The Salida City Council will host a work session starting at 6:00 p.m. on July 19. Items up for discussion include a conversation on the “Open Doors” Emergency Housing Program.
Salida (and all of Chaffee County) is experiencing a housing crisis that has resulted in skyrocketing sales prices and a significant shortage of residential units available and/or affordable to the local workforce. Employers throughout the city have expressed their concerns about ability to remain in business due to the labor shortage related to available and secure housing.
Open Doors Image courtesy Alesia Kazantceva and unsplash.com
Community Development staff are interested in initiating a program through the Chaffee Housing Authority, funded by the City of Salida, to provide longer-term housing options for the city’s workforce. This program would ask short-term rental owners, second homeowners, and others to “open their hearts and minds” to the housing emergency so that they might “open their doors” to members of our workforce who need housing immediately.
This program is meant to be a temporary “bridge” to a point in the future when the city has a more adequate supply of affordable/attainable rental units for the entire local workforce. Development staff have created a draft framework and are seeking council input.
Also on the agenda is a discussion surrounding the Climate Action Plan. The purpose of this Climate Action Plan is not to set requirements but to help present and organize the many dozens of recommendations and strategies that volunteers have compiled for the City of Salida to enable the community to create achievable goals.
This plan outlines a process and its authors say it should be considered a living document to be revised as new businesses and technologies arise and as the feasibility of the ideas presented here are fully assessed.
City Council meetings continue to allow in-person attendance, primarily for purposes of conducting public hearings. The city still requests that those wishing to testify should plan to do so via the GoToWebinar platform or by email or letter.
Anyone who is unvaccinated and who wants to provide testimony must wear a face mask and remain at least six feet away from others both inside and outside of the Council Chambers.
To watch the meeting virtually, click here.
Featured Image courtesy Jan Tinneberg and Unpslash.com
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