Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 05/03/2012CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD 281 N. College Ave. Fort Collins, Colorado May 3, 2012 4 to 6 p.m. Chair: Dan Byers Staff Liaison: Ken Waido 970-221-6753 City Council Liaison: Lisa Poppaw Board Members present: Ben Blonder, Dan Byers, Jeff Johnson, Troy Jones, Karen Miller, Mike Sollenberger Board Members absent: Wayne Thompson Advance Planning Department Staff present: Ken Waido, Chief Planner; Beth Rosen, Affordable Housing Administrator Council Members present: None Other Staff present: Beth Sowder, Neighborhood Services Manger; Kate Jeracki, Note Taker Guests: Marilyn Heller, League of Women Voters; CSU Student Observer Bruno Meeting called to order with a quorum present at 4:10 p.m. by Chair Dan Byers Ken Waido has returned, and was welcomed warmly by the Board. There were no changes to the agenda as presented. PUBLIC COMMENT Marilyn Heller reported that the League of Women Voters’ public forum on housing for veterans was well attended and will be broadcast on YouTube as well as Channel 14. Dan Byers said he would like to watch it. NEW BUSINESS APPROVAL OF MINUTES — The minutes from the April, 5, 2012, were approved as presented on a motion from Mike Sollenberger seconded by Karen Miller, with Jeff Johnson abstaining. Johnson, a member of the CARE Housing Board, had arrived after 2 the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing discussion, and took issue with the consultant’s characterization of CARE policies. He asked that the current minutes reflect that while the original charter provided housing strictly for working families, CARE now offers some units for seniors and for the unemployed with some form of income. Karen Miller was concerned that the consultant’s final report might not be accurate, and Mike Sollenberger wanted clarification on how the current CARE policies squared with HUD Fair Housing regulations. Ken Waido will invite a representative from CARE to next month’s meeting, as well as a representative from BBC Consulting, to clarify the issue. JULY MEETING DATE – Ken Waido pointed out that the regular monthly meeting for July meeting is scheduled for July 5. By consensus, the Board agreed to reschedule the meeting to July 12. FORT COLLINS HOUSING AUTHORITY FEE WAIVERS UPDATE — Ken Waido said that Deputy City Manager Diane Jones had been scheduled to give this report but could not attend. It will be presented at a future meeting. PERIODIC REVIEW SELF-ASSESSMENT — The Board discussed the questionnaire sent to individual members to determine a consensus response that Ken Waido will forward to City Council by June 1. During discussion, Dan Byers said that Council seemed to be interested in the Board’s opinion and members should keep affordable housing issues, such as student housing, historic preservation and budgeting, in front of Council. Ken Waido suggested speaking during the public comment portion of Council meetings when relevant items are on the agenda. The issue of whether the Board should focus more on subsidized housing or market-driven affordability was also discussed. STUDENT HOUSING ACTION PLAN UPDATE — Beth Sowder, Neighborhood Services Manager, presented a report on the status of SHAP, a collaborative effort of the City, CSU, and Front Range Community College, neighborhood organizations, developers, the Fort Collins Board of Realtors, the Northern Colorado Rental Housing Association, CSU student government and students at large. The effort originated in Plan Fort Collins to address a potential CSU enrollment of 34,000, up from the current 27,000. Sowder said while that number had been projected to be reached within 10 years, recently CSU has revised that to perhaps as long as 20 years. Sowder said staff is now gathering feedback from Boards and Commissions as well as from a large group dialog facilitated by the CSU Center for Public Deliberation to develop a prioritized action list for City Council and a map showing areas of future demand for student housing, to be presented in October. She recapped the top issues identified so far, which included expanded transit options, comprehensive planning strategies, improved design standards and predictable development approval processes, better enforcement and greater accountability for landlords, and improved education on existing policies and incentives. 3 Dan Byers asked if it would be possible to quantify the existing supply and demand for student housing. Sowder said there are 17 projects with 2100 units in some stage of development; she distributed a list of projects and said the most current information is available on the City’s website. She added that what the City didn’t want was a glut of student-focused housing, given the unpredictable nature of enrollments past 5 years or so. Ken Waido pointed out the natural progression of student housing demand over a 4-year college career, from dorm to apartment to house. Beth Sowder confirmed that the No. 1 housing choice in a survey of CSU students was a house. Mike Sollenberger agreed that you can’t modify student behavior by building more student housing, and also asked for more demand metrics. Jeff Johnson offered to supply some national data if the Board would be interested. Jeff Johnson pointed out that historic preservation concerns have a significant and arguably negative impact on multi-family development in the areas closest to the CSU campus, in the Planned Development Overlay District. Conflicting policies affect supply which affects affordability. Mike Sollenberger asked Ken Waido to confirm that the Boulder City Council had adopted a policy of not approving any more student projects in town, so CU will have to build more dorms for its own students. He added that if CSU has land for a new stadium it should have land for dorms, and it is irresponsible to knock down single-family homes to build student housing. Johnson argued that with the 3- unrelated rule, multi-family units are a more efficient way to provide housing for students. Sowder said that through the dialog process, FRCC issues emerged that were different from CSU’s. The typical FRCC student more closely resembles the person in need of affordable housing, with 10 percent of the 6,000 students at risk of homelessness. Transfort doesn’t serve FRCC’s campus on East Prospect Road. Jeff Johnson would like to get more input from FRCC, so the student housing issue isn’t so CSU driven. Sowder said she would return to a future meeting to get the Board’s formal recommendation to Council on action items. OTHER BUSINESS PROVINCETOWNE — Troy Jones said that email correspondence since the last meeting shows that 67% of homes in Provincetowne are now owner-occupied and an application has been submitted to the FHA for loan eligibility. Ben Blonder presented an update on the individual property that had sparked interest in the Provincetowne covenants. The City Attorney has granted an individual waiver of the owner-occupied requirement and the home is now scheduled for a short sale to close on May 23 — the fourth contract on the property so far. Blonder said while the price cap of $237,500 remains in place, he is concerned the waiver will set a precedent. Mike Sollenberger pointed out there is no way to stop owners from renting now, and it’s likely that the renters are people in need of affordable housing. Blonder said that the current 4 sellers’ market will be pushing prices up in the next two months, and investors will be able to increase rents as well. Beth Rosen pointed out that if the number of deed- restricted units drops from the current 70% to 60%, the City’s interest in the subdivision will be less than 50%. Troy Jones felt that while the individual homeowner has a solution and the issue is less urgent, the Board should continue the discussion to determine what the City should do in the future to keep housing affordable and what lessons have been learned from Provincetowne. Jeff Johnson asked to review a copy of the existing covenants, and Beth Rosen said she would forward them to Board members. Dan Byers would like the Board to formulate a message on the issue to deliver to City Council. FUTURE MEETING AGENDAS At the June 7 meeting, the Board will discuss:  Clarification on CARE Housing policies.  Clarification of Boulder student housing policy.  Provincetowne covenants.  Revisions to Board Bylaws.  FCHA fee waiver. At some future meeting, the Board would like to:  Hear a report on the Land Bank Program.  Review the effects of the City’s Green Building Code on housing affordability.  Discuss outreach to Fort Collins Housing Authority on alternative models of ownership for mobile home parks and residents. Meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m. by Chair Dan Byers.