Strategic Planning and Implementation
Alamosa Housing Needs Assessment and Action Plan
Collaborators Williford LLC, Urban Rural Continuum, WSW Consulting, and Rees Consulting completed the Alamosa Housing Needs Assessment in 2021. The study was informed by site visits, an employer survey, extensive stakeholder interviews, and secondary research. The study found that 410-480 new housing units are needed by 2026, a need for public-private partnerships, and missing middle housing.
The Action Plan followed with intensive community engagement. Methods included a housing solutions survey, housing working group, public workshop, planning commission discussion, and outreach to several community groups including the Homeless Coalition and other non-profit groups. The Plan includes several priority actions to promote diverse housing options in town. These actions are related to zoning, infrastructure, mobile home park improvements, and supportive housing. Both documents were completed in 2021.
Avon Housing Action Plan 2018
Town of Avon leadership hired Williford LLC facilitate a housing action plan to implement the broad housing policy goals that had been established during their recent Comprehensive Plan update. Local elected and appointed leadership worked with Willa Williford to establish clear and measurable goals and action steps for the next three years.
Boulder County Regional Housing Plan
Williford LLC managed the successful creation of a regional housing strategy for Boulder County. We led and supported a diverse stakeholder team of 15 housing professionals to create the County’s first-ever cooperative strategy on affordable housing goals. The plan envisions boldly addressing the local housing crisis by tripling the amount of affordable housing created and preserved over the next 15 years. Boulder County includes nine jurisdictions, ranging from small mountain communities to rapidly growing communities in the eastern plains, as well as the City of Boulder, which is a major employment center, destination, and high-cost community. Over the course of a year, the group conducted more than 30 presentations to gather feedback, hosted a summit for elected officials, and refined the plan through numerous iterations. The plan has now been adopted by seven of the nine jurisdictions within the region.
Boulder Housing Partners Strategic Plan Framework
Work with Board, staff, funders, and community partners to facilitate a strategic plan update and creation of a one-page strategic framework. The one-page document summarizes the agency’s vision, mission, core beliefs, and top four organizational strategies.
Clear Creek County Housing Action Plan
This work was organized around answering: What should Clear Creek County’s role be in supporting and advancing housing in the County? and How do we move from understanding Clear Creek’s housing needs to addressing them effectively?Strategies include building capacity for more collaborative leadership, creation of a multi-jurisdictional housing authority, mobile home park preservation, and aligning land use plans and infrastructure investments to support housing goals. The Action Plan was completed in 2022.
Clear Creek County Innovative Housing Opportunities Program
Idaho Springs and Clear Creek County lead an effort to address the housing challenges. Williford LLC assembled a team to support a three part scope of work. The first element was community engagement and education, including a community asset based marketing campaign called “I say yes to…” and production of a short video about the impacts of the housing shortage on Clear Creek residents and employees. The second element was a review of local land use code in comparison to housing goals for five jurisdictions, and the final element was creating a Multi-jurisdictional Housing Authority. The work was completed in 2024.
Craig, Colorado Housing Action Plan
The team produced the Housing Action Plan for Craig with the primary strategies of leveraging City owned land, coordinating supply-focused employer approach, implementing a housing investment fund, zoning for affordability, housing authority as a tool, and crafting annexation policies for public benefit. This work was completed in 2022.
Estes Park Housing Action Plan
Estes Park, CO – Williford LLC supported Root Policy, City of Estes Park, and Estes Park Housing Authority in creating a housing action plan to implement the redirection of their local lodging tax and significantly increase the production of workforce and affordable housing for the Estes Park Valley. The work was completed in 2023.
Eagle County School District Housing Action Plan 2020
Like many school districts and public sector employers in amenity rich/high housing cost areas, Eagle County School District has faced serious challenges recruiting and retaining teachers and staff. Our team helped the district understand employees’ housing needs and identify the priorities and due diligence harness District owned land and other resources to creating housing for employees.
Gunnison Watershed School District Housing Action Plan
Gunnison, CO – Williford LLC worked with Urban Rural Continuum and a working group of School District staff and Board members to create an action plan to build new housing for employees and increase student engagement in the design, planning, and construction processes. The work was completed in 2024.
Housing Plan for the Study Areas of Granby, Grand Lake, Kremmling, and Hot Sulphur Springs
Building upon the findings of the Housing Needs Assessment conducted the same year, Williford LLC worked with local stakeholders to create a region wide strategic plan, with timelines, roles, and tasks specific the participating jurisdictions.
Lake County Housing Action Plan
In collaboration with Cappelli Consulting and Rees Consulting, work with a local stakeholders to identify implementation strategies, roles, and responsibilities to increase funding, organizational effectiveness, and implement deed restrictions for community housing in Leadville and Lake County.
Live, Work, Thrive – Mammoth Lakes Community Housing Action Plan
Williford LLC provided technical analysis, facilitation, and strategy development for the Live, Work, Thrive – Mammoth Lakes Housing Action Plan. The plan was coordinated by Mammoth Lakes Housing, Inc, a local non-profit. The plan was funded by Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, and accepted by a vote of the Town of Mammoth Lakes Council. The plan identifies numerous strategies to increase workforce housing, address a low-quality housing inventory, increase funding, and incentivize conversion of homes from short-term rentals to long-term rentals. The plan also identifies foundational elements needed to improve existing housing programs and services, and defines roles and a timeline for implementation.
