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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 02-17-1998 - 10a .' ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 1 Action Agenda Item No. ~p _q ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: February 17, 1998 SUBJECT: Housing Programs Update DEPARTMENT: Housing and Community Development PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) '~ '`~''~`'' BUDGET AMENDMENT: (Y/N) .w ~ '~~'~''t~ ATTACHMENT(S): Status Report INFORMATION CONTACT: Tara L. Fikes TELEPHONE NUMBERS: - -eat. 2490 Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 227-2031 PURPOSE: To provide information regazding three County housing program initiatives. BACKGROUND: A status report on the following three housing activities will be provided to the Boazd. 1. Section 8 Housing Program -Persons with Disabilities 2. Land Trust Initiative 3. Scarlett Drive Project RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Boazd receive this report as information. 2 Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Program Background The Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Program, better known as the Section 8 Program is a rent subsidy program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Specifically, the program provides funds for rental housing costs of low income families and individuals. The subsidy is given to the family who is responsible for finding standard rental housing in the community. The Orange County Housing and Community Development Department administers this program for Orange County. Orange County received its initial allocation of Section 8 subsidies in 1976 and the last new allocation in 1985. Presently, the County has budget authority to serve approximately 600 families. Since 1985, federal housing program budget cuts have hindered our ability to receive new funding allocations. Thus, while the County makes application for funding when invited, demand exceeds supply and everyone does not get new allocations. We submitted applications for funding in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1997 with no success. It should be noted that the FY 1994 and 1997 applications were for program funds targeted for the disabled population. It is my understanding that since most applicants meet the minimum criteria, a lottery system is used to select agencies to receive new Section 8 funding. Present Challenges In recent months, there has been some concern regarding the lack of affordable rental housing and general reluctance of current landlords to participate in the program. Following is a description of the general rental housing market in the County and the impact of this situation on the low income community. In 1997, HUD estimates that there are 41,722 households in the County. Of these households, 58°r6 are homeowners, and 42°r6 are renters. Renters in this market face primarily three challenges when searching for rental housing: 1. The lack of supply of adequate, affordable housing; 2. High cost burden 3. Competition with university students The most commonly discussed challenge is housing costs. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Fair Market Rent ,which includes utility costs for this area are: 0 BR $434 1 BR $539 2 BR $633 3 BR $845 4 BR $1001 >> 3 In 1997, HUD conducted a random digit dialing survey in the communities within the Raleigh-Durham MSA to determine average rental costs. The survey results warranted a 9% increase in Fair Market Rents within the Chapel Hill town limits, however, it concluded that- average rents were within the published Fair Market Rents. General experience has shown that, particularly in the newer apartment complexes in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area, actual market rents exceed the HUD published rents. This issue, an expensive rental market, along with the other aforementioned challenges are even more acute for low income families in the community, particularly those participating in the Section 8 Program. Presently, there are 569 families on the Section 8 waiting list, with 84 being disabled and/or elderly. The average waiting period is 12-24 months. Approximately 260 disabled/handicapped families of 600 total families are currently participating in the program. It remains a challenge to encourage landlords to participate in the program. The most cited reasons for non-participation include: rent limitations; limits on yearly rent increases; property damage; rent increases; and general dislike for government programs (Big Brother). In summary, there should be continuing dialogue in the community such as the housing roundtable sponsored by Congressman Price to identify creative ways to address rental housing challenges in the County. There is no one quick fix, rather it will take the commitment of the entire community to address the multi-faceted challenges of the rental housing market. 