Manitou Springs board to consider housing priority for local workers

The Manitou Springs Housing Advisory Board is scheduled to consider a recommendation Oct. 21 on a policy giving local workers and some residents displaced from the city priority when applying for affordable housing. A draft resolution would give eligible applicants at least 30 days to apply before units are offered to the broader income-qualified public.

The draft resolution would designate at least 50% of income-restricted units in qualifying developments as “Priority Units.” It sets a separate affordability target: at least half of those priority units would serve households at or below 50% of area median income, with deeper affordability encouraged when feasible.

Under the resolution, the first priority would be households at or below 30% of area median income with a member working at least 30 hours a week in Manitou Springs. Next would be local-worker households at 31% to 50% of area median income, followed by people involuntarily displaced from Manitou Springs housing within the previous five years. The resolution gives conflicting income limits for that last group.

The materials identify the proposed 50-unit development at 123 Manitou Ave. as an example. If the draft resolution’s 50% share applied and all 50 units were income-restricted, at least 25 would be priority units. The policy would provide an earlier chance to apply, not guarantee a unit; remaining units could be offered to the general income-qualified public after the priority period.

The board’s executive summary describes a 30% set-aside and two priority tiers, rather than the draft resolution’s 50% and three tiers. The board agenda schedules consideration of a recommendation, and the draft resolution asks City Council to consider adopting the standards. The available materials do not establish that the board or council has adopted the policy, or that a leasing condition is in force for the 123 Manitou Ave. project.