HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Affordable Housing Committee - 09/13/2021South Burlington Affordable Housing Committee Monday September 13, 2021 at 10:15 AM Room 301 at 180 Market Street South Burlington, VT 05403
AGENDA
This will be a both an in-person and electronic meeting, consistent with recently-passed legislation.
Affordable Housing Committee Mon, Sep 13, 2021 10:15 AM - 12:15PM (EDT)
Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://www.gotomeet.me/SouthBurlingtonVT/affordable-housing-committee09-13-2021
You can also dial in using your phone. United States: +1 (872) 240-3412
Access Code: 909-645-829
1.Call to order, agenda review, Public comment, Approval of minutes, announcements
(15m)
2.***Approve Minutes from the August 23rd Meeting (5m)
3.Receive update and possible action to make a recommendation to the planning
commission on LDR amendments for applicability of the Conservation, Infill, and
Traditional Neighborhood PUDs – Paul Connor, Director Planning and Zoning (45m)
4.Appoint member to serve on the Climate Action Task Force (15m)
5.***Consider the AHC’s submission for the FY23 Policy Priorities and Strategies
process (30m)
6.Communications update (15m)
7.Adjourn
*** Attachments Included
August 23, 2021, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- DRAFT Page 1
Prepared on September 9, 2021 Next meeting date/time: September 13, 2021, 10:15 a.m., City Hall or online
AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE August 23, 2021, 10:30 a.m., meeting held online and at City Hall
Members attending: Janet Bellavance, Leslie Black-Plumeau, Vince Bolduc, Sandy Dooley, Darrilyn Peters, Minelle Sarfo-Ado, John Simson, and Chris Trombly. Absent: Ariel Jensen-Vargas and. Patrick O’Brien, committee members; Monica Ostby, PC liaison Others: Jessie Baker, City Manager AGENDA
1.Call to order, agenda review, public comment, approval of minutes (08/09/21), announcements2 Review and possibly take action on draft FY2021 workplan, Annual Report, and upcoming priority-settingQuestions for discussion: ●Which items would you like to see prioritized?●What should be the timing of completion?●What would you like to see added?
3.Communications discussion4.Adjourn
1, Call to order, agenda review, public comment, approval of Minutes (08/09/21), announcements Call to order: Chris called the meeting to order at 10:35 a.m. Agenda review: Sandy moved and John seconded motion to approve the agenda as proposed. Motion
approved: 7-0-0 (Janet not yet present). Public Comments: None. Minutes: Leslie moved and Vince seconded motion to approve the draft minutes for the 06/22/21 meeting. Motion approved: 8-0-0. Announcements: Leslie reported new 2020 Census data for SoBu: net increase of 1,121 households since 2010—lowest decade-to-decade increase since the 1970s. Vince shared that data on the Committee’s webpage indicate 76 housing permits were issued in 2020, the third lowest in the last 10 years. Sandy & Chris shared that they had attended the most recent Planning Commission meeting, which focused on the Infill PUD. The City Council is in the process of establishing a Climate Change Committee; the Affordable Housing Committee will have one seat on this committee. Committee needs to designate its representative to the committee. Question: is this representative’s job to act in accordance with their own position/views on matters before the committee or
represent the positon of the committee? Jessie replied that the representative’s responsibility is to represent the committee. John stated that the representative’s input should be consistent with the Committee’s goals as articulated in its work plan, motions, or other committee documents. Jessie will be developing a charter for the
Climate Change Committee.
2.Review and possibly take action on draft FY2021 workplan, Annual Report, and upcoming priority-setting:
Questions for discussion:●Which items would you like to see prioritized?●What should be the timing of completion?●What would you like to see added?Draft workplan: Lots of discussion. Leslie mentioned that an important and time-consuming task not included in the draft workplan is committee’s responsibility to maintain a high level of knowledge of the PC’s work when its work relates to supporting (or not supporting) an increase in the availability of affordable housing in the City (for example, PC’s current work on the PUD regulations).
Jessie mentioned providing input to the City Council’s recently initiated policies and priority-setting process. One committee member expressed the desire for our City Council to take some kind of action that demonstrates its recognition of the housing crisis and that it places a high priority on increasing the availability and affordability of
August 23, 2021, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- DRAFT Page 2
housing in the City for all but our affluent households (for whom affordability does not present a challenge)—i.e.
not solely more affordable housing for very low income households. Other committee members concurred in this desire. Perception on the part of some committee members is that, since the establishment of Interim Zoning, the City Council has been disproportionately focused on conservation of open space.
