COMMUNITY BENEFIT AGREEMENTS
Last Tuesday, neighbors joined our friends in the Mill Street Neighborhood to advocate for their neighborhoods needs. Mill Street neighbors are deeply concerned by the rapid development surrounding their neighborhood. Specifically, the development of an upscale hotel ( $180 per night) on the border of the Mill Street neighborhood. Beginning last year, a coalition of neighborhoods and organizations have been supporting the Mill Street neighborhood in organizing a Community Benefit Agreement ( CBA). A CBA is legally binding contract between developers and community coalitions that guarantees specific public benefits, such as affordable housing, local hiring, or infrastructure investments.
CBAs serve as tools to prevent displacement and ensure local needs are met.
When neighbors met with the developer Norwood to discuss a CBA, the developer rejected the proposal of a CBA, instead they proposed a partnership. The partnership was promised to involve talks of affordable housing and other investments in the Mill Street neighborhood. Following preliminary talks, communication with the coalition ceased from Norwood. Norwood only offered to resume talks once the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) project was confirmed by the City Council. With the breakdown in communication and trust, neighbors and community members spoke at City Council to ask them to delay the approval until the developer met with the Mill Street neighborhood to form an agreement. When asked by City Council why the developer would be unwilling to enter into an agreement, the developer responded that the neighborhood was “un-investable.” Three council members voted to delay the URA vote until Norwood met with Mill Street. Rep. Donaldson, Rep. Gold, and Rep. Henjum voted in favor of a delay, which failed to pass. The URA funding of $10 million dollars, was approved with a verbal promise by the developers to meet with the Mill Street neighborhood.
Why does this matter to Papeton? As a community with similarities to the Mill Street neighborhood we recognize the shared importance of affordable housing in our neighborhoods. While development has a place in the City’s growth, we also recognize that public funds for URA projects must also have a clear and intended public benefit to the community where they are constructed. For our neighbors living on fixed incomes or wages that fall below the City’s area median income (AMI), ~ $43,144 many are concerned that the development that is intended to increase the tax base, will also lead to displacement due to rising property taxes and rents.
We believe that more solutions, like CBAs are needed to support our communities. Our concerns are based on the local history of displacement in working class neighborhoods, the lack of public notice and engagement for projects receiving millions of public dollars, and the minimal inclusion of current community members in the development area.
If you would like to learn more, have questions or share a different perspective please reach out and let us know. If this is a topic, you would like to learn more about or discuss we would be happy to organize a community meeting to share more resources.
URBAN RENEWAL AUTHORITY
As mentioned in previous article, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) is a point of confusion and frustration for residents. URA funds have been used to develop the new apartments and townhomes in downtown Colorado Springs, formerly the Lowell neighborhood. Other recent URA projects include Gold Hill Mesa and the Northgate area east of I-25. URA funds were also used for the construction of the hotel and visitor center within the Air Force Academy’s federally owned property. A complete list of projects can be found at csura.org.
As the City is cutting department budgets due to a $11 million dollar budget shortfall, neighbors are asking if now is an appropriate time for the City to be allocating tax dollars for private developers? Additionally, concerns heard from neighbors are asking if these projects are aimed at supporting current residents or attracting new residents who can afford the higher rents and home values?
On the URA website their mission is stated: “the URA encourages any partnerships with public/private entities that will result in exceeding both the 10% minimum number of affordable units and the 80% level of affordability.”
Many are confused by “attainable” and “affordable” housing as they are used often and somewhat interchangeably. Based on 2024 Census data for Colorado Springs attainable housing would range between 80%-120% AMI ($34,515-$51,772), and affordable housing would be at or below 60% AMI ($25,886). The key factor in affordable housing is to ensure that housing costs do not require more than 30% of household income.
Approved last week at City Council was the North Weber URA project. Located in Cragmor between N Weber St and Cragmor Rd intersecting with Mt. View Ln. It is represented as attainable housing for 80%-120% AMI coined as the “Missing Middle.” The project documents list average housing costs as: 1bed/1bath – $1,610 rent, 2 Bed/2 Bath – $1,800 rent, and 3 Bed/ 2 Bath – $2,012.
For additional context, a first year teacher in Colorado Springs making an annual salary of $53,000 should pay no more than $1,325 in monthly housing costs. Cost-burdened housing occurs when a household spends more than 30% of its gross income on housing costs, including rent or mortgage payments, utilities, and insurance. This threshold, established by federal standards (HUD), indicates that households may struggle to afford other necessities like food, healthcare, and transportation. Approximately, $2 million dollars from local taxing entities will be used to fund the N Weber URA project. Taxing entities covering these costs are our school districts, libraries, water conservancy, and property taxes. The base tax of the property, prior to development is frozen, which the taxing entities will receive. Any increases in tax revenue on the property from development are dedicated to the developer for a 25-year period, meaning that any new taxes generated from the property for the next 25 will be returned to the developer, with the City only seeing the
development generated revenue until the 26th year (2051).
If this article has generated any thoughts, ideas, or concerns, please share them with us, our email is papetonneighbors@gmail.com. We’re interested to know your thoughts and what we can be doing as a neighborhood to have a voice in the URA process.
More information on URA is available in a slide deck attached to newsletter email. The presentation was provided at a recent teach-in by the Mill Street Coalition.
SPRING SCHEDULE
As warmer weather is already on its way, neighbors are planning spring activities! We hope to have more information soon for park and floodway cleanups, native garden beds, social walks, community murals, and yard sales. Be sure to follow us on social media and sign up for our email list to get updates for neighborhood events!
ELECTIONS
We will be organizing our Papeton Neighborhood Organization elections on May 16, at 1 pm. Mark your calendars to elect a board for 2026-2027, board members meet quarterly to organize community events and discuss ongoing projects. If you’re interested in getting involved , reach out to speak with a current board member to learn what the various roles involve. We aim to keep requirements minimal so that anyone in the neighborhood can serve.
