{"id":49420,"date":"2021-01-06T17:54:16","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T00:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bayfield-wrestles-with-housing-needs\/"},"modified":"2021-01-07T00:54:16","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T00:54:16","slug":"bayfield-wrestles-with-housing-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bayfield-wrestles-with-housing-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Bayfield wrestles with housing needs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Bayfield board of trustees took a fresh look at housing issues Tuesday, but finding solutions might be like \u201copening a can of worms,\u201d said Mayor Ashleigh Tarkington.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Bayfield board of trustees took a fresh look at housing issues this week, but finding solutions might be like \u201copening a can of worms,\u201d said Mayor Ashleigh Tarkington.<\/p>\n

With growth on the horizon, La Plata County communities are looking at their housing resources, finding affordability and availability issues. Bayfield faces a similar situation, according to a housing study released in December. Addressing housing issues seemed like a complicated \u201cwhat comes first\u201d puzzle to Tarkington.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone is kind of stumped,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In Bayfield, the majority of housing units, 80%, consist of single-family homes, with just a few townhomes or multifamily units, according to the study conducted by Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc.<\/p>\n

In fact, Bayfield is nearing completion of a new development, Clove Meadows 7, which will offer 54 lots for more single-family homes in a high-density subdivision, Town Manager Katie Sickles said.<\/p>\n

But the median home value in Bayfield was $318,347. Meanwhile, the area\u2019s median income in 2019 was $66,142.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not affordable. People that work here can\u2019t live here,\u201d Sickles said.<\/p>\n

Rental units in town are rare, and renters were more burdened by housing costs than homeowners, which is similar to county and state trends, according to the study.<\/p>\n

About 41% of Bayfield acreage is also tax-exempt, mostly used by churches and schools. That can create some challenges because there is less property available for other uses. But at the same time, the town has good schools, and that draws people, Sickles said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very young town. There\u2019s a lot of very young families here, and I think that\u2019s to do with our good school system,\u201d Sickles said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Can we handle that?\u2019<\/div>\n

One solution, incentivizing development, might conflict with resource limitations, Tarkington said.<\/p>\n

The town staff members and trustees are trying to understand the capacity limits of Bayfield\u2019s water infrastructure and treatment plant, especially considering the town\u2019s future growth. Trustees are scheduled to hear a presentation about the topic during their next board meeting, Jan. 19.<\/p>\n

She also wanted to see the results of the town\u2019s drought study, which is in progress, when considering housing issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if a builder came in with a plan and could follow through on it, in a heartbeat, those things would be rented out,\u201d Tarkington said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of, can we put them on our water system? Can we handle that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Trustee Josh Joswick wanted more information about tools that would help the town prioritize projects and incentives for development.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of up to the developer to build the kind of homes they want,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to make sure we\u2019re aware of whatever incentives there are for the creation of affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Vicious cycle\u2019<\/div>\n

Town trustees and staff members were still working out next steps Wednesday after hearing the study presentation during the trustee meeting Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still putting my hands around multifamily housing and how the town can participate,\u201d Sickles said.<\/p>\n

Joswick said economic development needed to be considered. Tarkington, focused on limited resources, said the board needed to weigh other development options, like industries, businesses or a hotel, in addition to housing.<\/p>\n

Broadband is another priority: People have been working from home more during the coronavirus pandemic, opening up remote work opportunities, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Affordable housing) just opens up a whole can of worms on so many levels,\u201d Tarkington said. \u201cPeople aren\u2019t going to want to move here and work from home, or businesses to relocate here, if they have crappy internet. It\u2019s a vicious cycle of \u2018What comes first?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

smullane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

development pressures with providing adequate amenities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[731,453],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-49420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bayfield","tag-housing-and-urban-planning"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49420"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=49420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}