City of Lawrence

Affordable Housing Advisory Board

August 13, 2018 minutes

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Andrew Brown, Rebecca Buford, Susan Cooper, Ron Gaches, Edith Guffey, Thomas Howe, Dana Ortiz, Shannon Oury, Monte Soukup, Tim Stultz, Nancy Thellman, Sarah Waters, Erika Zimmerman

 

MEMBERS ABSENT:

 

 

STAFF PRESENT:

Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager; Scott McCullough, Director of Planning and Development Services; Danelle Dresslar, Community Development Manager; Jeff Crick, Planner II; Brad Karr, Community Development Programs Analyst; Danielle Buschkoetter, Strategic Projects Manager

 

Chair Oury called the meeting to order at 11:01 am.

 

1.    Public Comment

There was no public comment.

 

2.    Approve Minutes from July 9, 2018 meeting

Gaches moved to approve the minutes from the July 9, 2018 meeting. Buford seconded the motion. The motion passed 11-0.

 

3.    Monthly Financial Report

The monthly financial report is available on the City of Lawrence opengov.com website.

 

4.    Memo on AHAB Ordinance and Bylaw Amendments

Buschkoetter presented the board with a memo on amendments to the AHAB Ordinance and the AHAB Bylaws. The amendments were necessary to increase the number of board members to thirteen in the bylaws and adjust the ratio of board members with terms expiring each year to not more than 2/5ths of the entire board in the ordinance.

 

Howe moved to recommend to the City Commission approval of the Ordinance and moved to adopt the bylaws. Thellman seconded the motions. The motions passed 11-0.

 

5.    Policy Idea Discussion – Lawrence Community Housing Trust, City, Justice Matters

McCullough presented the board with a Toolkit of Housing Options used by the City of Boulder as an example of housing programs and systems other cities are considering. Some of the items listed are prohibited by state statute in Kansas, and some of the programs are not specifically geared toward affordable housing only.

 

Ortiz arrived at the meeting.

 

Howe asked how Lawrence could create a similar toolkit, but eliminating the prohibited items. McCullough said he hoped that would be a goal the AHAB would be interested in, and the board could direct staff to work on creating a draft of the toolkit to fit Lawrence. Stultz asked how much the toolkit would overlap with the housing study. McCullough thought there would be some overlap, and the timing was good for receiving the study and creating the toolkit.

 

Brown arrived at the meeting.

 

Howe asked about the timeframe to create a similar toolkit for Lawrence. McCullough said a process would need to be developed to determine the items the board wanted in the toolkit, with discussion taking place on future agendas, possibly over the next four to six months.

 

Thellman asked if the upcoming public process on the new comprehensive plan would impact the ideas included in a toolkit for Lawrence. Ortiz said the toolkit is not a plan, but instead just ideas of what could be done. Howe agreed, and said the toolkit would be a malleable document to act as a starting guideline.

 

Gaches suggested not purging the prohibited items, but instead identify the restriction or prohibition on using the item; it would then be a better educational tool for others who have not sat in on the board’s discussions on each item. Ortiz agreed, and said identifying the prohibited items could lead to other advocacy.

 

Gaches moved to direct staff to develop a broad first draft of a housing toolkit for the City of Lawrence that is similar in structure to the toolkit from the City of Boulder, and give staff leeway to include information they think is appropriate for the board to review. Howe seconded the motion. The motion passed 13-0.

 

Sara Taliaferro, from Justice Matters Affordable Housing Steering Committee, gave a presentation on Model Cities: Affordable Housing Trust Fund Best Practices. Justice Matters has begun to review seven cities with housing trust funds, using review questions to gather information. Taliaferro also provided a sample scoring matrix from the City of Nashville, and Housing Trust Fund Guidelines from the City of Berkeley. Gaches asked if Justice Matters would be presenting a recommended list of programs used by other cities, for the board to consider as priorities. Taliaferro said Justice Matters could highlight items they felt were promising, but their main priorities would be for permanently affordable housing, and targeting the identified areas of greatest need first. Oury asked staff to forward to the board members the application matrix last used by the board in reviewing applications for funding.

 

Buford presented the board with the Lawrence Community Housing Trust’s idea on Thinking Smaller by building two smaller permanently affordable housing units on one lot.

 

Guffey left the meeting.

 

Howe asked if new zoning would need to be created to implement the idea. Buford said she was thinking of an ordinance which kept the base zoning, but would allow double the unit density if certain criteria were met. Buford said she could build a 700 square foot house for $100,000, sell it for $60,000 and the homeowner would have a $550/month payment. Howe asked what the barriers to building those homes were. Buford said she currently cannot build two homes on one single family zoned lot. Oury asked if there was any mechanism for a variance. McCullough said no. Howe asked what the AHAB could do for the situation. Buford said the board could propose an ordinance to allow increased density for permanently affordable units. McCullough said it would require a text amendment to the development code, requested by letter to the City Commission. If the City Commission approves the idea, they would task staff with drafting an ordinance and presenting it to several boards and commissions, before final approval. Stoddard said staff could add the idea of proposing development code changes to the toolkit.

 

6.    Quick Updates

a)   2018 Budget

Stoddard said the City Commission took action to add $200,000 to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund; they will provide additional direction in the future on how they see those funds being expended.

 

b)   Suggested response regarding potential future affordable housing projects

Oury said she had received calls asking how people could participate in potential future affordable housing projects; she reminded the board members to keep their roles clear, especially if there is any possibility in partnering with someone on a project. Oury suggested referring people to Diane Stoddard for any questions on the process of applying for housing trust funds.

 

7.    Other New Business

There was no other new business discussed.

 

8.    Next Meeting / Future Agenda Items

The next meeting will be on September 10, 2018. Oury reminded the board the Housing Market Study would be presented at the September meeting. Stoddard said staff planned to have a draft of the study available for the board members to read before the meeting date. Oury said if any board member could not attend but had questions, they could send them to her to ask at the meeting.

 

Waters said November 12, 2018 is the Federal observation date for Veteran’s Day, and wondered if the board would be meeting on that day. Stoddard said it would be up to the board, but the City would be open for business. Howe and Gaches said they had no objection to meeting on that day. There was no motion proposed to move the November meeting date.

 

9.    Adjourn

Stultz moved to adjourn the meeting. Howe seconded the motion. The motion passed 12-0.

 

 

Future Meeting Dates / Tentative Agenda items

September 10, 2018

October 8, 2018

November 12, 2018

December 10, 2018

 

 

These minutes were approved by the Board: September 10, 2018