WEEK OF JANUARY 30, 2025
VOLUME 136 | ISSUE 26
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Residents buy mobile home park in Littleton Meadowood Village purchase will help lock in affordable housing for decades to come BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
In his role at the 18th Judicial District, Zink works on the vehicular homicide team and hate crimes team, and he also has experience in the special victims unit. He told the Littleton Independent he was inspired to apply for the city council seat because he wants to be involved in community safety in a different way. “As a DA … we’re always reacting, or mostly reacting. The bad thing has already happened,” he said. “I was really interested in serving the community in another way, where I could maybe try to stop some bad things from happening. It’s still a community safety focus for me, and it always will be, but I wanted to expand what that meant for myself and give myself some more tools to actually
After almost a year of paperwork, grant applications and meetings, the residents of a mobile home park in Littleton are now the proud owners of the land beneath their homes. In purchasing the park, the residents of Meadowood Village have gained control of the property and have locked in affordable housing for at least 30 years, based on the terms of their loan agreements. Last spring, the residents received notice of a corporation’s intent to buy the park, which is located on the west side of Santa Fe Drive, just north of Breckenridge Brewery. Since then, the residents, who are mostly over the age of 55, have worked together to achieve ownership of their mobile home park. Because a Colorado law offers mobile home park residents 120 days after notice of a potential sale to make their own offer, the residents of Meadowood Village worked to become a cooperative. They made an offer on the park, secured financing, conducted inspections and, on Jan. 10, officially became the owners of the land beneath their homes. “It’s ours now,” Meadowood Cooperative President Sandy Cook said. “That’s the important part. That’s what our goal has been for the last year, is to make the park ours.” When notice of the corporate intent to purchase came in, Cook and her neighbors were concerned that the potential new corporate owners would have raised rents on the land beneath their homes. They feared this would lead to the displacement of many residents who relied on their mobile homes as a form of affordable housing in an expensive market. With housing that’s affordable hard to come by throughout the metro area, including Littleton, mobile homes are often a catch-all for those who otherwise have few alternatives to be homeowners. Also known as manufactured homes, these structures are often considered the largest source of unsubsidized housing that is affordable in the nation.
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New At-Large City Councilmember Joel Zink sits at the dais in Littleton’s council chambers after being sworn in on Jan. 21.
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Joel Zink takes seat on Littleton council 5-0 city council vote places new member in position vacated by Gretchen Rydin BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Joel Zink, Littleton’s newest city council member, took his seat at the dais on Jan. 21, after he took an oath to serve the community as an at-large representative. The city council selected Zink from a group of 21 applicants who competed for the vacant seat, which was left by Gretchen Rydin when she recently departed the city council to serve in the Colorado statehouse. Zink will serve the remainder of Rydin’s at-large term, which ends this November. Zink, who is a senior deputy district attorney in the 18th Judicial District, said he is honored to have been chosen from an “outstanding group of applicants.” “I just want to take an opportunity to thank you all on the council for this oppor-
tunity to serve my community, our community,” he said after he was sworn in. Rydin was not involved in the selection process, and Mayor Kyle Schlachter was absent for the final vote to appoint Zink. As a result, the five present members voted in favor of Zink’s appointment. Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Barr said it was extremely difficult to select one person out of the applicants, and that Zink “brings a wealth of qualifications and time in public service and serving his community.” To fill the seat, the city council reviewed resumes, cover letters and question responses from the candidates before inviting seven individuals to participate in public interviews on Jan. 9. The meeting was open to the public, but was not broadcast or recorded. Deputy City Manager Mike Gent said the city chose not to record the meeting “out of respect for the applicants.” “This is the same approach we use for filling spots on the boards and commissions,” he said. “We want applicants to feel as comfortable as possible and learn from the experience,
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without having to worry about a permanent record being created.” Zink said he would have had no problem with his interview being recorded, but he said he could not speak for the other applicants’ preferences. Zink’s priorities
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