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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Commission - Minutes - 02/17/2021 ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR February 17, 2021 4:00 - 6:00 pm via Zoom 2/17/21 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER 4:00 pm. 2. ROLL CALL • List of Board Members Present − Connor Barry − Braulio Rojas − John Parks − Ted Settle − Aric Light − George Grossman − Julie Stackhouse − Renee Walkup • List of Board Members Absent – Excused or Unexcused; if no contact with Chair has been made − Spencer Clark • List of Staff Members Present − Josh Birks - Staff liaison and Director, Economic Health − Cameron Gloss, Manager, City Planning − Lindsay Ex, Interim Housing Manager − Meaghan Overton - Sr. Planner • List of Guests − none 3. AGENDA REVIEW • No changes 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION • N/A 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 2/17/21 – MINUTES Page 2  There were some minor changes regarding attendance, end time, language and punctuation.  As there were no further objections, Connor declared the January minutes approved as amended. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Update: Reimagining Boards and Commissions - Ted Settle  Ted did not have any additional information after his presentation at last month's meeting..  Connor - Q - What are the next steps? A - Josh - Next step is for Council to adopt the proposed changes. b. Update on Housing Strategic Plan (Cont.) - Lindsay Ex and Meaghan Overton  Lindsay reported that on February 16 City Council reviewed and adopted the draft Housing Strategic plan on first reading. The draft plan is still being reviewed, and she and Meaghan Overton were present at this meeting to share updates to the plan.  There have been several revisions to the plans, including efforts to more clearly connect the 26 strategies to six specific outcomes. Other changes include: − Additional storytelling − Emphasized supportive services & linkage with Our Climate Future − Letters from leadership, Home2Health partners, executive summary, and appendices added − Recognition of businesses in implementation − Updated graphics to illustrate the supply gap, enhanced connections to the existing goals, and strategies − Additional updates to the guiding principles − Language changes to 9 of the 26 strategies for clarity and specificity − Need for more messaging around affordable housing  Next steps for the plan include: Council second reading and adoption on March 2; Ad Hoc committee meetings in March/April; a community summit in April/May; and implementation of the plan and Council work session this summer.  As supply side strategies of the draft Housing Strategic Plan had previously been ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 2/17/21 – MINUTES Page 3 of most interest to the EAC, Lindsay asked the group if it wanted to amend its previous recommendation to specifically focus on the supply side strategies in the plan, or to consider amending its prior overall recommendation, or take no action.  Board Discussion − John - Q - What impacts would the EAC changing its recommendation have? A - Most likely nothing, only to clarify the EAC's thoughts and position. − Julie - Thinks the EAC should stand ready to respond if staff needs assistance from us. − Braulio - Q - How often is that plan going to be reviewed and reevaluated in order to adjust to any changes that may happen? A - Lindsay - Historically these types of plans have been updated on a 5-6 year basis, but staff recognizes things need to be more dynamic here and will evaluate the plan on a two-year cycle. However, it will be flexible enough to quickly act on opportunities that may appear. − Renee - It is important the EAC continue to stay involved and she recommended that future focus groups include, in addition to builders and developers, also people who are in need of affordable housing,. − Connor - Q - What will implementation realistically look like? A - There will be a community summit in late April, and conversations around implementation would be more appropriate after that. Staff will also go back to a Council work session in the summer to present the overall implementation plan with strategy-specific action roadmaps. − Julie - Citizens need to be kept informed of the finite amount of housing that will be available in the future. Price pressures will remain and be difficult to solve. We need to establish a shared expectation of what is possible as a laudable goal in order to reduce frustration. Discussions around housing density also needs to be discussed − Connor is also concerned about supply issues and suggested the community be kept informed about what the City is doing to address this. − Braulio - To have affordable houses, there needs to be houses available under $300,000 . However, builders need to be willing to build these houses. This will not happen in a free market. He suggests the City offer some kind of benefits to builders to help their profit margin or these affordable houses will probably not be built. 7. NEW BUSINESS ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 2/17/21 – MINUTES Page 4 a. Revised Residential Metro District Evaluation Process - Cameron Gloss  Cameron Gloss reviewed updates to the plan he previously presented to the Economic Advisory Commission and asked the EAC for any final recommendations before it goes before Council on March 2. − The Residential Metro District policy establishes the criteria, guidelines and processes to be followed by City Council and staff in considering plans for the organization of Metro Districts. The main criteria for a Metro District is that it delivers extraordinary public benefits that align with the goals and objectives of the City. There are also impacts to the consumer that include some increased cost of ownership and utilities costs. − The criteria that Metro Districts must meet fall in three categories: - Housing (5 points required for Housing supply, diversity and choice, and affordable rental housing) - Energy and water conservation in homes (15 points required) - Neighborhood livability (5 points required for transportation/transit, neighborhood amenities, natural environmental, healthy, culture and education) − The Residential Metro District approval process has three steps: - Public Benefits agreement and Development Agreement - Building permit review to ensure compliance with the evaluation system - Certificate of Occupancy provided only when criteria are met − There is a provision in the plan that these standards will be reviewed every two years and can be adjusted then as needed. − Policies regarding disclosure and transparency of Metro Districts have been developed by the state to assist new homeowners as they buy into a Metro District. The City of Fort Collins is also suggesting that disclosures be in the title work to include maximum mill levies, maximum property tax, comparisons to outside taxes, and to include contact information for the District's Board of Directors.  