While other Colorado communities work toward preserving limited housing stock for working families, Durango’s recipe for economic development appears to hinge on how to provide a wide range of vacation options for “ambassadors” who may choose to return.

How about the city paying attention to those ambassadors who live here now, those who have shouldered the load before the tourists arrived and will continue once they leave?

There are 26 active vacation rentals in Durango holding permits, not including the unknowns flying below the radar. What is being proposed will significantly increase these potential numbers and remove the public hearing process instead approving them administratively.

What does this mean for Durango’s established neighborhoods? In the EN 1 zoning district alone, under current code, 24 vacation rentals can be permitted. Proposed code change allows this number to jump to 59.

Do the math.

We understand tourism dollars are needed to advance what appears to matter most to city leadership: a vibrant downtown and a community boasting a wide range of real-estate opportunities.

When Realtors continually push to repurpose homes under the thin guise of protecting property rights, it is not just about cutting into Fort Lewis College’s need for housing. It is equally about denying opportunity to house our community’s teachers, service personnel and young families who are ambassadors year-round.

City leadership needs to embrace the long view. The heart and soul of this diverse community rests in its families. It’s time leadership demonstrates it values those who live here now, rather than continually advancing initiatives making it harder and harder for families to stay.

What has set Durango apart from the communities we say we don’t want to become has historically been leadership who pays attention to all of its citizens, instead of the financial minority with the time and resources to lobby hard for development opportunity.

Brieanne Stahnke, Tony Rocha, Mike Todt, Craig Stevens, Jim Foster and Karen Brucoli Anesi Boulevard Neighborhood Association board of directors

Durango