Housing Commission

1/26/2021 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Jessica Bridge, Anna Wageling, Leslie Black-Plumeau, Chris Melnyk City Staff Present: Heather Carrington, Fire Chief John Audy Guests Present: Councilor Jim Duncan Call to Order by: Jessica Bridge Meeting Start Time: 6:05 PM Minutes Recorded by: Anna Wageling II. Public Comment None III. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Meeting minutes from December were tabled due to lack of quorum of members who had attended. IV. Council Update – Councilor Jim Duncan As a means of better sharing information between City Council and the policy Commissions, we have added a monthly agenda item for a Council update. Councilor Jim Duncan reported on the following: l An MOU has been drafted between South Burlington, Burlington, and Winooski to share more decision-making with regard to the airport. l Mayors of Burlington/Winooski held meeting with legislators: Act 250 and streamlining permitting for developing designated downtowns, housing bond to increase available housing, request for securing funds again around the airport l FY22 budgeting (no money for housing trust fund at this point) l Master plan review: by each commission. Mayor synthesized content into memo that describes how each commission work on goals. All feel they are making progress with goals. Commissions across the board sought: 1. Having access to sufficient expertise- wanting to have more input or run things by developers to see how things affect them 2. Having a clear purview for what belongs to planning v. housing commission (where might be with planning but housing can offer input) V. City Update – Heather Carrington Staff reported that the annual gentrification monitoring report has been completed with recently released census data from 2019. Due to the tremendous economic impact of COVID, this data may not be relevant to current conditions in Winooski. However, the report showed fewer indications of gentrification than the prior year. Once again, Winooski did not meet the criteria for gentrification. Staff also reported that a member of the Housing Commission, Robert Millar, is not at meeting because he is at an advisory committee meeting for an on street parking study, looking to inform around parking minimum requirements.  gentrification. Staff also reported that a member of the Housing Commission, Robert Millar, is not at meeting because he is at an advisory committee meeting for an on street parking study, looking to inform around parking minimum requirements. Lastly, staff informed the Commission that the Historic Preservation consultant working with the City on a resource inventory will be presenting her findings to the Housing Commission at the February meeting. VI. Rental Registry and Code Enforcement Overview – Chief John Audy Just prior to the Housing Commission’s pandemic-related hiatus last year, the Commission took a dive into information about code violations in rental properties using data collected by Winooski’s Code Enforcement Department. The department tracks health and safety compliance such as having functioning fire alarms and multiple exits from a building. The highest number of violations were for lead paint, and the Commission expressed interest in looking into policy options for addressing code issues. In addition, the Commission discussed the low number of renter complaints in 2018 and whether the City could play a role in ensuring renters feel secure in advocating for fixes to health and safety issues. Chief Audy presented a department overview, data about the most frequent code violations for various areas of Winooski, and spoke with the Commission about the risk reduction approach that guides his staff’s work, positively impacting on community safety. VII. Impact Fee Discussion per City Council Request City Council requested Housing Commission recommendations regarding the possible implementation of a Transportation Impact Fee in Winooski. With support from the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, the City of Winooski has been investigating whether to implement the fee. A Transportation Impact Fee is charged by the local municipality to new development projects. These fees will help reduce the cost of these projects to the average taxpayer in Winooski by proportionally distributing some of that cost back to the developments creating the added capacity need. The Council would like to exempt certain priority projects and land use types that help Winooski achieve our goals as outlined in the City’s Master Plan. The Council requested a list of several Housing Commission priorities for project types to be exempted from impact fees. It is important to note that the Housing Commission was not being asked whether they support implementing impact fees. The request was to identify priority exemptions from impact fees. The Housing Commission recommends exempting as many of the following project types from impact fees as possible (priority order listed): 1. Family rental units (3 bedrooms or more) that are affordable for low-income households. Low income is defined here as having an income of less than 80% Area Median Income. 2. Homeownership opportunities with 3 or more bedrooms that are affordable for low or moderate income households (Income below 100% Area Median Income). 3. Rentals affordable to low income households regardless of bedroom count. VIII. Family Housing Incentives At the December meeting, the Housing Commission looked at how Winooski rentals compare to other towns in terms of the number of bedrooms being provided. Winooski has a much larger proportion of 0- and 1-bedroom rentals making up 56% of all rentals, with a much smaller share of 2- or 3-bedroom rentals that are better suited for families. The rental unit mix currently being produced is overwhelmingly made up of studio and 1 bedroom units unsuited to family housing (84%). There are no rental units with 3 bedrooms or more currently permitted or under construction. Developers have reported that units with more bedrooms are less financially feasible to build. They do not provide the same return on investment per square foot as do  other towns in terms of the number of bedrooms being provided. Winooski has a much larger proportion of 0- and 1-bedroom rentals making up 56% of all rentals, with a much smaller share of 2- or 3-bedroom rentals that are better suited for families. The rental unit mix currently being produced is overwhelmingly made up of studio and 1 bedroom units unsuited to family housing (84%). There are no rental units with 3 bedrooms or more currently permitted or under construction. Developers have reported that units with more bedrooms are less financially feasible to build. They do not provide the same return on investment per square foot as do studio and 1-bedroom units. In order to incentivize the construction of more family-sized rentals, it is essential to establish policies that close that financial gap. Staff compiled a list of possible policy interventions to help make family housing development financially feasible. These included: density bonuses, tax incentives, fee exemptions, housing trust fund priority and/or increased maximum loan, and reduced parking minimum requirements. No single policy listed here will, in isolation, fully close the financial gap. However, a combination of several possible policy approaches used as a suite of incentives may positively impact family housing development. IX. Adjourn Motion by: Leslie Second: Chris Meeting End Time: 7:56 PM