Community housing. Affordable housing. Workforce housing. Inclusionary housing. A house by any other name would be as cheap. Well, at least in theory.
Those often-heard terms will surely be repeated during Housing Week, which begins on Monday, Sept. 24, and yet many potential homebuyers can't help but wonder when roofs will replace words.
Undoubtedly, the cities of the Wood River Valley and advocates such as the Blaine County Housing Authority and ARCH Community Housing Trust have a long and difficult task in front of them. This is no surprise, considering that the median price for a house in the north valley is $2 million, according to the Sawtooth Board of Realtors.
While this might not give a moment's pause to movie stars and high financiers looking for somewhere to relax during Christmas vacation, it is more than slightly daunting for the majority of area employees who dream of more permanent status while pouring pints or pounding nails.
"Without housing, we don't have a community," said Jim Fackrell, executive director of the Blaine County Housing Authority. "Teachers, nurses, nearly everyone in the service sector—at the moment, they're not able to live here unless there's a substantial increase in salaries."
The effects of this are far-reaching, from employers' having difficulty filling positions to altruism.
"In a strong community you see lots of volunteerism," Fackrell said. "You won't see this if people have to drive two hours to work."
Fackrell said the current demand for housing is approximately 1,200 houses throughout the valley, and that the authority's goal is to address this backlog over the next five years. With approximately 70 affordable units scheduled for development in Hailey in conjunction with the Sweetwater and Old Cutters subdivisions, and potentially another 100 in Bellevue if the Strahorn Ranch and Woodbridge Village annexation plans are approved, this might be an attainable goal.
At least one major hurdle has been cleared. Fackrell said as of the past year, Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue and Blaine County all have ordinances in place that require residential developers to provide a certain amount of affordable housing. While the method for calculating the amount of required affordable housing differs from city to city—either a percentage of total square footage or the number of units of a development—Fackrell believes those ordinances are a critical tool.
"We have to give kudos to the jurisdictions that have adopted the ordinances—this was done with opposition from the development community," Fackrell said.
In addition to the amount of housing required, the cities' and county's ordinances set restrictions on the sales price, effectively targeting different income brackets, from as low as 50 percent of the valley's median income.
"With the adoption of the ordinances, I don't see the pricing as a big issue," he said.
Fackrell said that should help avoid situations like the development of Agave Place, an affordable housing project located north of Hailey near the Valley Club, which was developed before the ordinances were in place. Since being placed on the market in mid-April, only one of Agave Place's 12 units has sold, with the lack of demand seen by some as a result of the $173,500 and $262,500 price tags for one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, respectively.
In addition to setting the price, the ordinances should increase the supply of affordable housing, which is woefully low in comparison to the demand. Fackrell said there are currently a total of 15 workforce-housing units on the market: 11 at Agave Place, three at Winterhaven in the Woodside area of Hailey, and one studio apartment in Elkhorn. This doesn't leave much choice for the 375 "households" that are on the Blaine County Housing Authority's waiting list for affordable housing.
"We're working with the different jurisdictions and developers on the front end and looking at the demographics of our applicants," Fackrell said of the authority's plans for providing appropriate products. "We have building standards, such as minimum square footage, and other requirements to ensure that the workforce housing isn't isolated from market-rate housing."
In conjunction with the ordinances, Fackrell said he hopes having one central entity, such as his Blaine County Housing Authority, will help increase the effectiveness of these guidelines. Fackrell said that currently, Sun Valley, Blaine County and Ketchum have agreed to be part of the authority, while Hailey and Bellevue have yet to decide if they want to be represented by a regional housing authority rather than having independent control of workforce housing decisions.
Fackrell said that one of the advantages of a single housing authority is access to a variety of options for approaching such a complex issue.
"With the difference in the workforce that exists here, homeownership isn't necessarily the answer," Fackrell said, explaining that the ski resort attracts a type of worker that might only be interested in staying in the valley for two to three years. "We need to look at rental property or rent-to-own units as possible solutions."
And advocacy. Fackrell said he hopes Housing Week will continue to raise awareness and let the community know what the housing authority is trying to do, and make people start thinking about how to solve the problem.
"We need to look at any and all options, " he said. "To take the next step, it will require money and resources."
Housing Week
The third-annual Community Housing Week kicks-off Tuesday, Sept. 25, with workshops and presentations in Ketchum and Hailey over the four-day event. ARCH Community Housing Trust and Blaine County Housing Authority are teaming up to offer a host of events for homebuyers, employers, real estate professionals, developers, governmental officials, and concerned citizens.
This year's keynote speaker, Dan Hoffman, has been a pioneer in the affordable housing front across the country. Hoffman literally "wrote the book" on employer-assisted housing, and will be the featured luncheon speaker in Ketchum at nexStage on Sept. 26 and again in Hailey at the Community Campus on Sept. 28.
Also featured during Community Housing Week will be Colin Bloch, the director of home ownership at the Champlain Housing Trust, the country's largest housing trust. Bloch's lecture, "Community Land Trusts, How They Work and How They Help," will be at the Community Campus in Hailey on Friday, Sept. 28, at 10 a.m.
All of the events are free, and attendees will be eligible to win a ski pass, gym memberships, and restaurant gift certificates. For the full event schedule, visit ARCH's website at www.archbc.org.
Jim Fackrell, executive director of the Blaine County Housing Authority, hopes that Housing Week, which starts Monday Sept. 24, will raise awareness of the need for affordable housing in the Wood River Valley.
Express photo by Jon Duval
