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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 06/01/2000CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES June 1, 2000 Bob Browning, Chair (970) 225-0137 Kay Rios, Vice Chair Ken Waido, Staff Liaison (970) 221-6753 Chuck Wanner, City Council Liaison (970) 484-0810 The meeting of the Affordable Housing Board was called to order by Bob Browning beginning at 4:10 p.m., at 281 North College Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado. A quorum was present. Board members present included: Bob Browning, Bruce Croissant, Dick Clark, Isabel Garity, Chris Martin, Kay Rios, and Stacey Overton. Board members David Danforth and Randy Rosenbusch arrived later. Council liaison Chuck Wanner was also present. Staff members present included: Ken Waido, Alan Krcmarik, and Julie Smith. Open Public Discussion The Board welcomed new Board member Dick Clark. There was no public discussion. New Business Minutes Motion was made to approve the minutes. Motion passed on a vote of 7-0. National Health Care Services, Inc., Private Activity Bond Item Alan Krcmarik, City Financial Officer, presented a summary of the request which was to utilize about $1.2 million of year 2000 PABs from the City of Loveland for the project with Fort Collins providing about $1.2 million of year 2001 PABs to Loveland. Kay Rios emphasized that the Board's support is based on the condition that the project still contained 50% of the beds for Medicaid patients. Motion was made by Chris Martin, seconded by Kay Rios to recommend approval of the proposal. Motion passed on a vote of 7-0. Fox Meadows Apartments Private Activity Bond Issue The applicant presented the request to change the income mix of units from 5 units at 40% of AMI, 5 at 50% of AMI, and 42 at 60% of AMI to 21 units at 50% of AMI and 52 at 60% of AMI. The change is based on comments from CHFA and HUD. Motion was Affordable Housing Board June 1, 2000 Meeting Minutes Page 2 made by Isabel Garity, seconded by Kay Rios to recommend approval of the change. Motion passed 7-0. Consolidated Plan Julie Smith, HOME Program Administrator, outlined the plan for the Board. Kay Rios asked if the Affordable Housing Fund would be used 100% to fund housing programs. Ken Waldo reassured that it is. Ms. Rios inquired further about the plan's lack of provisions for migrant housing. Ms. Smith responded that migrant housing is a more important issue for Weld County than for Larimer County and that since the plan's reviewers did not recommend migrant provisions, it seemed to make sense to maintain the plan as it is. Mr. Waldo added that migrant housing is more of a county concern and needs to be addressed in the State's Consolidated Plan. Ms. Rios gave Julie Smith some written suggestions for revision and editing that needed to be added to the minutes. Ms. Rios then expressed her concern at a recent Coloradoan article saying CDBG funds are going to be cut and asked if letters should be written to congress. Mr. Waldo said writing letters would be fine, however, the CDBG Program has support from large cities in Congress and they will likely provide for the program's maintenance. Mr. Browning noted the importance of paying attention to the plan's details, saying that the Board will be held to the plans it forwards and, as such, should be sure that these reflect its views as accurately as possible. Following a brief discussion of the importance of detail, Bruce Croissant made a motion to accept the Consolidated Plan. Stacy Overton seconded the motion. The plan passed 7-0. Old Business Update on the Land Banking Program Mr. Waldo provided an overview of the current Land Banking situation, telling the Board that staff has asked one of the consulting firms to resubmit a revised proposal within the established budget for the project. He said staff will probably decide on a contract within the next three or four weeks. Update on Manufactured Housing Items Mr. Waido detailed the current status of the Manufactured Housing project. He described the financial situation (the available funding was $10,000 rather than the $20,000-30,000 they thought was available from the Enterprise Foundation) and remarked that, as a result, they were forced to scale back their goals. Mr. Waido explained the current proposal in the following manner: each city will focus on its own Affordable Housing Board June 1, 2000 Meeting Minutes Page 3 needs assessment and the $10,000 will be used to co-ordinate a countywide assessment. Mr. Danforth described his recent contact with Chateau, a manufactured housing developer, that has expressed interest in purchasing a piece of land one mile north and two miles west of Budweiser. This company recently developed a low-income manufactured housing neighborhood in Elkridge, Maryland and would use the Fort Collins site to create a similar living situation. Mr. Danforth noted, however, that Chateau's proposal would not be possible under current zoning laws (the area is currently limited to 8 unites per acre while Chateau would like to build 12) and asked if the Affordable Housing Board would be interested in providing support for such a zoning change were it to be proposed to City Council. A binder depicting the Elkridge development was passed around the room, and Mr. Danforth remarked that Fort Collins' development would be roughly the same except without garages and basements. Mr. Browning asked about the type of ownership plan that Chateau offers its residents. Mr. Danforth responded that it operates 50-year land leases. Ms. Rios expressed concerns about the resale value of garage -less homes. Mr. Danforth reassured her that this would not be a problem, though he did note that the land lease program might cause some resale problems. However, he cited Freddie Mac's current ground lease program (which enables a loan recipient to transfer from a land lease to a ground lease by adding four years of extra payments to his/her loan) as a means of combating such a problem. Mr. Waido noted that the area's current low -density, mixed -use zoning would require that the land contain three types of houses. He said that Chateau's plan could work within current zoning restrictions as long as the land's overall density is 5-8 units per acre. Mr. Waido also remarked that current zoning laws' designation of the land as "mixed -use" would require that Chateau include some non-residential buildings in its neighborhood. Additionally, he said significant infrastructure extensions would be necessary for such a development to succeed. Other concerns with the plan were discussed: Ms. Rios raised the problem of parking. Mr. Danforth discussed the near -impossibility of reaching an 80% AMI level without subsidies, the difficulty of achieving the New Urbanism concept at 80% AMI, the need to reduce down payments on the homes. Someone wondered how the area's current residents would react to such a development. Mr. Danforth remarked that he was not prepared to answer every question at the moment, but that he wanted the Board to consider recommending such a proposal