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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-17-2008 Housing & Community Development CommissionAGENDA HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2008 6:30 P.M. 1. Call Meeting to Order 2. Approval of the May 15, 2008 Minutes 3. Public Comment of Items Not on the Agenda 4. Staff/Commission Comment 5. New Business • Announce HCDC Vacancies • Flood Update 6. Old Business • Discuss Community Development Celebration • Discuss Allocation Process 7. Monitoring Reports • City of Iowa City - Economic Development Fund • Hawkeye Area Community Action Program — Transitional Housing (Richman) • Iowa City Free Medical Clinic — Accessibility (Richman) • The Housing Fellowship — CHDO Operating Expenses, FY08 Affordable Rental Housing, FY06 Homeownership (Anthony) • Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County — Facility Rehabilitation (DeFrance) • City of Iowa City — Housing Rehabilitation • Wetherby Friends and Neighbors — Splash Pad (McMurray) 8. Adjournment MINUTES DRAFT HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MAY 15, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL Members Present: Jerry Anthony, Steve Crane, Marcy DeFrance, Andy Douglas, Charles Drum, Holly Jane Hart, Rebecca McMurray, Brian Richman, Michael Shaw Staff Present: Tracy Hightshoe Others Present: Karen Kubby RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL (become effective only after separate Council action): FY06 Annual Action Plan Amendments: City of Iowa City Downpayment Assistance Program — Cancelled. $30,000 (CDBG) original allocation, $1,000 spent. The Housing Fellowship, Affordable Rental Project — Cancelled $175,000 (HOME) FY08 Annual Action Plan Amendments: City of Iowa City, Lead Based Paint Project - $25,000 (HOME) administrative change Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity, Property Acquisition - $117,000 (HOME, CDBG) to purchase 3 lots. Habitat will purchase four lots. Hart motioned to recommend to Council to accept the Annual Action Plan amendments as discussed; seconded by Crane. Motion carried 9-0. CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Anthony called the meeting to order at 6:35 P.M. APPROVAL OF THE APRIL 17, 2008 MINUTES: Hart noted that on page 7, second paragraph, where it says: "He added that the consultant used the standard 30% on this item for rental housing but that they used a 50% standard for ownership housing," it does not specifically state what the 30 and 50% standards are. She suggested adding something to the effect of "median income" or "average income" to make this clear. Drum moved to accept the minutes of the April 17, 2008 minutes as amended; seconded by DeFrance. Motion carried 8-0. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MAY 15, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL PUBLIC COMMENT OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. (McMurray arrives) STAFF/COMMISSION COMMENT: Hightshoe stated that the Annual Action Plan was approved and has been forwarded to HUD. A member asked if anyone from the Housing Commission was present at the Council meeting where the annual recommendations were approved. Douglas noted that he read something about Southgate putting their money together with the Housing Authority's, and he asked what precipitated this. Hightshoe stated that the Housing Authority requested a meeting with Southgate and Lakeside (Dolphin), hoping that they would put all of the downpayment assistance money into one pool available for applications citywide. Dolphin was not interested in doing this and wanted their allocation to remain for their specific project. Southgate was interested as they felt they had potential buyers interested in their site and would apply as soon as the funds became available. Hightshoe stated the Council reviewed this request at a work session and decided to consolidate the Housing Authority and Southgate's allocation; however at least 70% of the households served must be at 60% or less of area median income with all households having to be 80% or less of area median income. Anthony shared what he heard at both the work and formal Council meetings, as well, noting that the discussion was rather involved. The discussion then turned to homeownership versus rental. Hightshoe stated that they should continue this conversation later in the meeting, when they are addressing the allocation process. PRESENTATION BY KAREN KUBBY REGARDING A CONSENSUS STATEMENT ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING: Kubby addressed the commission, stating that the group she is representing is an informal housing group made up of a variety of people. They have been meeting since the fall of 2006, typically at 7:30 A.M. on Tuesday mornings. She stated that they have been working all this time on their consensus statement. Kubby then stated that she wanted to share who all worked on this statement — non-profit housing developers, Al Axeen from HACAP, Maryann Dennis from the Housing Fellowship, Mark Patton from Iowa Habitat for Humanity, Andy Johnson, from the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County; for - profit, Association