Berthoud staff reports housing gains under Proposition 1/2/3, $50,000 award to Habitat for Humanity

Town staff presented a multi‑year update on Berthoud’s work under Colorado’s Proposition 1/2/3 affordable‑housing program and asked the commission whether it wants staff to pursue a next three‑year commitment.

“Communities when they ascribed or made the commitment to proposition 123 which the town trustees did in October 2023 then that opened the door to a lot of different funding opportunities,” Community Development Director Anne Johnson told commissioners.

Johnson said the town received an initial grant of approximately $100,004.60 with a required local match of $25,000 to develop a housing diversity plan; after the plan’s adoption the town secured a $41,600 Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) grant to implement action items and later a no‑match $50,000 grant intended to reimburse Habitat for Humanity for engineers, appraisers and surveyors. Johnson said the town used a revised state “calculator” tied to bedroom counts to identify qualifying units: with the calculator change Berthoud counted about 174 qualifying units — roughly 29% of an estimated 530 permits in the three‑year measurement window.

Staff described program tools that have been deployed: a fast‑track review for projects that guarantee at least 50% affordable/attainable units; an expanded waiver program (town trustees increased the number of fee waivers from two to 10 per year for qualifying nonprofit builders); and targeted support to Habitat for Humanity including fee waivers and donated lots from a private developer in the Harvest 47 subdivision. Johnson said Habitat’s construction costs fall in the low‑to‑mid‑$400,000 range and staff will follow up with precise figures by email.

Commissioners discussed operational constraints: Berthoud historically permits little multifamily housing (apartments), which staff said will make future compliance with state affordability targets more challenging, and state rules limit some approaches (for example, water banking proved infeasible because state and grant rules typically require water rights to remain with land). Staff asked whether the commission would like them to pursue the next Proposition 123 round; commissioners generally supported staff exploring the option but noted it will take staff time and that available grants and criteria remain uncertain until the state finalizes the calculator and program details.

Staff said pursuing another three‑year commitment would open the town to targeted grants that are available only to communities that have made the Proposition 1/2/3 commitment, but that pursuing the next round does not obligate the town to meet future targets if it later decides the criteria are infeasible.