HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 06/03/2021AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
6/3/2021 – MINUTES Page 1
June 3, 2021, 4:00-6:00pm
Remote/Online via Zoom due to COVID-19
CALL TO ORDER
At 4:03 the meeting was called to order by Kristin Fritz.
1. ROLL CALL
a. Board Members Present: Diane Cohn, Kristin Fritz, Bob Pawlikowski, Tatiana Zentner,
Daphne Bear, John Singleton, Jennifer Bray
b. Staff Members Present:
▪ Sue Beck-Ferkiss, Staff Liaison – City of Fort Collins
▪ Meaghan Overton – City of Fort Collins
▪ Kleena Brown, Minutes – City of Fort Collins
▪ Noah Beals, City of Fort Collins (Joined in progress)
▪ Michael Sanduski, Harvard Fellow – City of Fort Collins
c. Citizens Present:
▪ Marilyn Heller
2. AGENDA REVIEW – No changes
3. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION – None at this time
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Moving forward, first and last name of Board members will be used for identification
purposes when making and seconding motions. Previous documents do not need to be
modified.
Bob Pawlikoski moved to approve May minutes. Diane Cohn seconded.
Approved 7-0
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5. NEW BUSINESS
a. Request for Direct Subsidy from Affordable Housing Capital Fund – Sue Beck-
Ferkiss (Kristin recused from discussion)
Funding for affordable housing projects typically go through the competitive process.
However, the Affordable Housing Capital Fund (AHCF) is a separate fund that was
authorized by the voters. Currently there is approximately $610,000 in the fund ($200,000
is committed to fee credits). $2 million more is expected to come in $500,000 annual
installments until 2025. This fund can be used for capital needs of one or more affordable
housing projects. AHCF has been used for fee relief or direct subsidy allocation for past
projects e.g., Mason Place. Historically, City Council has advised the best use for the
Affordable Housing Capital Fund is for fee relief or direct subsidy to “shovel ready” projects
with gaps in funding.
• Housing Catalyst’s Oak 140 – 79 affordable units and retail space
▪ Have received $98,000 in fee relief. Escalating cost of commodities, like lumber,
have created a gap in funding.
▪ Intending to ask city for final funding of $610,000 to get project fully funded
▪ Both Council Finance Committee and staff see it as an appropriate use of funds.
DISCUSSION SUMMARY:
• Sue Beck-Ferkiss clarified the request of $610,000 would clean out the account for 2021.
• In January of 2022, the account will be replenished
• There are currently no other projects coming up the pipeline that would need additional
funding for 2021. Thus far, additional projects can wait for the Spring 2022 Competitive
Process.
• At the time, Housing Catalyst did not need to seek funding from the Spring 2021
Competitive Process. The need for relief came after the Spring 2021 Competitive Process
had ended.
• The Spring 2022 Competitive Process is anticipating an increase in funding due to an
increase in federal funds.
• How does the City plan to educate the community on affordable housing?
o General anxiety on affordable housing projects, like Oak 140, has been expressed to
board members. This question is critical but parallels this discussion. An education
campaign is an important item set for future agendas.
Bob Pawlikowski motioned to recommend the allocation of $610,000 from Affordable
Housing Capital Fund to Housing Catalyst’s Oak 140 project. Seconded by Jennifer
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Bray. Motion passes 6-0-1. (Kristin Fritz recused)
b. Housing Strategic Plan, Land use Code 101 – Meaghan Overton
Planning, Development & Transportation (PDT) provides safe and convenient mobility,
community livability, and economic health by planning, building, operating, and sustainably
maintaining public infrastructure. It is one of the largest service areas in the City. Planning
and Development Services is one subsection of the larger service area. Planning and
Development grew out of health and safety concerns and evolved to be a primary
regulatory body of use of land.
Major duties of Planning and Development are long-range planning, development review,
permitting, and zoning compliance. The development review process is twelve steps. Some
of the steps are submission of an application and the application review by ten or more
departments. Planning and Development typically reviews five types of projects: minor
amendment, basic development review, administrative review, and planning and zoning
commission review. Further, Planning and Development oversees the twenty-six different
zone districts in the City.
The current land use code originated in 1997, following the City Plan adoption. Currently,
Planning and Development are working on a Land Use Code Audit. This significant code
update will align better with the 2019 City Plan adoption.
