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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Affordable Housing Committee - 03/05/2019Approved on March 18, 2019 AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE March 5, 2019, 10:00 AM, City Hall, Champlain Room Members attending: Tom Bailey, Leslie Black-Plumeau (arr. 10:20), Sandy Dooley, Todd Rawlings, Michael Simoneau, and John Simson Member absent: Larry Michaels Also present: Monica Ostby, Planning Commission liaison; Paula DeMichele, resident of Essex Town (somethinglikeastar@yahoo.com) Minutes by Sandy Dooley AGENDA 1. Call to order, emergency procedure, agenda review, comments from guests 2. Review and approval of minutes of 2/14/2019 committee meeting 3. Chair’s comments 4. Discuss Planning Commission TDR subcommittee work to date – Tom Bailey 5. Discuss and set a plan for responding to City and School employees’ comments re finding affordable housing 6. Reports and updates by committee members 7. Adjourn 1. Call to order, emergency procedure, agenda review, comments from guests: John called the meeting to order at 10:03 a.m. He noted how to exit from building. John welcomed Paula to the meeting. 2. Review and approval of minutes of 2/14/2019 committee meeting: Tom moved and Mike seconded motion that the minutes of the 2/14/19 meeting be approved as drafted. Motion passed 5-0-0 3. Chair’s comments: John noted that Regina Mahony will be at the March 18th committee meeting to review her latest work on the expanded Inclusionary Zoning regulations proposal. He also indicated that Sandy had drafted a revised “Affordability Requirements” section, which he views as an improvement. Sandy explained that she had not shared this redraft with all committee members because she did not want to do so until she got input from Regina, who is on vacation until March 11th. She will share when she receives go-ahead from Regina. John brought to the members’ attention that, according to an article in the February 28th issue of The Other Paper, the latest phase of the Hillside (O’Brien) development will include several units whose prices will be affordable to households in the 80 – 120% AMI range. Though these units are proposed to have “affordable” prices at the outset, they are not proposed to be perpetually affordable. Leslie asked if any of the home ownership units will be affordably priced. John did not know answer but expectation is that all affordable units will be rentals. John suggested that the committee might want to take a position at the DRB in support of this phase of the Hillside development as developer is including affordable units on a voluntary basis. Members present discussed this proposal. Some wondered why the developer had not contacted the committee about its plan to include affordable units. Another committee member suggested committee should not take a support position for a development whose affordable units are not perpetually affordable. Another committee member suggested the committee should not take a support position vis-à-vis this development because the households seeking to rent the affordable units will not be screened for household income level and, therefore, the units could be rented to households whose incomes exceed 120% AMI. Members did not take a position vis-à-vis “officially” supporting this development. John will call Evan Langfeldt to learn more about this phase of the Hillside development. John also mentioned that Montpelier has recently established a loan program to encourage/assist homeowners in adding an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) to their homes. He plans to find out more about this program. 4. Discuss Planning Commission TDR subcommittee work to date – Tom Bailey: The path the TDR subcommittee will take from here on is unclear as a result of the February 28th VT Environmental Court summary judgment decision finding that SoBu’s TDR land development regulations are void because they are unconstitutionally vague. It is not known whether the developer and/or the City will appeal the decision. They have 30 days in which to decide. Meanwhile, the proposals the TDR subcommittee is considering include: ● Sending TDRs outside the SEQ (to provide a density bonus elsewhere) ● Setting limits on DU square footage and providing for additional square footage via purchase of TDRs ● Establishing Smart Growth criteria/requirements relative to the use of TDRs ● Providing clarity/public education re Green (Natural Resource Protection) and Orange (where development is permitted) districts/areas in the SEQ. ● Cleaning out (eliminating or buying out) the TDRs ● Cleaning up the TDR land development regulations ● Designating a Smart Growth area in the SEQ TDR subcommittee plans to meet with Open Space subcommittee by the end of the month. At his point, TDR committee does not have a target date for having a proposal ready to submit to the Planning Commission. John agreed to serve as committee’s alternate representative to the TDR subcommittee while Tom is traveling. Thank you, John. 5. Discuss and set a plan for responding to City and School employees’ comments re finding affordable housing: We have the approved emails for City Manager and School Superintendent to send to their respective employees. We need a script to use with employees that want to be called to discuss challenges faced due to high cost of housing. Leslie had intended to bring materials that VHFA has used in surveys but did not due to dental appointment before meeting. She volunteered to prepare a draft script (sequence of questions and information-sharing) to use with employees and send it to committee members for review and comment. She also volunteered to do the volunteer phone calls. Thank you, Leslie. 6. Reports and updates by committee members: Pause—set meeting dates (all committee meetings below are scheduled to take place on Tuesday): 4/2/19, 10 a.m. City Hall 4/16/19, 10 a.m. City Hall 4/30/19, 10 a.m. City Hall 5/14/19, 10 a.m. City Hall 5/28/19, 10 a.m. City Hall Todd Rawlings’ IZ presentation to Burlington Planning Commission Date/Time/Place: Tues., 3/12, 6 p.m., Burlington City Hall, Room 12 (Ground Floor) Back to: Reports and updates by committee members: Sandy indicated her disappointment that nothing (to her knowledge) has happened to ensure that the Kirby Cottages are not torn down. Gene Richards has stated that airport employees currently live in the Cottages rent-free. Other committee members share Sandy’s concerns re this situation. Todd and Sandy will follow-up with Senator Leahy’s staff to explore possible ways to address this matter. Mike brought to the members’ attention a two-page (both sides of one sheet) position paper issued by the Vermont Housing & Conservation Coalition for use with Vermont legislators to urge increased funding for the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) in the FY20 budget. The Governor has proposed a $1 million cut. Mike pointed out the value of pairing housing with conservation and the strong points the statement makes for increased funding for both affordable housing and conservation. Members recognized the astuteness of pairing these two goals. Question raised: does VHCB ever present these goals jointly or as overlapping? Or does VHCB present them separately (as they are presented in the position paper)? Has VHCB developed any “basic principles” for use in promoting the value of both housing development and conservation? How does VHCB decide how much of its funding goes to housing and how much goes to conservation? Leslie volunteered to contact someone at VHCB (perhaps, Jen Hollar) to explore these questions. 7. Adjourn: At 11:53 a.m. Leslie moved and Todd seconded motion that the meeting be adjourned. Motion passed 5-0-0. (Mike left the meeting before adjournment.) Bike rack: ● 1/8/19 Emails to K. Dorn and D. Young to be completed by 1/24/19 ● Keep and address at 1/24/19 committee meeting. Work on Committee’s page on the City’s website ● Combine with item immediately above. (Quoted from January 23, 2018, meeting minutes) “John asked Mike to prepare a work plan for the committee to collaborate with Coralee to enhance its effectiveness in communicating with residents via the City’s website and via other means. The plan should include specific assignments to be carried out by identified committee members. Mike accepted this assignment.” Homework (not yet reported on): All bike rack tasks should include date of assignment and date for task completion.