NIMBYism Killed A Lumber Company

When Affordable Solutions to the Housing Shortage Are Illegal (Part 6)

Affordable housing shortages can cause labor shortages, leaving employers, mainly in the service industry, short staffed, and sometimes they can even be fatal to business. When Missoula County Montana homeowners decided to skimp on a centralized sewer system to avoid ‘altering the character of the community’ they drove its largest local employer out of business. Without affordable housing for prospective workers, Pyramid Mountain Lumber was forced to shut down. Apparently, the town of Seeley Lake where Pyramid Mountain Lumber operated has not allowed the construction of anything denser than single family houses in over 30 years

“There hasn't been an apartment, duplex or fourplex built in this town in over 30 years,” Johnson said. “When you're talking about entry-level housing for more blue collar workers…it's not available."

And all of the existing rental properties were bought up and converted into vacation rentals. The net result of a contracting rental housing supply with no permits for new rental housing has cost the area an employer with a $6 million dollar payroll, so Seeley Lake will not only lose millions of dollars of additional spending in their service sector from Pyramid Mountain Lumber and it’s employees they will also have to bear higher infrastructure costs when they lose their tax revenue, and will be left with a less diversified economy that is more dependent on tourism and thus more vulnerable to recessions. They accepted all of these trade offs just to protect their precious property values and “community character” i.e. no one can develop past the point where I’m comfortable.

ABC News: Montana Town's Economy Withers Due to Lack of Affordable Housing