Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-05-23 Housing MIN ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES MAY 23, 2001 CALL TO ORDER - The meeting was called to order by Chair Larry Medinger at 4:05 p.m.. Other Commissioners present were Nancy Richardson, Jan Vaughn, Richard Seidman and Cate Hartzell. Joe McKeever arrived at 4:30 p.m. Absent members were Diana Goodwin Shavey, Madeline Hill and Joan Legg. Staff present were Bill Molnar and Sue Yates. MINUTES - There were no minutes from the previous meeting. PRESENTATION BY “THE PINES” RESIDENTS Diana Phlug has lived at the Pines for ten years. The Pines has offered her affordable housing for her and her children. People from all walks of life from three years to 73 years reside in this “community”. They are able to look after each other and as a result are able to be more conscientious citizens of the City of Ashland. She believes the residents of The Pines are not major consumers of resources. They often bike, walk or take the bus and do so because of their central location. They use less water, electricity, gas and land space than any other neighborhood. The residents are socially and economically disadvantaged but are able to live independently and contribute to the community. If this housing is not available, many people will depend more on social services. With the support of like-minded people, they can make a difference for affordable housing for all. Oren Edwards lives at 1565 Siskiyou Boulevard. He said mobile home parks throughout the Rogue Valley are threatened because of the high cost of the land. This property is centrally located to shopping, bus routes, housing, hotels and will be ultimately replaced by a strip mall or hotel. There is not an easy solution. Sandra Burke said she has lived in the Lower Pines for about 16 years. Their plight has been the inevitable loss of their homes through possible eviction and rent increases. Neither the seller nor the buyer is required to compensate them in any way. There is no where in the valley to put their trailers. They stand to lose their homes and will have to pay to dismantle them. Gregg Adams, the owner, has given them a 67 percent rent increase ($100 per month). Most cannot afford this. There are no laws or legislation to protect them. They need to develop and maintain affordable housing in Ashland as well as the entire state. This is not just her problem, but the entire community’s. She had a petition saving and developing affordable housing with over 800 signatures. She is concerned about residents being displaced. If something is not done, the personality of Ashland will change. She discussed her own personal situation of an open sewer at her trailer that has existed for 16 years. Rich Rohde said they are looking for positive solutions for the long term as well as the short term. They would like to find out what is possible for cities and the state legislature to do. He said they are hoping to initiate a process with the Housing Commission and their volunteers that would create a task force or subcommittee to develop the following: 1. Right of first refusal. He used Portland as an example. Before you convert federally funded low income housing to the private, it has to be offered to non-profits, land trusts, etc. 2. Conversion Impact Report. Before the owner of a mobile home park can convert the property to other uses, they need to produce a report as to the affect on the residents at the park and the impact on affordable housing in the community. And, what are the options for the residents? Conan passed out a summary of all the mobile courts in Ashland and their costs. Rohde was hoping for a level of participation from the Housing Commission. Hartzell asked if a letter from the Commission would help regarding House Bill in Salem? Rohde said that would be helpful. Seidman said the strategic planning goal was no net loss of affordable housing. If we are going to stick to that goal, this would be a concentrated area for the Commission to focus its energy. The Commissioners were in agreement. Vaughn, Richardson and Hartzell volunteered to work with Rohde’s committee. Medinger asked Rohde to draft a letter and give it to Medinger to send off. SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATE Seidman reported that with the help of Richardson, Hartzell and Vaughn, they took the first draft of the strategic plan, condensed it and made an action plan. They felt this would make it more easily approved and understood by the City Council. Hartzell proposed they take the tasks and put them on the worksheet she provided. She believes they need to identify which action steps they want to work on. Then, identify the Commission’s priorities. She would also like develop a timeline. This would begin to flush out what the Commission could do and what Staff could do and establish what a consultant could do. Medinger said it sounds like a lot of work before we get to the part where we have staff. We have to have staff to be able to do anything. If the Council says “no” there is a whole other understanding of housing in Ashland. Hartzell said the Council meets June 5th and June 19th. Medinger felt he needs to be a spokesperson at the Council. The Commission decided to shoot for the 19th to make their presentation. Medinger said they should probably put a subcommittee together to flush out what they need for Council. He thought the subcommittee could work out the statement of purpose. We want this to be a good, solidly thought-through proposal. At this point in the meeting, the Commissioners began to discuss the Strategic Work Plan. Medinger said we had better make sure our goals are not easily shot down at the Council. For example, 15 percent of housing stock is affordable to families 50 to 80 percent. Is that what we actually need and where is 80 to 100 percent and 100 to 120 percent? Those people cannot afford to live in Ashland either. He believes these people are as needy as the lower income. Seidman sees the main problem in the plan is under Housing. Perhaps make them more generic. Medinger discussed inclusionary zoning. Hartzell asked if the intent was to make sure we have affordable housing that is mixed throughout our community. Molnar said this was derived without the understanding of the state law. Hartzell wondered if we should take it out. Hartzell wondered if something should be included about transitional housing. The idea we would want is a spectrum of housing such as rentals and mobile homes and first buy things. This would give emphasis for retaining mobile homes and rentals. Medinger hates to see the Commission rely solely on ACLT but he does not want to see it be the only focus. Hartzell suggested “ensuring the long-term and locking land into perpetuity.” Under education Hartzell talked about there being some social engineering. It is important to educate the citizens about affordable housing but there needs to be a bit of reshaping about how we are willing to take action to support affordable housing. Molnar said it is like putting faces with those needing affordable housing. Richardson said we need to include economic well-being, community well-being and environmental well-being. There was discussion about working on timelines and the job description, hiring and oversight for the consultant. A subcommittee of Vaughn, Hartzell, Richardson, Medinger and possibly McKeever decided to meet May 25, 2001 at 4:30 p.m. at Mountain Meadows to iron out the details of the plan and prepare it for presentation to the Council. OTHER ITEMS Inclusionary Zoning Molnar reported he met with John McLaughlin and Debbie Price. He said Price said the City of Medford has two positions in housing currently and the job descriptions might be helpful to us. Price volunteered to come to one of our meetings. Molnar feels that she is an excellent resource. If she were to come before the proposal is presented to the Council her expertise could be directed to what we are doing immediately. Hartzell asked how much we are considering having transferred from the Housing Trust Fund. Molnar understood it would be $30,000. He said the contract with ACCESS expired for administering the first time homebuyer and rental assistance programs. The Commission will need to decide what to do with this. The total in the Housing Trust Fund is $97,000. Medinger said the proposal to the Council would be $30,000 for six months. Hartzell wanted to check with the Commissioners to see if the meeting time for the regular meeting worked well for everyone. Staff will poll the Commissioners to see if this is still a good time. ADJOURNMENT – The meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m. ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION 2 MINUTES MAY 23, 2001 ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION 3 MINUTES MAY 23, 2001