White River National Forest proposes pairing with Dillon & Summit County on affordable housing
Managers of the White River National Forest are hoping to team up with the Town of Dillon and Summit County to create more affordable housing in Colorado's high country. The managers are offering to allow the town and the county to build on its 11 acres of land that falls in Dillon, so long as the municipalities front the building costs and allow some U.S. Forest Service employees to live in the buildings.
"Our catchphrase has been 'Shared solutions for shared problems,' so we are hunting for that win-win with this project," land conveyance program manager Anna Bengtson said.
The project has stalled a few times in the last few years, according to Bengtson, but she feels optimistic this could be the pass that gets more homes for everyone living in the resort communities. She said the latest housing crisis numbers show a need for 700 more units in Summit County. This plan would provide 177 units (minus those intended for Forest Service employees.) The deal as it stands now would also ask the Town of Dillon and Summit County to upgrade the Forest Service's facilities, which are decades old at this point.
"Roughly 9 acres of residential development for Summit County and Forest Service employees and then roughly 2 acres of redeveloped Forest Service buildings," Bengston said.
The plan has not gone through its final reviews and is still accepting public comment, including in-person on Thursday, Dec. 8 in Dillon, View the full site plans here.
