TOWN OF EASTON, MARYLAND
Affordable Housing Workshop
April 15, 2004
Councilmember Maureen Scott-Taylor
Ms. Becky Sherblom, Mr. Jeff Griffith, Mr. Hamilton, the Town Planner, and the Mr. Karge the Town Clerk were also present.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Ms. Becky Sherblom, Director, Maryland Center for Community Development, a non-profit organization in Maryland stated that the meeting would be starting on time and ending on time. She stated that she is here to facilitate this conversation. Ms. Sherblom stated that their mission is to be a catalyst for investing in affordable housing and economic development to strengthen communities. She said that the reason she is present tonight is because Mr. Ford e-mailed her and stated that the Council is thinking about doing this and this has been suggested that perhaps they could help and it is possible because they have a national HUD Technical Assistance Contract where the Department of Housing and Urban Development have made money available to work with the State of Maryland and local governments in Maryland who want to address their affordable housing issues or any topic that comes under their Community Development block grant.
Mr. Jeff Griffith explained his history and previous affiliations. He stated that his goal is to facilitate dialogue. He stated that they have reviewed news coverage, the Comprehensive Plan and other documentation to try to get a sense of where the Town of Easton is. He stated that they would like to do some discussions regarding expectations and set some ground rules.
Mr. Griffith discussed the Town of Easton’s Comprehensive Plan and asked if the Town is committed to it. He stated that their commitment is to a product and helping to build a process to get you to that product.
Mr. Griffith asked what the Mayor and Council’s expectations were and what they want to see happen.
Mayor Willey asked that the participants identify what affordable housing means.
Expectations of this process were discussed. Mr. Griffith stated that the things discussed so far were to build guidelines and give a concrete policy on affordable housing, get a definition of affordable housing, clarify the responsibility of the Town for affordable housing in terms of its relationship with the county, define affordable housing within the market context and build a fit between affordable housing and existing Comprehensive Plan.
Mr. Griffith outlined the goals related to expectations of the Affordable Housing Trust.
Ms. Sherblom stated that this is a lot for one night and we may have to talk about other times together.
Mr. Griffith discussed ground rules from everyone.
Mr. Ford asked that no one talks over anyone.
Mrs. Scott-Taylor asked that everyone get to the point.
Mr. Jensen asked everyone to listen.
Mayor Willey asked that there be no repetition.
Mr. Wendowski asked that everyone be respected and respect their point of view.
Mr. Griffith stated that there are a couple other things that work with brainstorming. He stated that you shouldn’t sensor yourself and if an idea comes, let it out. He said that there are no bad ideas.
The issue of the housing policy was discussed.
Mr. Griffith asked if there were concerns about a housing policy that need to be on the table.
Mayor Willey stated that he is not convinced that requiring developers to produce a certain number of houses or a certain percentage of affordable houses is the way to go. He stated that he thought the requirement should involve both retail, commercial and residential development. Mayor Willey stated that he feels that once we set up a housing program, we would do better with financial contributions rather than a certain percentage of homes.
Mr. Jensen stated that the market is pricing working people out of this community real quick.
Mr. Wendowski stated that the policy should be flexible in the event that the market has priced us out of affordability. He discussed the value of the total development coming in as a contribution to affordable housing.
Mrs. Scott-Taylor asked how to get to the point and to the policy that is fair and equitable regardless of whom it is imposed upon.
Mr. Jensen stated that he has concerns that it is practical.
Ms. Sherblom discussed the proposed county impact fees and how it could affect the town’s policies.
Mrs. Scott-Taylor discussed her concerns relative to the actual implementation and the management on a daily basis of this program.
Mr. Ford stated that we may be able to find answers for affordable housing through incentives.
Mr. Jensen asked that the policy be developed quickly.
Mayor Willey stated that we need a way to monitor the program.
Ms. Sherblom stated that we also need to monitor the program to see if it is getting us what we hope.
Mayor Willey added that we also need to make sure it is getting to the people that need it.
