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Snowmass Village government will now go to work to inform voters on the Draw site workforce housing ballot question after town council members approved a resolution in support of the project in a 3-2 vote earlier this week.
Snowmass voters will be asked Nov. 5 to approve of the town spending approximately $86 million on a 79-unit rental workforce housing development that has gone through a lengthy planned unit development process since last November. A town ordinance requires voter approval for any single project that costs more than 40% of the town’s most recent general fund revenue (about $11 million in 2024).
The town council approved the final ballot language for the question during a Tuesday meeting. Now, town staff will work to educate voters on the project before they go to the polls in just under 60 days to authorize spending money on the largest workforce rental housing development in Snowmass Village in 25 years.
Because of fair campaign practice laws, town staff cannot take a position on the ballot question. But they will work to advertise informational materials and answer questions about the project, Town Manager Clint Kinney said.
Voters will be asked whether they approve of the town using tax revenues, state grants and rental incomes to build a two-tower design. About $70 million of the $86 million project will come from bond financing, $10 million will come from state and other local government grants and $5.4 million will come from local business partnerships, according to a financial analysis of the Draw site.
A portion of the town’s tourism tax revenue will be used to fund the project as well. In 2022, voters approved allocating a portion of the tourism tax fund — about $5 million — toward workforce housing projects. The town plans to use $3 million, or 60%, of that fund for the project. Voter approval of the Draw site would not raise taxes.
While the town can afford the project, the Snowmass Village financial advisory board recently cautioned town council members about the price tag, warning that financing the Draw site for the next 30 years could take away funds for future housing projects.
Despite the board’s caution, a majority of councilors approved a resolution supporting the Draw site. Council members Britta Gustafson and Tom Fridstein voted against the resolution. The two have been opposed to the mass and scale of the project since conversations about the Draw site began.
“I am in no way opposed to more workforce housing, I understand the need for it. I am concerned about, like I said, putting all our eggs in one basket,” Gustafson said. “If we indebt ourselves for 30 years on this project and spend 60% of our (tourism tax) funding, it leaves us with 79 units and no opportunity for as many more as we could have if we didn’t go so far into a project that’s going to cost too much for the town.”
The town is in the middle of finalizing a purchase of land at the Snowmass Center to develop workforce housing. The land at the Snowmass Center, which is adjacent to the Draw site, became available for the town to purchase in January while the town was in the early stages of the Draw site PUD.
Since the town has been in talks to purchase some of the Snowmass Center land, Fridstein has urged town staff to downsize the Draw site plan to around 40 units and make some of the difference up with units at the Snowmass Center site. He said building 79 units with underground parking would be too burdensome and expensive for the Draw site.
“I would rather have a small project here and do a group project on the Snowmass Center site, which I think would be a much better place for people to live,” he said. “So I am not in favor of supporting this resolution and if people ask me to tell them how I’ll vote, I will vote no.”
But council members Alyssa Shenk and Susan Marolt, and Mayor Bill Madsen, threw their support behind the resolution.
“I don’t see any comparable projects that would be less expensive, so, to me, holding back would be just that: holding back,” Marolt said. “It’s easy to do when it comes to housing to say no to this project, no, not here, no, not this time, no, smaller. … It’s courageous and bold to do for our community, but I think it’s the right thing to do, to provide as much housing as we can for them.”
Voter approval of the Draw site question does not obligate the town to build it if extenuating circumstances arise. The project still requires final approval under the PUD process from town council. That approval could potentially come before a new council; two council seats and the mayoral seat are up for election in November.
Fridstein is running for reelection, seeking a second term as councilman. Madsen is running for reelection as mayor. Shenk, who is term-limited on her council seat, also is running for mayor.