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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Futures Committee - 05/12/2014 - City Manager’s Office 300 LaPorte Avenue PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6505 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com Minutes City of Fort Collins Futures Committee Meeting Regular Meeting 300 LaPorte Ave City Hall May 12, 2014 4:00–6:00pm Committee Members Present: Committee Members Absent: Wade Troxell, Chair None Gerry Horak Bruce Hendee Darin Atteberry Gino Campana City Staff: Dianne Tjalkens, Admin/Board Support Sue Beck-Ferkiss, Social Sustainability Specialist Mary Atchison, Director of Social Sustainability Cameron Gloss, Planning Manager Ana Arias, Civil Engagement Liaison Josh Birks, Economic Health Director Jeff Mihelich, Deputy City Manager Karen Cumbo, Director of PDT Community Members: Kevin Jones, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce Dale Adamy, citizen Myles Crane, citizen Louis Sharpe, citizen/FCPAN board member Bruce Hendee called meeting to order: 4:13pm Chairman Comments: None Think Tank Item 15: Affordable Housing—Sue Beck-Ferkiss and Mary Atchison Sue gave a PowerPoint on “Housing Today and For Tomorrow.” Socially sustainable housing market is a concept characterized by equity and diversity. Barriers include market failures in affordability, accessibility, and special needs. Citywide goals include maintaining adequate housing supply, having mix of types of housing, housing homeless, increasing Transit Oriented employment, etc. Josh explained economic trends. He said rising income inequality is a problem nationally. The average salary at top 20% is 17.5 times higher than bottom 20% earners in Fort Collins. He showed graphs on household income distribution, decreasing per capita income, and earnings by type. Sue added that Fort Collins has 20 years left of land supply, full homeless shelters, and current inventory shortages. In 30 years the GMA will be built out, therefore, density goals must be achieved, building codes will have to adapt, and citizens will have to be less reliant on cars. Cameron Gloss showed a map of the GMA with highlights of underutilized land parcels. He suggested being creative about recycling land, looking more at smaller parcels, potentially aggregating parcels, and reevaluating the GMA. Josh added that the Midtown Redevelopment Corridor study found several hundred acres that could be repurposed, but many have successful businesses on them. Sue showed how housing cost components have changed over time with a major increase in building and land costs. Some hard cost increases could be code driven. Regarding density, Fort Collins will need more dynamic Land Use Code changes and a mix of housing types. A transit plan will have to be fully implemented, including more transit oriented housing. Housing type changes include fewer square feet per person, eliminating outdated stock, temporary units, micro units, etc. Bruce discussed architecture and planning. Globally, the U.S. builds the largest homes. He showed classic subdivision planning with single family, townhomes, multifamily and a park. The new urbanist style integrates housing styles, with a range of home prices that are unified through architecture. He added that housing doesn’t have to be expensive to be visually appealing. He showed an example of new subdivisions in Fort Collins that works with these techniques and examples of micro-homes. Harvest Park Subdivision is a mixed density subdivision and has been successful. The Old Town North neighborhood has very high density, but is a popular subdivision. Lastly, he showed Summit and said it is on the transit corridor and is some of our most affordable housing stock. Sue added that 100 year old neighborhoods had mixed use and mixed size. We can move back to that. Comments/Q & A: • Should Land Use Code move more toward higher density and multi-family? • We have a requirement to have a variety of housing types, but we don’t specify where, so we get pod-style development. • Compatibility issues with ownership versus rental. Consolidation makes it easier to manage. • Developing densities along transit corridors can provide transition areas for higher density. • We should focus on those corridors. How does this tie into affordability? • Can we avoid becoming Boulder when we hit our GMA? One strategy is as we map out available lands and try to match the workforce demands with housing. • We can determine out our needs now and 20 years from now, but how do we achieve these goals? These infill parcels are expensive to redevelop. They can’t be affordable without help. So what is that help? • We need to look at housing affordability across the spectrum. • We are looking at gaps, but all the complexes being built are high-end so the developer can make a profit. Subsidies are going away. 2 • We need to think about employment and housing to sustain that employment. It will have to be a mix between micro-homes and interesting developments, perhaps some assisted with City funds. • There is a little the City can do about fees, but land costs will continue to increase. • Why is this problem the City’s problem? DO 15: Next Steps • We need different vocabulary to think about these things. It’s not just about more people. Fort Collins is better now with the higher population we have today compared to 30 years ago. We need to discuss these in a positive community way. • The Summit does not have the ingredients that give it common elements to integrate into the community. Where