Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution has no fiscal impact.
Title
SUBSTITUTE - Requesting the Planning Division Director, in conjunction with the Community Development Authority Redevelopment Division Housing Initiatives Specialist and the Zoning Administrator, review and assess the city’s housing development policies using the White House Housing Development Toolkit and identify potential policy modifications.
Body
WHEREAS, Housing vacancy rates in Madison have declined from 4 to 2 percent in the period 2010-2015; and,
WHEREAS, one of five residents spend more than 50% of their income on housing and an additional one of four households spend between 30 and 49% on housing; and,
WHEREAS, median household income is relatively high at $61,000 per year compared to Wisconsin and the US of approximately, $50,000; and,
WHEREAS, the 2015 Madison Housing Market Report estimates that for the foreseeable future, 1,100 new apartments will need to be built each year to meet demand; and,
WHEREAS, In Dane County, Black (75%) households are significantly more likely than White (60%) or Hispanic (62%) to not receive housing assistance, pay more than 50% of their income for rent and live inadequate housing conditions; and,
WHEREAS, low vacancy rates and relatively high area median income exerts upward pressure on the cost of housing and thus, the inability for many to secure housing at a price that does not jeopardize a sufficient standard of living; and,
WHEREAS, on Sept. 26, 2016, the White House issued a report and “toolkit” to spur affordable housing in the nation’s cities, Housing Development Toolkit: <http://bit.ly/2daTO5v>; and,
WHEREAS, the report found that, “Local policies acting as barriers to housing supply include land use restrictions that make developable land much more costly than it is inherently, zoning restrictions, off-street parking requirements, arbitrary or antiquated preservation regulations, residential conversion restrictions, and unnecessarily slow permitting processes. The accumulation of these barriers has reduced the ability of many housing markets to respond to growing demand”; and,
WHERAS, the White House toolkit cites ten reforms that municipalities should consider to increase the multi-family housing stock. Many of the same reforms were also cited in the city’s 2015 Housing Market Report such as reducing permitting processes and timelines, reducing or eliminating off-street parking minimums, the creation of Development Zones with lower regulatory hurdles and financial incentives and enhanced land-banking; and,
WHEREAS, as an indication of the importance of these reform proposals, the federal Department of Transportation now examines cities’ housing regulatory approaches, and their ability to respond elastically to new demand generated by transit projects, as part of their Small Starts and New Starts project reviews; and,
WHEREAS, additional reforms proposed by the White House toolkit are establishing “by-right” development, taxing vacant land or donate it to non-profit developers, promoting accessory dwelling units, establishing density bonuses, enacting high-density and multifamily zoning, and establishing development tax or value capture incentives; and,
WHEREAS, the city has begun the process of developing a Comprehensive Plan for 2016-2020 which will provide general goals, objectives, policies and implementation recommendations to guide the future growth and development of the City,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the proposals developed by the White House appear to be highly relevant in forming the city’s response to the housing crisis experienced by many Madison residents; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, in order to fully assess their relevance, the Planning Division Director, in conjunction with the Community Development Authority Redevelopment Division Housing Initiatives Specialist and the Zoning Administrator, shall prepare a report that will review each proposal cited in the White House Housing Development Toolkit and assess if the city has adopted its core elements, make a determination as to the benefit to the city for its adoption, potential modification of the proposals to make them consistent with existing city and state law and discuss the prospective quality of life, equity, economic, social and geographic barriers for adoption and;
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the report shall be submitted to relevant committees for their input and analysis and submitted for final adoption by the Common Council on March 7, 2017.