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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 10/08/1998CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD Meeting Minutes October 8, 1998 Bob Browning, Chair Joanne Greer, Vice Chair Chuck Wanner, City Council Liaison The meeting of the Affordable Housing Board was called to order by Chairman Bob Browning, beginning at 4:05 p.m., at 281 North College Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado. Board members present included: Bob Browning, Bruce Croissant, David Danforth, Isabel Garity, Joanne Greer, Stacy Overton, Kay Rios, and Mickey Willis. Staff present: Ken Waido and Ann Watts. All board members introduced themselves. There was no public discussion. Approval of Minutes Ms. Rios questioned on "it has been suggested to submit a community block grant for a certain amount of moneys to be earmarked that if Northwood goes forward, there is a pool of money available to assist the nonprofits", who would submit that. Mr. Waido advised that staff would do that. Ms. Rios further questioned on "Mr. Willis questioned that in looking at the list of land banking team members, why the Chair and Vice Chair of the Affordable Housing Board were not included. Ms. Watts noted the idea was to keep this a small, working group," if the Chair, Bob Browning, was being included. Mr. Browning will get a copy of the final from Ms. Watts and make suggestions. Moved by Mr. Croissant, seconded by Ms. Overton: To approve the minutes of the September 3, 1998, meeting. Motion approved unanimously. Old Business Affordable Housing Program Revisions - Development Review Fee Waiver and Impact Fee Delay Programs. Ms. Watts informed the Board that issues are generally settled on the proposal. The only concern that staff might have was to the impact fee delay program. The financial impact that the impact fee delay program would have is in allowing builders to delay the payment of their development impact fees from the time of the building permit to the time of CO. This plan will be reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Board, and they will have a chance to make any comments or changes to the Land Use Code or City Code. Because of the schedule, the earliest this will go to Council is the first meeting in December. Affordable Housing Board Meeting of October 8, 1998 Page 2 Changes to the Development Impact Fee Rebate (Offset) Program Mr. Waido informed the Board that this was taken to Council. Council discussed the program, debated it, and decided to table the matter for a month until November 3, 1998. They also requested that staff give them more information as to what the financial implications would be. Staff is meeting with the Finance Committee so to get numbers available. Mr. Waido explained why the rebate program was originally put into effect. Extensive discussion was held concerning rebates and offsets and the impact it has on a for -profit developer on doing a project or not. Further discussion was held concerning the stability and consistency with the rebate program and if the developer/builder can depend on the funds. Mr. Waido stated that the funds are not guaranteed to anybody; that this is a first -come, first -serve basis. Mr. Waido also noted that we really can't determine how many of the projects go forward because of the program or how many would happen anyway. Mr. Waido also informed the board that this program is very important for the non-profit organizations. Discussion was held concerning since the funds are not guaranteed that it is difficult for a developer to count on the funds for their particular project. Mr. Waido stated that there is $550,000 to $600,000 in the fund, including the reserves. Any amount that is not used in the fiscal year falls back into the reserve account. Mr. Willis asked the Board that if there is a possibility of running out of those rebate funds, how can they be increased. Mr. Browning indicated that City Council had been given an analysis by Mr. Waido about how fast those funds could be depleted; the response was, What a delightful problem to have. Discussion was held regarding the implication of going to a 50 percent instead of a 60 percent AMI and how that would affect the funds in the rebate program. Mr. Browning indicated that there has to be mechanisms put into place for how long to escrow money and at what point it should be escrowed. Mr. Willis suggested that it might be helpful if someone from staff meet with developers and help them understand some of the funding they may qualify for if they made small changes to comply. Ms. Watts indicated that she does participate in the conceptual review meetings. Mr. Waido stated that Council will consider the delay of payments for impact fees as it applies to either rental or to for sale housing, whereas the impact fee rebate is only for rental. Moved by Ms. Rios, seconded by Mr. Danforth: To asking staff to set up a mechanism to escrow the funds. Motion approved unanimously. Mr. Waido informed the Board that CDBG and HOME funds cannot be used on manufactured housing unless it is put in a permanent foundation. Discussion was held regarding the increase in mobile homes/manufactured housing and the process in which funds can be applied to these situations. Ms. Overton stated that manufactured homes are not considered legal property. Affordable Housing Board Meeting of October 8, 1998 • Page 3 Mr. Browning brought up points for consideration: (1) The down payment assistance program is a due -on -sale loan; and (2) are there legal mechanisms that could tie up the property for 20 years, since it is not considered real property. Mr. Waido stated that somebody below 60 percent of AMI has the potential of getting $10,000 from the