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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-05-23 Housing MIN ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION DRAFT MINUTES May 23, 2012 CALL TO ORDER ChairRegina Ayarscalled the meeting to order at 4:30p.m. at the Council Chambers located at 1175 East Main St. Ashland, OR 97520. Commissioners Present:Council Liaison ReginaAyarsCarol Voisin Brett Ainsworth Barb BarasaStaff Present: Evan LasleyLinda Reid, HousingSpecialist Carolyn Schwendener, Admin Clerk Commissioners Absent Richard Billin, excused Ben Scott, excused APPROVAL OF MINUTES Lasley/Ainsworthm/s to approve the minutes of the April 25,2012regular Housing Commission meeting. Voice Vote: All Ayesminutes were approved as presented. PUBLIC FORUM No public commentswere made. UNIFIED LAND USE CODE PROJECT KICK-OFF Maria HarrisPlanning Managerwith the City of Ashland Community Development Department introduced herself. She has been a professional planner for eighteen years and has spent the last fifteen years at the City of Ashland. Harris explained that the City of Ashland is undertaking a project to combinethe Ashland Land Use Ordinance and related development standards into a Unified Land Use Code with improved organization, wording, formatting and graphics. The original document was adopted in 1964 and has been amended many times throughout the years. Harris explained that the goal of the project isto present the information contained in the existing codes and standards so the LandUse Ordinance is clear, consistent, concise, adaptable and user-friendly. This project directly meets the City Council goal to “Increase the clarity, responsiveness and certainty of the development process.”The City is looking at a twelve month timeline with the goal to finish by March of 2013. Recognizing that the Housing Commissionmight be interested in codes revolving around affordable housingthe staff willbring any changes that would affect Housing directly to theirCommission. Brandon Goldman, Harris and Reid will be available for any questions they might have. Updated information including project information, www.ashland.or.us/unifiedcode. meeting schedules and materials will be put on the city website at STUDENT PRESENTATIONS-HOUSING FIRST AND MANUFACTUREDHOUSING Pat Acklin, Associate Professor of Geography in the Social Sciences Policy and Culture Department at SOU gave some background about her class and this project.Acklin is largely responsible for the land use planning 1 concentration in the SOUenvironmental studies degree. Acklin has a goal to provide students with an experience that is authentic, to dowork that is actually used by the public. Her class has worked on projects such as riparian inventories, investigations into accessory units in various zones, fire zones, transportation counts, parking counts, whatever needs to be done.She approached Reidand asked if she hadideas on what needed to be done and Reid and Goldman suggestion looking into “Housing First.” Acklin said that all of thesestudents have done postersas individual research projects that relate in some way to Urban Planning with a housing focus. Acklin will send the pdf of these posters to Reid to provide her with additional information. The first presentation was given by Katy Higgins and Emily Carpenter. (James Johnstone was on their team but is currentlyout of town at a track meet in Indiana) Higgins explained that Housing First is part of Pathwaysto Housing Inc.They work with immensely disabled individuals and individuals who have addictions to drug and alcohol with the intent of trying to find them stable permanent housing in order to give them a better life.Higgins did her research for this project by reviewing various cities website that have a Housing First Program. After reviewing various case studies it was determined that the Housing First Program is a successful program. The next objective was to determine if it would be possible to implement the program in Ashland. Currently Ashland does not have a Housing FirstProgram.With a population of twenty-two thousand people there are approximately two-hundred twenty affordable housing unitsin Ashland.It has beenestimated there are approximately one thousand forty-nine homeless people in Jackson County.Various reasons for homelessnessare cited, some of which include;eroding employment opportunities, decline in public services and assistance,lack of affordable housing and health care, mental illness,and addiction disorders. The two questions to ask ourselves are: Are there people in ourcommunity who are experiencing homelessness as well as psychiatric disabilities and co-occurring disorders who remainchronicallyhomeless even after receiving the available services? Are there people known to shelters,emergency roomsandemployees who are frequently users of their services and remain homeless? We believe the answer is yes to both questions and one way to improve the situation is to have a Housing First Program, stated Carpenter. The students suggested implementingthe program by initiating it through an existing agency that is already in place. After checking various communities it was determined that the approximate budget would be one million five hundred thousand dollars to run the program for a year. This includes salaries, nurses, and benefitsfor employees etc. The students determined that Housing First is possible in Ashland if we can fulfill the identified resources. They acknowledged the City hashomeless issues due to mental illness, drug or alcoholaddictions andchronically homelessnessindividuals.With proper funding re allocation ofmoney and with community members willing to take on the project we would be able to implement the program. The next group of students,Kayla Carroll, Brian Cole, Andrew Hill, Kevin Moore, Shadassa Ourshalimian,Helim Picado, Vincent Shelton,andJolene Walker presented on the need for affordable housing in our Community. The students believe one source to provide affordable housing is through manufactured homes and modular homes. They believe however that the City of Ashland has ordinances in placethat prohibit or at least make it difficult to utilize manufactured homes within our community. The students gave the many positive reasons why manufactured housing is a good choice for affordable housing. They reviewed the codes in the local ordinance explaining the difficulties surroundingmanufactured homes. They compared like Cities throughout Oregon as well as Davis California explaining their land use codes and how they madeit a little more attainable. 