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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Affordable Housing Committee - 12/06/2016APPROVED unanimously on January 3, 2017 South Burlington Affordable Housing Committee MINUTES December 6, 2016 Members Attending: John Simson, Sandy Dooley, Mike Simoneau, Leslie Black-Plumeau and Tom Bailey Members Absent: None Others Present: Kevin Dorn, South Burlington City Manager (briefly); Larry Kupferman, chair of South Burlington Housing Trust Fund board; Mia Watson, graduate intern at VHFA. Minutes: Tom Bailey/Sandy Dooley Agenda: Call to order Agenda review Comments or questions from the public not related to the agenda Approval of November 1, 2016, meeting minutes 2017 Work Plan Discuss establishing regional working relationships Meeting Schedule for next quarter Other business Adjourn Call to order: John Simson, committee chair, called the meeting to order at 4:02 PM. Agenda review: Sandy read the agenda listed in the email from Kevin Dorn. No additions, deletions, or modifications were made. Comments or questions from the public not related to the agenda: none other than Larry Kupferman indicating that he was present due to his interest in the committee’s work. Approval of November 1, 2016, meeting minutes: Leslie and Sandy proposed changes to the minutes and explained them to those present. Sandy moved, and Mike seconded, that the November 1, 2016, minutes be approved as corrected. The motion passed unanimously. 2017 Work Plan: John opened this agenda item by inviting committee members to propose subjects for inclusion in the 2017 Work Plan. They considered the following subjects for possible inclusion in the draft 2017 Work Plan. ● Housing Replacement/Retention Regulation or Ordinance – Sandy proposed this subject. The group discussed how such a regulation might work and the potential consequences of such a regulation. The question was raised regarding whether it would apply to the removal of houses in the Chamberlin neighborhood. The group agreed that if it were to apply to housing removed from the Chamberlin neighborhood, it would need to be prepared and adopted on a “fast track” basis. John agreed to meet with City Council Chair Helen Riehle and City Manager Kevin Dorn, before the next committee meeting, to obtain their input and advice on this subject. Following discussion, the group agreed to include this item in the draft Work Plan. ● Inclusionary Zoning, along with Form-based Code or with Increased Incentives, in densely developed areas of the City (in addition to City Center), in particular along Shelburne Road – John proposed this item and the committee agreed to include inclusionary zoning in the draft Work Plan. ● Rental Registry - Tom suggested the development of a rental inventory with collection of data on a voluntary basis. Other committee members suggested a rental registry as an alternative because the acquisition of accurate and complete data will need the City’s official backing via regulation. The committee agreed to include a Rental Registry in the draft Work Plan. ● A variety of incentives for the development of affordable housing – Examples: eliminating/reducing impact fees, reducing permitting fees, increasing density bonuses, infrastructure incentives such as a reduction of road width, relaxing parking requirements, alternative methodology for calculating density (for example, using unit size in the formula), alternative methodology for determining impact fees. The committee recognized that many of these incentives produce lost revenue to the City and, should the committee propose the adoption of such regulatory changes, how to replace the lost revenue would have to be addressed. The committee agreed to include this subject in the draft Work Plan. ● Permanent Funding Source for the Housing Trust Fund – This was mentioned but not discussed. It is part of the committee’s charge. ● Accessory Dwelling Units – John mentioned this subject but noted some considerations that make this tool challenging. These include (1) the fact that most affordable housing in the City is small in terms of footprint and, as a result, does not allow for an adequately sized accessory unit, and (2) some neighborhoods have concerns because these units tend to become student rentals. The committee did not decide whether or not to include this tool in the draft Work Plan. ● Rehab of existing affordable housing – Mike suggested this. Sandy described a Champlain Housing Trust Grant/Loan program that does this. She agreed to obtain information about this program for the committee before the next meeting. The committee did not decide whether or not to include this tool in the draft Work Plan. ● Public Education – The committee agreed to include this subject in the draft Work Plan. Discussion of how committee will approach implementation of the Work Plan – John wants the committee to prepare a package of regulatory changes whose objective is to increase the development/preservation of affordable housing in the City. Tom urged that we carefully study each proposal in the Plan and get input from all affected parties. We want to propose strategies that will work. Tom also stated the desire that the committee be well grounded in local data relating to lack of affordable housing in South Burlington, official “affordable” income standards, existing programs, market standards, etc. Everyone concurred with these three approaches. Other: Mike asked Sandy about the status of CHT’s Shared Equity Program for affordable home ownership. Sandy indicated that available funding for acquiring additional homes is modest; still, there remains a high level of interest in the program. While adding homes is limited, a fair number of “Shared-Equity” homeowners sell their homes each year, which enables new families to become homeowners. Mike wondered whether the same sort of thing could be done with private money. Sandy responded that this seems quite possible and that this may have been done in one or more European countries. Establishing regional working relationships: The committee ran out of time to discuss this subject. The committee asked Leslie to invite Regina Mahony of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission to its next meeting to explore this subject, which she agreed to do. Meeting Schedule for next quarter: 1/3/17, 1/24/17, 2/7/17 and 2/21/17, all at 4 PM. John indicated that at the next meeting he would have a large zoning map that we could spread out on the table with an eye toward looking at areas for inclusionary zoning. Other business: None. Adjourn: Leslie moved and Mike seconded, that the meeting be adjourned; motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 5:45 PM.