Planning 2015-06-25 Minutes - Public Hearing - 2015 Comprehensive Plan: Housing and Residential Neighborhoods Elements

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Public Hearing Minutes June 25, 2015 Public Comments: Bill Holstine, a 25 year citizen said he has been engaged in conversations with the City for the past six months. His said his main issues are privacy being compromised and the impacts of the maximum building heights in the neighborhood. He said side windows that compromise privacy should not be allowed. He said there should be some coordination with citizens who are going to be impacted by very tall structures. He suggested a policy be adopted for maximum 25 ft. building heights and increased lot sizes. Joan Hernandez, citizen, encouraged maintenance improvement and diversity in the City housing stock. She spoke in support of historical preservation for all private property owners and inquired whether it was referenced in the Comp Plan. Staff said the City does support historical preservation, which is addressed and incorporated in policy 1.3 of the Community Image and Identity element of the Comp Plan. Ms. Hernandez said she did not feel like policy 1.3 was enough because there is no commitment. She requested the Commission consider amending the Comp Plan to reference language in the Residential Neighborhood Element providing the opportunity to property owners to apply for the landmark status. The Commission were in support of adding language to the Comp Plan to support Ms. Hernandez's request. Commissioner Hansen requested a place holder in the matrix to incorporate language. Hamdi Abdull, Executive Director, Somali and Youth and Family Club said the affordable housing situation is very bad, which causes a lot of homelessness. She said there needs to be consideration to see what can be done to support affordable housing for large families and it needs to be comprehensive and inclusive. She said what is currently called affordable is not affordable. Alyssa Mehl and Richard Loo, Representatives for Bellwhether Housing, a non -profit low income and affordable housing provider. Mr. Loo provided background information on Bellwhether Housing. He discussed the challenge they face in providing affordable houses. He is urging that the City's Comp Plan emphasis the prioritization of permanently affordable housing to create long term stability in the City. Ms. Mehl said they think the following three strategies will help provide incentives and attract housing development to the City. They are requesting they are addressed in the Comp: 1) Reduction of parking requirements, 2) The reduction of studio unit size requirements, 3) Partial exemptions of impact fees for qualified affordable housing projects. Barbara Bader, asked the Commission to comment on the Draft TIB element regarding the cultural and ethnic vision. Staff clarified that the element she was referring to was discussed at the May PC meeting. Ms. Bader also commented on reduced parking, and 400 sq. ft. units, which she said she is opposed to being adopted. She said the area is impacted by low income and affordable housing and she would like to see more concentration of economic low income development. Graydon Manning, Representative for Homestead Community Land Trust, a non -profit home ownership group focused on low income housing development. They create permanently affordable home ownership with a one -time subsidy. He said the current zoning restrictions prevents them from maximizing the allowable 35 units for a proposed development in the Page 2 of 4