City. $5,000 on the manufactured home cannot happen unless it's tied down on a permanent foundation. Mr. Browning inquired of the Board if there was anyone who was opposed to extending the home ownership rebate program into the mobile home manufactured area. Ms. Overton suggested there should be more investigation done first. Ms. Rios stated that it did not call for a proposal, but that it requires an agreement of the Board. It was stated that the homeowner would have to give the address of the permanent location of the home at closing before the money would ever be distributed. Mr. Willis stated that the real estate closing and the personal property closing are actually two different closings. Moved by Mr. Croissant, seconded by Ms. Garity: That the Board apply the home ownership portion to manufactured homes with the same stipulations that CDBG has. Motion approved. Mr. Danforth stated that he would gather more information on this. The outcome of the vote was as follows: Ms. Rios, no. Mr. Croissant, yes. Ms. Garity, yes. Mr. Danforth, no. Mr. Willis, yes. Ms. Overton, no. Ms. Greer, yes; four votes in favor and three against. Ms. Rios requested that the minority concerns be put in the minutes. TRAC Update Mr. Waido stated that this is not really a TRAC update but a Parkway Townhome update. This is still not closed. PUBLIC AWARENESS SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT The Web site is now up and looks great. PRIORITY HOUSING NEEDS AND STRATEGIES Ms. Watts indicated that the first 20 pages Watts also stated that the comments and added next week. Ms. Watts went over Students. Ms. Rios had some suggestio section and the need to use approxir comparisons will be used. have been seen before by the Board. Ms. corrections that the Board wanted will be the impact of Colorado State University is on using approximate numbers in one late numbers throughout so the same Ms. Watts went over the Affordable Housing Need - Target Groups (Revised), Rental Housing, and For Sale Housing sections. Ms. Rios made suggestions. Ms. Rios asked if it would be possible to find other university communities and see if our percentages run close to theirs. Ms. Watts went over the Housing Production section, and discussion was held on what needs to be done to "preserve its existing affordable housing projects. Affordable Housing Board Meeting of October 8, 1998 Page 4 Ms. Watts defined "housing problems" as possibly meaning inadequate bathrooms, inadequate kitchens, and lack of running water. It could also include financial burden if a person is paying more than 30 to 50 percent of their income for rent. Also, overcrowding could be included. Ms. Watts went over The Provision of Affordable Housing in Fort Collins section. The gist of it is that many different funding programs are available, but with all the different application processes timeline requirements, developers have to mesh together many different things. Ms. Watts indicated that most funding sources are reluctant to be the first one to make a commitment to a project. She indicated that the City needs to be one of the first sources of financing so that others will follow. Discussion was held on different sections of this document and suggestions were made on how to make issues clearer and how to write strategies, suggesting that some timelines be implemented. Ms. Watts informed the Board that 60 percent of the low income housing is rental and 40 percent is home ownership. There is 1.4 million annually that is put into Affordable Housing. Ms. Watts stated that one item that should be taken out of the strategies is the inclusionary zoning, because recently a court case has suggested it would not be possible to do that. Ms. Rios asked that on Page 4 under the "To preserve the affordability of existing rental housing complexes," that a first right of refusal ordinance be put in that language. Ms. Rios also asked about condo conversions and how she could find information on that. Mr. Waido said that he would forward that information to her. In regards to "To preserve existing owned housing stock," it was suggested that the Board support housing counseling service providers. Ms. Watts,suggested that one of the things she is addressing is to get employers involved in providing affordable housing, whether it is identifying sites that they can donate to a project, actually providing money, or even holding a first-time buyers class on -site for employees. The Board discussed limited partnerships for for sale homes. Two entities would share the ownership, which would create a shared -equity effect. Ms. Watts suggested that in inclusionary zoning there should be a standard requirement that a proportion of the land needs to be affordable. Ms. Watts also suggested looking at tax increment financing. Mr. Waido explained that tax increment is used to float a bond. Ms. Watts suggested another concept to look at is development on infill properties. Ms. Watts also suggested that when the City goes to find a bank that in their contract process they should negotiate to get the bank to make a more significant contribution to affordable housing. Mr. Willis suggested to build the affordable housing first rather than last, but it was noted that commercial follows rooftops. The Board members all complimented Ms. Watts for a job well done. ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE -CHAIR OFFICERS Moved by Ms. Rios, seconded by Ms. Greer: Mr. Bob Browning be elected to be the Chair in the next year. Motion approved unanimously. Moved by Mr. Wills, seconded by Ms. Overton: Ms. Kay Rios be elected to be the Vice -Chair in the next year. Motion approved unanimously. Affordable Housing Board • • Meeting of October 8, 1998 Page 5 The meeting concluded at 6:15 p.m.