Minturn Housing Action Plan
Work with Town Council and staff to create a housing action plan, identifying goals, tools, and timeline to increase the supply of housing for year-round locals in Minturn.
Montrose Housing Action Plan
Williford LLC supported Housing Resources of Western Colorado (HRWC) in a collaborative effort to create more opportunities for safe, stable and attainable housing in Montrose. Williford LLC facilitated meetings and supported multiple committees made up of local residents and representation from non-profit, faith based, and government leadership.
The plan includes four priorities: Crisis intervention, mobile homes, rapid rehousing and meeting the market for missing middle housing. Each strategy is supported by detailed timelines, collaborators, and funding mechanisms. The work was completed in 2021.
One Valley Resiliency Plan
Gunnison, CO – Williford LLC supported the housing component of a regional resiliency effort for the Gunnison Valley. The work was lead by Community Builders and informed by over 30 stakeholders across public, private, non-profit and community sectors. The work was completed in 2023.
Roadmap to Affordable Housing 2019–2025 Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County
Williford LLC supported new non-profit Pagosa Housing Partners to create a Housing Action Plan for Town of Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County. The community faces numerous challenges related to a growing second homeowner population, seasonal economy, and scarcity of housing affordable to local residents, and the non-profit was established to catalyze housing solutions.
San Luis Valley Housing Needs Assessments and Action Planning
Williford LLC worked with the San Luis Valley Housing Coalition and a community stakeholder cohort to assess the housing needs and gaps across the six counties of the San Luis Valley. Once the regional assessment was complete, the team created community specific assessments for 14 towns across the valley, with listening tours and guidance from local community leaders. Following the assessment phase, we completed a comprehensive inventory of unoccupied and abandoned homes and mobile home parks. The action planning phase included additional stakeholder engagement and creation of regional and community specific action plans to begin addressing community housing problems in a consistent and coordinated manner. The community stakeholder cohort included representatives from non-profit, healthcare, government, business, and economic development. Three project goals were to (1) create graphically rich, easily accessible documentation, (2) harness the collective power of local stakeholders within this large, rural geography, and (3) stimulate new housing activity in areas that have long standing challenges and little investment in recent years. The project was completed in 2022 and documents are available through the San Luis Valley Housing Coalition.
San Luis Valley Regional Development Council Scattered Site Feasibility
Williford LLC partnered with MY Rural Planner to help assess the opportunity to assemble multiple parcels in the San Luis Valley to bring a development of greater scale to help address the needs of multiple small communities. The work included initial review of infrastructure, zoning, and comparison of construction costs to local market housing gaps.
Southeast Colorado Economic Development District Innovative Housing Opportunities Program
Williford LLC collaborated with MY Rural Planner to support this six county area in creating a regional housing authority, opting in to proposition 123, adopting code updates to help expedite affordable and workforce housing, and better understanding best practices to address blight and add housing in areas without central septic systems. The work was completed in 2024.
South Lake Tahoe – South Shore Action Plan 2020
The South Shore Action Planning is a comprehensive, implementable housing plan detailing specific housing strategies, policies and programs to take over the next five years. The Plan covers several communities in Nevada and California that make up the South Lake Tahoe area. It identifies roles/responsibilities for each jurisdiction, anticipated timeframe for implementation and housing program implementation and management needs, including the need for local or regional staffing, entities and financing. Our process involved significant participation from the Housing Working Group, comprised of about 30 active community members and stakeholders, in addition to engagement of the public throughout the project with open houses, public hearings, surveys and focus groups.
Sterling/Logan County Housing Needs Assessment and Action Plan
Williford LLC completed a housing needs assessment and action plan for this rural community in the northeastern plains of Colorado. The work was funded by the Colorado Health Foundation and was completed in 2020.
West Mountain Innovative Housing Opportunities Program
West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition is a non-profit seeking to create regional housing solutions in the Roaring Fork Valley. In 2022, the agency received an Innovative Housing Opportunities Program Grant. Williford LLC collaborated with a team of consultants to provide an updated rental market analysis, code review for seven communities, comparison of housing production to housing needs, qualitative research on the housing market’s impact on equity and inclusion, and an inventory of publicly owned land suitable for housing development. The work culminated with a half day housing forum in early 2024.
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Housing Action Plan
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is seeking to improve and increase their housing inventory. Williford LLC supported an action planning process that included community engagement in Towaoc and White Mesa and produced an action plan informed by the community and grounded in the challenges of current market conditions. The work was completed in 2024.
Whitefish Strategic Housing Plan
Williford LLC collaborated on creating an in-depth toolkit of housing solutions and provided facilitation and technical assistance to the Chamber of Commerce and a group of 20 stakeholders to create the first housing plan for Whitefish Montana. We supported the effort by providing analysis of options and best-practice history from other communities. The team prioritized the available tools, tailored them to the local conditions, and identified roles, responsibilities, and a timeline of action steps.
