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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-28 Housing MIN ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION RETREAT MINUTES th March 28 2009 The annual Housing Commission Retreat took place in the Siskiyou Room of the Community Development Building at 51 Winburn Way from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Commissioners Present: SOU Liaison: Alexandra Armarotico, Present Bill Smith Richard Billin Council Liaison: Carol Voisin Regina Ayars Steve Hauck Aaron Benjamin Staff Present:: Graham Lewis Linda Reid, Housing Specialist Alice Hardesty Brandon Goldman, Senior Planner Nick Frost Commissioners discussed the following items Previous Years goals and accomplishments Commissioners reviewed each of the goals as outlined in the Housing Commission Annual Goals 2007, and discussed whether each goal had been accomplished, and whether any of the goals should be carried over to be included in the Annual Goals for 2009. As a part of this discussion the commissioners discussed Clay street as it pertains to goal one- Collaborate with Staff and the City Council to identify a piece of city land to accommodate housing for a whole range of City Employees. It was decided that the commission did collaborate with staff and the council and that the education sub-committee helped to advance this goal, but that further work could be done to accomplish this goal and that it might be broadened to encompass workforce housing in general and not just housing for city employees. A discussion of Goal number 2-Completion of the Housing Trust Fund (framework and funding source) recognized that this goal was halfway completed, but that a funding source other than the 1985 CDBG repayments is yet to be identified. This goal was forwarded as a priority for consideration in the 2009 Annual Goals. Other items discussed in relation to this topic included; Rental Registry Consultation funds which could be reallocated from the old allocation of Rental Assistance funds (since the city no longer offers a Rental Assistance program). Other potential uses of these funds were discussed including offering them through the Housing Trust Fund. Goldman noted only the City Council and the Budget Committee have discretion over the budget and that any use of these funds would have to be approved by them. Commissioner Lewis suggested that any actions taken toward the adopted goals be noted on the agenda and in the minutes to make progress on these goals easier to track in the future. Discussed Previous year’s City Council goals and current year’s Planning Commission Goals Commissioner Hardesty mentioned that the Housing Commission should look at what goals might interest the Council as well as the Housing Commission. Discussion topics included; Transportation Systems Plan (TSP) update, Transportation Nodes, the Planning Commission goal of transportation planning, the Croman site as it relates to City Council and Planning Commission goals. The workforce housing element of the Croman site redevelopment plan and its dependence upon ODOT for land was discussed at length. It was decided that though the Housing Commission may act in an advisory capacity ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION 1 MINUTES March 28, 2009 once the Croman redevelopment project is farther along, that this project did not merit enough commission involvement at this time to be considered for inclusion in the current year’s goals. Commissioner Benjamin reminded the Commission that prior to the current Croman plan, the owners of the land proposed a 300 unit housing development providing 10% of those units as affordable which was at the time denied by the city. Discussion of Transfer of Development Rights and how they relate to Current and Potential HC goals Mr. Goldman provided a brief overview of how a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) system might work. He mentioned many ways that the development of affordable housing could benefit from a TDR system, such as providing zoning incentives for rental housing. Also discussed was the potential for how such a program could work to support Transportation Oriented Districts (TOD) and Vertical Housing Projects. It was mentioned that all of these items were discussed at the joint Planning Commission, Housing Commission and City Council meeting held to discuss Regulatory Barriers to affordable housing held late last year. Concerns surrounding receptor sites were mentioned. Additional goals were discussed Student Fair Housing- the desire for a sub-committee to work toward the creation of a fair housing ordinance and to foster a student government relationship to help meet the housing needs of this portion of the city’s population. Provide support for or promotion of a Transfer of Development Rights Ordinance Work on Transit Oriented District ordinance? Completion of a Consolidated Plan for the 2010-2015 program years Brainstormed potential Goals for the year 2009  Establish streams of income for Affordable Housing Trust Fund/TDR $?  Contractor & Developer Education  Consolidated Plan  Student Fair Housing.  Vertical Housing  “Green” Housing Project (Demonstration Project)  Transit Oriented Districts  Work at building a relationship with SOU/create a student sub-committee  Identify land to be rezoned for multi-family housing  Look at change in the Density Bonus  Promotion of affordable rental housing  Preservation of vulnerable properties  Continue to press for inclusionary zoning  Co-housing  Homelessness prevention funds  Workforce housing creation Discussed potential goals, prioritized them, then generated a new list of goals to be rated by the commissioners (See table attached for final 2009 annual goal list and rating outcomes). Commissioner Lewis suggested that the Housing Commission forward their top four goals and the two goals which are mandatory to the City Council for consideration noting that the remaining goals will be considered areas of interest for the Housing Commission. Commissioner Hauk/Commissioner Hardesty/m/s that the Housing Commission forwards to the City Council the top goals as discussed and prioritized with the understanding that the additional goals will be worked on as time allows. Motion passed-unanimous Adjournment at 3:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted by, ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION 2 MINUTES March 28, 2009 Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist Housing Commission Annual Goals 2009 The following goals and associated priority rankings were identified by the Housing Commission on March 28, 2009 in an effort to forward to the City Council specific items for consideration in establishing the Council goals for the coming year. Priority Goal points Examine the feasibility of incentives to create workforce housing 11 Develop an RFP for vertical housing above city owned site (demonstration “green” project) 10 Preservation of vulnerable properties 9 Student Fair Housing Ordinance-Create a student housing sub-committee 9 Given (must be completed) Complete 2010-2015 Consolidated Plan-Create ad-hoc sub-committee Complete Housing Trust Fund funding source(s) Areas of Interest Encourage the development of a Transfer of Development Rights program 7 Homeless support and prevention 6 Coordinate with other city entities to promote housing in Transportation Oriented Districts 5 (TOD) Create a Rental Registry Program 2 Identify land to be rezoned for multi-family housing 1 Create a greater incentive to develop workforce/affordable housing using density bonus. (no dots) The numerical value to the left of each identified goal above was derived through a selection process where commissioners had three colored dots to apply to their top three priority uses. Red: first priority = 3 pts Green: second priority = 2 pts Yellow: third priority = 1 pt. ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION 3 MINUTES March 28, 2009