Mr. Wendowski stated that we need to define where the need is for people that need the program and at what level.
Ms. Sherblom stated that their role is to facilitate you getting to a specific policy. She asked everyone to take a moment and elevate their thinking and ask what you are hoping to achieve by a housing policy.
Mayor Willey stated that we have to determine what the right mix of affordable housing is for Easton.
Mr. Wendowski stated that what will go with that is that there will be employment available at a salary level that the people can afford to be here and one measure would be the number of high school students that go on to college and come back to Easton and have gainful employment. Mr. Wendowski stated that he thinks the school is trying to track that now.
Mr. Griffith stated that we really need to realize where we want to be.
Ms. Sherblom stated that you not only need to realize that you have the right solution but that you have the right scale to get where you need to be.
Mr. Wendowski stated that part of it has to do with a rehab of neighborhoods to get the neighborhoods elevated and give pride of ownership within the people that live in the neighborhoods.
Mr. Ford stated that overall we need to raise the quality standard of affordable housing. He stated that too often now, what is affordable is substandard.
Mrs. Scott-Taylor discussed a balance of rehab, refurbished so there is a good choice within the marketplace for affordable housing.
Monitoring mechanisms were discussed.
Mr. Griffith discussed the Town of Easton’s Comprehensive Plan. He asked if it is congruent. Mr. Griffith stated that the four stated goals of the Comprehensive Plan are 1) insure that the housing is Easton is safe, sanitary, sound with safeguards; 2) increase the supply of low income housing in the Town of Easton; 3) partner with county wide affordable housing effort; 4) insure more heterogeneous mix of price points in future residential projects.
Concerns regarding what is affordable and low income housing were discussed as well as how much is actually needed.
Ms. Sherblom stated that an appropriate policy needs to link and integrate the four goals.
Mr. Griffith reviewed the Town of Easton’s goal: to insure that housing in Easton is safe, sanitary, structurally sound, safeguards, upgrades and neighborhood designs.
Mr. Griffith discussed objectives and outcomes. He stated that the first objective is continue to adequately fund staff and train the Town Building Inspection Department. The second is strengthening the Town’s Rental Housing Inspection program by requiring scheduled inspections and increasing the Town’s inspection capacity. The next is partner with state, county and non-profit agencies to direct available housing rehabilitation funds to qualify for low to moderate households. The next is to establish design standards that require physical distribution of different housing types that provide visual interest and a smooth blend of affordable housing in the community. Next is achieve a density that creates a sense of place, uses infrastructure efficiently, produces pedestrian friendly neighborhoods and accommodates plans for transit and the last is provide open spaces, uses landscaping to accentuate the natural environment and give official connectivity, preserve natural assets, community identity and environmental health standards.
Mr. Griffith asked if there is a logical relationship and if these objectives need to be put in a sequence to work on one and then another.
Discussion occurred regarding which objectives to work on first.
It was the consensus that every rental unit should be inspected annually and follow-up measures 30 to 60 days when inspections occur.
The rental inspection program was discussed.
Mr. Jensen stated that he wanted one of the outcomes to be that neighbors value their neighborhoods. Mr. Griffith stated that they need to determine how that can be measured and have a database that is comprehensive and reliable to measure the progress.
Mr. Ford stated that he did not want the building inspection department to be an unnecessary impediment.
Mr. Griffith stated that some of the components of the objective; adequately fund staff trained the building inspection department are: that the department is not an impediment to development or that the department enables processes, that the number of complaints is reduced and the public image of the department is improved and that there is a reduction in problems and defects that come back later.
Discussion occurred regarding where to go next. Mr. Griffith stated that we are scheduled to meet again in two weeks from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday evening.
Mr. Griffith stated that he will transcribe what has been accomplished tonight and e-mail to Ms. Sherblom for review.
Mr. Jensen stated that we do need a policy for developers regarding affordable housing.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business upon unanimous consensus of the Council, the President of the Council adjourned the workshop meeting at 8:06 p.m.
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Town Clerk