Pitkin County will enter Stage 2 fire restrictions at 12:01 a.m. Friday, June 27, as a joint Aspen City Council and Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners meeting Monday also received a sweeping regional housing assessment projecting a net need of nearly 2,600 affordable units countywide.
Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office representatives Parker O’Hara and Chris Callas told the joint body that fire danger metrics across all elevation bands — low, middle, and high — now meet or exceed the threshold for Stage 2 restrictions. Under Stage 2, open fires, fireworks, smoking in vegetated areas, off-road driving, spark-producing devices, and welding are all prohibited. The county remains in D4 drought, and five fires ignited regionally in the past seven days, four of them human-caused. Eagle and Garfield counties are expected to announce matching restrictions Tuesday morning. Residents can find full restriction details at pitkincounty emergency.com and can sign up for Pitkin Alert notifications, also available in 190 languages through the ReachWell app.
Mayor Rachel Richards separately urged residents to continue Stage 3 water conservation measures, citing limited river-dependent storage and no significant precipitation in the forecast.
Housing Policy Analyst Liz Axberg and Economic and Planning Systems consultants Rachel Shishma and Pramod Meyer then presented the final Regional Housing Needs Assessment, required under Colorado Senate Bill 24-174 and Proposition 123. The study, covering 11 jurisdictions from Aspen to Parachute, estimates Pitkin County’s net housing need at just under 2,600 units after accounting for roughly 600 units already in the development pipeline. Aspen, holding 52 percent of county employment, carries a proportionate share of that allocation.
The assessment found 83 percent of renter households earning under $75,000 annually are cost-burdened countywide, rising to 91 percent within Aspen. No single-family home sold at a median price below $1.5 million anywhere in the region in 2024.
Commissioner Francie Jacober questioned how a 2,850-unit gross need aligns with flat population projections. Consultants clarified the figure reflects housing need magnitude — including overcrowding, unfilled jobs, and projected employment growth — not a construction mandate, and that solutions include deed restrictions, buy-down programs, and converting existing vacant units.
Councilmember Bill Infante pressed for regional mitigation-rate consistency. The report advances to nine additional jurisdiction presentations before DOLA submission.
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