Residents in Steamboat Springs have rejected a city plan to annex the 420 acres of the Brown Ranch property intended for an affordable housing community that would have provided homes formore than 6,000 workers.
Preliminary results from Tuesday's special election show about 58% of voters opposed it. Opponents raised concerns about the cost, size and traffic impacts.
Colorado Sun Reporter Jason Blevins told KUNC's Michael Lyle, Jr. that the Yampa Valley Housing Authority, which used a $24-million dollar anonymous donation to acquire the property west of the city in 2021, is working on an alternative.
"The head of the authority told me that he will be returning to the drawing board and sketching another plan to something that will include a large component of affordable housing for the workforce in Steamboat Springs," said Blevins.
Blevins said many residents know who the anonymous donor is because they have also committed funds towards another city project in the past.
"There are lots of whispers and rumors out and about in Steamboat," said Blevins. "This same donor apparently also gave $6 million for another project for the housing authority. So this person does have connection to Steamboat, maybe an affection for Steamboat, but I have not seen any official confirmation of this person's name."
Blevins said the project is not completely off the table for good, but residents are hoping the authority can return with a revised plan that's less expensive.
"There was an estimate that the city and housing authority would spend somewhere close to $480 million on infrastructure for this project — and that is a lot of money," said Blevins. "They're certainly not opposed to growth and they're certainly not opposed to housing. They're just questioning whether the scope and size of the project was maybe a little bit much. So I think they want to see something a bit smaller and maybe some free market homes in the mix."
The annexation plan also called for the city to invest in parks, improvements to Highway 40 and police and fire stations.
