HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Full - Ad Hoc Housing Committee - 03/11/2021 -AGENDA
City Council Ad Hoc Housing Committee
Thursday, March 11, 2021, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Location: Virtual
Public is encouraged to listen through Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/98351510422
Or Telephone: Dial: (253) 215-8782 or (346) 248-7799 Webinar ID: 983 5151 0422
Committee Members: Ken Summers, District 3
Ross Cunniff, District 5
Emily Gorgol, District 6
Committee Contact: Lindsay Ex, lex@fcgov.com
Note: Per Ord. No 079, the Committee Chair, may in consultation with the City Manager and City Attorney, determine that meeting
in person would not be prudent for some or all persons due to a public health emergency or other unforeseen circumstance
affecting the city. Committee Chair Emily Gorgol has conferred with the City Manager and the City Attorney and has determined that
the Committee will conduct this meeting remotely pursuant to Ord. No. 079. As well, an individual Committee member may request
to participate remotely even if the rest of the Committee will be there if the member has a concern about their or others’ health or
safety by notifying the Clerk at least three hours in advance of the meeting.
Meeting Objective: Transition from plan to implementation with (1) a panel of local builders and
developers, (2) a status update on the quicker wins identified by the Committee, and (3) a review of the
Committee’s end-of-term report outline.
1. Call Meeting to Order
2. Approval of February 11, 2021 minutes
3. Agenda Review
4. Public Comment
5. Discussion Items:
a. Panel discussion to support the transition from plan to implementation (Kristin Fritz, Chief
Real Estate Officer with Housing Catalyst; Russ Lee, Ripley Design; Robin Bachelet, Local
Developer; facilitated by Jennifer Bray who serves on the Affordable Housing Board)
b. Review status of the quicker wins identified by the Committee
c. End-of-Term Report Outline
6. Next Meeting Focus and Process Check-in
There are three or more members of City Council that may attend this meeting. While no formal action will be taken by the Council
at this meeting, the discussion of public business will occur and the meeting is open to the public via Zoom.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Meeting Pre-Work Summary to Prepare for the March 11, 2021 Meeting
2. February 11, 2021 Draft Minutes
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ATTACHMENT 1: MEETING PRE-WORK
Pre-Work Item #1: Transitioning from Plan to Implementation – Panel with Local Builders &
Developers
Description: At the February meeting, Committee members indicated an interest in hearing from local
builders and developers regarding their perspectives on the transition from plan to implementation.
Staff reached out to local builders and developers to share their experiences in building in Fort Collins, with
the following questions as a starting point:
• What does it take for you to build a unit of housing?
• What are the key barriers/challenges you face in trying to develop housing in Fort Collins?
• If the City/Community only did one (or two) things in implementation, what would you hope we do?
Discussion Question: What feedback or questions do Committee members have on the perspectives and
ideas shared by our panelists?
Pre-Work Item #2: Review of the Quicker Wins Identified by the Ad Hoc Committee
Description: At the March meeting, staff will provide a brief overview on the quicker wins identified in the
Housing Strategic Plan and initial next steps identified. Specific highlights will be provided on the anti-
displacement mapping (Strategy 1), the financial literacy work (which is associated with Strategy 3:
Implement the 2020 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice Action Steps, which is a
transformational strategy), and the eviction prevention fund (Strategy 25).
Discussion Question: What feedback or questions do Committee members have on these updates?
Updates on Quicker Wins:
Strategy Update (including next steps)
1. Assess displacement and
gentrification risk (New)
Staff have gathered most of the data for an initial draft of the map. Step two will
be creating an index or scoring system. Staff have found good examples of this
from Portland, Seattle, and Denver and are using those examples as starting
points. A draft map is anticipated to be shared in the April meeting packet.
3. Implement the 2020 Analysis
of Impediments to Fair Housing
Choice Action Steps (Expand)
The City will continue to provide financial support through the Competitive
Process to nonprofit agencies (e.g. Neighbor to Neighbor, Project Self-
Sufficiency) that provide financial counseling/literacy programs and enhance
credit access for Hispanic/Latinx residents and other historically
underrepresented groups. All City-supported programs pair their services with
case management. Increasing these services would require both expansion of
capacity (through existing or new programs) and an increase in available funds.
In 2020 Neighbor to Neighbor received significant additional funding from the City
for emergency rent and housing counseling services because the CARES Act
provided new federal dollars for COVID relief, and they have received an
additional $9.6M from the County in 2021 to continue this work. Importantly, in
order for financial counseling to be successful, program participants must earn a
living wage.
(Note: this update focuses on the financial literacy aspect of this work; the
implementation roadmap will be comprehensive of all the action steps)
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Strategy Update (including next steps)
4. Implementation, tracking,
and assessment of housing
strategies (Expand)
This work will be developed in the spring/summer with Root as a part of the
Implementation Roadmap development.
8.Extend the City’s affordability
term (Expand)
Staff will convene a conversation with affordable housing providers and
multifamily developers to vet term options; staff is also conducting peer city
research to explore best approaches.
9. Advance Phase One of the
Land Use Code (LUC) Audit
(New)
The appropriation to advance Phase 1 of the LUC Audit was unanimously
adopted on March 2, 2021. Staff is currently drafting an RFP for consultant
support, working on the final project scope, and preparing engagement and
communication plans. We anticipate kicking off the project internally this month
and onboarding a consultant team this spring.
10. Refine local affordable
housing goal (Expand)
This work will be developed in the spring/summer with Root as a part of the
Implementation Roadmap development.
