HOUSING POLICY BOARD Eugene Lane County Homes for Good The mission of the Housing Policy Board is to increase the availability of decent, affordable housing for low and very low income families and individuals in Lane County. October 1, 2018 • 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Saul Room • Atrium Building• 99 West 10th Avenue I. Introductions Information 5 minutes II. Public Comment Information 5 minutes III. Minutes Approval Information 5 minutes IV. Items from HPB Members and Staff Information 5 minutes V. Rental Housing Code Update Information 30 minutes VI. Housing Tools and Strategies Update Information/Discussion 20 minutes VII. Task Team 3, Renter Protections Information/Discussion 20 minutes Housing Policy Board Members Elected Officials Commissioner Pete Sorenson - Lane County • Councilor Chris Pryor – Eugene At Large Members Norton Cabell • Jenna Fribley • John VanLandingham • Daniel Ivy • Isaac Judd • Chris Wig Ex-Officio Members Kristen Karle • Darcy Phillips • Steve Ochs • Emily Reiman Housing Policy Board Staff Stephanie Jennings, City of Eugene • 541-682-5529 • [email protected] Teresa Kennedy, City of Eugene • 541-682-5529 • [email protected] This meeting is open to the public and wheel-chair accessible. American Sign Language or Spanish interpretation can be provided with 48 hour notice prior to the meeting. For the hearing impaired, assistive listening devices are available with 48 hours prior notice. The agenda and all background materials can be provided in alternative formats or Spanish with 48 hour notice prior to the meeting. To arrange for any of these services please contact Teresa Kennedy, 541-682-5767. El lugar de la reunión es accesible para personas con discapacidad. A las personas sordas o con dificultades auditivas les ofrecemos intépretes o sistemas FM de asistencia auditiva con 48 horas de anticipación. También se ofrecen intérpretes de español con 48 horas de anticipación. Materiales en formatos alternativos están disponibles a solicitud. Para disponer de estos servicios o para mayor información, comuníquese con el personal de Teresa Kennedy, 541-682-5767. For information about minutes, agendas, or mailings please contact Stephanie Jennings at [email protected] or 541-682-5529. Mail inquiries can be directed to City of Eugene Planning and Development Department, 99 W. 10th, Eugene, OR 97401. 1 Housing Policy Board Eugene Lane County Homes for Good Friday, September 7, 2018 – 12:00-1:30 pm Saul Room - Eugene Atrium Building - 99 West 10th Avenue Housing Policy Board Members Elected Officials Commissioner Pete Sorenson - Lane County Councilor Chris Pryor - City of Eugene At Large Members Norton Cabell, Jenna Fribley, John VanLandingham, Daniel Ivy, Chris Wig, Isaac Judd Ex-officio members Kristen Karle, Darcy Phillips, Steve Ochs, Emily Reiman Housing Policy Board Staff Stephanie Jennings, City of Eugene Teresa Kennedy, City of Eugene PRESENT Staff: Ellen Meyi-Galloway, City of Eugene Nicole Stehlar, City of Eugene Anne Fifield, City of Eugene Chelsea Clinton, City of Eugene Others: Michelle Martin Josh Carato Todd Boyle Mary Sharon Moore Richard Guske Devin Jenkins Ethan Nelson Michael Kinnison Kara Smith Krista Rojas Mark Nystrom Ed McMahon Ib Hamide Anna O’Brien Kelly DeVore ABSENT Darcy Phillips Commissioner Pete Sorenson 2 I. INTRODUCTIONS Those present at the Housing and Policy Board (HPB) meeting introduced themselves. II. PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Boyle wanted to address the issue of bracketing. He thought affordable housing was defined too broadly, and too many public resources were spent on the second, third, and fourth deciles of income. Mr. Boyle called for a reformulation of the definition, in order to guide citizen awareness and formation of opinion. Furthermore, he was a proponent of the idea that public funds and resources should first be applied to the first decile, which was not currently happening due to Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) and other exemptions and/or credits. He elaborated on an article by The Register-Guard featuring a family with $60,000 of income receiving assistance. Mr. Boyle didn’t think they were a demographic needing help—people living on $500 a month needed help accessing affordable housing. Mr. Boyle advocated for focus of resources on the bottom 10% income bracket. Mr. Carato said that the State’s definition of affordable housing was terrible. He was there to speak specifically to HPB about Task Team 3. It didn’t make sense from his point of view, as a renter, to hold off on the work until other task teams were complete. A huge portion of the population was formed of renters; he didn’t think one group was more important than another, but thought the work needed to be done in alignment. There were low hanging fruit projects within Task Team 3 that could help people. For example, there were policies