By Lyndsie Ferrell
DEL NORTE— The Del Norte Town Board welcomed project developer Angie Jenson to the July 11 meeting to hear more about a community development project that will bring tiny homes to the area. Jenson has built other tiny home communities that have brought noticeable benefits to areas like Poncha Springs, located just outside of Salida and would like to bring the same type of project to Del Norte.
Jenson started her presentation by explaining the project in detail, stating that it would consist of 22 small homes that would range anywhere from 450 to 600 square feet. “These are cute, well-built homes that are energy-efficient. We want to have 22 lots on the property located near 4th and Alder Street. The homes would not have property lines and be developed more in a cluster design. Our goal is to create a community and bring people together,” said Jenson.
The project proposal also includes expanding the existing walking path that outlines the property where the homes would be built. “We want to recharge the wetland area that sits in the middle of the property using a ditch that runs just outside the property line. In addition to recharging the wetlands, we would develop a small community park with a walking trail that would go through the property and invite the public to come and enjoy the park as much as the people who would reside there,” explained Jenson.
In order for the project to get underway, the town board would need to have the planning and zoning commission create what is called a PUD (planned unit development code). Jenson explained that the developer would also need the town to vacate a portion of Cedar Street and the alley, allow access to utility taps that would serve six units per tap, allow the re-routing of the irrigation ditch in order to recharge the wetland area and allow re-plating of the existing 22 lots into two lots in order to form the cluster housing.
“I don’t want to rush you in creating the PUD, but I have investors that are ready to get the project underway and even people interested in living in the homes once they are built,” said Jenson. The town board agreed that they would like to see the project get started by the end of the summer and asked Town Attorney Gene Farish to review the draft code. Farish explained that the code needs to specify exactly what the board wants as far as who would be responsible for overseeing the housing development but that after the details were worked out, he would be able to present the code to the planning and zoning commission at their next scheduled meeting on July 23.
“We need to move this along as quickly as possible. There are many details that need to be worked out, but I think we can have it ready for final consideration by the August town board meeting,” said Mayor Chris Trujillo.
Jenson stated that the homes could be sold, rented month-to-month by local residents or be rented as vacation homes. “We want a fun and funky community that would help bring people to the area and stimulate the economy,” finished Jenson.
The draft ordinance 704 for the PUD will be presented to the planning and zoning commission before returning to the board for final approval with plans to have construction start by the end of summer.