Why would anyone bother to build any affordable housing when there are still no jobs and the intent of Salida is to keep it that way….and if you think that the building of the housing will provide jobs for locals, you’d better go to a construction site or 2 and see who works them. Locals do not get those jobs.
While you are welcome to your opinion, there is active work underway in Chaffee County to support the creation of affordable housing, including the efforts that the conference featured in this article represent. Following the 2016 Housing Assessment report for Chaffee County, a group of citizens, myself included, formed a Housing Policy Advisory Committee that has actively explored the changes to county, city and town land use codes and ordinances to support the construction of affordable housing. This group also encouraged county commissioners, in concert with Salida, Poncha Springs and Buena Vista, to fund and hire Chaffee County’s new Director of the Office of Housing Becky Gray. That office’s stated mission is to encourage the development and construction of affordable housing to increase the county’s housing supply.
It is wise to steer clear of absolutes such as “always” and “The only people who have rights here are big business and the wealthy.” Who is “they” exactly? People have rights when they speak up and exercise those rights and participate in active discussions to change ordinances, amend land use codes, represent the segment of the population that you believe is not being represented. You mention that you own your own home. That is wonderful. There are many in Chaffee in in-secure housing situations and sleeping in their cars. Those are the people that the Office of Housing is focusing attention on right now.
That said, you appear to describe environmental concerns (noise, dust, light) that surely must be reviewed by whatever governmental entity in which you reside, and Ark Valley Voice encourages you to communicate with them, or speak up at public comment during the regular county, city and town council meetings.
Also note, the unemployment rate in Chaffee county, as in Colorado is at historic lows, and employers are struggling to fill positions, especially in the service industries. So rather than there beings a lack of jobs, it appears to be a lack of family-supporting jobs, and in some cases it is also a lack of the training to do the jobs that are open, that is community challenge.
Jan Wondra
Managing Editor
Ark Valley Voice