of Realtors, Cheryl Carroll -Nelson, C. Gordon from AM Management, Glenn Siders from Southgate Development, Dan Smith from the Land Development Council, and Joan Tiemeyer from the Greater Iowa City Homebuilder's Association. Kubby continued, stating that they also had John McKinstree representing the Council of Religious Communities, and she is a representative from FAIR. She added that FAIR is a group that went to the Council saying, `We think there should be some form of inclusionary housing in Iowa City.' She stated that they gave the Council an array of research about this issue, adding that they believe if a change in policy is going to result in actual new units of affordable housing, that mandatory inclusionary 2 HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MAY 15, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL zoning is needed. Kubby continued, noting that the Homebuilder's Association, both nationally and locally, will not agree to any form of inclusionary zoning. Kubby stated that even though the members of this informal housing group cover a wide range of interests, they were all able to agree that what is currently happening "is not good enough" and that there needs to be a regional approach to housing. Kubby shared how through JCCOG they are attempting to show that this needs to be a regional approach, and that JCCOG has a task force with all of the entities, which will be helpful in this endeavor. She further shared how the group is working towards identifiable annual goals that will be reported to the community. Kubby continued, stating that they have had a difficult time finding someone from the University to join their group. She stated that there has not been any new University -based housing since 1969, but that there has been a huge growth in student population since that time. Housing has been lost in the community due to the University Hospital expansions, for example, with no replacements being built. Kubby stated that the consultant who did the affordable Housing Study forwarded them information on how university communities have impacted affordable housing positively, and she is trying to read through this information. She stated that her group is trying to challenge communities to have housing policies within the next six months, hoping that the results of the City of Iowa City's study and this group's consensus statement might be merged to be the basis of a housing policy. Kubby said that the group has talked a lot about changes to the development process. She added that it was interesting to hear both the non-profit and for -profit developers talk about the challenges in working with development staff. One example is when there is a zoning change, especially to a planned development, it can open up the possibility for conditional zoning agreements and additional burdens put on the development. Another perspective is that this creates additional opportunities for environmental protection, for affordable housing, or for other community values. Kubby stated that one of the things they came to a consensus about is the need to challenge the development process, to say how can it move faster so that developers aren't spending six months getting approvals. She noted some of the items that the group has discussed at length, one being if there is some basic criteria that have to be met for approval, that once those basic criteria are met, anything above and beyond that would be at the developer's discretion. She added that having some type of bonus involved in this process is also an important concern of the group. She gave some examples of development and how to work around the issue of mixed housing types. Kubby stated that they are interested in incentives that would also foster partnerships between non- and for -profit developers, something that currently does not occur. Also discussed at length were local governments figuring out how to be more proactive about using tax credits, and the streamlining of this process. Kubby stated that the group also agreed that there should be some earmarked portion of bonding capacity in each entity's budget that would be specifically for affordable housing. The group also discussed how they could be supportive of policy makers making what can be very difficult zoning changes, especially with increased density in already established neighborhoods. This was specifically geared towards trying to figure out a system where FAIR and the 3 HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MAY 15, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL Consultation of Religious Communities might have some people who would be willing to go to public hearings to voice support for increased density. Kubby added that if it were someone from the neighborhood under discussion; that would be even better support. Some of the areas where this group could not agree, according to Kubby, included inclusionary zoning. She stated that the Homebuilder's group would not agree to this, but that there were some private developers who felt that there are some areas of inclusionary zoning that they could work with. Another item of contention involved anything that is done should