Mailbag: I support affordable housing, senior affordable housing, Summit development

The critical shortage of affordable housing is a regional and national concern, and here in Lyons as well. It existed prior to the September 2013 flood, and was certainly exacerbated by it. At this point, six and a half years after the flood, only six units have been built, representing about 6% to 8% of the estimated 76 to 94 homes lost.

At this rate (one unit per year), considering the difficulty in locating available land, acquiring funding, and the long, complicated planning and development process, it would take 70 to 88 more years just to reach the affordable housing we had prior to the flood. If the Bohn Park affordable housing project had been approved by Lyons voters in 2015, we would have replaced about what was lost in the flood by 2016, giving those lower-income displaced Lyons residents a chance of returning home.

The loss of that vote was devastating to many of us who had hoped that Lyons residents whose homes survived the flood would have supported a way to bring its displaced residents back to Lyons. The diversity we had all treasured as part of what makes Lyons such a wonderful community was altered, perhaps forever. A friend of mine said she felt Lyons lost a part of its soul then.

I have been a Lyons resident since April of 1998, owning my home from then to its sale in 2007. Since 2007, I have been a renter, learning first hand as a self-employed designer, artist, community art activist, and volunteer how difficult it is to find affordable rentals in Lyons.

I am currently sharing a home in Stone Canyon with two other women, one of whom is the homeowner. If this situation were to become unavailable, I would likely have to leave Lyons. I love Lyons! I feel like I belong here.

I especially want to express the need for affordable senior housing. Currently, the wait list for senior housing at Walt Self is five to 10 years for the 12 available units, likely causing many of us to leave the community we call home and in which we had hoped to ‘age in place.’

I very much appreciate the dedicated efforts of our mayors (Julie Van Domelen, John O’Brien, and Connie Sullivan), the Board of Trustees, and others who have worked tirelessly to create affordable housing in Lyons, and the balanced cultural diversity and economic stability it would bring.

While I had hoped the proposed Tract A affordable housing development would be the full 43 units, I sincerely hope the current Summit plan (21 multi-family and 19 single-family homes) will be approved and built. It may be too late for many of our pre-flood neighbors to return, but I hope it will help keep Lyons community members, like me, at home.

Cathy Rivers
Lyons

Letters to the editor may be edited for length and clarity.