Housing Committee

1 VILLAGE OF SISTER BAY HOUSING COMMITTEE (VIRTUAL) 2 MEETING MINUTES 3 TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2025 4 (APPROVED) 5 6 1. Call Meeting to Order & Roll Call 7 Chair Patrice Champeau called the meeting to order at 11:06 a.m. 8 9 Present: Chair and Trustee Patrice Champeau, Lauren Aurelius, Marissa Downs, Kay Smith 10 Absent: Lori Allen, Razvan Ciobanu, Gustavo Gallardo 11 Staff: Administrator Julie Schmelzer 12 Others: (None) 13 14 2. Approval of Agenda 15 Motion by Aurelius, second by Smith, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried 16 unanimously. 17 18 3. Approve Minutes 19 Motion by Smith, second by Aurelias, to approve the minutes from the January 28, 2025, meeting. 20 Motion carried unanimously. 21 22 4. Presentation 23 Greg Cops of LinkedLiving.com, out of Appleton, gave a summary of their product and answered 24 questions. They build small prefabricated additions and accessory dwelling units to enable families to 25 care for loved ones, specializing in housing for seniors and those with special needs. They do individual 26 home additions or units and leave mass developments to larger developers. The company is a family 27 owned business constructing about twenty units a year. The units are built on site or built in a factory 28 and put together on site. About half the units they build are modular units and about half are stick 29 built. When building modular units, they build four at a time. Some units have kitchens and laundry, 30 depending on the customization requested. They use an open floor plan, 36” door frames, roll-in 31 showers, grab bars, and special appliances and fixtures that are better suited for seniors. They are 32 focused on “serving families to stay connected”. 33 34 Schmelzer asked if the additions are considered duplexes. Cops explained if it is an addition to the 35 living quarters and the unit is accessed off an interior door, many communities don’t consider the 36 addition a duplex; however, if accessed through a garage, they are often treated as a duplex. 37 Champeau inquired about pricing and Cops said the free-standing units, including concrete work and 38 everything to finish the unit, cost about $125,000 to $200,000, depending on what is requested. The 39 units are about 400-600 sq. ft. in area. 40 41 Aurelius asked if the free-standing units are more than one bedroom and Cops explained that some 42 are, and some are three-bedroom, about 2000 sq. ft. in area, with Cops stressing the size is really 43 dependent on the customers request. He explained that although they have done larger units, they 44 really specialize in small additions and small free-standing modular units. 45 46 After Cops left the call, there was a brief discussion on zoning, and whether the village’s regulations 1  Minutes – April 22, 2025 - Village Housing Committee - Approved 1 would permit such development; members noted deed restrictions may be required to allow such land 2 use and construction. 3 4 5. Discussion/Action Items 5 a. Proposed Zoning Code Changes 6 Schmelzer reminded the committee of the plans Portside Builders had prepared that they reviewed in 7 January, and the conversation that the current zoning code would not allow development of small 8 homes, with garages behind them, if utilizing the current R-4 zoning district regulations. The 9 committee had discussed recommended code changes. She informed them the Plan Commission did 10 discuss the recommendations in March and would be discussing them again that evening at their 11 meeting, with a potential May public hearing. 12 13 b. RFP for Multi-Family at Northwoods and Ava Hope 14 The committee had discussed a proposed Request for Proposals (RFP) at their last meeting and since 15 that time the Plan Commission had discussed the idea, as did the Parks, Property & Streets Committee. 16 Members suggested the rent section be revised to specify the rents had to be market rate. Schmelzer 17 explained a Parks Committee member objected to using ‘market rate’ because the rents would be too 18 high, but the Housing Committee members explained that is the reality of the market – the rents are 19 high right now. The committee suggested the RFP instead cite HUD data, but eventually it was decided 20 the rent language in the RFP be similar to the Workforce Housing Lending Corporation’s standards in 21 that developers may take advantage of the Corporation’s programs and it would be preferable to have 22 the RFP rent limitations match that of the Corporation. As such, the recommended change was to 23 require at least 20% of the rental units to be capped at 80% CMI. Other changes suggested were that 24 the zoning standards be incorporated into the RFP; the density allowed be specific; for possible owner 25 occupied units, the committee felt it best to let the developer suggest a structured model that would 26 ensure affordability. Lastly, they felt developers should have two months to respond to the RFP since 27 proformas and designs would need to be prepared and submitted. Schmelzer agreed to share the 28 recommended changes with the Plan Commission. 29 30 c. Continue Discussion on Housing Model 31 There were no changes to the notes on the model for the former Wiltse site that were included in the 32 meeting packet, but the committee acknowledged they can’t finalize a model until they know what 33 the development costs will be, and that all depends on engineering and infrastructure costs, which are 34 unknown at this time. They also noted they can’t finalize the model until they know what the DC 35 Housing Partnership recommends for their resale formula in that the committee earlier agreed to wait 36 to review the revised formula to decide if it were appropriate for the village. 37 38 d. Discuss Request to Confirm Funding 39 Members discussed a need to find out if the Board was really going to allow the $3 million in the CIP 40 to be spent on the former Wiltse site, and when. With new R-4 standards, the committee is to the 41 point where a preliminary plat should be created, and bids sought, so a model can be finalized. There 42 was a motion by Champeau, second by Aurelius, to request the Village Board for clarification on the 43 $3 million, whether it will really be spent on the project, and when. Motion carried unanimously. 44 45 46 2  Minutes – April 22, 2025 - Village Housing Committee - Approved 1 6. Discussion Regarding Matters to be Placed on a Future Agenda, Referred to a Committee, Official 2 or Employee 3 The committee agreed there was no need for them to meet again until they know if the funding for 4 the former Wiltse site/housing project will indeed be allocated, and when; until they have a 5 recommended resale formula to review; or, until the RFP responses have been received and they are 6 needed to review the affordability proposal in those RFPs. 7 8 The committee also discussed the stormwater pond near the area where the village has seen a lot of 9 multiple family development and is proposing additional muti-family development. Of concern was 10 the large stormwater pond and how children find it interesting and visit there; there was concern over 11 children’s safety, and the reality children go along the perimeter to play and disrupt the stones which 12 are protecting the pond. Schmelzer explained the Parks, Property & Streets Committee toured the 13 pond area last year for purposes of considering a trail around the pond, and a fence, but after seeing 14 the encroachment on the pond by neighbors’ plantings, and limited space between the encroachments 15 and the pond, the committee decided not to install a trail or a fence around the pond. By consensus 16 the Housing Committee requested the Parks Committee revisit the idea, pointing out as more and 17 more children visit the area – often times to use the Shoal’s playground, and then exploring the pond 18 – a child could get hurt. 19 20 7. Set Meeting Schedule & Topic(s); Speaker Invite List. 21 (See 6 above.) 22 23 8. Adjournment 24 Motion by Smith, second by Downs, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting was 25 adjourned at 12:34 p.m. 26 27 Respectfully submitted, 28 Julie Schmelzer, Acting Recording Secretary 29 30 3