Lafayette’s City Council approved a measure that would redevelop the now-defunct Carpenter’s Mobile Home Park property into a high-density subdivision on Tuesday night.
The site plan, which was advanced on first reading by a slim 3-2 margin, drew resistance from those who fear the slated development along one of the city’s east entrances effectively erases low-income housing in favor of more expensive, denser buildings.
The 2-acre subdivision plans include four buildings with 35 residential units, according to sketch plans. The four-building complex includes two, 10-unit buildings; one, nine-unit building, and one, six-unit building. The 10- and six-unit buildings will run parallel to Baseline Road and the nine-unit building will run parallel to Dounce Street.
The three-bedroom option for the slated development would most likely rent for roughly $1,700 per month, according to Graham Bailhache, of BV Builders, the Lafayette-based contractor behind the subdivision. Bailhache purchased the lot under the entity 811 East Baseline Road LLC last year for roughly $1 million.
“(This development) is for upper-middle-class people,” Rebecca Schwendler said Tuesday. “I don’t know how many more apartments or units we need for upper- and middle-class people.”
Residents who lived in the mobile home park prior to being relocated have said their mobile home leases ranged closer $450 to $800 per month.
The potential increase has troubled many Lafayette residents who fear the city is failing to accommodate the increasingly drastic need for more affordable housing in the area.
“Despite what the staff memo says,” resident Karen Norback said, “losing affordable housing is not in the public interest. Affordable housing is literally being removed from this city, but it’s not too late to say no to this development or send it back to the planning commission. This development is a step in the wrong direction.”
The median home price in Lafayette has risen 54 percent over the past seven years, from $314,000 in 2009 to $483,500 in 2016, according to data provided by D.B. Wilson, of Re/Max of Boulder.
“The folks that were living there before were paying a little less than a thousand (per month),” resident Graft Swift said Monday. “My daughter grew up here in Lafayette, she works for a nonprofit, but she can’t afford to live here anymore.”
As Boulder County continues to grapple with how to address affordable housing needs, local governments are expected to consider signing off on a Boulder County Regional Affordable Housing Strategic Plan.
The plan would be to have 15,000 to 22,000 housing units — residences affordable for rent or purchase by low- and middle-income households — by the year 2035.
Lafayette City Council member Alexandra Lynch told the Camera earlier this week that a Lafayette task force has begun work on its own study of ways to meet that city’s need for a diverse housing stock for current and future middle- and low-income residents.
“This regional plan offers us a lot of opportunities,” Lynch said. “There’s much more traction (with a regional approach). It really needs to be a multi-pronged strategy.”
BV must first rezone the property from R2 (single- and two-family residential) to R4 (multifamily residential), according to sketch plans. The R4 zoning designation allows for a maximum of 18 dwelling units per acre. The builders are proposing 17.58 dwelling units per acre, according to Bailhache.
Anthony Hahn: 303-473-1422, hahna@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/_anthonyhahn
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