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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-01-03 Agenda NEW HANOVER COUNTY PLANNING & LAND USE AGENDA COUNTY-CITY WORKFORCE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE | Meeting Government Center Multipurpose Room 136, 230 Government Center Dr. January 3, 2024–3:00 PM Minutes I.Call to Order Establish Quorum 2II.Approve Agenda 5III.Approve Minutes November 1, 2023 December 6, 2023 5IV.Public Comments 0V.NewBusiness 60VI.OldBusiness Action Items o Ratification of Vote to Adopt Draft 2024 Meeting Calendar and Adoption of Amended 2024 Meeting Calendar o Approval of 2024 Recommendations Discussion Item o Committee 2024 Report & Presentation 10 VII. Staff Updates County City 5VIII.Announcements IX Adjourn Attachments: 2024 Meeting Calendar(amended) DraftNovember 1,2023MeetingMinutes Draft December 6, 2023 Meeting Minutes Purpose: The Committee shall be organized for the purpose of developing a comprehensive workforce housing study, workforce housing opinion study and public awareness campaign, support for increasing equitable access and the supply of workforce housing that is affordable; informing the Appointing Authorities and other organizations of their findings; and making recommendations, in an advisory capacity, to the AppointingAuthorities and other organizations, as necessary. New Hanover County-City of Wilmington Workforce Housing Advisory Committee 2024Calendar MEETING NOTICE: The County-City Workforce Housing Advisory Committeewill hold its monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of each monthat 3:00 p.m. in Multipurpose Room 136 at 230 Government CenterDrive, unless otherwise specified. Changes in meeting date or location will be published at least 48 hours in advance. The Committee established the following meeting dates for 2024and January 2025: January 3, 2024 February 7, 2024 March 6, 2024 April 3, 2024 May 1, 2024 June 5, 2024 July 2024—No meeting August 7, 2024 September 4, 2024 October 2, 2024 November 6, 2024 December 4, 2024 January 8, 2025 NEW HANOVER COUNTY-CITY OF WILMINGTON WORKFORCE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE November 1, 2023 | REGULARMEETING Committee Members Present: Sharm Brantley, Liz Carbone, Tom Gale, Krysti Keser, Eric Knight, Katrina Knight, Morgan Moskal, Frank Smith, Paul Stavovy NHC Staff Present:Katie Burket, Jessica Loeper, Katherine May, Theo McClammy, Rebekah Roth, Andrew Zeldin City of Wilmington Staff Present:Abie Bonevac, Travis Henley, Chianti Johnson, Suzanne Rogers Call to Order Themeeting was called to order at3:07PMby Chairperson Brantleyand a quorum was established. Agenda Approval and Minutes Ms. Kesermade a motion to approve the meeting agenda, seconded byMr. Gale. The motion was approvedunanimously. Mr. Knightmade a motion to adopttheOctober 4, 2023 draft minutes, seconded by Ms. Carbone and adopted unanimously. Public Comments None. New Business Information Items: Cape Fear Housing Coalition Education & Advocacy AmyDavis, Homeowner Services Manager with Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity,and Ms.Carbone presented asummary of the Cape Fear Housing Coalition’s Education and Advocacy activities. Ms. Carbone provided an overview of coalition membership.Shenoted that the coalition aims to achieve education and advocacy three ways: internally, externally with those who need to support housing, and externally with those who need housing. Key events that the coalition hosts include an annual legislative breakfastand a housing solutions series. Ms. Davis shared a summary of their most recenteducation series, a HomeownershipSeries and Wills Clinic.This series was in partnershipwith several organizations and attorneysand saw 113 class attendees. Ms. Davis also noted that several households had wills written or were connected with legal servicesat no cost. Future actionsincludeconnectingwith additional households to providewills supportandexpandingthe event to Brunswick County. The coalition is planning to collect survey data from members, form a Strategic Planning Committee, and 1 connect with stakeholders to determine what they want the coalition to look like in the future. The presenters noted several ways to get involvedwith the coalition. New Hanover County Comprehensive Plan Update Ms.Rothpresented an overview of the Comprehensive Plan update process. New Hanover County’s current Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2016 and is due to be updatedby 2025. She discussed the purpose of a comprehensive planand the intentto incorporate the County’s other plans, includingthe new Strategic Plan, into the Comprehensive Plan update.The goal is to align future updates with other organization’s plan updates, including the WMPO, and start a 5- year update cycle. Ms. Roth noted some key planning principlesthat are guiding the update. Ms. Roth provided an overview of the proposed timeline for the update, with several stages occurring over the next two years, which will include regular updates to the Board of Commissioners and the Planning Board. She noted that the longer-term updates will include focus group discussions and stakeholder interviews that members of this committee couldbe involved in. Mr. Smithasked