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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 09/05/2002CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD SEPTEMBER 5, 2002, MEETING MINUTES Kay Rios, Chair ((2 </ Isabel Garity, Vice Chair Ken Waido, Staff Liaison, 970-221-6753 /l,M David Roy, City Council Liaison, 970-407-7393 Board Members Present: Kay Rios, Isabel Garity, Jon Fairchild, Jane Phelan, Joe Hebert, and Jeff Taylor. Denise Rogers and Kathleen Cherroff were excused. Advance Planning Staff Present: Ken Waido. Council Members Present: none Also Present: Doug Smith, City of Fort Collins Finance Department; Cameron Gloss, City of Fort Collins Current Planning Department; Grace Harris, League of Women Voters. The meeting was held at 281 N. College Ave., Fort Collins, Colorado. Kay Rios called the meeting to order without a quorum present at 4:05 p.m. A quorum was present by 4:30 p.m. There were no comments from the public. New Business Minutes With a quorum present, the minutes of August 1 were approved as submitted on a motion by Jane Phelan, seconded by Jeff Taylor. The motion carried unanimously. Fee Exemption Proaram Doug Smith of the Finance Department reported that, in light of declining sales and use tax revenues that could result in a $4.2 million General Fund deficit next year and statutory requirements to balance the City budget, the City Manager has asked all service areas to reduce expenditures by 4.9 percent for 2003. While that requires a reduction in the overall Community Planning and Environmental Services (CPES) budget, at this time Affordable Housing funds have not been mentioned as a specific area to be cut. However, Ken Waido pointed out that CPES is a personnel - heavy department, which leaves few choices when it comes to cutting budgets. Because the Finance Committee has been disbanded by City Council, the Board must now submit any program funding proposals to Council directly, according to Doug. The consensus of the Board was that, with recent changes in the Council, this is not the time to resubmit the issue, even in its original, nonprofits -only form. Affordable Housing Board September 5, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 2 The Policy Subcommittee will begin researching other possible approaches to providing fee relief to private developers of affordable housing, and report to the Board at the next meeting. Development Review Process Improvements Cameron Gloss, Current Planning Director, has been named Development Review Manager, the staff person with the responsibility and authority to resolve conflicts between City departments in regard to development review issues. He explained that, while the permitting system works well for 80 percent of projects, the other 20 percent wind up in protracted review, with the time frame usually based on the quality of the project applications submitted. In his new capacity, he will be focusing on that 20 percent, by addressing inconsistencies in comments to developers from different departments; reducing if not eliminating late comments, which can seriously affect the affordability of a project by requiring expensive and time-consuming re -engineering -- Cameron said he's already had success and mostly positive responses in this area; and restructuring how and when fees are assessed to provide incentives to developers to submit the best possible application the first time. Cameron will be meeting with the development community to work on the last item, which is modeled on a successful program run by the city of Boulder. Under that program, developers are allowed two rounds of revisions before being asked to either take the project forward for approval or denial, or withdraw it and resubmit it after further work. Cameron noted that while developers in Boulder initially hated the idea, they now appreciate knowing there is a consistent process that helps keep unfit projects out of the process. He hopes to have the new fee structure in place by the end of the month, when he intends to hold an open meeting with developers, engineers and architects to explain the new policies. He added that his department has also been working collectively with developers on new utility standards for higher density projects, based on their experience in Rigden Farm. These new standards are mostly done, and now the department is moving on to address Storm Water issues in the same way. The goal is to keep such projects affordable for builders. The Board commended Cameron and his department for their efforts and positive results. Transportation Tax Initiative Kay is concerned about the impacts the quarter -cent sales/use tax and the 1 percent transportation excise tax for transportation to appear on the November ballot and the $1 monthly transportation maintenance fee Council is considering enacting will have on affordable housing and businesses with a high -volume of foot traffic. The majority of the sales tax is earmarked for roads, rather than transit, and the initiative has strong backing by developers, according to Kay. The language exempting affordable housing from the excise tax seemed to her to not apply to Affordable Housing Board September 5, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 3 additions and renovations, although approved the ballot language on Sept. implications before the election. the City Manager disagreed. City Council 3, which limits staffs ability to discuss its Ken will e-mail the Board the exact wording of the initiative as well as a list of priorities for how the money collected will be used. He will also explore who can speak to the Board's questions at the next meeting. I-25 Subarea Plan Kay reported on a City Council study session at which several Council members questioned the need for including affordable housing options in the plan, despite the letter sent by the Board requesting Council consider rezoning the subarea as Low - density Mixed -used Neighborhood rather than the current designation of Urban Estate, which allows only two dwelling units per acre. Ken said staff agreed with the letter, and pointed out that LMN zoning, which allows but does not require five units per acre, usually results in attached units, which tend to be cheaper -- townhomes in the $140,000-$160,000 range -- than single-family homes -- usually above $200,000. Kay and Ken agreed that not allowing a higher density is taking away an option for the future and will have a serious impact on traffic, as lower -wage employees drive farther to work from where they can afford to live. Isabel added that