Discussion − Julie - Q - How frequently do you think these requirements will be used in the future and how can the cost of the requirements be made more affordable, or will that be determined in the future? A - The bar has been set high, but it is unknown whether these costs will discourage Metro Districts. It is challenging ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 2/17/21 – MINUTES Page 5 to have a on- size-fits-all plan since Metro Districts can vary widely in what they offer. − Renee - Q - Will the criteria to have water-efficient landscaping for front yards include xeriscaping? A - Currently, the City has landscape design standards for common areas, but residential areas are left up to the homeowner. A Metro District could plan to have more xeric front yards to improve water conservation efforts. It could also include a drip irrigation system just for trees in medians and parkways. − John - Q - Why does the section regarding mill levies not have a points system? A - The overall policy for Metro Districts was adopted in 2018. These residential evaluation system point requirements will apply to that, but not to commercial or industrial development. Josh - In 2018, before the Denver Post ran their expose on Metro Districts, many of these protections were adopted by the City of Fort Collins to help protect people buying into a Metro District. − Aric - Q - What is the feedback from other boards regarding extraordinary benefits from a Metro District, like EV charging stations, etc.? A - Feedback from focus groups and some development groups has mentioned that the most developable and marketable elements are water conservation and savings from better design. Some builders who do not have a lot of experience around energy conservation measures might not be able to get the points economically. The housing metrics are very complicated because infrastructure is expensive and the add-on costs for these measures are challenging for builders. − Connor - Q - Do you think the points-based system will make this process more efficient for developers? A - It will take time for developers to think through the elements of the point system and do the necessary design work to achieve the points. In addition there will be increased City staff time to evaluate their plans for compliance. However, this points plan should also create predictability in the system and streamline efforts for developers. It is unknown if it will be more efficient for all. − Connor - Q - Regarding the disclosure process, how is this different from what we have done previously and compared against what Loveland is doing? A -. Loveland does appear to be the leader in the state regarding disclosure. Fort Collins is working to be more in alignment with their process. − Connor - Q - If this plan is adopted, will any of the materials be mentioned in any other home buying educational materials that the City will be doing around ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 2/17/21 – MINUTES Page 6 Metro Districts and their impacts on the public? A - Yes. There is a City web page dedicated to Metro Districts that will be regularly updated to have developing information about Metro Districts. − George - Q - How many large parcels of land are in the greater Fort Collins management area that could be desirable for metro districts? A - Currently, there are five that could possibly become Metro Districts. The most interest has been in the northwest area near the Budweiser plant, but there are others in the southeast and at the Hughes site. − Julie - Q - If the City annexes any of these parcels does the City provide the water or does it remain privately provided? A - Much of the growth management area is not within the City's water district. Water service in that area is provided by Eastern Larimer County (ELCO) Water District and the Loveland Water District and will remain so if annexed. The City of Fort Collins will work with them, especially regarding water conservation in this area. − Renee - Q - Is concerned that Metro District taxes on home owners will not allow affordable housing in Metro Districts. A Josh - Because deed-restricted pricing requires you to include PITI in the price of the house, having a deed- restricted unit within a Metro District will mean the sales price will be lower than a similar deed-restricted house outside the Metro District, to account for the added tax cost. Julie - Some developers also find partners to help pay for their Metro Districts in addition to increased taxes. − Ted - Q - After this plan is approved, what happens if a developer comes in with a proposal just shy of the needed points? A - Developers must meet the minimum criteria of 35 points to have their service plan approved. Anything less will not be approved. There are no bonus points if you get more than 35 points. − Ted - Q - How were the values of the points determined? Is that compared to a City value? A - Yes. Items to help reduce development costs and to achieve conservation are the highest priority. Providing affordable housing in a Metro District is complicated and is a difficult ask for developers to subsidize. − Braulio suggested it might be a helpful exercise to calculate and create points for what is the maximum amount of affordable housing that can be built using Metro Districts and make it a part of this plan. − The group discussed if they wanted to make a recommendation to Council that they adopt the revised Metro District Plan. ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 2/17/21 – MINUTES Page 7 - Discussion  Renee liked the point system. She recommends the plan should more specifically address water issues so we don't continue to use water we don't have.  Connor thought having set criteria on extraordinary benefits is appropriate and liked the ability to periodically re-evaluate the plan.  Braulio - in general, this is a good tool and we will see how the market responds to it. He suggested affordable housing should be reviewed in the future. - Julie moved and John seconded s motion that the EAC recommend that the Council adopt the evaluation criteria for the Metro District. Motion passed unanimously 9-0-0 - Follow-up - Aric will craft the formal recommendation and send it to Cameron. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS 9. OTHER BUSINESS 10. ADJOURNMENT 5:52 pm.