City Commission Meeting Summary - February 18, 2009
The City Commission met in regular target issues workshop and took the following action:
Item 1 - Presented a proclamation to Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams, Leader of the Government of St. Maarten, recognizing the ten-year anniversary of the Sister City Relationship between the City of Tallahassee and the Island Government of St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Accepted a proclamation from the Government of St. Maarten recognizing the renewal and continuation of the Sister City Relationship during this 10th anniversary of unity, and recognizing the Tallahassee-St. Maarten Foundation Inc. for its efforts
Invited attendance at a public reception honoring visitors from St. Maarten and the Tallahassee-St. Maarten Foundation, held immediately following this meeting
Item 2 - Received a Power Point presentation on proposed urban design guidelines for the Gaines Street Design Review Districts; concurred with the direction of staff to complete the guidelines and implement their use as a tool for discussing development projects with potential developers and designers in the Gaines Street Design Review Districts (Option 1 recommended by Planning)
Item 3 - Received a Power Point presentation on the status of Gaines Street Redevelopment construction, a detailed construction schedule, and an overview of the measures proposed by staff to help mitigate the negative impacts of construction; and a staff briefing on development and marketing efforts for Gaines Street, progress on permitting issues including the Small Area Stormwater Management Plan, and implementation of the Gaines Street Construction Communication Plan (presented by the Community Redevelopment Agency Director)
Item 4 - Reviewed the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) 2008 Report of Barriers and Recommendations for Implementation, and voted on whether to support or reject each recommendation in the Report as follows (Option 1 recommended by Economic & Community Development):
| RECOMMENDATIONS | |
|---|---|
| Short Term Issues | |
| 1 | Create operative definitions of affordable housing and different affordable housing categories to implement into all the City documents. "Affordable housing is housing that costs no more than 30% of the income of a household earning 80% or less of area median income (AMI) adjusted for household size, as defined by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development annually. Extremely low-income households are defined as those earning 30% or less AMI; Very Low-income households are defined as those earning 50% or less AMI; Low-income households are defined as those earning 80% or less AMI; and Moderate income households are defined as those earning 120% or less AMI. "Â Recognizing that populations in Tallahassee and Leon County are much lower for seniors and those below the federal poverty guideline, a separate definition of affordable rental housing should be developed. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to adopt the definition, adding a 60% AMI income limit for rental housing, and changing 30% of household income to 33% in the AHAC's definition. |
| 2 | Consider homeowner's association fees in addition to principal and interest mortgage payments, taxes and insurance in the financial eligibility of households in the Inclusionary Housing program, and reflect that in Code of Ordinances Section 9-241(1). Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to adopt clarification of Inclusionary Housing eligibility requirements. |
| 3 | Correct the following administrative issues within City documents:
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| 4 | Add language in the Residential Use section of the Land Use Element under Objective 2.1 to detail the goals of affordable housing, as in the Southern Strategy Area section in Land Use Policy 11.1.1. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to not adopt the text amendment to the Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan because the goal is expressed in the Housing Element. |
| 5 | Add specific language to the Future Land Use Map Categories section of the Land Use Element Objective 2.2, emphasizing affordable housing as an allowable use in all residential categories. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to not adopt this Comprehensive Plan text amendment because affordable housing is already an allowable use in all residential zoning districts and may be encouraged through other processes. |
| 6 | Add "affordable housing for extremely low, very low, and low-income households" to the list of allowed uses for Traditional Neighborhood Districts under Land Use Element Policy 10.1.2(B). Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to not adopt a text amendment to the Comprehensive Plan because affordable housing is already an allowable use in Traditional Neighborhood Districts and may be encouraged through other processes. |
| 7 | Review and revise the Conservation Element steep slope policies and the steep slope ordinance, and consider how the policy affects the availability and affordability of land. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to review of the Conservation Element steep slope policies and the steep slope ordinance for revision. |
| 8 | Consider relaxing certain regulations for affordable housing that restrict buildable land, such as storm water, on-site transportation regulations, landscaping requirements, setbacks, minimum lot size, etc. to achieve maximum allowable density, while preserving quality housing development. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support considering relaxing certain regulations for affordable housing that restrict buildable land. |
| 9 | Develop an ordinance with a package of requirement reductions for affordable housing with the goal of reaching maximum allowable density. The ordinance could include reducing open space requirements, parking requirements, slope requirements, and perhaps other requirements. The ordinance could have a sunset provision of 5 years to review whether the reductions benefited affordable housing developments. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support developing an ordinance package of requirement reductions for affordable housing. |
| 10 | Add language to the Real Estate City Commission Policy 136 listing affordable housing as a potential use of surplus property, and require the Real Estate Division to annually publish a list of surplus property, giving priority to affordable housing for very low and extremely low-income housing categories. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support adding affordable housing as a use of surplus property in City Commission Policy 136, prioritizing affordable housing as a use, and to making a list of surplus property available to the public on an annual basis. |
| 11 | Implement language in Goal 2 and Policy 2.1.4 in the Housing Element of the Comprehensive Plan stating that priority for affordable housing resources will be based on an annual needs analysis, and add a stand-alone Policy 1.1.12 to emphasize it. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to not adopt the language "will be based on" but to adopt the language "will take into consideration" a needs analysis in the Housing Element of the Comprehensive Plan. |
