Before the Town Council delved into the consent agenda on May 15, Mayor Ray Jackson and Town Administrator Denice Kulseth requested HolliWalk be added and discussed first. HolliWalk is a San Juan Community Home Trust affordable home project located on Holli Place.
“There has been so much misinformation, Kulseth said, referring to a petition by the Home Trust to “Unlock HolliWalk,” (www.hometrust.org) “I wanted Ryan to explain what has to happen. There is a remarkably small list for the Home Trust to complete.”
Homeowners have been living in the HolliWalk duplexes for some time, yet have not been able to finalize their mortgages due to delays in final approval of the development’s site plan. In 20024, the Town, after approving several permits, had requested frontage improvements. Those improvements would have resulted in the Trust having to tear out landscaping and other work already completed, and cost thousands of additional dollars. The Trust first appealed to the Town Council, then the Hearings Examiner. The Hearings Examiner decided in the Home Trust’s favor last summer, and they were not required to do additional frontage improvements.
During the Town Council meeting on May 15, Kulseth explained that Community Development and Planning Director Ryan Ericson had sent a letter to the Trust in January listing issues still needing to be addressed before a Certificate of Occupancy and Binding Site plan could be approved. Those items included small things like correcting clerical errors on the site plan application, fixing numbers to the duplexes, assigning parking spaces, additional landscaping to create a dense barrier between the road and the houses or building a fence, and finishing water meters. Currently, HolliWalk has a shared meeter with submeters, which, according to Kulseth, mean they need to fill out a simple single-page form called a PRD. That PRD would go before the Town Planning Commission, then the Town Council, before being approved. Erickson stated he would waive permit fees. According to Lynn, however, the request is not compliant with the Hearings Examiner’s 2024 decision and would cost additional time and money.
The houses, Ericson told the council, are not duplexes because the building is not owned by one person, and they are being sold. They are instead considered townhouses. Townhouses are required to have gypsum in the roof sheeting for fire safety, Ericson explained, but duplexes are not.
‘I was not aware, [in the beginning] that they were going to build a common interest community,” Ericson said, “I thought it was going to be a subdivision.”
For those unfamiliar with the Trust’s affordable housing model, the organization typically keeps ownership of the land, however, the homeowners buy the home structure. Because the trust keeps the land, the homes are affordable and retain affordability through time.
“We spoke with Karl [Eberhard]l, who has been doing the Home Trust architecture,” Kulseth said, “and he agreed to almost everything.”
“The gypsum was a sticking point in our conversation,” Ericson said, “but we thought we had come to an agreement.”
Trust board member Paul Fischburg told the council during public access time that a letter was sent to the Trust with additional requirements in January, but also had Draft across the top. Some requirements were small, but others, Home Trust Director Amanda Lynn told the Council on May 15, went against the Hearing’s Examiners’ decision.
Fischburg told the Council the Trust believed the January letter to be a draft, since it had DRAFT across the front. Members of the Trust “began negotiating with Ericson,” Fischburg said. “Ericson’s response was ‘We’ll see.’” A short time later, the Trust received an email from the Town with the Certificate of Occupancy that also said the Final Binding Site Plan fee would be a total of $800, please drop off a check with the application.
At that point, Fischburg’s three minutes were up, however, Mayor Jackson told him he could speak more at the end of the meeting.
Lynn spoke next, saying, “We don’t want to attack the town. When we found out we had these major issues, we reached out to the town, and we reached out to the Hearings Examiner… We want either the option to appeal or grant the binding site plan.”
Lynn also pointed out that while Eberhard was assisting with the Argle lot project, he was not a representative of the Home Trust, and not involved in the Holliwalk development. Eberhard wrote a letter to the Town Council May 16, stating:
“As both Denice Kulseth and Ryan Ericson are aware, I am engaged with the Home Trust as regards the Argyle project, and only as regards the Argyle project. To say the very least, I was surprised upon listening to yesterday’s presentation to the Town Council that it was represented by both Denice and Ryan that I agreed (or disagreed) with anything as regards HolliWalk. Well known to both, this was not the case.
I did indeed have an informal discussion with Ryan regarding the conditions imposed on Holliwalk by the Town Staff (per Ryan’s April 1, 2025 request for additional information). That discussion was, by my very explicit statement, specifically that I was not representing the Home Trust, nor debating or agreeing to any of the items on the list of conditions. My inquiry with Ryan, again explicitly stated, was solely for the purpose of understanding the conditions as a potential consultant.”
The letter also explained his belief as an architect that the HolliWalk homes are duplexes, not townhomes:
“It does not require an architect, a planner, a Building Official, or a lawyer to understand the code in this matter. The code defines a townhouse in plain language as follows:
These units are clearly within “two-family dwellings” (sometimes called “duplexes”), with requirements that are distinct, and less than those for townhouses. Notably, the code makes absolutely no distinction between owned units or rental units. Two-family dwelling requirements apply to buildings that have two units and townhouse requirements apply to buildings that have three or more units. The buildings are properly built as two-family dwellings.”
The Council asked Ericson questions and agreed that a meeting with HolliWalk homeowners was appropriate, in part so they would understand the side of the Town. The work is required by state or local code, Ericson said, after which several council members noted things like gypsem are there for safety reasons.
“They probably feel like they have the light, but that light is only being shown from one side,” Council Member Mason Turnage said.
“They have not heard how hard we have worked to get this done. We thought we were really close. We thought we had agreed to everything with Karl,” Kulseth said.
“I think it’s really unfortunate this was placed on the agenda. I think there are a number of ways being used to keep the council from hearing the full picture-” Fischburg started to say.
“I’m going to stop you right there. We are no longer talking about Holliwalk and I can see where this is going,” Jackson interrupted.
“I thought I heard you say, and maybe I misunderstood, that Mr. Fischburg could talk at the end. I want to make sure we are not backtracking,” Council Member Anna Maria de Freitas said.
The Council and the Mayor deliberated on the rules of the meeting, and due to HolliWalk being added to the agenda last minute, whether citizens could comment.
As a citizen, Lynn stated, “I want to address this decision to allow public comment on something you and the town council chose to put on the agenda today. It does feel a bit like trying to have it both ways -“
“I’m going to stop you right there, I’ve taken responsibility for that,” Mayor Jackson said.
“By limiting their ability to comment in the public access portion, we are then saying we are not having a transparent government because we are not hearing our constituents,” de Freitas said.
Deliberation regarding the rules continued. Neither Fischburg nor Lynn were allowed to finish their comments.
A meeting was scheduled for Thursday, May 22 at 6:30 p.m. That meeting has since been postponed after the Town received a letter from the Home Trust’s attorney. To view the letter go to https://static1.squarespace.com/static/664bebbbb45986034e8d2547/t/681e8418b02c203237c957d6/1746830361557/2025.5.9+Holliwalk+Letter.pdf.
