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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Affordable Housing Committee - 04/02/2019Approved on April 16, 2019 AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE April 2, 2019, 10:00 AM, City Hall, Champlain Room Members attending: Leslie Black-Plumeau, Sandy Dooley, Larry Michaels (arr. 10:10), Todd Rawlings, Michael Simoneau, and John Simson Member absent: Tom Bailey Also present: Monica Ostby, Planning Commission liaison; Rachel Mahoney, Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC); Paula DeMichele, resident of Essex Town (somethinglikeastar@yahoo.com) Minutes by Sandy Dooley AGENDA 1. Call to order, emergency procedure, agenda review, comments from guests 2. Review and approval of minutes of 3/18/2019 committee meeting 3. Chair’s comments 4. Welcome Regina Mahoney from CCRPC to present her latest draft of inclusionary zoning regulations for Transit Overlay District 5. Discuss Planning Commission TDR subcommittee work to date – John Simson 6. Reports and updates by committee members 7. Adjourn 1. Call to order, emergency procedure, agenda review, comments from guests: John called the meeting to order at 10:03 a.m. He noted how to exit from building and added that, in an emergency, we are to make a list of members that left the building exited. John welcomed Regina and Paula to the meeting. Paula said she would reserve her comments until later in the meeting. 2. Review and approval of minutes of 3/18/2019 committee meeting: Mike moved and Leslie seconded motion that the minutes of the 3/18/19 meeting be approved as drafted. Motion passed 4-0- 1 (Todd abstained; Larry had not yet arrived), 3. Chair’s comments: John shared that he received a postcard via snail mail containing information about Champlain Housing Trust’s (CHT) program that provides loans for essential home repairs (e.g. roofing, furnaces, etc.). The program has an income test. He had this information posted on the SoBu Community Watch Facebook page. Through Tom Chittenden (City Councilor), it was posted to all SoBu Front Porch Forum neighborhoods. In addition, it will appear in the April 4th issue of The Other Paper. John later spoke with Rob Leuchs, director of this program at CHT, who reported that they had received lots of calls as a result of their outreach and many of the calls were from SoBu residents. John then mentioned that he cannot attend the committee’s May 14th meeting and that he would like Sandy to chair this meeting if she is available. Sandy agreed to chair the May 14th meeting. 4. Welcome Regina Mahoney from CCRPC to present her latest draft of inclusionary zoning regulations for Transit Overlay District: Regina distributed copies of the latest version of the Inclusionary Housing LDR package to those present. While members had received electronic copies of proposed changes prior to the meeting, this version included changes added to what had been sent electronically. Comments/changes to this package were made as follows: 18.01 C.(1) – members present support language Regina added to this subsection requiring applicant to inform City of rental or for-purchase status of the approved development no later than applicant’s request for the Certificate of Occupancy. . 18.01 C.(2)(iv) – members discussed latest language that would allow developers, as an example, to construct all market rate units having two bedrooms per unit and all inclusionary units as studios. Question: does committee want to allow this much flexibility? Monica wants regulation to be family friendly and she does not view this language as family-friendly. Committee members concurred with Monica’s concern. Result was that members asked Regina to modify the language to require applicants to make the number of bedrooms in the inclusionary units the same as the number of bedrooms in the market rate units, on a proportional basis. Example: if half of the market rate units have one bedroom and half have two bedrooms, then at least half of the inclusionary units shall have at least one bedroom and the remainder, if any, shall have at least two bedrooms. 18.01 D.(1)(c) – members agreed that LDRs here need a reference to the VHFA Table to show that SoBu will rely on it to establish maximum rent and home-ownership prices. Members asked Regina to draft a “hybrid” of Options 1 and 2 (from handout) consistent with their input, including references to worksheets and other detail in an Appendix that includes detail on how maximum prices are set and potential renter and home-buyer households’ eligibility is determined. 18.01 D.(1)(c)(i)b. – Todd raised concerns regarding deletion of “annual condominium or homeowners’ association fees” from b. Following discussion, members asked Regina to add “50% of annual condominium or homeowners’ association fees” to b. 18.01 D.(1)(c)(iii) – considerable discussion of Table 18-1 in Option 1. Leslie agreed to provide language explaining how “1.5” and “4.5” are used in calculating maximum rents and purchase prices. Considerable discussion regarding how to use information in Table 18-1 in Option 2’s. Members want the Income Thresholds and Rental and Purchase Price information to be included in cover memo to the Planning Commission. However, they do not want the Household Size and Income information and the Inclusionary Unit Size and Price information linked together as they are in the proposed Option 2 Table 18-1 (reasoning is that this may lead to inference that household incomes, household sizes, and unit sizes and unit prices must be matched in marketing the units). This is not the case. Monica also noted that the income amounts are maximums for each category and that this may give the incorrect impression, for example, a three-person household with an income below $66,960 may not rent or purchase an Inclusionary Unit. Members discussed having this information in an Appendix to the LDRs. They also discussed drafting an Inclusionary Housing handbook that would include this information. Regina will explore status of Appendices to LDRs—do they have the force of law? Members agreed that a handbook would be useful. 18.01 D.(2) – Members asked Regina to change heading to read: “Renter and Home-buyer Income Eligibility.” They also agreed to deleting the (new) highlighted sentence beginning with “While” and ending with “households.” They agreed to deleting “as defined here” at the end of the second sentence. 18.01 D.(2) (a) & (b) – Members agreed to delete “(a)” and “(b)” and place this information in the Definitions Article of the LDRs. 18.01 D.(2)(c) – Members agreed to delete (c) and add this sentence to 18.01 D.(2). 18.01 D.(2)(c)i. and ii – Members agreed that these would become “(a)” and “(b)” under “18.01 D.(2)” and to delete the (italicized) examples in each 18.01 D.(3) – members agreed to change heading to “Flexibility between maximum rent and purchase prices and eligible renter or purchaser households.” 18.01 G.(1) – members agreed with clarifications made in this subsection. 18.01 H.(1) – members agreed with clarifications made in this subsection. Article 2 Definitions Inclusionary Housing – members agreed to addition made here Those present then focused on when Regina can return to the committee with a version that includes the agreed-upon modifications. Regina will be away from April 12 to May 1st. Members decided to cancel the planned April 30th meeting and replace it with a May 8th, 10:30 a.m. meeting, which Regina will attend. The focus of the committee’s April 16th, 10:00 a.m., meeting will be outlining the content of a Handbook on SoBu’s Inclusionary Housing LDRs. 5. Discuss Planning Commission TDR subcommittee work to date – John Simson: John shared that the subcommittee meetings are lively. His recommendation that LDRs for areas in the SEQ that already have water and sewer infrastructure should allow for development did not receive support among the members. Monica and Michael are working on identifying areas outside the SEQ where TDRs might be used. Deputy City Attorney Amanda Lafferty is working with the TDR subcommittee. Michael expressed disappointment that the Open Space subcommittee has not integrated a housing agenda into its process. Sandy indicated she planned to attend the Open Space subcommittee meeting taking place that evening, as the agenda suggested they would be reaching positions on several subjects. 6. Reports and updates by committee members: Regina informed committee that the next CCRPC- convened meeting of municipal housing committees in Chittenden County is scheduled for the evening of April 30th. John and Leslie indicated that the emails seeking information about housing challenges from City and School District staff have been sent. So far, no one has contacted Leslie. 7. Adjourn: At 12:00 p.m. Leslie moved and Mike 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.