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Home My WebLink AboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 12/05/2002CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD DECEMBER 5, 2002, MEETING MINUTES Kay Rios, Chair Isabel Garity, Vice Chair Ken Waido, Staff Liaison, 970-221-6753 David Roy, City Council Liaison, 970-407-7393 Board Members Present: Kay Rios, Isabel Garity, Kathleen Cherroff, Jon Fairchild, Jane Phelan, Joe Hebert, and Jeff Taylor. Advance Planning Staff Present: Ken Waido, Maurice Head. Council Members Present: none Also Present: Paul Ostrof, Commission on Disability; Grace Harris, League of Women Voters. The meeting was held at 281 N. College Ave., Fort Collins, Colorado. Kay Rios called the meeting to order at 4 p.m. There were no comments from the public. New Business Minutes The minutes of October 3, 2002, were approved as submitted on a motion by Jeff Taylor, seconded by Joe Hebert. The motion carried unanimously. City Plan Update Kay and Ken reported on the progress of the Citizens Advisory Committee developing input on the update of City Plan. The biggest issue, which is generating the most controversy, is the Growth Management Area (GMA) and whether it should remain as it is, shrink or expand. Ken pointed out that there are few areas where expansion is physically possible, primarily in the north and east, leaving about 80 percent of the current city boundary fixed. Kay added that the I-25 Subarea is a target area for industrial development, and should include affordable housing options as well. Kathleen questioned the effect changing the GMA would have on developers' fees, which are already perceived as being too high, and said expanding the GMA could drive developers to build where fees are lower. (Ken reported that at approximately $20,000 per single-family unit, the City's fees are right in the middle of the regional market.) Because cities derive more of their funding from sales and use taxes than from residential property taxes, she suggested that commercial development is Affordable Housing Board December 5, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 2 more beneficial to attract. Ken agreed, saying that the only way to stay in the regional game is to have room to grow to accommodate the next big project and not plan against the future. Jon observed that while he doesn't necessarily want to see Fort Collins grow, he supports keeping the GMA boundary flexible so affordable housing can happen. Infill can only happen with heavy public subsidies, and he would rather leave the options open, with a 20-year supply of developable land available. The results of a survey taken at the last public meeting on the City Plan update showed few members of the public very excited about affordable housing, according to Ken. But there has been criticism of both the wording of some of the survey questions and how the input was obtained at the meeting. Staff and consultants are currently analyzing and evaluating a list of 40 characteristics developed by the CAC on three bases: definition of terms and the assumptions attached to them; whether the characteristics are supported by current City Plan; and the possible consequences of implementation of specific characteristics. If the current level of support for a desired characteristic is found to be inadequate, the next step is to consider what procedural changes are needed to increase support. Kay observed that there seems to be more consensus among CAC members on the transportation component than on other issues. Ken pointed out that the Transportation Master Plan Update must be submitted to Council by March, which requires certain land -use decisions to be made by mid - February. As a result, the current timeline for input to Council is a meeting of the CAC on Jan. 13 to finalize recommended characteristics to guide future growth; a public meeting on Jan. 16; Council considers information from all sources at a study session on Jan. 28; a regular meeting of the CAC on Jan. 29, and adoption of recommendations by Council Feb. 18. The Board will finalize a letter to City Council in support of allowing the City's GMA to expand to allow for affordable housing options at the next meeting, Jan. 2, 2003, for inclusion in the information packet for the Jan. 28 study session. Kay also encouraged board members to attend the public meeting on City Plan, to be held Jan. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Lincoln Center. Decreases in Affordable Housing Funds in the City's Budget The amount the City has budgeted for Affordable Housing programs in next year's budget has decreased by nearly $500,000. However, Kay reported that sales tax revenues for August were actually higher than those of last August, and the Board wanted to know if Council would automatically restore the cuts if revenues should increase rather than decrease. Maurice is currently updating the Priority Affordable Housing Needs and Strategies report, which will be used in the next budget cycle in the fall. Affordable Housing Board December 5, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 3 Ken suggested waiting until those figures are final before the Board drafts a letter to Council requesting restoration of funds. Competitive Process Follow-up Ken reported this cycle had been a good one, and staff had been comfortable following the recommendations of the Board and the CDBG commission in fully funding seven of the nine projects that had been proposed. As a result, the CDBG funds have been exhausted for this cycle, as required by law, while approximately $593,000 in Affordable Housing funds will be carried over to future cycles. Isabel added that she felt good that CDBG took the Board's recommendations seriously and acted upon them. 2003 Work Plan The Board reviewed this year's Work Plan to develop next year's, as required by Council. By consensus, the Measurement Tools subcommittee was deleted. The Education and Outreach Subcommittee's function was updated by adding Joe Hebert as the liaison to the Commission on Disability, and by shifting the focus away from "press" events to creating a presence at events such as home shows and New West Fest by manning a traveling display booth. The Policy Development and Review Subcommittee added D. Land -use policy advocacy in support of affordable housing to its list of functions. The rest of the plan remains unchanged. Isabel asked if affordable housing could be included in Council retreats in the future; Ken advised that any time after the April elections might be an option. Maurice reported that the AHB's recommendations were mostly completed and that he will be sending the matrix to the Board. Denise Rogers sent an e-mail prior to the meeting asking whether current nonprofits are stretched to the limit and should the issue of increasing capacity be added to the work plan. Maurice reported that while nonprofits in other areas are at capacity, in Fort Collins, the challenge is finding appropriate sites. Ken added that CARE Housing is catching its breath after developing a number of projects and Neighbor to Neighbor is working on retaining existing units, but the private sector is looking at the affordable housing market, and he didn't think a new nonprofit could find a niche at this time. Maurice added that with the current rental vacancy rate, there are no affordable rental projects in development now. The high vacancy rate is leading owners to convert units to ownership, which is actually helping renters become homeowners, with homebuyer's assistance funds. The Policy Subcommittee will look at the issue of putting the search for a new nonprofit into the work plan for 2003. Old Business Affordable Housing Board December 5, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 4 Update/Reports on Subcommittee Efforts Education Isabel reported that although the committee hasn't had much luck scheduling presentations, it will be getting together soon to discuss ways to become available for people who ask. She added that Heidi Phelps from the City has done beautiful job on outreach; Ken reported that the Affordable Housing poster has won two national awards. Policv Anyone with additional comments on the City Plan Update is encouraged to e-mail them to Jon for inclusion in the Board's official recommendations. Liaison Reports Kay reported an ongoing good relationship with Mike Buderus of the Senior Resources Council. She planned to attend the upcoming meeting of the Dial -A -Ride board, which is studying ways to reintroduce the recently defeated transportation tax on the April ballot. Kay reminded all liaisons to encourage their boards to attend the public meeting on City Plan update on ]an. 16, to ensure that the widest possible spectrum of opinion can be presented to Council. Other Business Land Bank Purchase Maurice reported that with the purchase of 17 acres south of Trilby Road and east of College Avenue, the Bernhardt Property, there are now 30 acres in the Land Bank. Due diligence is underway on 8 acres on West Horsetooth Road, but purchase of a fourth site will require more money. Council has allocated $300,000 to the program in the 2003 budget. Next meeting Scheduled for January 2, 2003. Meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Kate Jeracki December 19, 2002 4 A l/j x�G�"' " v