be revenue -neutral to the for -profit developers, and FAIR could not agree to this. Kubby added that some of the discussion involved suggesting a 2% less in net gains, which was not agreeable. Kubby stated that the group is not exactly sure what their next step will be. What is important, according to Kubby, is the breadth of people involved in this group and the discussions they have been having. She hopes that the group will continue in a support capacity for those applications they deem worthy. Kubby then offered to answer questions for the group. Anthony noted that the range of people involved in this group is very impressive, as is the consensus Kubby shared. Kubby added that they hope to have a press conference and/or release with their statement, as they feel it is important to get this information out. A member asked if the group has been able to get University participation yet, and Kubby stated that Sandy Boyd has inquired about participating in this group. Anthony spoke about some of the past discussions regarding University housing, noting that around the 1960's the University found it was cheaper to let the community take care of housing needs. Anthony asked Kubby if, in regards to the inclusionary zoning issue, she believes the developers would participate in a conversation with developers in other parts of the country who are very much for inclusionary zoning. Kubby stated that she believes this would be extremely helpful, that she has hoped to find a Midwest developer who was once against inclusionary zoning, but who now is very much for it. She added that getting some testimonials from these developers, and then setting up small informal meetings would be very helpful in this process. Shaw asked Kubby further about the distinction between the type of developers and Homebuilders, and also what the Homebuilders' opposition is. Kubby stated that nationally the Homebuilders' group is against mandates in general. They want to develop however they decide, without these types of restrictions. She added that the Homebuilders represent a broad range of developers, and not all private developers belong to the Homebuilders Association. Kubby stated that the goal is to have policies that truly work, in order to be functional and actually increase the number of units of rental and ownership. Anthony asked about FAIR's stance on the revenue -neutral inclusionary zoning policy, and Kubby stated that they believe everyone should contribute. Kubby spoke further to some of the specifics discussed by her group, explaining the overall goals they have in mind. The issue of "fees in lieu of was touched on briefly. Kubby added that they did discuss possibly having the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County be where these were housed and disbursed from. Anthony stated that there currently is a "in lieu fee" program currently in the City, and he briefly spoke to 9 HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MAY 15, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL this. He added that the money has to be used within five years, or it has to be returned to the developers who paid into this fund. The discussion continued, with Kubby noting some of the core issues that the housing group has discussed. Richman asked if the group has an opinion on the notion that there shouldn't be more affordable housing south of Highway 6, or if they believe otherwise. Kubby stated that as a group they do not. Anthony asked if there was any discussion by developers on why they do not use the incentives currently in the Zoning Code. He briefly explained what these are, noting that very little is occurring in the residential areas. Kubby stated that there was not, that the discussion was more on the process. She gave several examples, noting that depending on whom you are talking with about this, the perceptions vary greatly on the problem areas. Kubby reminded members that they can go the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County's web site to see the full statement of the informal housing group, and she thanked them for their time this evening. ANNUAL ACTION PLAN AMENDMENTS: Hightshoe noted that there has been some activity in this fiscal year regarding current and prior projects that require an amendment to their applicable annual action plans. Two projects from FY06 were cancelled due to lack of activity and low expenditure rates. The first was the FY06 Iowa City CDBG Fund Downpayment Assistance Program. Originally allocated $30,000, only $1,000 was spent for one homeowner after two years. Due to lead -based paint regulations, the lending environment and how the process worked few homeowners were interested in proceeding with this program. HUD recommended the reallocation of these funds. The second project cancelled was The Housing Fellowship's (THF) FY06 Affordable Rental Project that was allocated $175.000. THE was unable to secure land after two years and the funds were recaptured and reallocated with the FY09 allocation based on HUD's request. There was an administrative change with the FY08 HOME lead allocation. Hightshoe stated that due to the way it must be reported on HUD's system, a new project number will not be created, but current HOME projects will receive increased funds to pay for the necessary lead requirements until the funds are gone. The last project is Habitat for Humanity. They received $117,000 in FY08 funds to purchase three lots. They plan to purchase four lots. As this is over a 25% change, staff must complete an amendment. Hightshoe responded to members' questions, further explaining some of the amendments to projects. Hart moved to accept the Annual Action Plan amendments as discussed; seconded by Crane. Motion carried 9-0. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CELEBRATION & ALLOCATION PROCESS: Hightshoe stated that the Community Development Celebration subcommittee met today. A couple of dates were contemplated: July 9t or 10th. Three or four locations were considered, however a host has not been confirmed yet. The first choice was Melrose Ridge. Hightshoe noted that Melrose Ridge was a FY06 project of 18 units of affordable HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MAY 15, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL rental housing for persons with chronic mental illness, and is located by Chatham Oaks. Richman asked about transportation, and Hightshoe stated that there is already public transportation to this location. If this is not possible, staff will speak with the other agencies considered. Hightshoe then spoke briefly to the awards they present at this celebration, asking Members to send her names of any organizations they may wish to consider for these awards. Richman suggested some type of recognition for Kubby's informal housing group, noting that they have made some significant contributions. Hightshoe noted that the Allocation Process subcommittee also met. She noted that they would be fine-tuning the application process. Drum and Crane both spoke briefly about the various issues they addressed in this subcommittee and what they hope to accomplish. Anthony then spoke about the public service allocations, sharing what he gleamed from the recent City Council work session where they were discussing the allocations. Hightshoe responded to members' questions about the allocation amounts and the changes in recent years. Hightshoe stated that the Allocation Process subcommittee would need to meet again to finalize some of the discussed changes. Members briefly discussed the points given to each application and how this needs to be reviewed, as well. DISCUSSION OF THE HOUSING MARKET ANALYSIS: Anthony asked if they could hold off on this discussion today, considering their last discussion and today's presentation by Kubby. He asked that the members take a detailed look at the Housing Market Analysis so they can be better educated to respond to it. Hart asked for clarification on student housing in this study, and Anthony responded. MONITORING REPORTS: HAWKEYE AREA COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM — TRANSITIONAL HOUSING (RICHMAN) — Richman stated that he has not made contact yet, but will do so before the next meeting. GOODWILL INDUSTRIES — FACILITY REHABILITATION (DOUGLAS) — Douglas stated that he spoke with John Watson, and they are doing some replacement and renovation of their First Avenue facility's loading docks. They receive a lot of their donations and computers at this location. He stated that Goodwill has signed a contract for the work. Hightshoe added some details, stating that they have a pre -construction meeting on the 201h. Douglas stated that they hope to have this project completed by the end of August. IOWA CITY FREE MEDICAL CLINIC — ACCESSIBILITY (RICHMAN) — Richman will make contact prior to next month's meeting. BLOOMING GARDEN IHA LP — HOMEOWNERSHIP (DOUGLAS) — Douglas stated that he received a message, but has not yet spoken with the owners. He noted that they hope to start construction in June and have people moving in the first part of 09. 3 HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MAY 15, 2008 LOBBY CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL THE HOUSING FELLOWSHIP — CHDO OPERATING (ANTHONY) — Anthony noted that he would have contact with the Housing Fellowship prior to next month's meeting. NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS OF JOHNSON COUNTY — FACILITY REHABILITATION (DEFRANCE) — DeFrance noted that she also has not made contact, but will do so for next month's meeting. Shaw then brought up the issue of complaints that may come through the Commission, and if this Commission is to be part of that process. Hightshoe asked for clarification, and Shaw stated that if there is a service user who complains about one of the organizations funded through this allocation process, is the Commission responsible in any way, or are they a part of the "complaint process," since they allocated the funds. Hightshoe stated she is not sure if there is a formal process for something of this nature, but noted that she will check on this and report back to the commission. ADJOURNMENT: Shaw moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:20 PM.; seconded by Defrance. Motion carried 9-0. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 19, 2008, at 6:30 P.M. at City Hall. 7