are we spending the money? We have to have quality of place with higher densities. • People who are young have less money, this is not unusual. The number of people in poverty who are middle aged is smaller. As people get older they have more wealth. Housing is pretty affordable for people over 40. • The cost of childcare is great. The poverty rate drops when a child enters elementary school. • We have a reasonably healthy system now, but there are some distressed populations, and trends that are scary. How do we stay healthy over time? • Subsidies are dependent on the federal government. What do we do about the need for subsidized units in the future when that funding is gone? Is making housing affordable a function of the City? It has never been a conscious decision. We allocated funding provided by the federal government. • If the City doesn’t actively participate in the planning, we are changing the landscape of our community and saying that those who work here can’t live here. • City Plan says the City values having people live where they work. • Boulder’s in-commuting is a huge issue. • We are reliant on HUD’s CDBG right now. When CDBG doesn’t exist, what is out appropriate role? • We have an affordable housing fund in the general fund. • Use tax credits and work through developers. As we find pockets, educate and nudge into the direction we want. • The consultants are suggesting ideas that do not rely on federal funding. • We can also look at options for our Land Bank properties. • There may be people in this community who moved here to live in a small town, and do not want growth. Free market says we will be at 250,000 population in 25 years. How do we ensure there is still a sense of place? • Working with Transit in Land Use planning makes the most sense in developing. To change a system takes a lot of money. Trying to work with parcels and homes is not the expertise of the City. • Fort Collins’ economic health is key to allowing desirable changes to happen. • We should identify the disruptors to affordable housing and determine how to plan for them. 3 • The City is not building affordable housing. The federal and City funding gets allocated to developers. What role does the City play, and what is the kind of city we want to have. What kinds of processes, policies, etc., does the City want to have to keep the vision? • The true cost of infrastructure is not being calculated today. There is a cost associated with not having a housing type, and that cost gets spread across the community. • Keep the flexibility to have dynamism within the community. • We could go with the Aspen model and be the high-priced community. If we aren’t proactive, that is what we get. • There could be an urban renewal project that uses special financing to get a public outcome. • If you build for people to live here, you eliminate paying for infrastructure for commuting. • What kind of money are we looking at for all the subsidies the federal government is doing? What could be the cost if the federal government ended funding, including section 8, subsidies, etc.? • Every time we take on a HUD project, we need a commitment to manage that in perpetuity. We keep adding inventory. Public Comment: Louis Sharpe said in Boulder there was a concept to increase density and the community pushed back against it. He thinks working against the NIMBYism that is against high rises is important, as well as early transit. Transit lines will determine where density is increased. Future Meeting Topics Discussion (see handout) Bruce took note of additional topics/ideas. Comments/Q & A: • What will our community will look like in 30 years? We’d like the community to remain the quality it is today. Water security given climate change is an issue with many implications. • Diversification is economically beneficial. • Douglass County cannot use the aquifer anymore, so we need to focus on water security. • We are thinking of local and international partnerships to increase sustainability here and elsewhere. FortZED is an example of how Fort Collins can be a model for other communities. • Infrastructure replenishment is about rebuilding bridges, roads, and buildings. • Treatment plants are an example of initial federal funding with long term maintenance through rate-payers. • Regarding diversity, we have an international community at the university. We could work with CSU’s international programs and see how to bring more of the university to the community. • The elementary schools around the university have done this well. PSD should be part of the discussion. • Multinational corporations here like Woodward can be engaged as well. 4 • CSU students and faculty who are non-citizens may not show in the census, so we may be more diverse than we think. • CSU used to be a cultural centerpiece of our community. • What are the disruptors to higher education? • Behavior change is taking into consideration people’s behavior in implementation. • Resilience topic is related to major events and the risk assessment we’ve done. • City workforce trends should be added. • Reliance on coal should be discussed as well. What is the exit strategy? • Tourism is increasing. How do we move people in and out of our community if that influx for events becomes a trend? Public Comment: Myles Crane suggested looking at a vision for City administration if cost were not an issue. Approval of April Minutes: Gerry moved to approve April 14 minutes. Wade seconded. Motion passed unanimously, 4-0-0. Additional Discussion: None. Meeting adjourned by Wade Troxell at 5:56pm. 5