13. Recalibrate existing
incentives to reflect current
market conditions (Expand)
While most of the work related to strategy 13 and 14 will be incorporated into the
LUC Phase 1 update, staff has begun preliminary outreach with affordable
housing developers and has also begun compiling stakeholder input from recent
conversations about code barriers and incentives. Root Policy Research is
assisting with feasibility analysis of potential incentive changes or additions.
14. Create additional
development incentives for
affordable housing (New)
While most of the work related to strategy 13 and 14 will be incorporated into the
LUC Phase 1 update, staff has begun preliminary outreach with affordable
housing developers and has also begun compiling stakeholder input from recent
conversations about code barriers and incentives. Root Policy Research is
assisting with feasibility analysis of potential incentive changes or additions.
17. Consider affordable housing
requirements as part of the
community benefit options for
metro districts (Expand)
The Metro District Policy Amendment Option will be considered at an upcoming
City Council meeting.
24. Support community
organizing efforts in
manufactured home
communities and increase
access to resident rights
information, housing resources,
and housing programs
(Expand)
A neighborhood liaison was recently added to the Neighborhood Services staff to
expand our capacity in this area. One of her first projects is to work with a couple
of the MHP 55+ communities to begin organizing.
25. Fund foreclosure and
eviction prevention and legal
representation (Expand)
An additional $60K of CARES Act funding has been provided to reinstate the
2020 pilot fund for approximately 6 months. Applications for housing and legal
service providers are open through March 12, 2021. Could be impacted by recent
federal ruling re: CDC moratorium found as unconstitutional. Additional funding is
being sought to continue the program for longer than 6 months, and staff is
planning for a budget offer for $125K annually moving forward.
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Pre-Work Item #3: Review of the Outline for the Committee’s End-of-Term Report
Description: When initially discussing “what success looks like” for this committee, Councilmembers
identified that an end-of-term report should be developed to report out on the Committee’s
accomplishments and lessons learned. At the March meeting, staff will share an outline of what could
be included in the report in advance of reviewing the full draft at the April meeting.
Current contents for the end-of-term report could include, with an initial goal not to exceed five pages:
• Executive Summary
• Resolution forming the Committee
• Who was involved
• Committee Members
• Panelists / Peer Cities
• Staff Support
• What was covered
• Full list of topics + 14 prioritized
• Month by month schedule
• Outcomes
• Strategies Identified
• Quick(er) wins moved forward
• Next Steps
• Recommendations for the next Council
• Key areas of tensions / opportunities to watch
• Lessons Learned
Discussion Question: What are the priority components for Committee members to include in the
report? How would Committee members prefer to review the draft?
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AD HOC HOUSING COMMITTEE
February 11, 2021
5:00pm - 7:00pm
Zoom Meeting
Members:
Mayor Pro Tem Cunniff (absent), Councilmember Summers, Councilmember Gorgol
Attendees:
Staff Members: Darin Atteberry, Lindsay Ex, Meaghan Overton, Carrie Daggett, Ingrid Decker, Beth Sowder,
Caryn Champine, Sue Beck-Ferkiss, Victoria Shaw, David Lenz, Jackie Kozak Thiel
Community Members: Bob Pawlikowski, Lisa [no last name listed]
Call to Order: 5:00
Approval of November Minutes and Agenda Review:
• Councilmember Summers moved to approve January minutes, Councilmember Gorgol seconded. Roll
call for vote: 2-0-0.
• Agenda Review
Public Comment
• None
Discussion Item: Housing Strategic Plan Deep Dive
• Currently at step 7: Consider Adoption
• Since draft plan was released in mid-January, feedback was heard from multiple committees, partners,
groups, service providers, etc. and 137 public comments received to date.
• Outlined changes made to plan including draft plan language vs. final plan language.
• Increased connections between strategies and outcomes.
• Step 8: Transition to Implementation is 2-year process.
• Guiding principles – no one has solved the housing crisis yet, need to stay in learning and testing mode,
agile to feedback.
• Discussion:
o In regards to visitability, very few homes have ground level entrances. Important to explore
incentives where possible.
o Focus on lowest income households may change depending on major gaps found in data.
o Are there indicators to help track housing stability?
Know we need more specific metrics for tracking success of some indicators. We do
have indicators around homelessness, and future implementation of strategies related
to rental housing could add important data sources to develop indicators for housing
quality, renter stability, etc.
Want to ensure equity in process and removing barriers to participation.
o Would like to see water included in graphic on cost to build.
Water is incorporated in the graphic already within hard costs, but future versions could
split out water costs.
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o Important to keep an eye on implementation and the balance between regulations,
requirements, and cost
o Innovative ideas like “barndominiums” and “Minka homes” may be worth exploring.
Similar to converting shipping containers.
People are increasingly interested in unique, repurposed housing.
Unsure there’s strong interest in diverse housing types in Fort Collins.
Strategy 15 discusses innovative housing types.
o Gap between incomes and housing costs – will require increased creativity in solutions to
housing and affordability.
Next Meeting Focus and Process Check-in:
• Potential Topics:
o Panel of builders and developers
Could include both traditional and affordable housing developers
Advice for implementation
Water-focused conversation
o Updates on quicker wins, including anti-displacement mapping, financial literacy, and eviction
prevention, and updates
o Draft End-of-Term Report
Who was involved, what was covered, outcomes
Transition to next Council
• Review steps needed for mid- and long-term goals
o Next month: Panel and discussion on transition to implementation; updates on quicker wins,
and end-of-term report
• Process Check-in
o Pre-work is going well
Meeting Adjourned: 6:06