HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-155-10/06/1992-AFFORDABLE HOUSING POLICY RESOLUTION 92- 155
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
ADOPTING AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING POLICY
WHEREAS, City Council has adopted a goal to strengthen the community's
commitment to affordable housing; and
WHEREAS, in furtherance of that goal , City Council wishes to adopt a
comprehensive policy statement to define the City's role and responsibilities
with respect to affordable housing in the City; and
WHEREAS, the City of Fort Collins desires to continue its development as
a city where all people of the community can live in a safe and healthy
environment; and
WHEREAS, a safe and healthy environment includes affordable housing choices
for lower income families and individuals to meet the basic human need for
shelter; and
WHEREAS, the City of Fort Collins considers meeting basic human needs of
families and individual citizens as part of its purpose.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS that the
Affordable Housing Policy, dated October 1992, and attached hereto as Attachment
"A," is hereby adopted as the affordable housing policy of the City of Fort
Cc'lins.
Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort
Collins held this 6th day of October, A.D. 992.
a or
ATTEST:
City Clerk �
Attachment "A"
AFFORDABLE HOUSING POLICY
October 1992
I. Purpose
GOAL: Strengthen community commitment to affordable
housing.
OBJECTIVE: Develop a comprehensive policy statement that
defines the City' s role and responsibilities
with respect to the availability of affordable
housing in the community.
II. General Policy
The following is the City of Fort Collins' general policy related
to the availability of affordable housing within the community:
The City of Fort Collins desires to continue its development
as a city where all of the people of the community will have
the opportunity to live in a safe and healthy environment.
This environment includes the availability of affordable
housing choices for low and moderate income families and
individuals to help meet the basic human need for shelter.
The City considers meeting basic human needs as part of its
purpose and therefore has a responsible role in the
availability of affordable housing to the citizens of Fort
Collins and considers the issue just as important as, for
example, police protection or parks and recreation programs.
The City therefore declares, as a matter of policy, its
appropriate role is best characterized as a partnership among
the public and private sectors and citizens in meeting the
affordable housing and support service needs of the citizens
of Fort Collins. The city's main objective is to assist
private developers and non-profit agencies in the creation and
expansion of affordable housing opportunities and support
services to enhance the quality of life of lower income
people. The City's role in this effort involves facilitating
process and procedure required for housing development and/or
rehabilitation, providing data and demographic information to
help define housing needs, and the consideration of other
initiatives on a case-by-case basis.
III . Findings
Citizens look to the City to participate in problem solving when
pressing needs affect the community. Citizens and the City Council
have observed the following:
(1) a growing number of persons on the waiting list for Fort
Collins Housing Authority subsidized units;
(2) a very low rental market vacancy rate making it more
difficult for lower income people to find decent,
affordable housing;
(3) a very low vacancy rate for single-room-occupancy (SRO)
units making it more difficult to assist people in the
transition from homelessness to more permanent housing;
(4) an increasing number of requests from people with
handicaps for help in removing architectural barriers
within their homes;
(5) an increase in demand for services by homeless persons
for emergency shelter;
(6) an increase in the number of families needing
transitional housing and services to move from a state of
homelessness into one of self-sufficiency; and
(7) an increase in the difficulties faced by lower income
people in attempting to find and purchase affordable
housing, including a lack of available units, and
problems in accumulating down-payments.
IV. Definition of Affordable Housing
The following provides a working definition as to what is
considered to be "affordable housing" in the Fort Collins:
Affordable housing is housing which can be purchased or rented
by people of low or moderate incomes (i.e. , incomes of less
than 80%, of the city,s median income) where the occupant,
either the owner or renter, pays no more than 30% of their
gross income for housing costs, including utilities.
V. Specific Policies and Strategies
In addition to the general policy presented above, the following
statements provide further specific policy guidance for the City in
regards to issues related to the availability of affordable housing
in the community.
(1) Maintain up-to-date information to help determine what the
full range of affordable housing needs are of the citizens of
the community, to analyze the continuum of housing available
in the community, and to determine what resources exist within
and outside the community to deal with the needs.
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(A) Become a clearing house for vital statistics, planning
information, and an inventory of existing and potential
financial resources through the preparation of an annual
Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) which
will:
(1) provide data and analyze affordable housing needs
of the city,
(2) establish a five-year strategic plan for priority
programs and resources required to address the
identified needs, and
(3) contain an incremental one-year action plan of
discrete housing and support service objectives.
(B) Review needs assessments and data collected by other
governmental entities (such as the Census Bureau, the
State of Colorado, and Larimer County) and housing
agencies (such as the Housing Authority and support
service agencies) in preparation of the City's CHAS.
(C) Assist citizens in gaining access to and information
about affordable housing and support service providers in
the community.
(D) Research Federal and State grants and other technical
assistance which may be available to support meeting the
affordable housing needs of the community.
(2) Maintain an active involvement in the availability of
affordable housing in the community by assisting the private
sector ,as appropriate and by pursuing the key roles as a
planner and funder to meet the needs of the community.
(A) Become a facilitator and expeditor of affordable housing
development.
(B) Act as an agent for Federal and State funds for housing
programs and projects.
(C) Strengthen support to programs which focus on the
prevention of problems which eventually manifest
themselves in affordable housing issues, for example
unemployment and underemployment, divorces, high school
drop-outs, lack of vocational training, and teenage
pregnancies.
(D) Direct City staff to analyze the impact of City policies
and programs on the provision of housing affordability.
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(E) Direct City staff to analyze the City's impacts on the
initial construction cost of housing and try to minimize
the impacts without reducing health, safety, and welfare
concerns nor reducing the quality of life amenities
within residential neighborhoods.
(F) Provide a mechanism, or source, for matching Federal and
State funding programs.
(G) Land bank City property for future affordable housing
development.
(H) Communicate to the community the state of affordable
housing issues and the progress made on affordable
housing goals as an education process.
(I) Establish ways to keep some units permanently affordable
and available for renters.
(3) Support and encourage the private development of affordable
housing in the community.
(A) Stimulate the private sector in affordable housing
development as a growth industry.
(B) Utilize Urban Renewal Authority or Downtown Development
Authority Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to promote
affordable housing redevelopment activities.
(4) Strengthen or pursue cooperative relationships with other
affordable housing providers.
(A) Strengthen joint agency and governmental efforts at
problem solving by participating in both "local" and
"regional" problem solving efforts.
(B) Become a partner in collaborative ventures and housing
opportunities.
(C) Advocate affordable housing with Federal and State
legislators and officials.
(5) Maintain the existing affordable housing stock through the
preservation of older residential neighborhoods.
(A) Prepare neighborhood plans which promote the preservation
and conservation of residential land uses in older
neighborhoods while identifying which sections are
appropriate for conversion and/or redevelopment
activities.
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(B) Make appropriate amendments to the zoning code, and other
land use regulatory techniques, to implement the adopted
policies of the neighborhood plans.
(6) Assure an acceptable minimum level of quality within
affordable housing units.
(A) Use the City' s regulatory abilities to improve the basic
quality of housing for citizens including implementation
of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
(7) Encourage a city-wide distribution of neighborhoods which
contain affordable housing units.
(A) Promote diversity within neighborhoods and support
neighborhoods that are economically, ethnically, and
culturally varied.
(8) Eliminate practices of de facto economic, ethnic, and race
discrimination in housing.
(A) Use the City's regulatory abilities provided in Section
13-18 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins to deal
with discriminatory housing practices.
(B) Monitor other actions within the community which may lead
to discrimination in housing.
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