Mention made of recent CC letter of support for 72 additional affordable housing units as part of O’Brien Farms development. Minelle asked for information on the household income levels to which these units would be available. Sandy indicated that most of the units would be for households with incomes substantially below 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) and promised to send specifics to Minelle. Question: what is affordable? Leslie said that the measure of affordability is whether you are spending a sustainable amount of your income on housing. The rule of thumb has been that spending more than 30% of household income on housing exceeds the sustainability threshold.
Vince reminded members that our committee’s charge from the City Council is to address housing needs in general and not solely for lower-income households. John stated that, in recognition of fact that housing for the lowest income households requires substantial public funding (primarily tax credits) to build, the committee decided several years back to focus on Missing Middle income households who, for the most part, do not qualify for housing that receives public funding. A priority has been to find ways that the City can support private
developers in building housing that Missing Middle households can afford.
Considerable agreement among committee members that increased financial resources and/or reductions in City-
imposed costs on developers are needed to make progress toward increasing the availability of affordable housing in the City. Committee needs to connect the need for increased financial resources with goals and strategies included in the Comprehensive Plan. Mention was made that Planning Commission appears headed to including Citywide inclusionary zoning in the Interim Zoning package of LDRs that it will take to public hearing soon. While committee will need to advocate for these LDRs at public hearing and also at City Council’s public hearing, once these LDRs are (hopefully) successfully adopted, this goal can be dropped from our workplan.
In addition to working on proposing ways to increase funding for Housing Trust Fund, committee members
support draft goals 3 (Review zoning districts citywide, etc.), 5 (Identify regulatory barriers, etc.), and 6 (Identify options for buying or developing, etc.). We need more funding in Housing Trust Fund to replace revenue lost if goal 4 (Advocate for waiver or reduction, etc.) were implemented. Regarding goal 7 (Request staff support),
Jessie is available to provide staff support at this time. Staff support in the future might become available from new City Planner for whom recruitment is now underway. Goal 8 (updating ADU regulations) is in progress. Committee is supportive of goals 11 & 12 (making decisions and establishing policies that promote housing
affordability, equity, inclusiveness, and combatting climate change, and developing checklist for use in operationalizing these priorities/values). However, members believe this should be a priority goal for City as a whole, not solely the Affordable Housing Committee.
Where do we go from here? Leslie: let’s have two (conceptual) baskets. Put what we want to ask the City Council to endorse/prioritize in first basket and other important goals that are less in need of City Council endorsement/prioritization in the second basket. Partnerships across committees was mentioned. Jessie offered to draft a template for use in communicating proposed priorities to the City Council. Members present accepted her offer with notable enthusiasm.
Before discussion ended, Darrilyn expressed unwillingness to let go of goal 10 (book group discussion). Leslie
indicated her willingness to work on this with Darrilyn.
3.Communications Discussion: due to lack of time, agenda item was postponed to future meeting.
4.Adjourn: At 12:31 p.m. Leslie moved and Janet seconded motion to adjourn. Motion approved: 7-0-0 (Minellewas no longer present).
Policy Area Description Related Policy Statement Implementation Strategy Source of idea Committee ActionAffordable and Community StrongCreating a robust sense of place and opportunity for our residents and visitors.Be affordable, with housing for people of all incomes, lifestyles, and stages of lifeIncrease funding to the Housing Trust Fund. AHC AHC Explore funding mechanisms and make recommendations to CouncilIdentify options for buying or developing existing city‐owned land to develop additional perpetually affordable housing. (part of 575 Dorset Street)AHC AHC Work with staff to review options for buying or developing existing city‐owned land to develop additional perpetually affordable housingOpportunity OrientedBeing a supportive and engaged member of the larger regional and statewide community.Prioritize development that occurs within the community into the higher intensity areas identified within this PlanAHC Articulate connections between dense housing development and climate change solutionsAHC Review zoning districts city‐wide to identify additional locations for residential/mixed‐use zoning. AHC Identify regulatory barriers and added costs of developing multi‐unit buildings and propose ways for SB to address them. Could include: waiver or reduction of city impact and permit fees for perpetually affordable developmentsAdministrationRecommend an equity, diversity, and inclusion statement and related implementation steps to the CouncilJessieImplement an Impact Assessment Checklist AHC AHC Propose an Impact Assessment Checklist for Council considerationAll City Committees receive staff supportCity of South BurlingtonFY22 Policy Priorities & StrategiesIN PROGRESS *** DRAFT ** DRAFT ** DRAFT*** IN PROGRESSRole of Council Role of City Manager and Leadership Team Role of City Committee"This is the vision for our community" "This is how we are accomplishing this vision." "This is how our resident committees can inform policy and help implement policy."Affordable Housing CommitteeTEXT in RED = Already in the Comp Plan