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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11. November 2020 minutes New Hanover County-City of Wilmington Workforce Housing Advisory Committee November 4, 2020 Regular Meeting Committee Members Present: Evelyn Bryant, Patrick Brien, Don Harris, Katrina Redmon, Steve Spain, David Spetrino, Paul Stavovy Staff Present: Tufanna Bradley (NHC), Glenn Harbeck (CoW), Rachel LaCoe (NHC), Thom Moton (CoW), Suzanne Rogers (CoW), Rebekah Roth (NHC), Brad Schuler (NHC) Call to Order The meeting was called to order and a quorum was established through roll call at 3:02 pm by Chairperson Evelyn Bryant. Approve Agenda Mr. Don Harris made a motion to approve the agenda, which was seconded by Mr. Steve Spain and adopted unanimously. Approve Minutes Mr. David Spetrino made a motion to approve the draft minutes from the October 7, 2020 meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Paul Stavovy and adopted unanimously. Public Comments City of Wilmington Planning Director Mr. Glenn Harbeck announced that City Council would be voting on the second reading a Land Development Code text amendment concerning changes to prescribed conditions for Commercial District Mixed Use (CDMU) developments in the Office and Institutional (O&I- 1), Commercial Business (CB), and Regional Business (RB) districts. Included is a provision to incentivize workforce housing in CDMU developments in exchange for unlimited residential development density. Changes since the first reading include the increase of the period of workforce housing from 10 years to 15 years. New Business Update on Housing Study and Survey Chairperson Bryant recognized Workforce Housing Planner Rachel LaCoe. Ms. LaCoe provided a presentation on Workforce Housing Considerations in Conditional and Straight Rezonings. • State law only allows conditional zoning and conditional use districts at the owner’s request; they cannot be imposed without the owner’s agreement. • Straight rezonings are reliant on existing/future development regulations to mitigate impacts. • Conditional rezoning require community meeting and concept plan; may include additional studies (TIA/Stormwater) to determine potential impacts; allows discussion on ways to mitigate those specific impacts. • New districts were adopted in New Hanover County in 2019. They were specifically adopted to be used as straight rezonings, especially in the new R-5 district but lack of success has led to an up-tick in conditional rezonings. • These new residential districts can also assist with achieving the County’s goals of increasing the supply of workforce/affordable housing. • Greater by-right density can help to reduce the cost of developing each housing unit and allow for housing types, such as townhomes and condominiums, that can provide more affordable living opportunities for area residents than large-lot single family homes. Discussion included questions about duplexes in the City of Wilmington’s R-7 and R-5 zoning, other communities eliminating single family zoning, and how density is measured. Mr. Spain asked if the WHAC should take advocacy on how tracts are rezoned. Ms. LaCoe reminded the Committee that these types of recommendations will come from the study and survey reports. Mr. Harbeck shared that the City is focused on density in the right places, including near transportation. There was a brief discussion about the recent Planning Commission meeting and how affordable housing can be incorporated in future developments. Recommendations would be discussed Ms. LaCoe provided an update of two components of the Comprehensive Housing Study. Bowen National Research portion of the study: • Still on track to deliver draft by November, will need two weeks to incorporate UNCG findings into their study • Expecting a presentation in early 2021 UNCG portion of the study: • 1,130 responses (goal of 1,813) but currently have over 95% confidence level • Wrapping up survey in Mid-November Announcements No announcements. Adjournment With no further questions or comments, a quorum was established through roll call. Chairperson Bryant adjourned the meeting at 4:16 PM.