#1 Priority

[Sandy Cherman]

Good morning!

According to the article 9/3 edition in the Trail Gazette, “according to the Estes Valley Housing Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan, the number one objective under the preservation strategy is Existing property acquisition, starting in part to purchase existing structures to house local workforce”.

That being the case, why doesn't the Town sell the Fish Hatchery land and use the proceeds to purchase existing structures?

It’s the #1 priority so this is a great opportunity to provide a lot of workforce housing in a much shorter period of time and and for a lot less money than developing the Fish Hatchery land.

Please let me know your thoughts!

Respectfully,

Sandy Cherman

[Scott Moulton]

Sandy, 

Thank you for your continued engagement and this email. 

An important note regarding the 2023 Housing Strategic Plan and Needs Assessment, the priority actions were not listed in order of importance ranking. Despite this fact, EPHA surpassed our five year preservation/conversion goal of 100 homes in five years in just two years. I believe this highlights EPHA's focus on preservation, and our ability to take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace to convert existing housing stock or lodging stock to housing opportunities. 

While we will continue to keep the door open to these opportunities, it takes a perfect set of circumstances for these to align in a manner the solution can match the needs of the community. Our success in 2023 and 2024 in preservation and conversion somewhat guides our next steps, focusing on ownership opportunities, lower-income workforce housing, and seasonal opportunities. 

The EPHA Board of Directors and staff continue to be guided by not only the current needs of the community, but the anticipated needs over the course of the next decade and beyond. As it relates to the Fish Hatchery site, previous iterations of the Town Board have been committed to providing assistance in providing solutions to the housing needs of our community. A significant area the Town Board identified within their control was use of Town owned land for either redevelopment or ground up development for housing. Ultimately, this is the direction provided by the Town Board and the direction given to EPHA in our memorandum of understanding to developed housing at the Fish Hatchery site. As such, EPHA remains focused on developing a mixed neighborhood offering roughly half of the homes to lower-income workforce and other households while also investing in robust and varied options for home-ownership. Despite the amount of work and progress to these ends, we are still early in the process for the site. 

We look forward to your continued engagement and support for housing initiative's to house your neighbors in safe, secure, and affordable options which work for their households. 

If you have any additional question, please let me know. 

Scott

Scott Moulton

Executive Director

Estes Park Housing Authority

P.O. Box 1200

363 E. Elkhorn Ave Ste. 101

Estes Park, CO 80517

970-591-2537 call or text

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9/2/25 - 9/5/25 - YARDI Conference 

9/29/25 - 10/3/25 - NAHRO National + PHX

10/7/25 - 10/8/25 - MTN Town 2030

10/10/25 - 10/13/25 - OOO 

10/15/25 - 10/17/25 - Housing Colorado Keystone (Possible) 

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