Approved Minutes - 2005-03-02Affordable Housing Task Force
Meeting Notes
March 2, 2005, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
City Council Chambers, Lake Oswego City Hall
Members in Attendance: Dan Vizzini, Diane Luther, Beckie Plaza, Paul Lyons, Rob
Wagner, Brad Holland, Ardis Stevenson, Emogene Waggoner, Ernie Platt
Staff in Attendance: Donna Gouse
Guests in Attendance: Jeannie McGuire, Old Town NA
I. Citizen Comment.
Jeannie McGuire of the Old Town Neighborhood Association discussed a property
located on a lot of about 9/10 of an acre, where there is concern that the owner will tear
down a few older homes to rebuild. This would displace people of modest incomes, and
she wants to maintain the diversity of the neighborhood.
II. Approval of Meeting Notes
Emogene moved and Paul seconded to approve the 12/16/04 minutes. It was requested
that a correction be made to add Rob Wagner to the list of those in attendance at that
meeting. The 12/16/04 minutes were approved unanimously with that correction.
Paul moved and Ardis seconded that the 1/26/05 Draft 2 minutes be approved. They were
approved unanimously.
It was agreed to make the following corrections to the 1/26/05 Draft 4 summary of
themes: 1) Change the last line on page 1 to read: “Older apartment buildings may be
threatened with redevelopment. 2) Under Cost of Housing, p. 1, it should read:
“Teachers/public employees who work in Lake Oswego should be able to afford to live
here. Paul moved and Emogene seconded to approve the 1/26/05 Draft 4 themes as
corrected and they were approved unanimously.
It was agreed to make the following corrections to the 2/10/05 draft minutes. On page 2,
change 501c3 to 501(c)(3) in paragraphs 2 and 5. In paragraph 5 of page 2, change the
name Joann Leach to Char White. Paul moved and Ardis seconded to approve the
2/10/05 minutes as corrected and they were approved unanimously.
III. Work Session
Report from Beckie Plaza. Beckie handed out a report she prepared on the Title I
program. Title I is a federally funded program to help disadvantaged students in
elementary schools. Schools may qualify in two ways: 1) School-wide program where the
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school must have 50% or more students receiving free or reduced lunches; or 2) Targeted
assisted schools which qualify based on disadvantaged population, but specific areas are
targeted for improvement. These schools do not need to have the 50% requirement for
students receiving free or reduced lunches.
In Lake Oswego, Rivergrove is a targeted assisted school, and the only one in the district.
The percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunches is 20%. Seven years ago the
percentage was 7% so there has been a significant increase. Even though the need has
increased, the budget for the program has gone down in the past three years, from
$220,000 to the current level of $164,000.
Beckie explained that the provision of social services is a major component of the
program. It was asked whether the Title I program works with Clackamas County social
services. It does not directly work with the county. It was also asked, how are students
identified who are in need of Title I services? Beckie said by teacher referral. A student
can transfer from another Lake Oswego school to Rivergrove to receive Title I services,
but that usually does not happen.
Another component of the program involves tracking homeless students. School districts
are required to track students who are homeless. Homeless is defined as a family living
with another family because they do not have a home of their own. The data come from
forms turned in by the students. Beckie said that once students reach junior high, they are
less likely to participate in free or reduced lunch programs, so there are low-income
students not being counted. Rivergrove has more abuse cases, due to the students’ living
situations with unrelated people living under one roof. Unlike Portland schools, the
student turnover rate is not dramatic at Rivergrove because families want to stay in Lake
Oswego schools.
Follow up: It was agreed Beckie will get the following additional data: 1) Statewide
statistics of the number of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch for the past year;
and 2) The homeless count in Lake Oswego as collected by the school district for as far
back as it goes.
Report from Paul Lyons. Paul provided a handout from the Oregon Center for Public
Policy (OCPP), which includes the housing section of their State of Working Oregon
2004 report. Highlights from the report were 1) Figure 2.7 which shows that in 2000,
25% of homeowners were paying 30 percent or more in income for housing costs, up
from 18% in 1990; 2) the OCPP states that HUD defines “low-income” as people with
incomes under 80 percent of the median family income in the area, but the OCPP states it
should be 50% and below since the HUD definition includes some families with higher
incomes; 3) the report shows that renters in Oregon paying 30% or more in income on
housing rose to 42% in 1990.