such as no cause evictions. As a renter, Mr. Carato was subject to an eviction two months ago without cause, and most of his friends who were renters dealt with something similar within the past two years. He was disappointed the less complicated issues hadn’t been addressed, although he was aware it was complicated. In addition, Mr. Boyle wanted to become more involved with HPB and housing affordability issues. Mr. VanLandingham lobbied at the state level on tenant rights. He spent time during the 2017 legislative session working on a bill that would have imposed good cause eviction only at the state level. Unfortunately, the bill didn’t have a hearing but would return in February 2019 in the House of Representatives. It was unclear whether a city itself could impose good cause eviction in Oregon, but it was an issue currently being litigated by Portland. The city tried to impose a fee on landlords who used no cause eviction so landlords were suing as they thought Portland’s policy violated state law. Mr. VanLandingham also didn’t favor Task Team 3 completing work at that time, because everything had to be adopted by City Council, which wouldn’t focus on renter’s rights until other housing areas were completed. Ms. Reiman added that during legislative session, advocates of tenant rights were always looking for people who had experienced no cause evictions to testify. Mr. Carato said he knew a dozen or so people who would likely be willing to help. Ms. O’Brien was part of Church Women United. She explained the group had looked at homelessness over the past five years, and were wondering which committee or organization to approach so they could be effective with their energies. Mr. VanLandingham suggested attending Poverty and Homelessness Board meetings. Ms. Reiman added that if Church Women United were interested, they could join the 3 Housing Alliance. Ms. Reiman thought membership might be an effective way to plug in to current events at the State level. Ms. Brian thanked her, and replied the organization was already a member. Ms. DeVore, the newly appointed executive director for Habitat of Humanity – Eugene, introduced herself. She looked forward to working with HPB in future. III. MINUTES APPROVAL Mr. VanLandingham had a correction on Page 2 of the minutes. In the last paragraph, he requested staff insert (noted in bold), “Mr. VanLandingham said the City did, but law had changed around how long those funds and land bought with those funds could be held.” On Page 4, Mr. VanLandingham had a correction to the sentence in which Ms. Fribley said there would be an “upcoming council meeting where they would discuss the possibility of reinstating a LIHTC.” Mr. VanLandingham assumed that meant a low income property tax exemption but he wasn’t sure. Ms. Fribley said yes, and tried to remember whether there was a different acronym. She was told “LIRPTE.” In the next paragraph, “Stewart” should have been spelled “Stuart.” Mr. Cabell corrected page 5. He thought Mr. McMahon said the Homebuilders planned to file an appeal instead of amendment. Mr. McMahon responded yes, the term used was appeal. On page 6, Mr. Cabell clarified there were seven other councilors, as opposed to seven councilors . On Page 7, Mr. Hamide is referred to “Ib” instead of “Mr. Hamide.” Mr. Cabell deemed the June 4, 2017 minutes of the HPB approved as corrected. IV. ITEMS FROM HPB MEMBERS AND STAFF Mr. Cabell explained why HPB originally thought they would have a planning session during the September 2018 meeting. Unilaterally, he decided they would not; he thought they needed to wait until projects developed during the fall in order to plan strategically long term. Mr. Cabell thought it would be best to have a planning session after January 2018. Mr. Cabell thought task teams should share what they had been doing lately. Task Team 1 made a proposal to HPB and City Council around a Construction Excise Tax (CET), but the proposal was still in the works. Task Team 1 would blend CET into the Housing Tools and Strategies process, so the team was in a holding pattern until that group completed its work during fall 2018. Ms. Fribley spoke on Task Team 2, Alternative Housing Typologies. During the group’s last meeting, members tried to determine next steps. Task Team 2 ended up putting work on hold, for the same reasons discussed by Mr. Cabell. Ms. Fribley added what came next was pending on the outcome of that day’s HPB meeting, because the team was looking for some direction. Mr. VanLandingham clarified part of Task Team 2’s focus was on ADUs. Ms. Fribley responded yes, as well as cottage clusters and the dispersal policy. Mr. Judd was also part of the group, as well as part of the Housing Tools and Strategies 4 group. Ms. Fribley added that Task Team 2 looked at a lot of the barriers to alternative housing, so hopefully many of them would be addressed during the City’s code audit.