Due to a policy not working as intended, Breckenridge is considering changing the requirement for certain new businesses to provide assistance for workforce housing.
Breckenridge Town Council took staff members' recommendation to amend the town's employee housing impact mitigation policy at a Tuesday, Feb. 10, meeting.
The policy currently requires an employer to provide housing for around 35% of the staff its business will generate and that is determined by a formula that considers numerous factors, such as size and type of business. The requirement can be met by building or buying workforce housing units or paying a fee-in-lieu. The policy pertains to new businesses that are either building a new facility or storefront or those moving into an existing building and are changing the use for the building. For instance, the policy would apply to a business looking to put a full-service restaurant in a storefront that was previously an ice cream shop.
Staff is proposing removing employee housing mitigation requirements for the latter.
The town adopted the policy in 2020.
Breckenridge senior planner Sarah Crump said staff requests council revisit a policy when it's "not working as intended or there's unintended consequences." She said feedback from the business community is partially driving the proposed change, particularly when it comes to businesses moving into an existing space and changing its use.
"It's just really untenable for them to pay these housing impact mitigation fees for the very small gains" she said.
She said even people downsizing businesses are being impacted by "a really large fee." She said the town has only gained two new housing units and one payment-in-lieu free of around $43,000 from the policy over the last five years.
Crump said the town sees around five business applications a month.
"When they're trying to navigate this policy and then seeing how much it costs, they're just kind of throwing their hands up and saying, "Well, never mind"," she said.
Council member Todd Rankin showed outright support for the recommendation. He said around five applicants a month likely adds up to hundreds of businesses over the past five years who have been dissuaded by the policy. He said he's passionate about workforce housing, but felt this would be best for businesses in Breckenridge.
Council member Carol Saade agreed with the proposed amendment if it was proven the policy wasn't working as intended. Council member Steve Gerard had a similar sentiment.
Council member Jay Beckerman said while the "intention was honorable," he was open to changing the policy. He asked staff to work with the town attorney to refine the policy and to further eliminate any unintended consequences.
Council member Marika Page asked about how recently a business had to adhere to the policy. Crump said it was either October or November 2025.
Page wondered if there would be any fall out or consequences to the town having that person pay the fee and then changing the policy.
Town attorney Keely Ambrose said there would be no legal consequences for the town.
"I think that's always the difficulty of changing something like this," council member Dick Carleton said. "You're changing the rules, and somebody else (already) played by the rules. And is that fair?"
Staff members also proposed eliminating a requirement to provide onsite housing for businesses building a new facility as well as making amendments to the policy's appeals process.
The staff proposal was to require those challenging the policy to provide an independent study proving why they shouldn't have to adhere to it.
"I think I agree that if you're going to challenge it, you have to prove it," Gerard said. "It's not up to us to disprove what you're telling us. So I think the change should be implemented officially at this point.
All six council members present at the Feb. 10 meeting supported the recommendations. Mayor Kelly Owens was absent.
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