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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Affordable Housing Committee - 03/30/2021March 30, 2021, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- APPROVED Page 1 Approved on April 13, 2021 AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE March 30, 2021, 10:30 a.m., meeting held online Members attending: Leslie Black-Plumeau, Vince Bolduc, Sandy Dooley, Patrick O’Brien, John Simson, and Chris Trombly Others: Monica Ostby, PC liaison; Tim McKenzie, SBBA; Alan Long, Bryan Currier, Carol Long, Denise Long, and Katharine Long Pfeiffer, regarding Long development proposal; John Burton, Ariel Jensen-Vargas, and Darrilyn Peters, all SoBu residents AGENDA 1. Call to order, agenda review, public comment, approval of minutes (03/16/21), announcements 2. Communications Update 3. Discussion and possible action regarding I-89 Exit 12B – Guest speaker Tim McKenzie from South Burlington Business Association 4. Presentation from Alan Long and possible action regarding new housing development and inclusionary zoning at 1720-30 Spear Street 5. Discussion and possible action regarding Inclusionary Zoning Income and Rent/Purchase Price Maximums 6. Adjourn 1, Call to order, agenda review, public comment, approval of Minutes (03/16/21), announcements, Call to order: Chris called the meeting to order at 10:31 a.m. Agenda review: Sandy moved and John seconded motion to approve agenda. Motion approved: 6-0-0 Public Comments: John Burton shared that he had attended Chamber of Commerce meeting on March 29 at which Josh Hanford, Commissioner of VT Dept. of Housing and Community Development, did a presentation on housing. He will send link to presentation to committee members. Monica shared that the owner of the Davis Studio on Shelburne Road had come to the Planning Commission seeking a waiver of the Housing Preservation payment required for converting housing to non-housing use. They want to convert two apartments to a child care center. Brief comments on advisability/inadvisability of granting waivers. Likely that only City Council can grant such a waiver. Sandy recalled Todd Rawlings, former committee member, indicating that Burlington does not grant waivers to their housing preservation regulation. Minutes: John moved and Sandy seconded motion to approve the 03/16/21 meeting minutes as drafted. Motion approved: 5-0-0 (Patrick had not yet arrived). Announcements: Leslie attended the March 29 CCRPC-organized meeting of Chittenden County municipal planners, housing committee members, and others. Topics presented/explored/discussed included: setting local housing goals, including need for CCRPC assistance to do this; Fair Housing Month, some cities doing declaration but most effective if linked to action, Minelle Sarfo-Adu’s (SBHS student) project; racial issues and housing-e.g. difficulty in obtaining mortgages. Sandy attended March 15 City Council meeting at which major topics were I-89 2050 Study and Interim Zoning. Deferred reporting on I-89 Study until Tim’s presentation. City Council indicated commitment to have Environmental Protection Standards and PUD changes completed during Interim Zoning (ends November 13th). Monica encouraged members to review carefully the PC agenda for March 30 meeting, especially topics/questions for joint PC/CC meeting on April 6. Are there any “big picture” questions missing? Sandy suggested emphasis on how the PUD rules support development of strong neighborhoods. Vince: neighborhoods are both physical and social. 2. Communications Update: workgroup (Leslie, Sandy, Vince & Monica) will meet next day (March 30). Will discuss Monica’s suggestion of having Zoom series for public on housing topics; record them and post on Committee’s webpage. Leslie reported that Coralee completed are changes to our webpage that Leslie requested. Urged members to visit it. Series is a longer term project. Short term, committee wants to send message, prior to April 6 joint meeting, to Planning Commission and City Council in support of Environmental Protection Standards and new PUD rules. Committee delegated preparing and sending this message to communications workgroup. John brought up that the application period is underway for folks that want to apply March 30, 2021, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- APPROVED Page 2 or reapply for City Council appointment to committee. Deadline is April 12. He added that Leslie’s term ends this year. Everyone urged Leslie to reapply. Person that Monica thought would apply is no longer able to make commitment that committee membership would involve. Chris urged everyone to reach out to folks and encourage them to apply. Monica suggested we consider creating a list of advisors whom we could use as consultants from time to time. 3. Discussion and possible action regarding I-89 Exit 12B – Guest speaker Tim McKenzie from South Burlington Business Association: Tim’s messages: Transport network is important to business community. Limited access resulting from lack of exit 12B decreases efficiency; 12B will provide immediate access to many area businesses and advance development in 12B area; also offers opportunity for park and ride; SoBu is an economic engine for this region; cannot take economic activity for granted; shorter commutes resulting from 12B will make cost of living more affordable. Discussion: A lot depends on the weighting of the six goals; now weighted equally in evaluation; at March 29 CC meeting Study people reported that after adding more metrics to the evaluation, converting Exit 13 to a four-lane state highway achieved the highest score. Some City Councilors support giving more weight to the Safety goal; 12B predicted to have largest impact on new housing; 12B very important to Meadowlands Business Park and Technology Park (assuming connection via Tilley Drive); suggestion that economic goal should be given more weight in assessing the options. Committee decided by consensus to defer until future meeting any possible action regarding making a recommendation to City Council among the options. Members thanked Tim for attending and making his presentation. 4. Presentation from Alan Long and possible action regarding new housing development and inclusionary zoning at 1720-30 Spear Street: Alan introduced himself, Bryan Currier (engineer for project), and Long family members attending the meeting. Long family has owned property for many years. The Longs have been following the Interim Zoning (IZ) process and attending many Planning Commission and Affordable Housing Committee meetings; due to IZ’s extended length, they decided to apply for a permit before IZ has concluded. The development will go before the DRB on April 6 and City Council on April 19. Location of development is on east side on Spear Street between South Pointe and South Village developments. Development comprises 39.2 acres in two lots, of which 29 acres are to be preserved; housing proposed includes six duplexes, four four-plexes, 21 carriage homes, and six single-family houses; five of the housing units will be affordable. Access from Spear Street is to be via South Pointe Drive, meaning no curb cut is required for development. No decisions at this point with respect to rental or purchase and the specific units that will be affordable. They have worked closely with the Planning staff and believe the development fulfills the requirements of the draft Traditional Neighborhood Development PUD regulations. They have also focused on observing the proposed Habitat block rules. Several of those present provided positive feedback on the Longs’ development proposal, including simple “thank you’s.” Sandy would like most of the housing to be for ownership; Ariel encouraged them to include some rentals and stated desire for them to incorporate their own “distinctive stamp on the design” of the housing. John Burton characterized proposal as “well thought out and compatible with the area.” Members deferred until a future meeting consideration of action to support the Long development application. 5. Discussion and possible action regarding Inclusionary Zoning Income and Rent/Purchase Price Maximums: This was a continuation of a prior discussion of this subject. Current inclusionary rules set maximum price for an ownership unit at 80% AMI based on unit size (determined by number of bedrooms) and maximum household income for ownership at 100% AMI for actual household size. Committee considering whether to propose higher purchase price and/or household income maximums for all/ parts of City not currently subject to Inclusionary Zoning should Inclusionary Zoning be expanded citywide. Dilemma: without subsidy it is difficult to impossible to construct housing to be priced at the 80% AMI level, especially for single-family detached housing. Sandy shared information about Williston’s rules for pricing of Inclusionary units. View stated: set maximums at level that enables the housing to be built. Promising suggestion: link price maximum to housing type—e.g. higher price maximum for detached SF than for condominium. Sandy will work with Patrick to develop specific proposal. 6. Adjourn: At 12:34 p.m. Leslie moved and John seconded motion to adjourn. Motion approved: 5-0-0 (Vince no longer at meeting).