Boulder County proposes $11.2 million for San Lazaro residents’ purchase

Boulder County commissioners unanimously approved a letter of intent proposing $11,223,750 to help San Lazaro residents buy their mobile-home community. The amount equals about 26% of the residents association’s $42.5 million purchase target, according to its campaign page.

Commissioners said they want to help residents own the community while keeping housing stable and lot rents affordable. They favored a grant, if legally and financially feasible, rather than adding loan payments that could put pressure on rents. The final funding structure and conditions have not been settled, the commissioners’ meeting recording shows.

The residents association says families want to “own the ground beneath their homes” and aims to preserve San Lazaro’s ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity in Boulder. It describes the community as 213 households with more than 438 residents, many of whom have lived there for 15 years or more. The purchase has not been completed.

The association says it is pursuing a loan of up to $15 million through ROC USA and about $2 million in state funding through Proposition 123. Those funds have not been established as awarded or guaranteed. County staff said Boulder’s city government had expressed interest in supporting the purchase, and commissioners hoped the county’s proposed contribution would help attract state, city and other partners. No city contribution or final state award was approved at the county meeting.

If the county ultimately provides the full proposed amount, about $31.3 million of the stated $42.5 million purchase target would remain beyond the county’s proposal. That is arithmetic based on the target and proposed county amount, not a final financing gap. Staff said the county would continue working with its County Attorney’s Office on conditions, with a final agreement expected to take the form of an intergovernmental agreement.