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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Affordable Housing Committee - 02/08/2017 South Burlington Affordable Housing Committee MINUTES February 8, 2017 4:00 p.m. Members Attending: Leslie Black-Plumeau (left at 4:43p.m.), Sandy Dooley (arrived at 4:09 p.m.), Mike Simoneau, and John Simson Members Absent: Tom Bailey Others Present: Andrew Bolduc, South Burlington City Attorney, Paul Conner, SoBu Director of Planning, Kevin Dorn (attended part of meeting) Minutes: Sandy Dooley Agenda: 1. Call to order 2. Review of Draft Agenda/Agenda Adoption: Additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda item 3. Comments or questions from the public not related to the agenda 4. Review and approval of minutes from the January 24, 2017, Committee meeting 5. Continued review of and possible vote on draft amendment to South Burlington Land Development Regulations related to Housing Preservation 6. (if time) Discussion re extension of Inclusionary Zoning 7. Members’ homework reports 8. Review of new homework assignments (if any) 9. Other business 10. Adjournment Call to order: John Simson, committee chair, called the meeting to order at 4:05 PM. Agenda review: The committee agreed to use the draft agenda Sandy had prepared. Comments or questions from the public not related to the agenda: none Review and approval of minutes from the December 6, 2016, Committee meeting: Mike moved and Leslie seconded approval of the January 24, 2017, minutes as drafted. Motion passed by vote of 3 – 0 (Sandy had not yet arrived at meeting). Sandy later noted that there were two typos in the draft, which the committee authorized her to correct. Continued review of and possible vote on draft amendment to South Burlington Land Development Regulations related to Housing Preservation The committee reviewed and discusses Andrew’s second draft “18.03 Housing Preservation” land development regulations that reflected the Committee’s recommended modifications from the 1/24/17 meeting, Changes the committee endorsed: 18.03 A. (5) – delete “assisted” and insert “affordable”. 18.03 C. (2), second sentence – This sentence encompasses two concepts that are unrelated (airport noise and deterioration caused be neglect or deferred maintenance). Suggest that they be separated. Also make clear that both of these situations are NOT exemptions from the 18.03 rule. 18.03 C. (2), third sentence – insert “officer” between “administrative” and “based”. 18.03 C. (2), (d) – “of” should be “or” and “or” should be “of”. 18.03 C. (4) – delete entire subsection 18.03 C. (5) – delete entire subsection 18.03 C. – add new subsection that exempts City Center district from 18.03 rule 18.03 I. Relief – delete “affordable” from first two lines. Delete subsection (2) Paul will redraft subsection (1). We will keep subsection (3) though Paul may fine-tune it. With Paul taking lead, committee discussed need to draft rule so that when new affordable housing is method of meeting replacement requirement, the situation is such that the affordable housing is not a unit of affordable housing that would have been built absent this regulation. Committee also stated that a single unit cannot count toward both as a required affordable unit due to inclusionary zoning and an affordable unit required due to demolition of an existing housing unit (no double counting). Committee also discussed need to have rule regarding how developer is to comply with requirement that affordable housing units remain perpetually affordable. Discussed possible provision requiring developer to contract with a nonprofit affordable housing development organization to provide assurance that perpetual affordability requirement is met. Paul raised subject of situations in which structures that appear to be “housing units” are not classified as “housing” under SoBu’s LDRs and wanted to make sure committee understands that these structures will not be subject to the 18.03 rule. Paul agreed to prepare a brief memo for committee that lists the zoning classifications for structures that appear to be housing but under our LDRs are not and provide examples of locations in SoBu where these structures exist. Committee discussed pros and cons of fast track effective date and January 1, 2018, effective date. Committee discussed suggestions from an email provided by Tom Bailey: Re: 1. Committee is unclear as to Tom’s rationale for suggestion that the area north of Williston Road, between Patchen Road and the Airport, be excluded since it is committee’s understanding that City Council wants this neighborhood to be covered by this new rule. Re: 2. Tom had suggested modifications to the relief section. Committee had already identified need for the “Relief” Section to be re-drafted and Paul will be working with Andrew to prepare an improved draft of this section. Re: 3. Tom recommended that the regulation include a “sunset” provision of two years for this regulation. Neither Committee members nor staff present at meeting was supportive of including a “sunset” provision. However, Committee members are supportive of having committee evaluate how 18.03 rule is working at some future point in time. Discussion re extension of Inclusionary Zoning – no time; postponed to next meeting Members’ homework reports – Mike reported on his outreach to developers to recruit one or more to join committee or attend as consultant. So far, his contacts have not produced a “yes” response; they have also not produced a “no” response. Paul mentioned that the pool of local developers is diverse and that we should consider outreach to developers that specialize in “niche” developments. Committee also discussed that someone appointed to the committee would need to be a SoBu resident or own a housing-related business located in SoBu. Paul also mentioned that City Council is unlikely to consider any new committee members until annual recruitment period for all City Committees, Boards, etc. in May/June. Committee discussed idea of developing “traits and qualifications” language for recruitment advertisement as possible means of attracting applicants with varied backgrounds. Brief discussion of new report evaluating BTV’s Inclusionary Zoning regulations. This report means Leslie and Mike’s homework assignment re IZ is less burdensome. Committee members are to continue prior homework assignments and also come prepared to discuss extension of Inclusionary Zoning beyond City Center district at March 6 committee meeting. Review of new homework assignments – In light of John’s absence from area starting on 2/10/17 and through next committee meeting, Sandy will follow up with City Council Chair and Jessica (Planning Commission Chair) re 18.03 effective date and how public outreach/vetting should be done re 18.03 proposed new rule and where this outreach should take place (committee level or Planning Commission’s public hearing). Sandy will also invite Jessica to the March 6, 2017, committee meeting. Other business – Kevin re-joined the committee meeting and updated members on current situation with Kirby Cottages and asked committee how important it is to preserve these cottages as pursuing this objective is very labor intensive and time consuming. Since the committee had gone into “overtime” further discussion of this subject was deferred to the March 6 meeting. After Kevin left the meeting, Sandy shared with those present the contents of an email she had just received from a CHT staff person. This email modified what we had understood to be situation vis-à-vis Kirby Cottages and CHT. Sandy agreed to share this email with Kevin (which she did that same evening, 2/8/17). Adjournment – The committee adjourned by consensus at 6:30 p.m.