Kit Carson is a small, rural community in the eastern plains of Colorado that experienced population loss, had about a 30% vacancy rate in residential units. Asbestos in many of these units was too costly for absentee owners to remove; over time many homes became uninhabitable eye sores. No new houses had been built in the community for 25 years, and the community faced an unmet need for quality workforce housing. Similarly a 6,500 square foot building located on the main highway through town had become a brownfield due to prior use as a gas station. Kit Carson Rural Development (KRDC), a non-profit community development organization, stepped up to address the issue.
KCRD’s first foray into brownfields cleanup was the commercial Paxson Building. KCRD connected to the State’s brownfields cleanup resources and secured funding for a Phase 1 and 2 assessment prior to purchasing the building. There were underground petroleum storage tanks on the site and asbestos on the exterior and interior of the building.
Next, the community turned its focus to housing. KCRD applied for a HUD grant which enabled the initial purchase of 5 old homes. They did a Phase 1 assessment on all sites with HUD monies and found there was asbestos in two of the five properties. The cost of abatement was an impediment to redevelopment of the sites as new homes.
At the Paxson commercial site, KCRD hired local contractors with funding from the CDLE Division of Oil and Public Safety to remove the petroleum tanks and contaminated soil. EPA awarded a $200,000 grant for demolition and asbestos abatement. CDPHE donated $10k proprietary clean up dollars toward the match requirement and oversaw proper wrapping and disposal locally, to avoid prohibitive costs of transportation to a Denver landfill site.
For the residential properties, CDPHE provided a grant to clean up and safely dispose of the asbestos. A local farmer donated in-kind time to do the demolition and received a tax write-off.
In 2021, KCRD was awarded a grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs to develop the Paxson site with a commercial building that will house a co-working space.
The University of Colorado Denver School of Architecture drew up unique plans for each of the first five homes. KCRD donated one home to the school district to be used for teacher housing. Each of the residential properties now house critical local workforce, including two teachers and the local deputy.
KCRD has turned this into a replicable process for their community. As of 2021, KCRD had cleared 11 residential sites for new development and had begun working with a Colorado-based modular builder to place five, two-story modular homes on two of the lots.