a member of the Planning and Zoning remarked that we can't just keep adding lanes to roads, but employers aren't feeling the affects, yet. Jane asked how Council members concluded that affordable rentals are available? Ken explained it seemed to be an extrapolation from published vacancy rates as well as discussions with representatives from the Fort Collins Housing Authority about newly acquired properties. However, Fox Meadows at Horsetooth and Timberline is filled, and the owner is considering opening an additional 200 tax - credit units due to demand. If vacancy rates are really as high as they seem, the rates should begin to drop, but Isabel pointed out that the most vacancies are in the southeast area, not exactly the most affordable part of town to start with. Jane has seen rents dropping around Old Town as houses are taking longer to fill up. Kay announced that, as a result of the growing perception that there is no longer a need for affordable housing, Mark Driscoll of First National Bank no longer supports the Funding Partners' Clearinghouse, and won't take it forward to set up a mechanism to bring lenders and borrowers together on affordable housing projects. She asked the Board for ideas on how to make affordable housing a more visible issue. Ken said that a detailed study on housing costs and availability is being completed by the state Department of Housing, but the analysis won't be available until the end of the year. He also pointed out that the I-25 Corridor Plan is now in Planning and Zoning, and public hearings will be held before it is sent to Council for approval in October or November. Affordable Housing Board September 5, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 4 Kay will draft a Soapbox article for the Coloradoan, and a follow-up when the state data becomes available. Isabel will help with research. City Plan Update Kay is serving on the citizen advisory committee to the Advance Planning Department's City Plan and the Transportation Master Plan Update, and reported on the first meeting, held Aug 28. She said the group provides a good cross-section of the Fort Collins community, and should serve as a good sounding board for the plans. Kay is representing her individual point of view; the Policy Subcommittee consisting of Kay, Jon, and Denise will provide official Affordable Housing Board input to the process. Ken said staff will bring reports from the CAC to the Board, and the reports will be a standing agenda item. The first meeting, according to Ken, looked at the City Plan and how it is interconnected with the Transportation master Plan, which is why both are being looked at together. Mark Jackson is serving as Project manager for the transportation component; Ken is supervising the City Plan portion. The first part of the update process, which is required every five years by City Plan itself, will look at the big picture, long-term vision and regional context. What Fort Collins does affects the region and what the region does affects Fort Collins. The questions to be addressed include what happens when the region fills up? Do community patterns change and how? Ken announced the first City Plan Public Meeting on Sept. 26 at 6:30 -- location TBA -- featuring Doug Porter of the Growth Management Institute. He will e-mail the Board details. Competitive Process Applications Ken distributed copies of the affordable housing applications for funding for the fall cycle of the Competitive Process along with a matrix comparing all projects and a summary of staff analysis. Nine proposals requesting approximately $2.4 million have been received; approximately $2.2 million is available. Ken will get any additional information for Board members from applicants, if needed. Final recommendations for funding will be made to City Council by the Community Development Block Grant commission at the Nov. 5 Council meeting. The Board can forward questions for applicants to CDBG if they feel there are issues not adequately addressed in the applications. To provide input to the CDBG by its Sept. 26 meeting, the Board will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 4 p.m. to review and prioritize the proposals. Ken will e-mail location. Affordable Housing Board September 5, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 5 10 j r172�i' _ , Update/Reports on Subcommittee Efforts Policv Jon reported that the committee has begun reading City Plan, to be able to make recommendations for the Update. He distributed draft comments on the Vision and Goals section, making specific suggestions and recommendations. The consensus of the Board was that the comments were thorough and thoughtful and extremely helpful, and Jon was thanked profusely for providing them. Anyone with additional comments is encouraged to e-mail them to ]on for inclusion in the Board's official recommendations on the City Plan Update. Education Isabel reported no responses to offers to provide presentations on the need for Affordable Housing. Liaison Reports Isabel reported that Planning and Zoning is conducting its Building Code review, spending two hours every two weeks going over the minutiae of the building trade. CSU's plans for an Arts Center at Old Fort Collins High School had been the biggest issue until its resolution last month. Jane Phelan is receiving the minutes from meetings of the Natural Resources Board, and will share them with anyone interested. Under discussion currently is high -density residential zoning in the East Mulberry Corridor, from I-25 to Lemay and Vine to Mulberry, currently mostly industrial usage. Other Business Boards and Commissions Orientation Manual Ken asked for input on the usefulness of the manuals distributed at last month's meeting, since it will fall to the Advance Planning Department to make any updates. Executive Session Guidelines Ken also distributed copies of the guidelines for executive sessions adopted by City Council on August 20. He also passed out a flyer seeking application for vacancies on Boards and Commissions. There are no current openings for the Affordable housing Board, but applications are being taken for future vacancies. Affordable Housing Board September 5, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 6 Habitat for Humanity Chili Cookoff Jane announced that she will be cooking at the Foothills Mall on Sept. 20, with 50 percent of the proceeds donated to Habitat. She looks forward to seeing everyone there. Next meeting Scheduled for October 3, 2002. Meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Kate Jeracki September 16, 2002