to the City Council. Mr. Browning said that the board would not issue a blanket recommendation but would certainly evaluate any specific plan Chateau offered. Both Mr. Waido and Mr. Wanner suggested ways for Chateau to go about creating such a specific plan and bettering its chances of receiving Board support. Affordable Housing Board June 1, 2000 Meeting Minutes Page 4 After being asked by Ms. Garity, Mr. Danforth stated that his personal interest in the Chateau transaction was the realty commission he could potentially receive. Follow-up on the First Cycle of the Competitive Process Mr. Waido, in the effort to improve the new Competitive Process, asked the Board for their feedback on the Process's first cycle. Mr. Danforth expressed concern about the Committee's communication about the transition to the Competitive Process. Sister Mary Alice, he noted as an example, was confused about the mitigation of impact fees. Ms. Garity agreed with Mr. Danforth and said that the Board's website could be a means of transmitting this information more clearly. Mr. Waido noted that the communicational mishaps could be averted in coming cycles by CARE's presence at training meetings 9CARE was not represented at each meeting during the first cycle, a fact which Mr. Waido cited as one of the sources of the lack of clarity in communication). Ms. Rios said she was pleased with the process and had heard positive feedback from CDBG members. Mr. Waido asked Board members if they would be willing to hold a special meeting to review proposals on September 28 in order to avoid the scheduling crunch staff experienced this spring before presenting the recommendations to City Council. The Board was unanimously in favor of this. Mr. Browning indicated that this first application cycle was relatively weak and that subsequent application cycles may see more developers apply, which would demand more time and effort from evaluators than was required during the first cycle. Mr. Wanner expressed his belief that the Board should make an effort to communicate that $5,000 subsidy per unit is not the maximum available funding. If applicants knew there was a range of available funding, he claimed more developers would apply. Update/Reports on Sub -Committee Efforts Education and Outreach Committee Ms. Garity encouraged Board members to look over the Committee's minutes and stated that their most important current goal is to make the Affordable Housing website easier to find. She also acknowledged that the Board must advertise its goings-on via means other than the web since many parties interested in affordable housing do not have web access. Affordable Housing Board June 1, 2000 Meeting Minutes Page 5 Encourage Incentives Committee Ms. Rios reported that she would like to add a letter "F" to the minutes from this committee's meeting. The addendum reads: Encourage Equitable Park Fees. Measurement Committee Mr. Danforth reported that though this committee has done nothing, he feels that the efforts of Compass 2000 overlap those of this committee and, as such, that Measurement's efforts are largely unnecessary. He expressed the idea that Measurement should oversee Compass 2000's plan and then, if appropriate, disband. Mr. Waido disagreed, expressing his belief that measurements should be an integral part of Compass 2000's decision -making process. He noted the importance of using the City's "Trends" document in the process and said the two project's goals are not entirely overlapping. Ms. Rios agreed with Mr. Waido, saying Compass 2000's mission is too large and that, without Measurement's guidance, the group's recommendations are in danger of being superficial. Other Business Mr. Wanner detailed a recent meeting in which he met with Mayor Martinez and Sister Mary Alice to discuss the Mayor's interest in affordable housing. Mr. Wanner further stated his desire that the Affordable Housing Coalition's Advocacy Committee become an organized political entity whose supporters, like those in favor of Open Space, could make a big impact at City Council meetings. Mr. Danforth, after making some brief remarks about the relationship between affordable housing and public transportation, asked the Board if they knew anything about Transfort's rerouting decision. He said he had heard that Transfort was considering focusing their energies on the more densely populated portions of fort Collins and voiced his concern about the effects such a decision would have on affordable housing. Ms. Rios explained the Transfort situation further, saying that although Transfort had wanted City Council to choose between coverage or productivity, they had lent their support to both, resolving that one benefited the other and that public transportation should continue its wide coverage. Mr. Danforth suggested the AdVANtage program currently in use in Maryland as an alternative to the current Transfort conundrum. This program employs individuals on welfare as drivers of vans purchased by the City. The drivers function much like a taxi service, providing door to door transportation, but are paid by the government. Affordable Housing Board June 1, 2000 Meeting Minutes Page 6 The Board agreed that this idea has great potential for Fort Collins and even suggested that AdVANtage could work in conjunction with Transfort. However, Mr. Browning expressed concerns about the sustainability of the program. He asked if it would be a definite source of money loss, like most public transportation projects, or if it had potential to pay its own weight. Mr. Wanner responded that the program was certainly helping welfare recipients turn a profit but that its effects on county finances are unknown. Ms. Rios, noting the Board's concern with public transportation, asked if the group would be interested in inviting Suzanne Durkin to the July meeting to discuss mass transit in the Mason Street Corridor. The Board expressed unanimous interest, and Ms. Rios resolved to invite Ms. Durkin. Ms. Rios asked about the progress of the Northern Hotel renovations, expressing her desire to have some senior advocates on that design board, people who really know the arena. It is a historical preservation project, not a senior project, so we want to make sure seniors are accommodated and involved in the design process. Mr. Martin informed the Board of Governor Owens' recent visit to Fort Collins, in which he announced a bill that allows senior citizens (individuals 65 and older) to defer property taxes interest -free until sale of the house or death. Mr. Waido told the Board about the City Council's impending discussion of Council liaisons to boards and commissions and board/commission member attendance policies, which will take place June 6, 2000. He also told members that, under the new policy, their terms would run from December to December (as opposed to the current July to July term), which will render the terms of some Board members six months longer than expected. He also talked about the new attendance policy and process for notification of absences. Meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m.