Housing Commission

8/23/2021 - Minutes I. Call to Order II. Introductions and Welcome New Commissioners The Housing Commission welcomed newly appointed Commissioners, Jack Commo and Stevya Mukuzo. A round of introductions of all Commissioners was made, and members of the public introduced themselves. III. Public Comment Corrine introduced herself as an employee of CVOEO and a new Winooski resident interested in housing issues. Amber introduced herself as a Winooski property owner and housing investor who is interested in potential changes to zoning to further the development options for more density on Winooski residential properties. IV. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Meeting minutes from 5/24/21 and 7/26/21 were approved. V. Council Update Councilor Jim Duncan reported that City Council had only one meeting in August with a fairly limited agenda. Council approved signing a letter of support for Summit Properties and Dagesse Company’s application for Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) to support the development of mixed-income rental units a 101/109 Main Street. Councilor Duncan also reported that the City Manager search will move into the public interview and presentation phase in September. VI. City Updates Heather Carrington provided an update on progress on the Housing Trust Fund rollout. Working with Opportunities Credit Union and the City Finance Director, staff has set interest rates for the low-interest loans with an eye toward ensuring equity. The HIP program will be set at a flat rate of 2% interest to remove reviewer bias in setting rates on a case-by-case basis as was done previously. The CoRe program interest rates will also be low-interest, with for-profit developers borrowing at 4% and non-profit developers borrowing at 2%. The City will be securing the loans as an added level of assurance that the loans will be paid back and the funds will revolve. Credit score requirements for borrowers will be as low as is feasible so these funds are available to applicants who can’t access traditional credit. Next steps are to create loan applications for the programs that are a single page and translated to lower the barrier to application process. Opportunities Credit Union is also offering translators to assist potential borrowers. VII. Discuss/Approve Annual Work Plan A draft work plan for the Commission was presented and discussed at the July meeting. The plan includes the Council priorities as well as ongoing operational commitments, including: evaluating and making funding recommendations for housing trust fund applications, monitoring incoming housing developments in comparison with affordability targets, and tracking housing trust fund outcomes. Upon initial discussion of the proposed work plan, the draft language of goal #8 was changed as follows: l “Support Planning Commission in Updating Parking Recommendations and Form-  plan includes the Council priorities as well as ongoing operational commitments, including: evaluating and making funding recommendations for housing trust fund applications, monitoring incoming housing developments in comparison with affordability targets, and tracking housing trust fund outcomes. Upon initial discussion of the proposed work plan, the draft language of goal #8 was changed as follows: l “Support Planning Commission in Updating Parking Recommendations and Form- Based Code Incentives” was replaced with; l “Support Planning Commission with Recommendations for Updating Zoning Parking Requirements and Overall City Zoning Changes to Incentivize Priority Housing” The language change effectively expands the geographic area being addressed as well as the potential land use requirement subject areas to be addressed. The Commission unanimously approved the revised Annual Work Plan. VIII. Multi-Bedroom Housing Discussion Over the last few meetings, the Housing Commission has been looking at the gap in availability of multi-bedroom rental units in Winooski. A review of the construction from 2018-2021 was presented showing the net change in unit numbers by bedroom count. While there was a net gain in all bedroom counts, the gap in family-scale housing will continue to widen if new construction remains predominantly comprised of studio and one bedroom units. The Housing Commission has prepared a recommendation for the Planning Commission to reduce parking requirements in the form-based code districts in order support construction of multi-bedroom housing. Winooski zoning creates an additional barrier to constructing more family-sized housing by limiting the areas in which multi-unit dwellings are allowable. The lower allowable housing density in the R-A, R-B, and R-C districts is intended to protect the existing character of Winooski neighborhoods, which has been raised as a community value by the residents and should be respected. However, there are certain areas of the city where up to 41% of the total parcels in a block within the R-C district do not conform to the zoning. The Housing Commission discussed the possibility of making recommendations for changes to the residential zoning requirements to support development of additional housing in the city. The Commission prioritized moving forward with recommending changes for all residential districts, rather than incrementally addressing changes only to R-C zoning. Based on the Planning Commission timeline for considering zoning changes, the zoning discussion has been established as the immediate work item for the Housing Commission over the next few months. IX. Adjourn Meeting End Time: 7:44 PM Motion: Deac Second: Jessica