DISCUSSION SUMMARY:
• Estimates for housing demand are greater than what the City has capacity for.
• The current Land Use Code will not support this demand. Thus, careful consideration must
be given to Land Use Code updates.
• 60% of Fort Collins land is in natural area, low density and agriculture uses
• There is not enough variety of land use to maintain a healthy economy, and subsequently,
folks cannot live close to where they work.
• Density is the number of dwelling units per acre (du/ac).
o Low Density (<5 du/ac).
o Medium-density (5-20 du/ac).
o High-density (over 20 du/ac).
• Occupancy Ordinance defines the number of un-related people allowed to live per
dwelling unit. Also known as the “U plus 2” law.
• The Self-Sufficiency Standard calculates the amount of income necessary to live a basic
quality of life
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o Example: In 2018, a family of three with one preschooler and one school-aged child
in Larimer County needed to make $59,694 annually. This is about $28 per hour.
See http://www.selfsufficiencystandard.org/Colorado for more information.
• There is nowhere in the country where minimum wage workers can afford housing at
current rental market rates. Further, Fort Collins is above what a typical market looks like.
• The Land Use Code directly impacts the costs of construction by setting development
standards.
• This Board needs the opportunity to weigh in on parts of the Land Use Code that have a
big impact on affordable housing.
• As a community, we have a voice in how the Land Use Code promotes more efficient,
affordable development and construction.
• Density barriers need to be removed.
• The code needs to accommodate non-typical dwelling units e.g. accessory dwelling units.
• Incentivize affordable housing projects.
• The City’s current housing stock predominately consists of single-family housing.
o Single-Family 63%
o Attached (2-4 units) 8%
o Multi-family (5+ Units) 26%
o Other 2%
• Low-density zones could potentially have more attached and multi-family development.
• The City Plan identifies changes to zoning and development that will promote a more
diverse housing mix. The current goal is to add 30,000 non-single-family housing units.
• The Housing Team and Land Use Team are an effective resource for this Board, and
Meaghan Overton will be available to share her expertise for future meetings.
• Next meeting, Meaghan Overton can give a 10-15 minute presentation on Land Use Code
updates.
c. City Council Liaison – How to keep informed and how to keep connected?
Council Member Susan Gutowksy is now the Affordable Housing Board’s legislative liaison.
Susan has shown a lot of interest in the affordable housing area and will bring an
interesting perspective to this Board. Further, Susan is interested and involved with current
discussions with the Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship and their ministry of homelessness.
Therefore, this may be an appropriate subject to discuss with her. Homelessness is on one
end of the affordable housing spectrum, and certainly within the purview of this Board.
DISCUSSION SUMMARY
• Housing Stability is critical for individual and community well-being.
• An education and messaging campaign is crucial for affordable housing.
• This Board should look at existing campaigns to identify what has been successful.
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• Talk with liaison about messaging; engage with land use code team and city council;
reach out to Council liaison to invite to come to meeting.
• Meaghan Overton shared the field guide Strategic Casemaking by Tiffany Manuel, PHD.
as a great reading source.
• The Board also discussed ordering The Affordable City by Shane Phillips.
• The Board will either take a break in July or August for the Summer.
• Board members inquired about the possibility of meeting in person. Sue Beck-Ferkiss
clarified that the City started a hybrid working model and will check to see if this applies
to Boards and Commissions. However, it is up to the Board on how to proceed for future
meetings.
6. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS
Daphne Bear updated the Board on Planning and Zoning Board issues. Planning and
Zoning are recommending zoning modifications for approval of a project on nineteen acres
to increase two houses per acre to four houses per acre, a four-story long-term facility next
to The Marriot, adaptive re-use of single- family units to a multi-unit dwelling and revising
standards for Larimer County Urban Area Streets. This is a collaborative effort between
Fort Collins, Loveland, and the County. Daphne iterated that the Planning and Zoning
Board are recognizing zoning modifications are needed based on the changing conditions
of the City.
7. OTHER BUSINESS – NOT DISCUSSED
a. City Council 6-month planning calendar review N/A
b. Council Comments – Who, what? N/A
c. Review 2021 Work Plan N/A
d. Update on Affordable Housing Projects N/A
e. Future AHB Meetings Agenda N/A
8. ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 6:13 PM
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