HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 10/21/2020
NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD
TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR
October 21, 2020 6:00 – 8:00 pm Via Zoom
10/21/20 – MINUTES Page 1
1. CALL TO ORDER/ ROLL CALL – 6:04 PM
List of Board Members Present
Danielle Buttke - chair
Bob Mann
Elizabeth Hudetz
Kevin Krause – co chair
Drew Derderian
Barry Noon
Hillary Mizia
John Stogman
Robert Mann
List of Board Members Absent – Excused or Unexcused; if no contact with Chair
has been made
List of Staff Members Present
Michelle Finchum, Staff Liaison
Shawna Van Zee, City Planning Specialist
Lindsay Ex, Interim Housing Manager
List of Guests
None
2. AGENDA REVIEW
No changes
3. COMMUNITY MEMBER PARTICIPATION
N/A
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Kevin moved and Elizabeth seconded a motion to approve the September 16,
NRAB minutes as presented - Motion passed unanimously 9-0-0.
NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD
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10/21/20 – MINUTES Page 2
5. NEW BUSINESS
Housing Strategic Plan updates - Shawna VanZee, City Planning Specialist
The City has started updating the Housing Strategic Plan that guides housing policy,
sets housing goals, and creates a framework for City investments in the housing
system. This plan is a collaborative, citywide effort being led by a team of staff and
partners from Planning, Development & Transportation, Social Sustainability, and
Home2Health. Adoption is planned for February 2021. More information on
www.ourcity.fcgov.com/ome2Health
Home2Health Update - www.home2health@fcgov.com
This project was funded by the Colorado Department of Health and
Environment (CDPHE) to implement updates to policies, codes, and regulations
to improve housing affordability, with an emphasis on health equity.
A cross-departmental team was established between the Planning and
Development and Social Sustainability departments, in collaboration with
several outside partners, with Lindsay Ex as interim Housing Manager. There is
also a Council Ad Hoc committee working on this.
This is the second year of the project, during which there have been many
dialogues and outreach efforts with the community. This input resulted in an
investigation of changes to the City's Land Use Code, Municipal Code, and
associated programs/policies in order to draft a revised Housing Strategic Plan.
Housing Strategic Plan - Will consider the entire housing spectrum, with a focus on
affordable housing
Includes much dialogue and outreach to determine problems/need, create goals
and strategies, guiding principles, and prioritization. The resulting efforts are
expected to create an implementation plan in the spring of 2021.
Vision of the plan = "Everyone has healthy, stable housing they can afford"
Challenges to achieving the vision:
Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) are more negatively impacted by
the rising cost of housing and housing discrimination.
Current lack of affordable housing and what is affordable is not what is needed.
Current funding and incentives for affordable housing are not enough to meet
the goals.
NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD
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10/21/20 – MINUTES Page 3
Cost of building new housing continues to rise
Difficult to predict the lasting effects of COVID and need for rental assistance
Housing policies have not consistently addressed housing stability and health
for renters.
Next Steps
There are various opportunities for the board members to engage in this
program: sign up for workshops; an "at-your-own-pace" exercise; attend the
November 2, Super Issues board meeting; or request a presentation to a group
you know would like to be involved in this conversation.
Shawna asked the board to give feedback on the following questions:
1) Based on your experience, do these challenges reflect what you know about
housing in Fort Collins?
2) What needs to change to address challenges, and who can help?
3) What trade-offs or competing interests might exist when considering the change
needed?
4) When evaluating strategies, what criteria are important to consider from a natural
resource perspective?
Discussion
Danielle - Q - How does this program interface with the Bloomberg grant the
city received? A - Several different city programs, including those funded by
this grant, have received input regarding affordable housing and that input is
being shared with the Housing Affordability efforts.
Barry - feels the Natural Resources Board's connection to this program's
goal of "healthy housing", should also involve access to open space, and
suggested it be included in this program.
Kevin - Q - What is the definition of "healthy housing" in this plan? A - The
program is taking a more holistic view of how we live our lives, both inside
and outside of the home, neighborhood safety, City services, access to
nature, and physical and mental health,
Hillary - suggested accessibility to food and transportation should also be
considered. She also shared her experience that it is very expensive to
build a house in Fort Collins.
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Danielle - is concerned that the carbon footprint from vehicle miles travelled
is increasing because many people who work in Fort Collins cannot afford to
live here. She also wondered where people would be willing to make
concessions, such as: size of house and back yard, number of vehicles,
and use communal resources in order to reduce our carbon footprint. Q - Did
any of the focus groups focus on this? A - Tradeoffs often come up in the
focus groups. They vary widely and people are very passionate about any
kind of change.
