The City Council Tuesday night waived all the development fees for Longmont’s Veterans Community Project which is going to build 26 tiny homes for use as transitional rental housing for veterans exiting homelessness.
The fee waiver totals $189,518 which would close the gap caused by increased construction costs to build the tiny home project, said Mark Solomon, a veteran and co-founder of the Veterans Community Project.
“This is not about saving money but saving lives,” Solomon said. The fee waiver would pay for the first month’s rent and a safety deposit for more than 70 veterans, he added.
Councilors said the waiver of additional fees for the project makes good financial sense since it would help ensure homeless veterans have access to housing opportunities. Otherwise, they would have to depend on outside agencies to find housing,
“I don’t know of anybody who would be against this idea,” Mayor Joan Peck said.
Veterans Community Project applied for and received the maximum amount of fee waivers allowed to be administratively approved for the rental homes as allowed under the Longmont Municipal Code, a city staff report states.
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