The Roadmap Ahead – a Community Update from the Slate Creek Steering Committee
Few issues have challenged Steamboat Springs more in recent years than the provision of affordable housing. Yet through all of the disagreement, one thing has remained true: we want this community to remain a place where the people who live and work here can continue to call it home. Though many of us agree on this concept wholeheartedly, the 2024 Brown Ranch annexation vote made it clear that the public is still grappling with how to handle future affordable housing development on the community’s western edge. But it also made something else clear: if we’re going to move forward, we need to do it differently.
That’s exactly what has been happening over the past several months. Since February, representatives from the City of Steamboat Springs, Routt County, and the Yampa Valley Housing Authority have spent more than 30 hours together building something that didn’t exist before: a shared governance model for Slate Creek (formerly Brown Ranch) based on consensus. Together, we’ve established the Slate Creek Steering Committee, a group committed to making major decisions collaboratively instead of having one organization develop a plan to which everyone else reacts. That may sound like a whole lot of “process over product”, but it actually signifies a major change within this effort. Moving forward, any plans for the Slate Creek Neighborhood will be created jointly by the Steering Committee.
Over the coming months, we will create and test development scenarios, gather community input, and build on the tremendous amount of work completed over the past five years (and the input of countless community members who have invested their time, ideas, and passion into this process). Rather than presenting a finished plan, this phase is about working through the difficult questions together. Community members will have opportunities to help shape priorities by weighing tradeoffs and comparing different scenarios, which will ultimately help inform the direction of a future neighborhood plan. That work will lead to a proposed annexation agreement and, if the process continues as anticipated, a community vote in the fall of 2027.
Instead of pursuing annexation of the entire 420 acres within the Urban Growth Boundary, Slate Creek Steering Committee conversations thus far have focused on initial annexation of a smaller portion of the site – and fewer homes – than were proposed during the previous Brown Ranch process. We’ve also adopted a new name for the project, the Slate Creek Neighborhood, reflecting the geography of the area and recognizing this as a fresh chapter built on the lessons we’ve learned together.
Our community continues to face a housing crisis that affects young professionals, families, employers, longtime residents, and future generations. At the same time, we know people want a process for Slate Creek that feels thoughtful, transparent, and inclusive. The Slate Creek Steering Committee is committed to balancing the urgency of our housing challenges with meaningful community engagement. Every step of the roadmap has been designed to respond to concerns we’ve heard, incorporate community feedback, and create a plan that is financially feasible, reflects our shared values, and has broad community support.
We also recognize that Slate Creek is only one piece of a much larger housing strategy. No single project will solve Steamboat’s housing challenges on its own. But it has the potential to become an important part of the solution – alongside other efforts to make an impact on affordability – which are already underway throughout our community. As this work continues, we simply ask that you stay engaged, ask questions, and keep an open mind towards this process. We are hard at work doing everything we can to steward this great opportunity to reach its best possible outcome for the benefit of the community.
From the Slate Creek Steering Committee
Dave Barnes, City of Steamboat Springs – City Councilmember
Shannon Doin-Landers, Yampa Valley Housing Authority – Board of Directors
Gail Garey, City of Steamboat Springs – City Councilmember
Jay Harrington, Routt County – County Manager
Emily Katzman, Yampa Valley Housing Authority – Development Project Manager
Tom Leeson, City of Steamboat Springs – City Manager
Angelica Salinas, Routt County – County Commissioner
Lou Tortora, Yampa Valley Housing Authority – Board of Directors