Conversation between district, city council members has officials exploring the feasibility of the city providing the district with up to 15 units in the coming years.
The city of Steamboat Springs and Steamboat Springs School District are in talks about the future of Whistler Park, with city council and district officials saying Tuesday that they are working to see if the city can help the district address its pressing housing needs in another way.
Steamboat Council members Gail Garey and Steve Muntean met with Steamboat Superintendent Celine Wicks and School Board President Katy Lee on Tuesday to discuss the roughly 9-acre property, which has long been functionally used as a park but that the district is exploring as a location for teacher housing.
“We really focused on, at least from my view, trying to find a win-win possible solution,” Muntean said Tuesday during his council report. “As we talked about things, it becomes evident is the win for the teachers, for the schools is having housing for up to 15 teachers … and for the community the win is more around can Whistler be kept a park.”
Council directed city staff to explore the feasibility of the city providing housing to the district directly, potentially units the city will get as part of the Riverview development underway in Downtown Steamboat or future projects like housing planned for a parcel off Hilltop Drive owned by the U.S. Forest Service.
The city doesn’t currently have 15 units readily available for a swap. Muntean said the conversation with the district earlier Tuesday resulted in the district needing this housing in the next one to three years.
“It’s really kind of looking at what’s out there and what we might have any sort of flexibility with,” Garey said, mentioning the Yampa Valley Housing Authority’s Mid Valley project as well as other housing proposals submitted to the city requesting short-term rental tax revenues.
Katy Lee, the school board president, said the district is currently vetting several options for teacher housing as it faces the “risk of losing a significant portion of our staff due to housing insecurity.” Lee said the board will consider several housing options at its Nov. 4 meeting.
“It is imperative that we find relief as quickly as possible,” Lee told City Council during public comment on Tuesday. “The Whistler property is one of several assets that could be utilized, but we have made no decisions as to the specifics. The property is not currently for sale.”
Neighbors in the Whistler area, some of whom successfully organized to pressure Council to stall the nearby Stone Lane Bridge project, have been persistent in public comments to council that the city should get involved, potentially buying the park from the district.
Garret Bock, a teacher at Steamboat Springs Middle School, argued during public comment Tuesday that the reason the district purchased the property was to improve the school system with it, and the biggest issue for schools right now is losing teachers. He shared a letter with council signed by “well over 100” educators in Steamboat Schools that support building teacher housing at Whistler.
“What we have seen in the past few months with our neighbors in the Whistler area trying to wrest this property away from the school district in order to just keep it for their personal use has been really disheartening for teachers,” Bock said. “It has been really difficult for all of us to sit there and watch day after day as they are saying these things in order to stop affordable housing for us.”
City Council had previously directed the Parks and Recreation Commission to consider the concept of purchasing Whistler Park, a conversation that started on Wednesday evening.
Whether the city is able to acquire the park or not, Parks Director Angela Cosby said Wednesday that the city will likely need to make a capital investment in Whistler Park. The estimate shared was nearly $12 million to develop the school district’s 9-acre parcel, which is based on a $1.3 million per acre estimate the Parks Department says is based on their experience developing Bear River Park. This same estimate was used during the Brown Ranch Annexation Process.
Some residents spoke during public comment Wednesday pushing back on that notion, saying they are not asking for additional amenities at Whistler Park.
If the city didn’t buy the park, Cosby said they would likely need to redevelop parts of the smaller section of Whistler Park that the city does own, as some amenities like the playground are adjacent to the property line.
“Either way we are looking at it in the long run, the city would have some capital investment dollars,” Cosby said. “There is a cost to the city of losing this land.”
Top Photo Caption: A map of Whistler park, showing who owns what parts of it. (City of Steamboat Springs/Courtesy)