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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 05/05/2005CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES 281 N. College Ave. Fort Collins, Colorado May 5, 2005 Kay Rios, Chair Denise Rogers, Vice Chair Ken Waido, Staff Liaison, 970-221-6753 Kurt Kastein, City Council Liaison, 970-223-0425 Board Members Present: Kay Rios, Jon Fairchild, Michelle Jacobs, Jane Phelan, Denise Rogers, Joe Rowan, Peter Tippett, Sunshine Workman. Advance Planning Staff Present: Ken Waido, Maurice Head. Council Members Present: None Guests: Bob Browning, Chair, CDBG Commission; Mike Gebo, City of Fort Collins Building Department; Mark Beck, Chair, Commission on Disability; Dana McBride, Homebuilders Association; Cathy Miller, CARE Housing; Scott Bacher, student, Urban Planning. Kay Rios called the meeting to order with a quorum present at 4:05 p.m. There were no comments from the public. New Business Minutes Joe Rowan moved to accept the March 3 minutes as submitted; Sunshine Workman seconded, motion carried unanimously. Practical Housing for All Update Mark Beck, Chair of the Commission on Disability, Dana McBride, representing the Homebuilders Association, and Mike Gebo of the City Building Department, provided an update on the Practical Housing for All effort. They attended at the invitation of the Board to address some of the engineering visitability standards that have been identified as raising the cost of housing. Mark Beck began the presentation by explaining the purpose of PHA is to encourage builders to educate consumers to include basic livability elements in the design of new construction. He compared and contrasted elements of "visitability", which allows anyone to come into a home and use the bathroom, with "livability", which Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board May 5, 2005 Minutes Page 2 of 5 allows anyone to come in, eat, bathe, sleep and use the bathroom. He explained how the five basic design elements contributed to the livability of a home. The cost of four of the five basic elements could be negligible if incorporated into the design of the home from the beginning, about $50. Creating a zero -step entry somewhere on the house, however, is a greater challenge, because of drainage requirements. With smaller lots, many times there is not enough setback from the sidewalk available to include a properly sloped ramp to the front door; Mr. Beck said the zero -step entry can be any entrance, not just the front. Mike Gebo said only about seven visitable units have been built in Fort Collins in the past two years, and they were all part of the same development. Dana McBride added that while the remaining standards do not increase the cost of building a livable home per square foot, wider hallways and clear passages and a full bathroom on the main floor can increase the required square footage of a home, raising the overall cost. He added that the zero -step entry requirement is also affected by the Storm Drainage requirement that entire subdivisions be engineered so that the top of the foundation of the lowest house is above the flow line. Builders tend to exceed the standards to decrease the possibility of water damage. Mike Gebo pointed out that Building Code requirements and Storm Drainage regulations are two different things. He added that various rights -of -way for sidewalks and other City requirements take up additional footage on the front of the site making it even more difficult to achieve a zero -step entry. Various legislative requirements for accessibility were also discussed, all of which would apply to four-plexes or greater multiple units. Michelle Jacobs asked, in light of the increasing demand for senior housing, if the City could do anything to modify or adapt its requirements to make zero -step entries more feasible? Mr. Gebo felt the question should be addressed by Storm Drainage. Kay Rios requested staff to schedule viewing the related video on accessible housing for the next meeting, and to invite representatives of Storm Drainage to attend and answer Board questions. CDBG Commission's Competitive Process Affordable Housing Funding Recommendations Bob Browning, Chair of the CDBG Commission, reviewed the Commissions decisions on funding the projects in the Spring cycle of the Competitive Process and answered specific questions from the board on those decisions. He provided background information that had not been available to the Affordable Housing Board when it made its recommendations on the proposals, specifically previous requests and grants made to the various requesting organizations, that the CDBG took into account when making final funding decisions. He emphasized that the Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board May 5, 2005 Minutes Page 3 of 5 Commission was concerned that the projects funded become self-sufficient, rather than use public funds to support constant rehab. He assured members that the Commission does take Board recommendations into consideration when reviewing proposals, and that he will continue to provide feedback and additional information through each cycle of the Competitive Process. 