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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 10/02/2003CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES 281 N. College Ave. Fart Collins, Colorado October 2, 2003 4 - 6 p.m. Kay Rios, Chair Isabel Garity, Vice Chair Ken Waido, Staff Liaison, 970-221-6753 Marty Tharp, City Council Liaison, 970-484-5711 Board Members Present: Kay Rios, Jon Fairchild, Isabel Garity, Denise Rogers and Peter Tippett. Advance Planning Staff Present: Ken Waido, Maurice Head Council Members Present: none Kay Rios called the meeting to order with a quorum present at 4:45 p.m. There was no open public discussion. New Business Minutes The September 4, 2003, minutes were corrected as follows: Under Fee Impact Exemption, second paragraph now begins: Jon Fairchild reported that as a result of writing a letter to City Council and the City Manager, the "confusion" over the impact fees to be assessed on his Old Town scrape -off was cleared up. Felix Lee, the City's chief building official, responded that most impact fees will not apply to this project. Under Liaison Reports, first paragraph now reads: Isabel Garity has been attending some Planning and Zoning Board work sessions. She also mentioned a 16-unit multifamily project at Cowen and Laurel Streets on the next P&Z agenda. The minutes for September 18, 2003, were also corrected: On page 3, under item 4, the word "transient" was changed to "transitional." The sentence now begins: There was concern that the Board should not be funding transitional housing; Denise Rogers moved to accept both sets of minutes as amended. Isabel Garity seconded, motion carried unanimously, 5-0. Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board October 2, 2003 Minutes Page 2 of 4 City Plan Update Denise Rogers presented a summary of advice on relevant portions of City Plan Update developed by the Policy Subcommittee. The AHB should indicate its support for the criteria to be used when the City considers a proposed amendment to the GMA boundary. The Board supports both including criteria in the plan and the specific list developed by the CAC, but does not support limiting GMA adjustments only to a comprehensive update of City Plan. That restriction directly affects Criterion 6, which addresses reasonable accommodation of proposed activities not feasible on land within the GMA. Based on the map of existing parcels of land suitable for likely affordable housing development presented at the September AHB meeting, it can be argued that the conditions described in Criterion 6 already exist in relation to affordable housing. Growth will happen, whether inside or outside of the City's GMA. The AHB would like to see it managed in such a way that allows for inclusion of affordable housing. Kay Rios asked Maurice Head to prepare the map of vacant residential parcels between 5 and 20 acres in LMN and MMN zone districts within the City's current Growth Management Area for presentation to the final CAC meeting at the end of October as well as to City Council as part of the Affordable Housing Board's advice on City Plan. Isabel Garity suggested also sending a copy to the Planning and Zoning Board for reference. Ken Waido reported that a general open house on the final City Plan revisions will be held on October 15, 2003, at the Lincoln Center, and a presentation to Planning and Zoning on October 30. City Council is scheduled to vote on the final City Plan Update on December 2, 2003. In a related matter, ]on Fairchild brought to the attention of the Board a recent column from the Fort Collins Coloradoan written by Councilmembers Bertschy and Roy. He was concerned that their proposal to curtail all infill projects and alley -home construction in Old Town pending development of new design guidelines and restrictions would have a negative impact on the supply of affordable housing downtown. City Plan supports infill and redevelopment as an alternative to expansion of the current GMA boundaries to accommodate anticipated population growth. Ken Waido explained that the original intent of the development plans currently in place in the area had been to allow owner -occupants to add living space to their lots, but in practice many alley houses have become additional rental units. The City plans to begin updating these relatively old development plans once the City Plan Update has been completed. Council Budget Review Ken Waido reviewed the latest proposed cuts to the City budget, which could result in an additional $158,064 annual reduction in General Fund Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board October 2, 2003 Minutes Page 3 of 4 contributions to the Affordable Housing Trust. This amount would be on top of the previous funding freeze, elimination of the Land Bank line item, and increased administrative charges to the Community Development Block Grant program that would reduce the amount available for funding affordable housing projects. The Board felt strongly that Council should be asked to reaffirm its commitment to affordable housing in Fort Collins, and if possible restore the proposed cut for 2004-2005. Council has scheduled a public hearing on the budget on Tuesday, Oct. 7, with a final vote on adoption on Nov. 4. Denise Rogers moved that Kay Rios should update the letter sent by the Affordable Housing Board to City Council in April to reflect the Board's opposition to further cuts from affordable housing funds in the City budget for 2004-2005. Isabel Garity seconded the motion, which carried unanimously, 5-0. Kay will e-mail the updated letter to all Board members, Council members and Ken Waido, who will also make a hard copy for Council packets in time for the public hearing. Old Business AHB Work Plan Discussion of this item was postponed until November. However, Kay Rios suggested the Board try to incorporate the recommendations of the Zucker report on the Development Review process into its Work Plan. ]on Fairchild pointed out that the impetus provided by the affordable housing focus group seems to be reflected in the report. The possible effects of these recommendations on housing affordability will also be discussed at the November meeting. Uodate/Reports on Subcommittee Efforts Liaison Reports Peter Tippett volunteered to serve as liaison to the Board of Realtors. This will be incorporated into the AHB Work Plan. Kay Rios reported that Dial -A -Ride is concerned over the lack of a request for proposals for privatization of rural services. Among the most recently proposed budget cuts is an $88,500 reduction in City expenditures for Dial -A - Ride through privatization. She provided background on previous attempts to have a private company serve these routes, and why the experience led to cancellation of the contract. The availability of transportation options directly affects housing affordability, and Dial -A -Ride will try to convince City Council not to cut the funds from the budget before an RFP is completed. Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board October 2, 2003 Minutes Page 4 of 4 Jon Fairchild asked staff about a memo from Environmental Planner Brian Woodruff recommending active radon mitigation for new residential construction. AHB had endorsed requiring a less expensive passive system in the ongoing update of the Building Code. Ken Waido reported that City Council had asked to see both options. Jon also asked staff for a summary of the Code changes under consideration for adoption by the end of the year. Ken will investigate. Open Board Discussion City Website/Work Plan Peter Tippett asked if the Board could address the difficulty he's had navigating the City's Web site in search of information on affordable housing. Kay Rios suggested including this as an item for the Education Committee's work plan, to be discussed in November. Priority Affordable Housing Needs and Strategies Maurice Head distributed draft copies of this report, which updates 1999 data. (Copies of the complete report will be mailed to members who ere absent or received an incomplete copy.) He asked Board members to review the suggested changes, paying particular attention to the policy recommendations. This report will be discussed at the November meeting. Meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Kate Jeracki October 7, 2003