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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Affordable Housing Committee - 07/23/2019July 23, 2019, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- APPROVED Page 1 Approved on August 27, 2019 AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE July 23, 2019, 10:00 AM, City Hall, Champlain Room Members attending: Paula DeMichele, Sandy Dooley, Todd Rawlings, Cindy Reid, Michael Simoneau, and John Simson Members absent: Tom Bailey, Leslie Black-Plumeau, and Larry Michaels Also present: Monica Ostby, Planning Commission liaison; Frank Von Turkovich, SoBu resident and developer Minutes by Sandy Dooley AGENDA 1. Call to order, emergency procedure, agenda review, comments from guests 2. Review and approval of minutes of 7/9/2019 committee meeting 3. Introduce new member, Paula DeMichele 4. Chair’s comments 5. Discuss and approve mission statement drafted by Leslie 6. Discuss mapping project initiated by Mike and Tom 7. Finalize 2020 Work Plan 8. Reports and updates by committee members 9. Adjourn 1. Call to order, emergency procedure, agenda review, comments from guests: John called the meeting to order at 10:01 a.m. He reviewed the exit procedures. He welcomed Frank Von Turkovich to the meeting. Frank provides public comments/input after action on minutes of 7/9/19 meeting. 2. Review and approval of minutes of 07/09/19 committee meeting: Mike moved and Cindy seconded motion that the minutes of the 07/9/19 meeting be approved as drafted. Motion passed 5-0-0. (Todd had not yet arrived at the meeting.) 1a. Public comment: Frank shared drawing of latest iteration of proposed development on UVM-owned 30- acre parcel with frontage on Spear Street (on West side, North of Swift Street). The development would involve an additional adjoining 25-acre parcel with frontage at 150 Swift Street. The housing would include four two-story 24-unit multifamily buildings and 50 units in duplex structures. Housing would occupy approximately 15% of the 30-acre parcel. Their agreement with UVM requires them to offer all units to UVM faculty or staff before they can be offered to the public. Frank reiterated his pledge to make these units affordable within the committee’s definition of this concept. Frank hopes that the new PUD regulations will permit 24-unit buildings on the UVM parcel. 3. Introduce new member, Paula DeMichele: John noted that Paula DeMichele is now a committee member. Paula, who has attended committee meetings for several months as a guest, became eligible for membership as a result of her recent move to South Burlington. She applied for appointment and the City Council appointed her. Everyone welcomed Paula to committee membership. 4. Chair’s comments: John shared information about the upcoming August 1, 2019, meeting of the Interim Zoning Committees, Affordable Housing Committee, Planning Commission, and City Council. Paul Conner has prepared a format for committees to use in reporting to the group. He will prepare a draft of his report that afternoon, share it with committee members, modify the draft as needed, and submit it to Paul (due by July 25). John then proposed that the committee set dates for its September meetings. The dates/times agreed upon are: September 10, 2019, 10:00 a.m. September 24, 2019, 10:00 a.m. July 23, 2019, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- APPROVED Page 2 5. Discuss and approve mission statement drafted by Leslie: Sandy explained that in order to limit the Committee’s Annual Report for FY19 to one-page, she shortened Leslie’s draft mission statement while retaining its essential content. She had shared the proposed Annual Report with the Committee. Cindy suggested one change to the report: on line 2, to delete “no greater than” and insert “at or below”. Members present supported this change. Mike moved and Todd seconded that the Annual Report, as modified by Cindy’s suggestion, be approved. Motion passed 6-0-0. 6. Discuss mapping project initiated by Mike and Tom: Mike suggested that the committee might request support from CCRPC for this project. Monica commented that the Planning Commission’s PUD work may accomplish substantially the same goals as Mike and Tom’s proposed mapping project. She mentioned that they are developing a Conservation PUD and that an Affordable Housing PUD might support achievement of our goals. A Congregate Housing PUD was also mentioned. Members present asked how this mapping project would be different from what was discussed at July 9th committee meeting. When this was not clear, Sandy proposed that Mike and Tom prepare a Scope of Work to help members better understand what they are proposing. Members present supported the Scope of Work approach to understanding the intended activities and work products. 7. Finalize 2020 Work Plan: At the outset of this discussion, Sandy proposed adding another “task”: asking the City Council to change the committee’s name from South Burlington Affordable Housing Committee to South Burlington Housing Committee. Cindy asked for background information on this proposal. Sandy noted our work with Ted Wimpey and Jessica Hyman (of Thriving Communities project and Facebook page) in fall 2018 and our perception that the word “affordable” has different meanings/connotations to different people and in some cases these are negative. Todd said he supports the proposed change since we make clear in our mission statement that our focus is households with incomes at or below 80% AMI. Instead of adding this task to the work plan, Mike moved and Cindy seconded that the committee direct John to take the actions needed for the City Council to act on this proposal. Motion passed 6-0-0. Members present proposed the following changes to the latest draft of the work plan: ● Follow and support Inclusionary Zoning LDR proposal through to adoption by City Council. ● Combine items 1) and 2) of Work Plan into one item. ● Change Airbnbs to “short-term rentals” ● Add to item 3): Explore modifying congregate housing licensed as residential care facilities so that these facilities are required to include affordably priced accommodations. ● In item 7) insert “and matrix” after “mapping.” ● In item 8) insert “dedicated” after “a”, “or alternative funding mechanisms” after “source”, and “Housing Trust Fund” after “City.” ● Add an additional item 10): “prepare an Inclusionary Housing Handbook for use by developers and prospective renters and purchasers after the Inclusionary Zoning rules are adopted. John will incorporate these changes in the Work Plan and share with committee members for review and adoption at the August 6th committee meeting. He indicated he may modify the order of the projects in the next draft. 8. Reports and updates by committee members: Members discussed Mike’s proposal re up-zoning briefly. The proposal is to find a way for property owner to share with City the increase in value of his/her property when it is up-zoned. John reported that he had contacted John Wilking, Economic Development (ED) Committee chair, about our committee’s desire to work together with ED committee. The plan is for a joint meeting of the committees in September at which our committee would share its work plan and propose ways in which the committees might collaborate. Monica mentioned support for increased public transportation is important for both economic development and affordable housing. Regarding the proposed Handbook, John pointed out that we need to identify those things we removed from the draft Inclusionary Zoning LDRs when we simplified them and decide what needs to be in the Handbook. Monica shared that she had made the Planning July 23, 2019, SoBu Affordable Housing Committee Minutes- APPROVED Page 3 Commission members aware that under SoBu’s LDRs, congregate housing units are not counted in a development’s density calculation. They want to look into this. Immediate tasks: Tom and Mike prepare Scope of Work for committee review. Determine how we will develop committee response to Open Space Committee report. 8. Adjourn: At 11:55 a.m. Mike moved and Cindy seconded motion that the meeting be adjourned. Motion passed 6-0-0. Bike rack: ● 1/8/19 Emails to K. Dorn and D. Young to be completed by 1/24/19 City: DONE! ● 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.