Report from Dan Vizzini. Dan provided a handout he prepared of the housing inventory
in Lake Oswego based on the city’s GIS data. Under single-family residences, the
highlights include: 1) 473 residences are valued less than $150,000; 2) 2,450 residences
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have land values in excess of building values; and 3) 2,157 residences were built prior to
1954. Dan said these three highlights should be considered targets for preservation.
Under multi-family housing developments, it states that the city has a designation of two
low-income housing developments. The task force was unsure what that means, perhaps
owned by the Housing Authority? Under vacant lots, lots sizes average 63,830 square
feet so they are large lots. He expected a higher number of vacant properties (there are
1,152 vacant properties within the USB).
Dan said the purpose of gathering this data is to show that with mapping, you can target
areas for affordable housing preservation or land trusts.
Paul said he is working with a realtor who is in the process of pulling data on the
inventory of housing units under five units, and it should be available in a few days.
It was also noted that Erin Meadors O’Rourke is not present to make her report, so the
task force will contact her to get an update on her work.
Continue work on final report.
There was a discussion on the format of the final report. Neighborhood associations have
expressed comments regarding how detail on specific neighborhoods will be presented in
the report. It was suggested that the Task Force’s recommendations should be based on
data and how specific neighborhoods are affected. Dan said that the City Council wants a
“wonkish” report that says this is the data on populations in need and we have looked at
these tools. Then, the report should state what tools have more potential for
implementation than others. The report should conclude with a discussion on the process
of how to carry it out.
It was generally agreed that the Task Force has gathered enough data but it now needs to
be pulled together to include the Task Force’s vision, such as the need to preserve
existing affordable homes. It should then explain what the tools are to get to that vision.
Also, the report should look at Metro’s voluntary affordable housing target goals and
analyze where we are, such as at what percentage of those goals.
It was stated that the Task Force should not let the report collect dust. The issues of
planning infrastructure, such as new redevelopment areas, should be discussed along with
the next steps.
Dan said he would take the preliminary report and build on that to present the draft of the
final report. Brad said he would work on getting good PR on the Task Force’s activities
before the final report is presented, such as getting an article in a local newspaper. There
has not yet been an article on the Task Force’s activities in the Lake Oswego Review. It
was agreed that it is a good idea to get more publicity. Dan said he wants to circulate a
draft of the final report by the end of March and have an open house for the general
public in April.
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Discussion of Matrix.
There was a discussion/brainstorm of the Metro tools listed in the Matrix and what
recommendations should be made in the final report.
• SDUs (Secondary Dwelling Units): It was agreed that the final report should
support SDUs, and that we recommend looking at current zoning and revise codes
to support more SDUs.
• Density bonuses: They mostly occur in new redevelopment areas, as a large area
is needed. The idea of creating incentives for developers to create more affordable
housing was discussed. There was a question as to whether this can apply to
teardowns.
• Replacement housing: Proposals for preserving affordable housing in the case of
teardowns and condo conversions was discussed. An example includes requiring
developers to make contributions to a city affordable housing fund. For condo
conversions, regulations can be implemented, such as giving tenants right of
refusal. Other ideas include rolling back the assessed value, tax forgiveness and
historical designation. This would be appropriate for Old Town. Ernie discussed
land vs. building value. Old buildings can drag down land value, so older
structures in bad condition could be torn down to make way for affordable
housing through a land trust, or other means. Dan also said a strategy is to upzone
from R7 to R5. Upzoning provides more opportunity for TDR’s and opportunities
for more units.
• Inclusionary housing: The only way to do this legally is through incentives. Diane
suggested that there be a city policy that a percentage of housing in new
developments be designated as affordable, as a condition of public investments.
• Transfer of development rights (TDRs): This would be best done regionally, not
just in Lake Oswego.
• Regulatory reforms: This can include the city relaxing requirements for builders
of affordable housing, such as faster approval processes. Put affordable housing
as Type 1 process instead of Type 2. “Front of the line” concept.
• Parking standards: This can include relaxing parking standards, such as allowing
fewer parking spaces at affordable housing complexes when it is known people
will not have cars, such as special needs housing. Make parking requirements fit
with the characteristics of specific projects.
• SDC (System Development Charges) and permit fees: It was suggested to forgive
these or write them down. For example, the city can provide financing of SDCs
for affordable housing.
• Local funding/Loans/deferrals: This can include loans for land purchases. If a
developer builds affordable housing along with public infrastructure there can be
an offset.
Next meeting: The next meeting will be either March 23 or 24. Dan will email the Task
Force to find out which day is best. (Note: The next meeting was scheduled for Thursday,
March 24 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.) There may also be an informal
meeting on a Saturday morning to further discuss the final report.
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Announcement: Brad handed out a flyer from HomeStreet Bank that announces that
applications are being accepted for seven $10,000 grants for nonprofit housing
organizations. Those with questions may contact him.
The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
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