Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Affordable Housing Committee - 09/13/2021September 13, 2021, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- APPROVED Page 1 Approved on September 27, 2021 AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE September 13, 2021, 10:15 a.m., meeting held online and at City Hall Members attending: Janet Bellavance, Vince Bolduc, Sandy Dooley, Patrick O’Brien, Darrilyn Peters, John Simson, and Chris Trombly; absent: Leslie Black-Plumeau Ariel Jensen-Vargas, and Minelle Sarfo-Ado Others: Jessie Baker, City Manager; Paul Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning (10:32-11:02 a.m.); Wayne Nadeau (public) AGENDA 1. Call to order, agenda review, public comment, announcements 2 Approve minutes from August 23, 2021 meeting 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 Development PUDs – Paul Conner 4. Appoint member to serve on the Climate Action Task Force 5. Consider the AHC’s submission for the FY23 Policy Priorities and Strategies process 6. Communications update 7. Adjourn 1, Call to order, agenda review, public comment, announcements Call to order: Chris called the meeting to order at 10:15 a.m. Agenda review: John moved and Vince seconded motion to approve the agenda as proposed. Motion approved: 7-0-0 Public Comments: None. Announcements: None due to desire to be ready for Paul’s arrival for agenda item 3. 2. Approve minutes from August 23, 2021 meeting: Vince moved and John seconded motion to approve the draft minutes for the 08/23/21 meeting. Motion approved: 6-0-1. Note: as Paul had not arrived, committee sought information from Jessie regarding how frequently the Climate Action Task Force would meet. She indicated that she anticipates it will meet at least monthly and that the committee will decide the dates and times of its meetings. Thus, at this point, it is unknown whether meetings will take place during the day or evening. 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 Development PUDs – Paul Conner: Paul gave a summary of the Conservation PUD LDRs as currently drafted. The property must conserve permanently 70% of the parcel less Hazards; density calculation for 30% developable area is based on number of acres in entire parcel less Hazards multiplied by the base density for the zoning district. No minimum density as currently drafted. Patrick concerned that limits in some zoning districts on number of units in a building may mean it is impossible for developer to build maximum density theoretically allowed. He cited a limit of four units in a building in comparison to the eight or nine 12-plexes in South Village. Paul confirmed that as currently drafted, the 30% area could be developed with a small number of luxury houses. Question was raised regarding whether there would be a requirement to build detached single-family dwelling units. Answer: there is no such requirement in Conservation PUD LDRs as currently drafted. Sandy moved that the committee recommend to the Planning Commission that for zoning districts in which residential development is permitted (1) the new LDRs allow the property owner the option of using the Traditional Neighborhood Development or Conservation PUD as the framework for development, OR, (2) in zoning districts in which only a Conservation PUD is allowed, the LDRs for the 30% developable area include a minimum density of R4. After discussion in which some committee members stated hesitation in supporting the draft Traditional Neighborhood Development PUD rules due to their lack of familiarity with them, others proposed a friendly September 13, 2021, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- APPROVED Page 2 amendment that the R4 minimum apply only where sewer and water services were available or would be available at the time of development, and a motion to close debate failed, Sandy withdrew her motion. Chris summarized the committee’s discussion in his memo to the Planning Commission as follows: “The committee is deeply concerned with the unintended consequences of applying only conservation PUDs in some districts and without a minimum density requirement or a variety of building types. Without these requirements, we are concerned this will result primarily in "trophy houses" being built that are not affordable for incomes at or below 120% of the area median income. The failure to include minimum density requirements reduces the positive impact of expanding inclusionary zoning city-wide. This is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan goals and locks in documented housing inequities in the wealthiest census tract. We had a spirited discussion on the following questions: • Should the landowner be given a choice to utilize a TND or a conservation PUD? • If a conservation PUD is chosen, should a 'mini' TND be required on the remaining portion instead of relying on the underlying zoning? • Does a TND make sense if the site is not connected to city services such as the water or sewage? • Should the conservation PUD's remaining portion percentage be limited to 30%, or might a higher percentage (like 50%) be acceptable if fewer natural resources are on the site? We ended the discussion in agreement that we need to advise the subject matter experts to ensure that should only $500,000+ homes result from conservation PUD rules, this will perpetuate social inequities and require further conversation that we need to build more housing to address the affordable housing crisis.” Motion: The Affordable Housing Committee urges the Planning Commission to maximize housing types for missing middle and affordable housing types in the application of the PUDs city-wide. Motion approved: 7-0-0. 4. Appoint member to serve on the Climate Action Task Force: Motion: Janet moved and Sandy seconded motion that committee appoint Darrilyn Peters as its representative to the Climate Action Task Force. Motion approved: 7-0-0. 5. Consider the AHC’s submission for the FY23 Policy Priorities and Strategies process: The committee informally endorsed the FY22 Policy Priorities & Strategies document that Jessie had drafted and modified in response to Chris’s input. In a brief discussion of the draft committee workplan, John raised the question of whether we should include in our workplan something that is not on the Planning Commission’s agenda. He gave as an example draft task #3, “Review zoning districts citywide to identify additional locations for residential/mixed-use zoning.” Is this on the PC’s agenda? Due to lack of time, discussion ended with encouragement to committee members to attend the 09/14/21 Planning Commission meeting. 6. Communications Discussion: due to lack of time, agenda item was postponed to future meeting. 7. Adjourn: At 12:31 p.m. Darrilyn moved and John seconded motion to adjourn. Motion approved: 7-0-0.