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Longmont council waives development fee for veterans tiny house village

Daily Times-Call - 3/30/2022

Mar. 30—There were shared smiles among Veterans Community Project members Tuesday night, when Longmont City Council members voted unanimously to waive roughly $189,582 in development fees for the nonprofit's tiny house village for homeless veterans.

Before they cast their votes, Mark Solomon, nonprofit co-founder and combat veteran, told council members Tuesday that if the fees weren't waived, it could mean delaying the building of the village until next year.

"The problem is pushing the building to 2023 means that it will be another winter with veterans, who are willing to give up their lives for this country to defend the Constitution ... sleeping on our streets and in our parks and on our sidewalks," Solomon said.

Founded in 2016 in Kansas City, Mo., with a goal to end veteran homelessness, Veterans Community Project is working to build a Longmont community of 26 tiny houses that will serve as transitional housing for homeless veterans. An on-site community center that will provide resources such as case managers is also part of the nonprofit's plan. The community will be on land donated by HMS Development just off South Andersen Street, which is west of Hover Street.

According to a council communications report, the nonprofit had applied for and received the maximum amount of fee waivers permissible for rental homes under the Longmont Municipal Code, but was requesting the additional waiver of the roughly $189,582 in development fees.

The tiny house village is estimated to cost about $5.4 million, with roughly $4.8 million raised so far and a little more than $565,000 still to be acquired.

Council members showed support for Veterans Community Project's efforts.

Mayor Pro Tem Aren Rodriguez said waiving the development fees will actually save the city money.

"I think most of my colleagues know, the cost to the individual taxpayer for services for each unhoused individual in our community that doesn't have secure housing is much higher than it is for this $189,000 in fee waivers," Rodriguez said.

He added that the transitional housing concept is one the city needs desperately and that encouraging it "is just the right way to go."

Mayor Joan Peck said she agreed with Rodriguez.

"The amount of services that we would have to provide to each of these individual veterans would far outweigh the costs of what it does to waive the fees," Peck said. "I would definitely support this movement."

After casting their unanimous vote, there was applause from those gathered in the room.

The vote by council members Tuesday night roughly doubles the amount of development fees waived by Longmont for the project to about $324,000.

Fees were also waived for Veterans Community Project'sKansas City village, and city leaders in Sioux Falls, S.D., have vouched to do the same, according to the council communications report. The nonprofit operates in a total of five communities.

In a follow up with the Times-Call, Solomon said he was "humbled" to hear council members' words of support during the meeting.

"The reality is that every dollar we don't have to raise to pay, for example those permitting fees, allows us to invest that money into solving veteran homelessness," Solomon said.

Construction on the roads and infrastructure at the site began in June 2021. Solomon said they anticipate building the community center in late April, followed by construction on the tiny homes in the summer. The goal is to complete construction of the village by the end of the year.

How to help

Donations to Veterans Community Project can be made online at: veteranscommunityproject.org/vcp-colorado.

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