4 Orange County Community Land Trust Initiative A Community Land Trust is generally a private non-profit organization corporation which acquires and hold land for the benefit of a community and provide secure affordable access to land and housing for community residents. It protects the long- term interest by continuing to own land while conveying the long-term use of the land to individuals, cooperatives or other entities. (Institute for Community Economics) The Town of Chapel Hill has appointed a Land Trust Implementation Task Force to determine if the Community Land Trust model could be used to promote affordable housing in the Town. Subsequently, the Town of Carrboro, specifically the Mayor, appealed to local citizens interested in the Land Trust model to begin discussing the applicability of this model in the Carrboro area. After it was discovered that there were two groups discussing the same topic, the .two groups began meeting together in December 1997. Minutes of this meeting are attached to this report. At the January 1998 meeting, in an effort to educate the public regarding this affordable housing concept, a Community Forum was planned for Saturday, February 7, 1998 at which time Martin Hahn, the Executive Director of the Dufiam Community Land Trust was invited to share the experiences of his agency and answer questions regarding the establishment of a land trust: There were approximately 40 people in attendance at the forum on February 7, 1998. At that time, the Working Group circulated a proposed committee structure for pursuing the land trust concept and scheduled another meeting for February 18, 1998 at 7:00 pm in Chapel Hill Town Hall. A copy of the Working Group Committee structure and the current Working Group members are attached. Please note that the members listed are the core group and other interested persons are encouraged to attend meetings. 5 Summary of the December 8, .1997 Land Trust Implementation Task Force Meeting On Monday, December 8, 1997, the Chapel Hill Land Trust Implementation Task Force held its second meeting. Present were Mark Chilton, Council Member Joyce Brown, Susan Levy, Douglas Mitchell, Allison Weiner, Myles Presley, Mayor Mike Nelson, Alderman Alex Zaffron, Rich Bell, Rick Summers, Allan Rose, Mary Tippens, Robert Dowling, County Commissioner Margaret Brown, Tara Fikes, James Harris, and Loryn Bames. The meeting took place at Carrboro Town Hall in conjunction with a community meeting organized called by Carrboro Mayor Michael Nelson and Allison Weiner, a Board member. of the Orange Community Housing Corporation. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss how a land trust could be implemented in Orange County. The group raised the following questions and issues regarding a land trust for future discussion: • Who would administer the land trust? • What target population would be served? • Would the land trust focus strictly be for home ownership or a combination of homeownership and rental? • Would the land trust be a community based effort or a government initiated effort? • Would the land trust cover southem Orange County, the entire County, or would each Town have its own land trust organization? The group was able to agree on the following four points: 1. Although the entire County could benefit from a land trust, it was recognized that the need was greatest in southem Orange County 2. A citizen group could implement a land trust more quickly than the local governments. 3. The target population should be households earning less than 80°~ of the area median income. 4. The primary function of the land trust would be to purchase properties and make the properties available to developers. The land trust would impose a long term ground lease on the properties so they would remain affordable in perpetuity. The two groups decided that they would continue to meet together. The next meeting will be held on Monday, January 12, 1998 at 5:30 at Chapel Hill Town Hall. 6 COMMUNITY LAND TRUST WORKING GROUP COMMITTEES 1. Steering Committee Co-Chairs: Mark Chilton, Alison Weiner This committee would be responsible for providing oversight and coordination of all committees. 2. Target Population and Housing Type Committee Co-Chairs: Sugqested Tasks • Identify target income range of potential residents • Identify potential sites • Review scattered site land trust vs. central location • Discuss if land trust would contain strictly homeownership opportunities or a combination of homeownership and rental opportunities • Discuss use of existing housing vs. constructing new housing 3. Legal Structure and Policy Committee Co-Chairs: Sugqested Tasks • Review Community Land Trust Legal Manual • Based on group discussion, draft a statement of organizational goals and purposes • Draft corporate bylaws with guidance from an attorney ~ set up a workshop on drafting corporate bylaws, highlighting structural options and where group decisions are required. ~ review model bylaws in Community Land Trust Legal manual • Present draft bylaws to full working group and facilitate group discussion of key issues • Redraft bylaws until approved by the entire working group • Draft Articles of Incorporation, working from model documents available from