| 12 | Pay Inclusionary Housing in-lieu fees to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and designate funds for low income housing, instead of separating it into an Inclusionary Housing Trust Fund that could only be used for households earning 70% - 100% AMI. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to not adopt changing the use of Inclusionary Housing in-lieu fees. |
| 13 | Perform an on-going education and awareness program to promote City rehabilitation programs and annually submit a report of activities to the City Commission and Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support marketing the City's rehabilitation programs with low-cost advertising options. |
| 14 | Create a PowerPoint presentation of Housing Division programs (especially rehabilitation programs) to distribute to credit unions, banks or other points of contact. The presentation could educate about programs with graphics. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support creating a Power Point presentation of Housing Division programs to distribute to agencies with direct contact with the public. |
| 15 | Market the City of Tallahassee Housing Division as a clearinghouse for information about all housing issues. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support marketing the City's Housing Division as a clearinghouse of housing information to an extent, recognizing that there is little money available for a widespread information campaign. |
| 16 | Create an informal document, such as a brochure, for Certified Affordable Housing Developments, then promote and distribute the information. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to approve the staff's recommendation to support creating and distributing a brochure for developers about the Certified Affordable Housing Development program with procedures and incentives. |
| 17 | Promote the option of reserving infrastructure capacity for housing for very-low-income households, low-income households, and moderate-income households. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support reserving infrastructure capacity only for storm water and schools if developments are located proximate to regional storm water facilities or perhaps schools with capacity. |
| 18 | Promote the construction of accessory dwelling units in areas of the community where they are allowed. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to adopt promotion of the construction of ADUs and also to adjust the City's land development regulations to allow both attached and detached ADUs. |
| 19 | Expedite the plan to expand Star Metro service and accelerate funding to develop planned transportation hubs or super-stops. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support expanding Star Metro service, accelerating funding to develop planned transportation hubs or super-stops, and providing safe, efficient connections and accessibility to transit infrastructure, such as grid networks and good sidewalks. |
| 20 | Provide incentives to locate housing near Star Metro transportation hubs. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support working among departments and the Multi-Modal Transportation District (MMTD) to create incentives for locating affordable housing near current and future transit hubs. |
| 21 | Include in the Land Use Element Policy 13.1.4 in the Welaunee Critical Area Plan, a priority to locate affordable housing near the transit hubs that would be developed as per Policy 13.1.4(1) (B) and (1)(G). Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to not support this recommendation because the intended result can be achieved by means other than amending the Comprehensive Plan, such as through the site plan review process. |
| 22 | Create a City Commission Policy to limit the use of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to benefit households earning 80% of area median income or less and prohibit exceptions. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support creation of the City Commission Policy to govern the Affordable Housing Trust Fund but to not support limiting the fund to benefit only households earning 80% AMI. |
| 23 | Consider reducing the transportation concurrency requirements for affordable housing serving residents at 80% area median income or below. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support considering a reduction in transportation concurrency fees for affordable housing. |
| 24 | Create a forum for City staff to anonymously suggest improvements to day-to-day processes in housing development, permitting and regulation. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to not support this activity because it is not likely to produce results and not likely to improve the implementation of housing assistance programs or encourage affordable housing construction. |
| 25 | Implement language in the Housing Element Policy 2.1.6 of the Comprehensive Plan stating the City "in conjunction with the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee" shall continue to review existing rules and regulations including land use policies, and will identify the impacts of proposed policies, ordinances, regulations, and plan provisions. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to not support this activity because it is an unnecessary extra step in a process mandated by the state. |
| Long Term Issues | |
| 1 | Examine the Urban Services Area (USA) boundary and consider expanding the boundary where it makes sense. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to not support this activity because a recent analysis by the Planning Department indicated that there was sufficient capacity within the USA to accommodate the population growth. |
| 2 | Consider focusing affordable housing efforts on redevelopment. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support focusing efforts on redevelopment. |
| 3 | Include language in Land Use Element Goal 12 referring to the Central Core Area in which all residential developments receiving a density bonus must build 10% of their units as affordable housing. Action: Commission concurred to support performing an in-depth analysis of this issue. |
| 4 | Improve the coordination among different departments with regard to the development process, including synchronizing development philosophies. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support this activity. |
| 5 | Re-evaluate the procedures regarding citizen objections to developments. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to not support this activity. |
| 6 | Implement a rehabilitation program to buy or sell existing affordable housing inventory. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support this activity. |
| 7 | The AHAC should receive the Tallahassee Equity Action Ministries (TEAM) recommendations revising the Rental Rehabilitation program and review program procedures before they become final. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to support this activity. |
| 8 | Create an inventory of existing affordable housing units organized by tenure, income range and price range, perhaps in the form of a website, available to the public. Action: Commission voted 5-0 to support the staff's recommendation to not support this activity because of the funding and staff resources necessary for implementation. |
Item 5 - Deferred to the next target issues workshop an update on City Indices (brought forward by the City Auditor)
CTC:RM:ecg:02-24-09