2 The following arerecommendations on ways to allow manufacturedhousing within our communitya little easier to attain. Match the minimum requirements for square footage thatHUDrequires.There is no minimum square footagefor single family homesso there should not be one for manufactured homes. Material consideration should not be more restrictive formmanufactured homes than for stick built homes. Garage or storage building requirements should be the same as for stick built Consider more opportunities for manufacturedhomesin higher density zones Set back requirements should be the same as for single family dwelling Consider allowing manufactured homes to not be placed on permanent foundations to take better advantage ofland leaseopportunities and allow for “tinyhomes” Allow exemptionsforgreen technologies, such as metal roofs for rain catchments There should be no deck or patio requirement. One parking spacerequirement should allow exemptions for smalllotconfigurations similar to accessory residential units Allow small lot configurations similar to the Living smart program from Portland. The Commissioners asked what would be the next step with these recommendations. Goldman said he and Harris would review therecommendations and can propose chapter amendments when appropriate.Acklin will provide the recommendations to both Reid and Goldmanfor their review. NORMAL AVENUE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN UPDATE Goldman explained that in May of 2012 the City Council authorized an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Transportation and Growth Management (TGM) program to undertake the development of the Normal Avenue neighborhood Plan. This is aninety-fouracre parcel south of East Main Street and North of the Railroad Tracks between Walker Streetand Clay Street. Thisis the largest remaining parcel that currently has a Comprehensive Plan Designationof 66% suburban residential,which isa similar plan type as ChautauquaTraceorBuds Dairy. The remainderof the parcel has a Comprehensive Plan ofSingle Family Residential. This parcel was originally subdivided according to County standards and includes approximately twenty-five property owners and vacant lots. The area is within the Urban Growth Boundarybut outside the city limits. Historically the City has not annexed property into the city limits without the applicant first initiating it. This would still be the case with these properties even though amaster plan development would be in place. The scope of work is intended to begin onJune first. The City already has organized a neighborhood meeting which waswell attended. Those present shared their concernssuch as an increase in traffic, the loss of residential feel, confirmation that they would stillbe able todevelop according to county standards. By putting together a master plan the property owners would then have a predictable outcome for their neighborhood as opposed to applying for planning actions independently. This is expected to be about a year long processand as it moves forward Goldman stated they would be coming back to the advisory boards and commissions for their input. The public will be invited to open housesand the Planning Commission will have a Study Session, ultimately going through the public adoption process. The reason the City initiated this master plan for this neighborhood is because of the Regional Problem Solving efforts and Ashland’s decision to not expand its Urban Growth Boundary. It is the City’sresponsibility to identify and accommodate for the future population. LIAISON REPORTS DISCUSSION Council –No report Staff –Reid reported that Project Community Connect is moving forward and as always they need volunteers, sponsorsand donations. The event will be held at the Medford Armory on June 22. Ayars asked to put the Preservation property update including a report on Sun Village on next month’s agenda. 3 FAIR HOUSING ORDINANCE DISCUSSION Reid received a call from Diane Hess at theFair Housing Council. They applied for a HUD Grantin order to get a presence in our area. This Regional Person would be available to coordinate thefair housingevents, go to meetings, be a resource guide and provide training.Hess let Reid know they receivedthat grantfor apart time personthough notime line has been established yet.The Commissioners are interested in putting together a survey for new SOU Students to fill out upon orientation. Perhaps this new person can work on the Fair Housing Ordinance as well as put together the survey for the students. Ainsworth/Lasley m/s to remove option “O”, including student status as a protected class” from the currentdraft of thefair housingordinanceand move to forward the current draft tothe Council for approval. Voice Vote: All Ayes, motion passed. JUNE 27TH, 2012 MEETING AGENDA ITEMS Quorum check;everyone will be available for the meeting UPCOMING EVENTS AND MEETINGS Project Community Connect Event –June 22, 2012, Medford Armory 9-4 PM Next Housing Commission Regular Meeting June 27,20124:30-6:30 PM -The meeting was adjourned at 5:20p.m. ADJOURNMENT Respectfully submitted by Carolyn Schwendener 4