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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Affordable Housing Committee - 09/01/2020September 1, 2020, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- APPROVED Page 1 Approved on September 15, 2020 AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE September 1, 2020, 10:00 a.m., meeting held online Members attending (online): Tom Bailey, Leslie Black-Plumeau; Vince Bolduc, Sandy Dooley (10:10 arrival), Patrick O’Brien, Mike Simoneau, John Simson, Chris Trombly; Monica Ostby, PC liaison; Kevin Dorn, City Manager, staff Guests: Alan & Carol Long (SoBu property owners), AGENDA 1. Call to order, agenda review, comments from guests 2. Welcome new members and consider Committee organization 3. Review and approval of any outstanding minutes 4. Chair’s Comments 5. Discussion and anticipated adoption of the Housing Space Report 6. Discussion of City Council and Planning Commission response to the report to the report and formulate a Committee strategy going forward 7. Review and update Committee work plan 8. Reports and updates by committee members 9. Adjourn 1. Call to order, agenda review, comments from guests: John called meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. There were no changes to the agenda. John welcomed new guests Alan & Carol Long, who had no comments. 2. Welcome new members and consider Committee organization: John welcomed new committee members, Vince, Patrick, and Chris. Vince and Patrick had attended several past committee meetings. Chris, who is a relatively new South Burlington resident, had not attended past meetings. He shared information about his past work and service in Burlington. Regarding Committee organization, John indicated his desire to continue as chair until his term on the committee ends in 2022. He added that he and Sandy would like to have other members accept committee leadership roles at that time and encouraged members to consider this opportunity. 3. Review and approval of any outstanding minutes: Mike moved and Tom seconded motion to approve 03/03/20 committee meeting minutes as drafted. Motion approved: 7-0-1. 4. Chair’s Comments: John suggested that we move to agenda item 6. Discussion of City Council and Planning Commission response to the report, etc. Sandy requested that this discussion be delayed until Monica arrived at meeting (Monica is a Planning Commissioner and attended PC meeting at which report was discussed). John then proposed that committee focus on agenda item 5. 5. Discussion and anticipated adoption of the Housing Space Report site: Members praised the quality and importance of the report of the working group, The Case for Housing, and explored ways to have it become an official City document. One important result of it becoming official is that a link to it can be placed on the committee’s webpage. Comment made that though 44% of SoBu remains undeveloped only a small portion of that 44% is appropriate for housing. Vince commented that we are left with only a couple of hundred acres appropriate for housing. Discussion reinforced importance that the report be used to guide City LDR modifications so that SoBu can play a responsible role in addressing the housing crisis, which includes both too little supply and too high prices. September 1, 2020, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- APPROVED Page 2 MOTION: Tom moved and Leslie seconded motion that Committee endorse the report, The Case for Housing, prepared by the Housing Space Working Group, and forward a recommendation to the City Council that they accept this report. Motion passed: 8-0-0. 6. Discussion of City Council and Planning Commission response to the report to the report and formulate a Committee strategy going forward: Regarding the City Council’s response to the report, it is unclear to Committee members where some Councilors stand with respect to the need for more housing in SoBu, including additional development of housing in the SEQ. Their comments addressed neither the data in the report, nor the analysis, nor its conclusions. Notes: Councilor Dave Kaufman was not present at the 8/18/20 meeting at which the report was presented. Councilor Chittenden spoke positively of the report. It seems clear that the Committee needs to find ways to explore Councilors’ perceptions of the housing crisis and SoBu’s responsibility to encourage the development of housing in appropriate locations throughout the City. The Planning Commission’s discussion of the report was brief but more receptive. Below is a quote from the draft minutes for the August 25, 2020, Planning Commission meeting. “Ms. Louisos noted an offer from a community group to speak with the Commission regarding housing. They made a presentation to the City Council. Mr. Gagnon felt that would be good as some residents follow the Commission and not the Council, and the report does supplement what the Commission has been talking about. Ms. Louisos said she would work with Mr. Conner about the timing for that presentation.” There followed a wide-ranging discussion that included the following topics: ● current Planning Commission work ● new mapping capabilities available on the City’s website (which Monica demonstrated for the group) ● Monica’s offer to “train” Committee members in how to use this new mapping feature ● the need to provide incentives for the development of the Missing Middle housing types ● the fact that P. Conner’s 8/25 presentation to PC included an alternative to density as the measure of how much can be built on a parcel of a given size (this alternative is “building-type based”) and that this method for measuring how much can be built is more likely to result in construction of Missing Middle housing types ● P. Conner’s focus on “walkable neighborhoods” ● the need to recognize the “sunk costs” of existing municipal and private utility infrastructure (water, sewer, Vermont Gas Company lines, etc.) in relatively undeveloped areas of SoBu and take advantage of these important resources ● recognition that Open Space report, Arrowwood report, and The Case for Housing report are not based on field verified data regarding where Hazards, etc. are located ● recognition that City relies on applicants for permits for development to carry out the necessary field verification, ● Monica’s encouragement that Committee members become knowledgeable regarding PC’s current work, attend all PC meetings, and provide input—especially important to attend the 9/9 PC meeting ● Need to familiarize ourselves with draft Article 12 ● Question: where do we go from here? Consensus decision on next step: Vince, with assistance from Monica, Leslie, Mike, and Tom, will draft a proposal that Committee will submit to Planning Commission that contains a plan of action based on data, analysis, and conclusions in The Case for Housing report. The need to address the income inequality in the City, including the fact that the median income of households in the City’s 7-2 Voting District (Ann Pugh is representative) is more than twice the median income of households in the other three Voting Districts, will be cited in the proposal. Note: Patrick cautioned that Committee needs to recognize that, in addition to more housing, SoBu needs more jobs; message: be careful not to restrict land that has high potential for industrial/commercial development to residential development only. September 1, 2020, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- APPROVED Page 3 Vince will send draft proposal to John, who will send it to Committee members for review prior to next meeting. Proposal will be on agenda of 9/15 meeting for Committee discussion and potential adoption. 7. Review and update Committee work plan: deferred to future committee meeting. 8. Reports and updates by committee members: deferred to future committee meeting. 9. Adjourn: Prior to adjournment, Committee decided to meet again on Tuesday, September 15, 10:00 a.m. Assumption is that meeting with be online. At approximately 12:00 p.m. Tom moved and Vince seconded motion to adjourn. Motion passed 8-0-0.