Comment on FR Doc # 2026-08937
AnonymousSupportGovernment
Summary: The Yampa Valley Housing Authority, a public housing authority, supports the proposed USDA rule change exempting administrative site leases from Special Use Permits. They argue that the current lease templates are incompatible with modern real estate financing, and this rule change would facilitate the development of affordable housing for Forest Service employees and the local community.
Yampa Valley Housing Authority (YVHA), a public housing authority based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is in support of of the proposed USDA rule change exempting administrative site leases from Special Use Permits.
For the past many years, YVHA has been working collaboratively with the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and the City of Steamboat Springs to lease a qualifying administrative site located in Steamboat Springs under the leasing authority first created by the 2018 Farm Bill and then extended through the EXPLORE Act. The leasing authority is a great opportunity for the Forest to engage in a partnership that results in new affordable housing units for its workforce in a community that has a severe shortage of affordable housing. However, the Forest's existing template site lease is not compatible with modern real estate financing practices, making it challenging, if not impossible, to implement the vision of the leasing authority. The proposed USDA rule change could make it possible for us to collaboratively work through these challenges, resulting in an administrative site lease that more closely aligns with how housing developments are typically financed, built, and operated, and ultimately, new affordable units for local USFS employees and the broader community. We thank the Forest Service for the continued partnership and appreciate your consideration of our perspective.