Gunnison residents fight to hold on to their affordable housing

Affordable housing is at a premium in Gunnison. The Gunnison Valley Housing Market Update, which was compiled in 2021, found that the gap between housing needs and market prices has gotten worse, the number of housing units needed remains high, and the COVID-19 pandemic made the whole situation worse. 

The situation is so bad that the report says 90% of employers call it "the most critical" or "one of the more serious" factors effecting the economy. That same report showed that in Gunnison the price of a 2-bedroom rental went up 45% from 2016 to 2021, from $975 to $1,413. To buy a home, a worker needs $750,000.

The report concludes that to meet the needs of working class residents, the Gunnison Valley would need to add 960 affordable homes by 2026.

"Like many rural mountain communities, and resort communities, we're facing what all of Colorado is experiencing, which is a critical shortage of the type of housing that people who actually earn their paychecks locally can actually afford," said Liz Smith, a Gunnison County Commissioner.

So on May 4, 2022, when the residents of the Country Meadows mobile home park got a letter saying the park had been sold and their lot rent was going up 70-percent it was a devastating blow, not only to the residents, but also to the housing picture in Gunnison.

"As a representative of the county, I felt it was essential for us to do whatever we could to retain this affordable housing," Smith told CBS4.

Residents in the newly named Ski Town Village mobile home park were irate.

"People in here can't afford that kind of money. That's why we live here," said Hazel Bryant, a 20 year resident of the park.

Bryant's mobile home is long paid off, but she has other bills, including a car payment, gas, electric, phone, and, of course, her lot rent.

"I'm on social security, and I only get $895 a month to live on," Bryant told CBS4.

Bryant, and other residents, are further angered at the lot rent increase in light of the condition of the property. Before the park sold, it had several violations on file with the Department of Local Affairs. The road within the property is rutted, and poorly maintained, trees on the property are overgrown and threaten the mobile homes, and water service to the units does not meet state standards. 

Under the Mobile Home Park Act Updates of 2020, requires park owners to maintain and repair water, sewer, trees, roads, and lot grades.

"It was on for two hours, and then it went off for five hours, then it came on for an hour, and then went off again," Bryant explained water outages to resident. "By law, he shouldn't be able to charge us to fix something he bought."

The mobile home park is located just north of Gunnison off Highway 135, on 8.7 acres. There are 72 lots on the property and more than 50 mobile homes. An estimated 350-400 people live there, many of whom are retired, are on disability, or are working frontline retail jobs.

Elizabeth McGee is a manager at a local grocery store. She's lived in the park since August of 2021, and has put a lot of money and work into her mobile home. Being a homeowner has always been a dream for her.

"This wall was coming down, so we decided to put tin on this wall, and put new windows in to get more sunlight," McGee described the improvements she and her boyfriend have made to her lot. "It's not what it is, it's what you make it, and I'm making this my home."

When McGee and her neighbors got notice that the park was up for sale, they moved to buy it themselves. The residents banned together and formed a Homeowners Association, called Organizacion de Nuevas Esperanzas (ONE). They began reaching out to River Walk Village LLC to begin putting together a suitable offer, but residents said that they never got a response to their inquiries. Colorado state law gave them 90 days to make an offer, but residents said the clock ran out when they didn't hear from the property owner.

"I think that would have helped a lot of the residents out here, knowing that we would have owned it," McGee added.

At the beginning of 2022, when the sale still hadn't gone through, residents started working with Thistle, a non-profit organization out of Boulder dedicated to developing, managing, and preserving affordable housing. It has become the Colorado expert in turning mobile home parks into resident owned communities (ROC). Thistle was working on a proposal on behalf of the residents at Country Meadows, when the sale was formalized. According to the Gunnison County Assessor's office, River Walk Village LLC sold Country Meadows to Ski Town Village LLC for $2,950,000 on 4/28/2022. That is the same day that Ski Town Village LLC was incorporated with the Colorado Secretary of State's office.

"In just the last year, we became a close family with most of these residents, and it's just really heartbreaking," McGee said.

"The residents here were in limbo for several months, wondering what the fate of their park was going to be. In the interim, I was working with other representatives in the state house, who were trying to improve the mobile home park protections act, so that we could problem solve based on what communities have experienced," Smith said.

Smith worked with state lawmakers on HB22-1287, Protections for Mobile Home Park Residents. The new law requires that landlords attend up to 2 public meetings with residents each year, clarifies that landlords are responsible for paying to repair damage to the property due to neglect, and give residents 180 days to make an offer to buy their park, instead of 90-days.

"It's not possible anymore, as I understand it, for the owners to just not consider the offer," Smith explained. "We were able to bring our story, and our experience to those discussions, and get those improvements made into the legislation."

Another new state law, HB22-1082, establishes a Fair Housing Unit within the Department of Law. It gives the Attorney General's office the authority to bring civil and criminal enforcement actions related to housing.

"Our office is now going to set up a Fair Housing Unit that is going to have the ability to make sure that renters are not mistreated," said Attorney General Phil Weiser.

The new law, and the issues that residents in Gunnison have faced prompted Weiser to go there and meet with residents. It was a fact finding trip. He talked to residents, and will determine if the law gives him any authority in the situation.

"We're in the process of getting this unit stood up. It's going to take a little time. And part of what this visit was valuable for me was to get a sense on the ground of how our work will make a difference for people," Weiser told CBS4.

Law changes may have come too late for the residents of Ski Town Village. Now, they are turning to the courts. On June 30, 2022, with the help of attorneys William P. Edwards and Blair Kanis, the residents filed a lawsuit against Ski Town Village LLC. They claim that the lot rent increase violates state law, and that the current condition of the park violates state law. They are asking for a jury to make the ultimate decision.

"I've been very depressed and frustrated about it at the same time. But, I'm not one to be a quitter. I'm one to keep fighting for what's right," McGee said.

CBS4 reached out to Ski Town Village LLC and to the registered agent for River Walk Village LLC for comment on this story. Neither entity responded.