City and county team up on housing crisis

When Jeremy Holt of the Sundance Economic Development Committee approached the county commissioners last week, his aim was to offer thanks for the county’s support of efforts to increase local housing options and his hope for continued support in future.

He was perhaps not expecting the commission to suggest giving each of Crook County’s municipalities a much larger area of influence.

Under state law, said Commissioner Kelly Dennis, municipalities of the size of Sundance, Hulett, Pine Haven and Moorcroft have “some say-so” within a mile of town limits.

Dennis said he would like to see the county work on regulations that could create a bigger “donut” around each of the municipalities in order to encourage development. He suggested increasing the donut to three miles.

Pine Haven has been pushing for this for the last five or six years, Dennis said, and he’s sure that Sundance and Moorcroft would feel the same way. Increasing the donut would give the towns more authority on such things as sewer, water and other utilities, he said.

Dennis explained his motivation: to encourage development in parts of the county that already have the infrastructure. This makes the most sense for future growth, he said.

“I really think that our first step is to encourage development, like you’re doing, in the areas that are very supportive of the development and actually have something to offer in the way of utilities and amenities,” Dennis told Holt.

Holt concurred, noting that Sundance has a growing problem with providing housing. According to a recent survey, he said, the city is 100 houses short at this time just for employment purposes.

Meanwhile, added Commissioner Bob Latham, an estimated 70% of Sundance’s teachers live in South Dakota.

“We’ve been working very hard this year on housing as our number one [goal],” said Holt, to which Commissioner Fred Devish responded, “Amen.”

“We’re trying to make more housing available around town,” Holt continued.

“We’ve got these subdivisions that were sold out here, we’re trying to get them started by trying to find help for them. If we can make it a little easier on their pocketbook, I think they’re going to be able to go a little faster.”

The committee just turned in its very first grant application for an extension of 21st Street to connect under the interstate, Holt said, and is looking to extend utilities to areas that are not currently served by the city.

“When we start going out farther, we’d like to work with the county as much as we can for future growth, possibly, around town,” he said.

Holt also spoke to a five-acre parcel of land on Highway 585 that was acquired as a recapture as part of a deal to assist Croell Inc. with a utilities grant as the company built new headquarters.

“The city council and mayor are actually going to give [the committee] that chunk of land,” Holt said, describing a plan for four four-plexes in one corner surrounded by duplexes and single-family homes.

“It’s not going to be the $400,000 or $500,000 houses,” he said, telling the commission that, as a realtor, he hasn’t worked with a first-time home buyer in two years because they have all been priced out of the market.

This has prompted a focus on smaller, more affordable housing.

“If we could provide a different alternative for first- and second-time home buyer kind of people that they could buy a lot and build a decent house on it, with utilities there and everything, I think we could spur growth pretty quickly,” he said.

Holt offered an open invitation to the commissioners to the committee’s future meetings. Commissioner Fred Devish requested that the committee sends the commission its meeting minutes and expressed willingness to assist with such things as letters of support for grants.

Dennis meanwhile shared his aim to speak with each of the municipalities about expanding their “donuts” of influence in the near future.