UPDATE: Agenda revised for tonight’s regular City Council meeting
Image courtesy of the City of Salida.
At the end of the April 1 joint work session, City Administrator Christy Doon announced that two items of widespread public interest have been removed from the regular City Council meeting set for 6:00 p.m., tonight, April 2. The updated agenda/work packet is here.
- Resolution 2024-08 seeks to amend the contract with Interstate Parking. Citing “a need for more time”, this item will not be considered tonight.
- Attorney Report: the public update and summary regarding the lawsuit brought by the Town of Poncha Springs, Tailwind Group LLC and Full Views Matter, LLC against the City of Salida has been removed. However, a motion to go into Executive Session on the same matter remains.
- Ordinance 2024-05 to amend Municipal Code Chapter 11 – Streets, Sidewalk and Public Areas, Article VI – Parks and Recreation Areas remains on the agenda. It is an effort to “develop new code language that is more easily interpreted, applied..enforced and used to develop standard operating procedures. During the work session, considerable discussion focused on current and proposed language for “dogs in parks” — see notes below. Given the temperature of this topic in the community and a lack of consensus in the work session, the first reading of this ordinance may see changes or be continued to a later date.
The state of Inclusionary Housing (IH)
During a two-hour Salida City Council work session on April 1, held jointly with the Planning Commission, 90 minutes were given over to the current state of the Inclusionary Housing (IH) program. Additionally, staff proposed multiple suggestions on how to improve IH.
Planner Kathryn Dunleavy walked through the definitions used in IH and the current policy. The highly technical definitions of Target Household Area Median Income (AMI), Maximum Affordable Rent and Sales Prices for various households and dwelling configurations led to questions from both Planning Commission and the Mayor. Data that drive local programs comes from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA), the IRS, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), with new figures expected in May.
New for-sale units needed in Salida by 2027 with named projects and their status. Image courtesy Salida Community Development
Dunleavy then addressed colored bar charts showing progress towards the Chaffee County Housing Needs Assessment for both rentals and for sale units. Projects were listed by name, the number of units and their status: Built, Under Construction, Approved, Under Review, and Remaining Needed by 2027.
For example, 415 new rental units are needed by 2027 (175 @ 60 percent – 100 percent AMI) and 275 new for-sale units needed by 2027 (120 @ 80 percent -160 percent AMI).
Community Development Director Bill Almquist outlined discussion points, “Primarily, the areas of potential improvement revolve around the targeted household income levels (AMIs) for both legally-restricted rental units and legally-restricted for-sale units.
“Staff also recognizes the delicate balance between ensuring the affordability of units within private developments and the risk developers take/financial feasibility of construction, so those elements would also need to be weighed. Lastly, we would like to look at other potential options for satisfying IH requirements in very small (less than 6 units/lots) developments.”
Those interested in following the technical details of the proposed changes may wish to watch the discussion which is on the City YouTube channel, starting at approximately 53:50 minutes into the session. The entire presentation on IH was a first look for newly elected officials. Even veteran members of the Planning Commission had many questions about future direction; likely to be addressed in future commission meetings before being brought to the council with recommendations for discussion and adoption.
Proposed Parks Ordinance resolves archaic language, issues remain
A lively presentation on updates to the Parks and Recreation code followed. Parks and Recreation Director Diesel Post said the overhaul was the result of many hours of staff work plus valuable input from the Parks, Recreation, Open Space, Trails PROST Advisory Committee. In addition, the City Attorney included sample language from comparable municipalities and reviewed the proposed ordinance.
Post said that the first major overhaul in a long should be an ongoing process as the community changes, programs are added or dropped and people’s conduct needs to be balanced with available staff resources. The work session packet (pages 9-17) outlines what is proposed to change and the rationale.
Updating outdated language and organizational references are straightforward and go back to a time when the Public Works department handled most Park’s operation. “Current Prohibited Acts” Sec. 11-6-70. – Dogs in Park triggered considerable discussion as to the current state, enforcement challenges (and the lack thereof), and potential impact on Parks budgets attributed to any change to the status quo.
Pages 15-17 outline proposed major changes as well as an expanded “Prohibited Actions” section help address learned experiences of the latest trends in people’s use of the city parks. The first reading of this ordinance is set for tonight, April 2.
Featured image: Residential Development Status as of first quarter, 2024. Graphic courtesy Salida Community Development
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