Elizabeth - suggested home water needs and landscaping water needs in
new developments should be also addressed.
Bob - lives in a cooperative housing community and suggested there be
some to modeling affordable housing in a more communal manner with
shared resources. He also wondered if the City could address gentrification
where older houses are being torn down and replaced with larger, more
expensive ones.
Hillary - commented that affordable housing in old town area are currently
high-rise apartments. She also suggested having more community gardens.
John - Q - has observed affordable housing does not seem to have any
incentive to conserve resources. How much effort is being given by the City
to making current affordable housing more efficient? A - There is currently a
building energy/water scoring program for commercial properties but not yet
one for residential. The incentive for reducing water and energy usage in a
home is in the Utilities rate structure. However, some HOAs and multi-family
units charge a flat rate, or include it in the rent, so there is no incentive.
Also, the utilities department has statistics for customers to use to help
control their costs.
Kevin - suggested there be a requirement to reveal past utility costs for
prospective renters to encourage conservation and also a financial
incentive/credit for renters who do conserve water and other utilities.
John - Q - Because the pandemic has caused various businesses to close
their physical locations, can the City investigate the opportunity to shift use
of properties that have been closed? A - Several other cities are
considering this to help with homelessness and so is Fort Collins. Shawna
shared that there is discussion about how the built environment might need
to change to address current culture.
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Danielle - Q - Does Fort Collins foresee itself becoming a "zoom town"
where people live here and work elsewhere? A - It is too soon to predict,
but things could change.
Barry - suggested the City acknowledge there are limits to growth because
of finite resources. He sees the issue as fundamentally a social problem of
inequitable distribution of the wealth and opportunity in Fort Collins, which is
directly linked to the environment. He suggested the Natural Resources
Board make a recommendation to the City Council regarding growth.
Danielle pointed out that growth in Fort Collins can be addressed by the
City, but not in the surrounding communities that are also growing. Being
able to influence people to embrace smaller, more sustainable ways of living
would also affect those outside of the city.
Q - Is part of the goal to encourage people to live and work here? A -
Unfortunately, there is no one solution. Realistically, not everyone will live in
Fort Collins. People will live where they can afford and where they like. We
can also advocate on a state-wide level regarding building codes, and
regional transportation.
Bob - suggested some of the investment in affordable housing shouldn't be
in housing but in collaboration with surrounding areas, specifically around
energy efficient affordable housing and creating transportation to get them to
their jobs in Fort Collins.
Q - Is the city considering any tiny homes communities with common areas?
A - Shawna - tiny homes and multi-family units are being considered.
However, zoning and the cost of land and utilities are a barrier for
developers.
2021 NRAB Work Plan
The group brainstormed topics they would like to discuss in 2021.They included:
building code updates; Our Climate Future; Parks and Recreation Master Plan;
Regional Waste Shed; NISP; Transportation Plan; water use and conservation;
affordable sustainable housing; racial equity and sustainability. Also discussed
maximum impact and efficiency of the NRAB.
Danielle will draft a memo to Council with the Natural Resources Board's
2021 Annual Work Plan.
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6. OTHER BUSINESS - Due to time constraints, the following Other Business items were not
discussed:
Draft Statewide GHG Reduction Plan
Agenda items for November meeting
Super Issues Meeting Report will include Reimaging Boards and Commissions
7. BOARD MEMBER AND STAFF REPORTS
STAFF
Michelle pointed out the Our Climate Future program is putting a survey on the City's
website inviting people to comment on the plan. This is also an opportunity for the
NRAB to weigh in.
BOARD
A free Medical Symposium will take place on December 6 at PSR Colorado focusing
on the health impacts from fracking in oil and gas production.
Barry - There will be a hearing with the Water Quality Control Board in opposition to
the 401 certification of NISP on November 9. He will be an expert witness in this and
will share back to the board on this.
The group revisited a vote the NRAB Board made at the September 16, 2020,
meeting that recommended to City Council that the City should join Save the Poudre
as a co-plaintiff in their litigation against Northern Water and NISP. Q - John - Is
there another option other than litigation? A - Barry - He and other scientists have
been involved with negotiating the NISP mitigation plan for many years and feel they
have exhausted all reasonable sources of dialogue with them. His opinion is that at
this point, they feel there is no other option than litigation.
8. ADJOURN
8:05pm