After much negotiation between national and local government entities, on March 1st Summit County purchased 43 acres of land for affordable housing development in Lake Hill.
This new land will give developers a canvas to create 250-350 housing units. The Summit County Workforce Housing Needs Assessment determined that at least 400 housing units were needed by 2017 to keep up with the county’s growing population. Acquiring this land will more than put a dent in satisfying that need.
Aptly named Lake Hill, this land is waterfront property, centrally located between Frisco and Silverthorne on Lake Dillon. It’s proximity to I-70 and Highway 9 also makes this neighborhood ideal for locals regardless of where they work.
In true Summit County fashion, the development committee who will design the Lake Hill neighborhood plans to first take input from the community about what it would like to see before they do anything else. The final building plan is expected by September, 2016.
This acquisition is a feather in Summit County’s cap for thinking outside the box. When our local government placed a bid to buy the land from the Department of Agriculture, the land was protected as National Forest. After a short re-examination of the land, it was determined that recent developments have negated its categorization as land in need of protection. (It sits parallel to I-70, adjacent to the town of Frisco, and has utility corridors running through it.)
As a bonus, the purchase of Lake Hill will also help local environmental efforts. Summit County paid the U.S. Forest Service $1.7 million for the 43-acres. Those dollars have been legislatively mandated to stay within the region and benefit local Forest Service facilities. Some of the funds have already been designated to purchase a new Dillon Ranger District station in Silverthorne.
This is truly an exciting moment for Summit County! Not only does this purchase propel us far into the marathon to provide housing for locals, but it also signifies the lengths to which our local government will go to live up to promises.
For more information about the Lake Hill land acquisition, please check out this article.
