The land is owned by the Steamboat Springs School District, which is still considering “all options” at Whistler to address teacher housing needs.
Residents urged Steamboat Springs City Council to buy land that has been functionally part of Whistler Park for decades during public comment on Tuesday night, an issue that the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission is scheduled to discuss next month.
The land is owned by the Steamboat Springs School District, which received a state grant to conduct a feasibility study about building teacher housing on the roughly nine-acre parcel. But funding for that grant has been held up while the Colorado Division of Housing resolves an unrelated question, resulting in a stop-work order on the study.
With no indication of when the grant issue may be resolved, Superintendent Celine Wicks told the school board last week that they would shift focus to parcels the district owns near Sleeping Giant School west of Steamboat.
“We’re going to pivot,” Wicks told the school board in an update on Sept. 9. “Right now, our focus is away from the Whistler Property and over to the Barber property,” she added, referencing one property the district owns near Sleeping Giant.
The district anticipates knowing more about building on the land near Sleeping Giant around the end of October or early November, according to Director of Communication Laura Milius. In response to questions from The Yampa Valley Bugle, Milius said the district is still considering “all options regarding the Whistler Park property,” and that “selling the parcel will only be considered once we have more information.”
Wicks said the district is working with a group called Rural Homes Colorado to explore development on the parcels near Sleeping Giant. If the district decided to move forward with building teacher housing west of town, Wicks indicated they would likely turn to selling the land near Whistler Park to help fund that effort. School Board President Katy Lee agreed.
“Although I know it is super difficult to think about, I don’t think we can sit on Whistler as an asset when we are going to need to fund building at the other site,” Lee said in the meeting last week.
The issue reached Steamboat Springs City Council on Tuesday night, with about two dozen residents attending the meeting to show their desire for the city to step in and save the park. Before public comment was made, Council President Gail Garey announced that the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission has been tasked with considering just that. That discussion is scheduled for Oct. 23, Garey said.
“We are having Parks and Rec look at the issue and then bringing it back to council,” Garey said.
Council member Amy Dickson said she had met with several residents in the Whistler area about the park land. Dickson said that she wanted to pursue a first right of refusal agreement with the district, if they do decide to sell the land and volunteered to be part of that discussion.
“I think it’s time for us to get more involved,” said resident Casey Earp in public comment, asking council to call a meeting with the school district about the issue. “There’s not more green space coming into our community, there’s one little bit on that side of town.”
In a discussion later in Tuesday’s meeting about acquiring a different parcel of parkland — Copper Ridge — Parks and Recreation Director Angela Cosby said the city could use funding from its 1% accommodation tax. Since that fund wouldn’t be able cover the park purchase entirely, Cosby said council could allocate general fund revenues initially, and replenish them with future accommodation tax dollars.
A similar strategy could be used to buy the Whistler Park land. Milius said the last valuation on the Whistler Park property was $3.4 million.
In a meeting last month, school board members said the district needed to do something about its housing issues and could no longer afford to sit on the land it owns at Whistler Park. The district has said about 42% of teachers say they may need to leave the district due to a lack of affordable housing. Additionally, about 20% of Steamboat teachers could retire in the next five years.
“This is happening right now,” Lee said at the board’s Aug. 12 meeting. “We can’t afford to just sit around and wait for somebody else to solve it.”
Top Photo Caption: The Steamboat Springs School Board discusses what to do with land it owns that is park of Whistler Park at a meeting on Aug. 12. (Dylan Anderson/The Yampa Valley Bugle)