Tiny homes village for homeless closer to reality in Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers and the City Council heard the results of a weekend trip to Austin, Texas, by a group of local leaders who toured a tiny homes village for the homeless.

The group of eight included council members Jill Gaebler and Richard Skorman.

A successful village called Community First started three years ago in Austin, funded by donors and supported by volunteers.

The village has 200 formerly longtime homeless people and 50 non-homeless people who help operate and supervise the community.

Skorman said the residents pay rent, sign a contract to live in the village and work a variety of jobs and trades to earn money.

“They can even grow their own food,” he said. “It’s very safe there.”

A second phase at the village will eventually house a total of 500 people, which is 40% of Austin’s homeless population.

“Homelessness increased 5% percent in Austin last year, so it doesn’t solve the homeless issue there but it definitely had an impact,” said Andrew Phelps, the homelessness prevention and response coordinator for Colorado Springs.

The 51-acre camp grew from a ministry that fed the homeless and later purchased recreational vehicles for the homeless to live in.

Estimates are that a similar village in Colorado Springs would cost $15 million.

“We already have some financial support,” said Gaebler. “We need donors and volunteers to help us start a village and operate it. This is a good idea for Colorado Springs.”

Suthers says he doesn’t oppose a village if the funding exists to support it, and if a location can be found that everyone agrees on.

“From a zoning and land use perspective, it would be like a mobile home park,” he said. “The question is is there an appropriate place that you can identify?”

In a related matter, Skorman said the city is still dealing with homeless RV campers who park too long in public areas.

“Very few RV parks, churches or other entities will allow campers to park there,” he said. “We’ve had some success in raising money to repair RVs so that the campers can travel back to relatives. Some campers have medical issues.”

Enforcement begins July 1 on a new ordinance that bans RV parking in public areas.

Homeless issues were discussed Wednesday during a daylong work session at the Colorado Springs airport. Here’s a summary of other matters:

PAVING:

The city will ask voters in November to extend the 2C sales tax increase for street paving, for an additional five years. The tax will be at a lower rate and more of the paving will focus on neighborhood streets.

PARKS:

The city also will ask voters this fall to retain nearly $7 million in excess sales tax revenue, known as a TABOR refund, and spend it on needed city parks improvements. By law, a TABOR refund must be given to taxpayers unless they vote to allow the city to keep it.

SPEEDING:

Police Chief Vince Niski said his officers have issued more than 11,000 speeding tickets through April, an increase of 8,000 from the same period a year ago. The increase reflects a renewed focus, he said, on enforcing speeding violations, especially in neighborhoods.

PARKING:

Scott Lee, the city’s parking enterprise director, proposed raising parking fees over the next five years, at meters and city parking garages. Lee said it has been 20 years since parking fees were increased and although its rates remain the lowest in the region, the city is losing millions of dollars in potential revenue. Lee also suggested investing more money in upkeep of parking facilities.