After over a year of organizing with Mountain Voices Project (MVP), residents of Cavern Springs Mobile Home Park in Colorado’s Roaring Fork have raised millions of dollars and negotiated a contract with their landowner to purchase the land under their homes.

Since last July, Mountain Voices Project has worked with residents of Sopris Mountain Collective, a cooperative in Glenwood Springs, to organize funding to establish the park as a resident-owned community. This would keep 100 homes in the park permanently affordable in a region facing an extreme housing crisis. 

After making their case to Glenwood Springs City Council (pictured above), residents are now calling on the City of Aspen to contribute public funding toward a resident-ownership purchase of the mobile home park. As the current land owner considers a $23 million offer from an undisclosed buyer, residents continue using fundraising, political, and legal tools to advance their cooperative effort.

After months of work with leaders in the business, non-profit and education communities, Mountain Voices Project and the Glenwood Community Housing Coalition made a significant step forward in pursuing an investment in local workforce housing.

At the urging of MVP, the Glenwood Springs City Council advanced a ballot proposition for a 2.5% increase in the lodging tax to invest in workforce housing with a 6-1 vote.  15 MVP leaders representing seven member institutions packed the city council chambers during deliberation. 

This follows a civic academy at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church where residents and stakeholders learned about the potential impact of this initiative.  If approved by voters, the Lodging Tax will increase from 2.5% to 5%, and generate new revenue dedicated for workforce housing strategies. 

Leaders plan to educate voters about the ballot proposition in advance of the election.

Lodging Tax to Go to Voters in Glenwood Springs This Fall, Post Independent [pdf]