ICE 4. Finance and Acquisition Committee Co-Chairs: Sugqested Tasks • Develop a list of potential financing sources for Community Land Trust homes in the community • Identify banks with commitments to local lending 7 • Briefly survey the available housing market in the target area to get a sense of acquisition and rehab costs • Identify a range of projects and prepare several hypothetical acquisition / financing packages (including anticipated subsidies) for review and discussion by the entire group. This is useful to determine whether there is basic agreement about the strategy for implementing the goals of the organization. • Draft selection criteria and guidelines for acquisitions (target areas, price range, necessary income level, type of houses, etc.) • Meet with local banks and state housing finance agencies to discuss the possibility of financing for homes on Community Land Trust land 5. Outreach and Membership Committee Co-Chairs: Suggested Tasks • Identify and approach additional people for the working group • Conduct personal orientations for people who are late coming into the development process • Coordinate education and training opportunities for the working group /future board. It may be useful to design a number of skill-building workshops to strengthen the knowledge and confidence of group members • Draft an outreach strategy for the Community Land Trust. Identify key individuals and groups to talk about the Community Land Trust including leadership representatives of ~ religious and civic groups ~ !ow and moderate income tenants ~ socially concerned homeowners who might support a Community Land Trust ~ local and state government ~ human service providers ~ labor and women's organizations • Develop a proposed time line for presentations and one-to-one approaches • review outlined strategy with full working group and assign individuals to do personal outreach • Coordinate the community outreach and education process • Communicate with interested media • Draft initial outreach brochure 8 COMMUNITY LAND TRUST WORKING GROUP PROPOSED TIME LINE and SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS All meetings will be held at the Chapel Hill Town Hall in the Personnel Training Room (second floor) on the 1 ~ and 3`~ Wednesday of each month from 7 - 9 pm. February /March Working Group Committees Wednesday 2/18 Wednesday 3/ 4 Wednesday 3/18 April Determine Funding Sources Wednesday 4/1 Wednesday 4/15 May /June Design Resale Formula Wednesday 5/6 Wednesday 5/20 Wednesday 6/3 Wednesday 6117 July /August Who Will Administer Wednesday 7/1 Wednesday 7/15 Wednesday 8/5 Wednesday 8/19 September Presentations to Governments of Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro October -December Project Development -' January 1999 Requests for Funding 9 COMMUNITY LAND TRUST WORKING GROUP Chapel Hill Land Trust Implementation Task Force Mark Chilton, Chair Council Mbr. Joyce Brown Dr. Henry Clark Josh Gurlitz Susan Levy Douglas Mitchell James Pike Richard Summers 709 N. Columbia St. Chapel Hill 27516 306 N. Columbia St. Chapel Hill 27516 Carol Woods 198, 750 Weaver Dairy Rd 208 Spring Lane, Chapel Hill, 27514 650 Two Mule Road, Pittsboro 27312 133 Friar Lane, Carrboro, 27510 212 Cobble Ridge Drive, Chapel Hill 301 Davis Road, Hillsborough 932-9980 929-7781 Chapel Hill 918-3619 929-7595 732-6767x11 783-7447 967-6113 732-4086 Council Mbr. Edith Wiggins 306 N. Columbia St., Chapel Hill 27516 Carrboro Based Citizen's Group Mayor Michael Nelson Alderman Alex Zaffron Alison Weiner Myles Presley Robert Dowling Rich Bell Mary Tippens Jamie Rohe Keith Cook James Morgan Allan Rosen Staff Representatives 105 Fidelity Street, A-22, Carrboro, 27510 106 West Carr St., Carrboro, 27510 203 West Weaver St., Carrboro, 27510 705 A West Rosemary St., Carrboro 27510 P.O. Box 307 Carrboro, 27510 102 Pine St., Carrboro, 27510 501 Hillsborough Rd., Carrboro, 27510 721 Creekstone Dr., Chapel Hill P.O. Box 307, Carrboro, 27510 203 West Weaver St., Carrboro, 27510 8 Cedar Ct., Carrboro, 27510 929-2071 929-7514 942-2617 942-9010 967-8779 967-1545 967-0014 967-5321 929-9727 644-1657 932-7525 929-4095 Tara Fikes Orange County Housing and Camm. Development 967-9251 x2490 James Hams Town of Carrboro 968-7700 Loryn Barnes Town of Chapel Hill Planning Department 968-2728 10 Scarlette Village This project was originally a joint effort between the Orange Community Housing Corporation and the Public-Private Partnership to develop town owned land on Legion Road in Chapel Hill for affordable housing. After some delays, the Orange Community Housing Corporation submitted an application for a Zoning Atlas Amendment and Preliminary Plat for the proposed Scarlette Village development in September 1997. The plan proposed 11 single family homes at the site. Since that time, OCHC has met with Town officials regarding the application and are working with them to develop another site plan. The town has specifically requested more density at the site, thus, they are presently exploring the possibility of some type of attached housing development. x~ 10