Posada’s proposed affordable housing development for low-income families in the Regency neighborhood on Pueblo’s south side generated plenty testimony during a planning and zoning commission meeting Wednesday.

Citing a deficit of 3,800 housing units needed for the city’s low-income and unhoused residents, proponents spoke about the dire need for such developments. Opponents, however, questioned the proposed location, raising concerns about density, traffic, safety and diminishing property values.

At the request of Posada Executive Director Kim Bowman, the planning commission opted to delay a decision until its Jan. 11 meeting so all board members could be present to weigh in on the proposal. Just four of the commission’s seven members attended Wednesday’s hearing.

The commission agreed to hear public testimony of the proposed annexation and rezoning of the property from those who could not return for the Jan. 11 meeting. A total of 11 people spoke during Wednesday’s meeting.

The Dorcy Community Housing development is proposed for a nearly 11-acre site south of Red Creek Springs Road just north of Regency Park. The 219-unit Sunset Country Estates mobile home park is located to the west of the proposed site.

The parcel is surrounded on three sides by Pueblo city limits, and annexation into the city would make it eligible for city water and sewer services, said engineering consultant Michael Cuppy of North Star Engineering.

Preliminary plans call for eight three-story apartment buildings and four single-family or eight town home lots. The plan calls for a density of 18 units per acre, which exceeds the maximum recommended density of a suburban neighborhood, where two to five dwelling units per acre are recommended, said Beritt Odom, principal planner for Pueblo’s Department of Planning and Community Development.

The development calls for the extension of the dead end street Kingsroyal Boulevard to provide access for residents. Cuppy said the development is in its beginning steps and site plans are “very preliminary."

"It is just an idea or concept, and nothing is set in stone," Cuppy said.

Planning Commission member Pat Avalos, who also sits on Pueblo City Council, said the development would inherently increase the amount of traffic in the neighborhood. Odom agreed but said there might be a traffic study required at the time the development plans are addressed.

The staff report states that if the planning and zoning commission finds the rezoning request furthers the goals and objectives of the comprehensive plan, a recommendation of approval to Pueblo City Council is appropriate. The challenge is the comprehensive plan calls for less density in the proposed multifamily development location but also states that the city needs to accommodate different housing options, Odom said.

Rising housing costs spur need for affordable options

“Rising housing costs have made it difficult for many people to find housing at a price that they can afford,” Odom said.

The development also fits within the city’s 3-mile annexation plan, Odom said.

The late Father Roger Patrick Dorcy, who served both the Cathederal of the Sacred Heart and Our Lady of the Meadows Catholic churches, deeded the property to Posada. He died July 23, 2005, as the result of a car accident.

Bowman said Posada currently oversees 192 housing units. The agency started its work helping the unhoused and low-income families, veterans and the elderly in 1997.

“We absolutely improve neighborhoods, and there is no question whatsoever that we maintain the best property in the neighborhoods,” Bowman said.

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Supporters say project addresses 'extreme need' for affordable housing

Daniel Cordova, who said he works near Posada's lower east side housing development at Fourth Street and Hudson Avenue, said he has seen a big change in the neighborhood.

“The buildings were abandoned, dilapidated and there were people living in them. Now there are beautiful apartments and offices in an area that otherwise would have been a hotbed for drug use,” Cordova said.

Cordova said he would rather see the unhoused living in their own homes than living in tents behind the country club.

Posada Property Manager Katie Schilling said she knows firsthand what it is like to struggle to find housing. She said she was once a single mom who resided at Posada’s Rio Sacramento housing development at 15 Calhoun Road while she was working on her degree at Colorado State University Pueblo.

“I recognize the extreme need for safe, clean, adequate, well-maintained affordable housing," Schilling said. "Residents who live in these developments are active members of community who are just as deserving as you are."

"This would be a step in the right direction to solving the housing crisis. It would also provide hope to other agencies with clients who have the exact same need,” Schilling said.

Also speaking in support of the project was Alexis Ellis, who is a facilitator for the city’s Community Commission on Housing and Homelessness.

“There is a desperate need in Pueblo,” Ellis said. “We have a gap of 3,800 housing units, and Posada has a history of high-quality housing stock and is one of the few affordable housing developers in Pueblo,” Ellis said.

Carla Barela of Cortez Construction Company said she is "very uncomfortable with the people we see on the streets, at the river bottom or looking for handouts on the corners."

"I think about how difficult it would be to be poor," she said. "So providing people a chance to hope and get ahead is one of the most dignified things we can do as a community.”

Residents express concerns over traffic, safety

In speaking against the proposal, Greg Harms said he believes in the Posada mission but has an issue with the density of the proposed project.

He said the nearby Regency Crest Domega Homes development is home to nearly 1,000 residents whose “average age is 67 years old.” He said a large influx of people to the area would cause safety concerns and those residents will “live in fear."

He urged the commission to have "respect and compassion for the elderly residents who live there.”

Susan Whittemore, who lives near the proposed development, expressed concerns about traffic in the neighborhood.

“The property will be home to 190 families, so we are looking at over 800 people. And it’s terrifying to think about that volume of traffic coming down the street,” Whittemore said.

Joe Baca said the three-story apartment structures would tower behind single-family homes, and he fears there would be “increased traffic, crime and everything else that comes with a housing project.”

Gene Rizzi said the influx of 800 people “coming and going would not be tolerable, and the value of property in that area is going to diminish.” He opined that all of the Regency Park neighborhood would “suffer from that.”

Steel City Industrial Park OK'd

In other business, the commission unanimously recommended city council approve the proposed 15-acre Steel City Industrial Park located just west of EVRAZ Rocky Mountain Steel Mill and north of West Pueblo Boulevard.

The property is owned by Dee R. Hansen of DRH Properties of Salt Lake City, Utah, which proposes to develop five industrial lots, a private road and a drainage area on the former Minnequa Industrial Park stormwater retention pond site.

Cuppy suggested turn lanes be added at the Interstate 25 and Pueblo Boulevard intersection because access is already becoming problematic at the site. The former drive-in site located across I-25 also is being developed, so the Colorado Department of Transportation will require a traffic study on both developments, Odom said.

The commission is expected to meet again at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 11, when testimony will continue on the Dorcy Community Housing annexation and rezoning proposals.

More on affordable housing:NeighborWorks wins initial approval for affordable housing subdivision in west Pueblo

This article has been updated to clarify that city planning staff has not made a recommendation for or against the annexation and zone change for the Dorcy affordable housing project.

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo affordable housing project before planners; residents weigh in