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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Affordable Housing Committee - 02/14/2019Approved on March 5, 2019 AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE February 14, 2019, 11:00 AM, City Hall, Champlain Room Members attending: Tom Bailey, Leslie Black-Plumeau Sandy Dooley, Todd Rawlings, Michael Simoneau, and John Simson Member absent: Larry Michaels Also present: Monica Ostby, Planning Commission liaison; Paula DeMichele, resident of Essex Town (somethinglikeastar@yahoo.com), Paul Conner, Director of Planning and Zoning Minutes by Sandy Dooley AGENDA 1. Call to order, emergency procedure, agenda review, comments from guests 2. Review and approval of minutes of 2/5/2019 committee meeting 3. Chair’s comments 4. Welcome Regina Mahoney back to discuss her work on our Inclusionary Zoning draft (11:00 a.m.) 5. Welcome Paul Conner to discuss Planning Staff work on Accessory Dwelling regs (12:00 p.m.) 6. Finalize letters to Kevin Dorn and David Young and employee questions and set follow-up plan 7. Reports and updates by committee members 8. Adjourn 1. Call to order, emergency procedure, agenda review, comments from guests: John called the meeting to order at 11:07 a.m. He noted how to exit from building. John welcomed Regina (CCRPC) and Paula (Essex Town resident) to the meeting. 2. Review and approval of minutes of 2/5/2019 committee meeting: Tom moved and Mike seconded motion that the minutes of the 2/5/19 meeting be approved with correction of typo re time meeting was called to order. Motion passed 6-0-0 3. Chair’s comments: John shared that he had been contacted by Cindy Reid of Cathedral Square about the SoBu Administrative Officer’s (AO) denial of a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) for Allard Square and he proposed that the committee discuss this situation with Paul Conner (the AO for this decision) following its discussion with him regarding possible changes in LDRs for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Committee agreed with John’s proposal. 4. Welcome Regina Mahoney back to discuss her work on our Inclusionary Zoning draft: Regina provided committee members with copies of latest version and led them through a review of her comments and proposed changes to the committee’s proposed Inclusionary Zoning LDRs for the Transit Overlay district. Only differences with, questions relating to, and substantive comments on Regina’s proposed changes or comments are provided below. ● Regarding comment RM4R3 (p. 3) the committee needs to decide how the LDRs should address situations in which dwelling units proposed as home-ownership in the developer’s application, later, turn out to be rental units. ● Consensus among committee members and Regina that we need to revisit subsection (1) of D. Affordability Requirements (pp. 7-9) to improve clarity and bring wording more in line with regulatory language. Sandy offered to assist Regina in this effort. ● Under F. Developer Options (1) (a) Dedication (p. 11) need to remove language relating to “having equal or greater value than the per unit ‘Contribution to the Housing Trust Fund’” etc. because the committee decided to delete the provision for a “Contribution to the Housing Trust Fund.” The resulting language would read as “The South Burlington City Council, in consultation with the South Burlington Affordably Housing Committee, may accept as an alternative to the development of inclusionary units a dedication by the developer that furthers the purposes of this section.“ Question: do members have an alternative way of measuring the value of what is being offered as a “Dedication”? ● Section H. Density Bonuses for Exceeding Inclusionary Housing Requirement (2) Density Bonuses (pp. 13-14) needs revision to accurately reflect the committee’s proposal for these density bonuses. ● Comment RM15 (p. 16) re J. Affordable Housing Density Bonuses for developments with fewer than 12 dwelling units: “Perhaps, it should go under 18.02 instead?” The reason that it is not proposed for 18.02 is that the districts outside the Transit Overlay District that are subject to 18.02 are currently under Interim Zoning and we are not proposing any changes relating to districts under Interim Zoning. ● Comment RM16 (p. 19) agree that this scenario is less favorable than 1:1 ratio included in Transit Overlay District; however these regulations are currently under Interim Zoning and we are not proposing any changes relating to districts under Interim Zoning. ● Comments RM17 (p. 21) and RM18 (p. 22) Members will consider whether the definitions are sufficient to delete the earlier “flexibility section.” ● Sandy indicated she will make needed corrections to the tables. ● Question to Paul Conner: might City redefine boundary of Transit Overlay District to include “triangular area” in vicinity of Hinesburg Road, outside Transit Overlay District, and North of Interstate 89, so that this area is within the Transit Overlay district? ● Regina will make agreed-upon changes, prepare draft memo for Planning Commission, and return on March 18th for committee review. 