3-Unrelated Ordinance Ken Waido reported that this issue is moving forward with the new City Council, although the issue of rental licensing seems to be dead. Council has had one work session and will have at least one more before an ordinance is drafted, but there are two components to the discussion right now: changing violations from a criminal to civil offense; and adding some flexibility to the limit of three unrelated persons to a dwelling unit, depending on existing conditions for parking, number of bedrooms and other factors. He said it was likely that the final ordinance would increase the limit to four and include a variance component. Joe Rowan saw the move from criminal to civil penalties as the biggest change; Jon Fairchild felt that enforceability would still be an issue. He added that some kind of registration would most likely be needed to make enforcement possible. Old Business Citv Budoet/Affordable Housino Fund Ken Waido explained the new Budgeting for Outcomes process, which is an entirely new way of creating a budget for the City. From the broad umbrella categories adopted by Council at its recent retreat, staff will be creating bids for various programs that support the categories to compete for the total dollar amount available. A consultant has been hired to help staff meet the June deadline for submitting competing bids to the City Manager for the 2006-07 budget, which Council is required to adopt by its first meeting in November. In response to questions from Kay Rios, Mr. Waido said at this time there is no step in the process calling for Boards and Commissions to be involved in the process. He added that he has suggested using the priorities set forth in the recently updated City Plan to help determine the desires of the citizens when determining what functions and staffing level is most critical to government. Ms. Rios was concerned that even though the grocery tax was not repealed in the last election, under this budget process some of the programs keeping the tax was supposed to save could still be cut. Joe Rowan suggested that it is likely that every program will be rated as high priority by those with vested interest in keeping, them. Ms. Rios agreed, adding that the result would be cutting services from those without a voice. Mr. Rowan said the Board should be that voice. Ms. Rios urged Board members to call Council and chat as private citizens, while as a Board they can continue to advocate for a process for Boards and Commissions to be heard. Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board May 5, 2005 Minutes Page 4 of 5 Kay Rios will invite the Affordable Housing Board's new Council liaison Kurt Kastein to the next meeting to provide some background on how Council determined the various board budgeting categories. Sales and Use Tax Rebate Program This will appear on the agenda for the next meeting. Uodate/Reports on Subcommittee Efforts None. Kay Rios asked that this item be moved up higher on the next agenda to allow time for a thorough discussion of membership and function of the various committees. At this time, Kay Rios and Peter Tippett left the meeting; Denise Rogers assumed the chair for the remainder of the meeting. Liaison Reports Michelle Jacobs distributed a handout showing various infrastructure costs of the Peak View Subdivision. She said she has been working with various developers and homebuilders to try to get specific numbers that show the relative costs of building in Fort Collins, and what regulations add what costs to the process. She said it has been very difficult to pin down, but when will continue to bring figures to the Board as she obtains them. Other Business Ooen Board Discussion Ken Waido announced that staff will no longer be making presentations at Council work sessions. Instead, the presentations will be recorded a week ahead, provide to Council members on individual DVDs and also broadcast at different times on Channel 27 prior to the Tuesday night session. Staff will still attend the sessions to answer questions from Council. Mr. Waido also announced that for the time being, federal CDBG funds have been saved at the 2005 funding level. Michelle Jacobs added that national groups are lobbying not to move the program out of HUD into the Department of Commerce. Maurice Head reported on an eight -acre Land Bank site on West Vine that both owners are now willing to sell to the City. It is currently in a floodplain, but Storm Water will add a swale and the rest can be used. He will bring more information to the next meting. Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board May 5, 2005 Minutes Page 5 of 5 Sunshine Workman announced that she has been accepted to graduate school at the University of Maryland in College Park. She will be resigning her Board seat after the June meeting. Joe Rowan said that the Housing Trust Fund initiative has made it through the state House and Senate. It creates the mechanism for a housing fund; it does not carry with it any specific funding. The Realtors are not going to allow it to be a transfer fee, he said, so it most likely will appear on the ballot as a tax at some time in the future. Mr. Waido said that Council's legislative representative is aware of the issue and the City supports the measure. Meeting adjourned 5:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Kate Jeracki May 17, 2005