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Q. In Steamboat's housing picture, what role do mobile homes play in providing affordable housing for Routt County residents?

A. Mobile homes represent an important segment of our housing stock, making up 8 percent of the total housing units in Routt County. A significant 44 percent, or 420 units, of all the mobile homes in Routt County are within the city limits of Steamboat. The average value of a mobile home is $29,000 compared to the average median price of a condominium at $209,000.

Q. What are the perils of owning a mobile home on land that is not owned by the mobile-home owner?

A. Unlike a single-family home where you own the house and the land it sits on, in most mobile home parks in Steamboat, tenants might own their own trailer but not the land under it.

The two major drawbacks for mobile-home owners are situations that we have experienced first-hand here over the past few years.

First, the park owner can raise the monthly lot rental rates to the point where the tenant finds that it is no longer affordable to work and live here. If we lose our working-class housing, we run the risk of becoming an exclusive, rather than an inclusive community.

Second, the mobile-home tenants could face displacement and relocation if the land is redeveloped into another use. Considering the lack of vacancies for mobile-home lots in existing parks, and a lack of any new parks created during the past five years here, there really is no place to go.

Q. Is the dilemma occurring now between the homeowners at Westland Trailer Park and the developer who plans to redevelop the site a situation that is likely to occur in other trailer parks in Steamboat?

A. Possibly. As the remaining vacant land in Steamboat gets developed, more pressure will be put on those mobile-home parks that are becoming prime real estate, especially those parcels adjacent to the scenic Yampa River.

Q. What can be done to ease these kinds of situations? Are there other housing alternatives or models that can be used?

A. I believe opportunities exist to build one or more parks within the city where both new rental lots and/or direct lot ownership could be accommodated. And I hope that the new Yampa Valley Housing Authority puts that project high on its to-do list. Next, the city already has stated in the Community Plan Update that its policy will encourage the conversion of mobile home parks from rental to ownership by establishing a simplified process for that to occur.

We saw a successful conversion of the Hilltop mobile home park a few years ago. The tenants organized themselves, and the owner of the park sold the underlying land to the tenants. In the long term, this is the best way to ensure that mobile-home owners control their own destiny.

According to the existing planning process, what are developers required to do by law when redeveloping land that would displace mobile-home owners? Does this law go far enough to protect mobile-home owners' rights?

The "Preservation of Mobile Home Housing Ordinance" was passed in August 2001, mainly in response to the Trailer Haven park's conversion to new tennis courts owned by the Health and Rec Center.

The ordinance requires the owner/developer to provide information in terms of a list of resources. It requires the owner/developer to prepare a report outlining the impacts on residents that any closure or conversion of a mobile-home park might have, including a list of known available mobile-home sites within a 50-mile radius, a list of rental rates for those parks and a relocation plan including the proposed closure date, and what, if any, financial assistance may be offered to the tenants.

Other communities have a "no net loss of housing" requirement or a mandate to provide financial assistance such as a relocation allowance, rather than leaving it optional under our current law.

Clearly, this is an emerging policy issue that pits the desire for economic redevelopment against the demand for affordable housing.