5. Welcome Paul Conner to discuss Planning Staff work on Accessory Dwelling regs: Paul provided background information on the following possible changes to City LDRs relating to ADUs and asked for committee input regarding them: 1. Allow small homes to have a larger % of the principal home to be an accessory unit 2. Allows the owner-occupied unit to be the accessory unit, while clarifying that the other MUST be a rental 3. Reducing overall parking requirements to 3 total versus the current minimum of four. After a wide-ranging discussion of pros and cons of results of adopting proposed modifications 1. and 2.above, Leslie moved and Sandy seconded a motion to support the proposal to reduce the overall parking requirements for a dwelling unit with an ADU to 3 total versus the current minimum of four. Motion approved 6-0-0. Members shared with Paul that consideration of changes to current ADU regulations is included in the Committee’s 2019 work plan and, as a result, this subject will receive the committee’s attention. 5.a. Administrative Officer’s denial of a CO for the Allard Square senior housing development in City Center: Paul explained that T5 Form-Based Codes regulations in City Center require a minimum number of front doors on the first floor of a building and that the doors be open to the public during “business hours.” He also described how Allard Square’s first floor doors do not comply with the applicable regulations. He said that these regulations cannot be waived. Mike Simoneau stated that these requirements are likely to present problems for other businesses/organizations that locate in the T5 area of City Center. Paul also shared that he will propose to the Planning Commission that it establish a subcommittee to address issues that arise relating to the Form-Based Codes regulations. Because the regulation cannot be waived, members thought the problem might be solved by extending the appeal process long enough for the anticipated subcommittee to address this issue and have the City adopt a change to the T5 regulations that would allow the CO to be approved. Consistent with this thinking, Tom moved and Leslie seconded a motion that John send a letter or email endorsing extending the appeal process so that the new subcommittee can act and the City adopt a T5 modification that would allow the CO for Cathedral Square/Allard Square to be approved. Motion passed 6-0-0. 6. Finalize letters to Kevin Dorn and David Young and employee questions and set follow-up plan: After a brief discussion, Mike moved and Leslie seconded a motion indicating the committee’s approval of the content of the draft letters to Dorn and Young. Due to lack of time, members were unable to define a plan for contacting any School District or City employees that want to be called to respond to the questions about challenges relating to the high cost of housing in SoBu. Members expressed the desire to have a script to use when making these follow-up calls. Leslie said she would compile questions that VHFA has used in the past in surveying households about challenges relating to the high cost of housing. Members asked that formulating the plan and preparing a telephone-call script be included on the March 5th meeting agenda. 7. Reports and updates by committee members: Tom indicated disappointment it was almost time to adjourn and he would be able to report on work of the TDR committee. John suggested that Tom contact him in advance of any committee meeting to ask for time on the agenda. Tom asked to have his report on the TDR committee included on the March 5th meeting agenda. John agreed to this request. Tom also indicated that he will be leaving the state as of early April and, as a result, the Affordable Housing Committee will need to replace him on the TDR committee. He would like the committee to address this. Monica indicated her assessment that Leslie would be best member to join the TDR committee following Tom’s departure due to Leslie’s extensive knowledge about housing, housing- related data and programs, and how SoBu compares to other communities in the region. All members present supported Monica’s view that Leslie would be great on the TDR committee. Leslie agreed to consider accepting this role. 8. Adjourn: At 1:03 p.m. Leslie moved and Todd seconded motion that the meeting be adjourned. Motion passed 6-0-0. Bike rack: ● 1/8/19 Emails to K. Dorn and D. Young to be completed by 1/24/19 ● Keep and address at 1/24/19 committee meeting. Work on Committee’s page on the City’s website ● Combine with item immediately above. (Quoted from January 23, 2018, meeting minutes) “John asked Mike to prepare a work plan for the committee to collaborate with Coralee to enhance its effectiveness in communicating with residents via the City’s website and via other means. The plan should include specific assignments to be carried out by identified committee members. Mike accepted this assignment.” Homework (not yet reported on): All bike rack tasks should include date of assignment and date for task completion.