Reducing housing development costs by building on free or low-cost public land isn’t a new idea. But it gained significant momentum this week when the federal Department of Interior formally combined forces with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a new task force.
Its mandate, according to the agency, is “to increase housing supply and decrease costs for millions of Americans.”
This federal initiative is in line with projects underway in Teton County, Wyoming, Summit County, Colorado, and Madison County, Montana. But these current efforts to bring more affordable housing to market by building on public land so far, remain separate from what’s happening with the new DOI-HUD task force.
Progress In Jackson
"We are on the front lines of this issue, working closely in partnership with the Bridger-Teton National Forest," Anne Cresswell, executive director of the Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust, told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. "We've been working on it for over 10 years and we're excited to be making significant progress."
The Housing Trust is on track to become the first developer in the nation to be awarded a special use permit to develop affordable housing on an administrative parcel of Forest Service land.
“Land is not conveyed,” said Cresswell. “We will have a special use permit much like a ski area or a fishing lodge would have a special use permit. There is no cost associated with the special use permit.”
The permit will apply to a 7.5-acre parcel adjacent to the town of Jackson, located by the Nelson Drive Trailhead accessing Bridger-Teton National Forest.
The Special Use Permit, explained Cresswell, ensures federal land stays in federal hands all the while enabling an opportunity to address not only the essential housing needs facing the Forest Service, but the housing crisis facing the Jackson community at large.
Cresswell added that the Community Housing Trust and forest officials are looking at developing 13 multi-family buildings approved in 2012 — a combination of duplexes, triplexes — so that 1/3 of the units go to house Forest Service employees, and 2/3 go to the community at large.
In the White River National Forest of Summit County, Colorado, a workforce housing project planned on U.S. Forest Service land is currently on hold as the project parameters continue to be negotiated, according to a February story on summitdaily.com.
The news site reported, “Construction of the 162-unit workforce housing project just outside the town of Dillon had previously been expected to start this year. But while county and Forest Service officials say they remain committed to the project, they have not provided a timeline for when it might move forward.”
Affordable housing has been a longtime problem for Jackson, Wyoming, as rents and property prices have far exceeded the average wage of local workers. Local public lands have been used to build affordable housing on, and now federal legislators are considering the same. 
The CLB design firm’s renderings of residential units proposed for a parcel of public land near the Nelson Drive Trailhead in Jackson. (CLB) 
Affordable housing has been a longtime problem for Jackson, Wyoming, as rents and property prices have far exceeded the average wage of local workers. Local public lands have been used to build affordable housing on, and now federal legislators are considering the same. 
This rendering shows what the 200 units could look like on a future affordable housing development on public land through a partnership with Jackson/Teton Affordable Housing. (Jackson/Teton Affordable Housing) 
An affordable housing complex in Jackson, Wyoming.
Which Kind of Public Land?
The Forest Service falls under the Department of Agriculture, and its affordable housing efforts on public land were not mentioned or included in the recent announcement about the DOI-HUD taskforce.
DOI oversees more than 500 million acres of federal land, “much of it suitable for residential use,” according to the recent press release.
“This is about more than building houses. We want to build hope,” continued the release. “Overlooked rural and tribal communities will be a focus of this joint agreement. We are going to invest in America’s many forgotten communities.”
In Madison County, Montana, where land is about 50% owned by state and federal agencies, the local housing coordinator is looking at public land owned by municipalities and school districts.
Jim Jarvis, who is employed through a partnership with Madison County and Northern Rocky Mountain Economic Development District, said he’s been working to “identify those weird little, chunks of publicly owned land that's left over from some project from 30 years ago that never quite happened. So that land just kind of sat there.”
“It's that weird little 2-acre or 20-acre chunk,” said Jarvis, pointing to progress with developing affordable housing in Twin Bridges, Montana, on property owned by the Twin Bridges School District.
“It’s where their old bus barn used to be,” Jarvis told Cowboy State Daily Friday. “It's a vacant piece of land they've identified that would be a good location for a couple of duplexes. And so I'm working with them in my capacity as the housing coordinator to try to figure out if there is some funding available that would help them.”
The upside of working with a local municipality or school district to secure public land for affordable housing is the new homes will be built near existing infrastructure and local employers.
Looking ahead, Jarvis said, “Whether it's BLM or other that's available here in Madison County, I have to believe there probably are parcels of federal land that would probably meet some if not all of those criteria.”
Not A Fit Everywhere
Not everyone working to develop more affordable housing sees federal public land as a viable solution to the widespread shortage of affordable homes.
“When you look at a map of Wyoming showing federal lands you can see that much of the federal land is in remote areas,” wrote Melissa Noah, executive director of the Wyoming Housing Network, in an email to Cowboy State Daily. “Somewhere around 58% of Wyoming is federal land.”
“There may be small areas where this will help, but the ongoing challenges for Wyoming housing would still affect the ability to develop there,” added Noah. “These include access to important infrastructure like water and power, and a workforce with construction skills.”
Noah characterized the recent news of the DOI-HUD task force as “a step forward in creating access to housing,” but access to public land isn’t by itself a solution.
“I hope that a more comprehensive program that encompasses these additional challenges and how current HUD programs help address those needs is being considered,” said Noah, adding, “As someone born and raised in Wyoming, it drives home our state’s dependence on federal funding or federal benevolence (like access to federal lands) to help address housing needs across the housing spectrum.
“I believe Wyoming would benefit from a state housing investment program that empowers us to solve Wyoming issues with Wyoming control.”
The Big Sky Example
Like Jackson, Big Sky, Montana, is a booming resort community that’s struggling to provide affordable housing for its workforce and year-round residents.
The Big Sky Community Housing Trust (BSCHT) is partnering with Lone Mountain Land Company to add 389 deed-restricted homes for rent and purchase, which will be reserved exclusively for Big Sky’s workforce and their families.
To help pay for the project, the Housing Trust is asking voters to support the Cold Smoke Housing Bond at the ballot box on May 6.
“If voters approve of the Cold Smoke Housing Bond, BSCHT will purchase the nearly 100-acre parcel of land, plus infrastructure, and will permanently own it on behalf of the community using the Community Land Trust (CLT),” according to the BSCHT website. “By electing to bond, the community can borrow against our local resort tax’s future collections, without increasing taxes, to address critical needs like housing.”
As for partnering with federal agencies to lower the cost of developing residential units by building them on cost-free or low-cost public land, David O’Connor, executive director of BSCHT, said that hasn’t been part of the mix so far.
“There was a program that potentially made certain U.S. Forest Service lands available for affordable housing,” O’Connor told Cowboy State Daily Friday in an email. “However, the land had to be designated within USFS as ‘Administrative Parcels,’ and there are no such holdings around Big Sky.”
Generally, added O’Connor, BSCHT doesn’t favor converting federal or state land holdings, “which are reserved for recreation or conservation purposes.”
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