clarifying questions about the public engagement opportunities related to density.Mr. Galeasked follow-up questions about overcrowding on roads and in schools. Ms. Roth shared that resources to update the plan include studies conducted by the school system and WMPO as well as continuing to receive information from the WHAC about housing gaps. Discussion Items: Housing Needs Assessment Ms. Roth reviewedthe first two Housing Needs Assessments that thecommittee initiated and openeda discussion on what this committee would like to see in another study. She noted that funding for another study would need to be included in thebudget request for nextcycle, which will likely be due in January. The goal is to update these studies every two years. Ms. Roth shared information that staff compiledaboutcomponents of other communities’ Housing Needs Assessments.This committee previously noted a focus on quantitative data, but some other useful components might beinfographics, a clearer summary of findings, recommendations and key strategies, more focus on a full spectrum of housing needs including homelessness, consideration of the housing cycle, a regional perspective, and the role of community partners and funding. Ms. Carbone suggested several variables that would be useful: availability and demand of care/housing for seniors, populationmoving into and within the county, number of residents that are stuck in homes that don’t fit their needs, commuter dataof those who may want to live in New Hanover County but cannot afford it, and more data on Qualified Census Tracts. Ms. Keser seconded the consideration of the housing cycleand suggestedbreaking out data between renting and ownership.Mr. Stavovynoted the importance of including some type of qualitative data as well. The committee discussed the importance of a statistically significant study.Mr. Gale 2 mentionedthat thelocal realtorshave access to the data needed for an affordability gap report that the committee discussed at the October meeting.The committee discussedlooking to other coastal communities for guidance or comparison. New Hanover County Workforce Housing Services Program RFP Debrief Mr. McClammy presented a summary of the first two years of the Workforce Housing Services Program. Mr. McClammy provided a summary of all 6 projects funded through the program so far, asummary of the eligible activities, criteria, and priorities, and a summary of the application and funding process for year two. Mr. Gale suggested sharing progress on these projects with the public. The committee expressed agreement with thisand discussed ways to share video and photo updates. Ms. Carbonenoted that it would be useful to develop separate scoring sheets for the different eligible activities, or separate scoring sheets for homeownership projects versus rental projects, so that projects are not unfairly scored lower based on project type.Committee members askedif this program is limited to the $3 millioncap per cycle, noting that both years have shown that there are more than $3 million worth of quality projects. Ms. Brantley suggested sharingprograminformation withthe public as early as possible. Mr. McClammy noted that theprocess for the next cycle will start by April 2024. Mr. Galesuggested having an optionto sign up for updates on the WHSP process. Mr. Stavovyasked whether there’s an incentive to revolve the funding, rather than only award grants. Annual Committee Meeting & Work Calendars Ms. Rothshared the draft 2024 meeting calendarthatwill be adopted at next month’s meeting. rd Committee members suggestedchangingthe January 3meeting to the following week.Ms. Rothshared a draft annual work calendarthat will not need to be adopted by the committee but will serve as a guide for the next year. Old Business Discussion Item: Committee 2024 Report & Presentation Ms. Roth reviewed the five recommendations that the committee included in its Annual Report inAprilandpresented County and City status on each recommendation. Ms. Roth reviewed the draft Annual Report Update template and timeline. Staff’sgoal is to get most of the report information to the committee by the December meeting, and the committee will need to determine its recommendations at the December meeting to prepare for a January presentation to the elected bodies. The January meeting dates for the Board of Commissioners and City Councilhave not yet been determined.Ms. Brantley notedthat she would like to focus 3 the presentation on what the committee thinks is necessary in the community, regardless of the funding needed to meet those needs.The committee discussed potentially recommending more money for the Workforce Housing Services Program, as the $3 million cap limits the program to one funding cycle per year. Multiple cycles may allow for more flexibility and alignment for applicants. The committee discussed the best way to structure the presentationsothat it’s relevantand meaningfulto both elected bodies.Ms. Carbone asked if it was possible to hold a joint meeting with the boards to have a more focused conversation. Ms. Roth noted that the committee could recommenda joint meetinginthisreport andpresentation. Ms. Roth also suggested highlighting what the committee wants to do over the next year. Staff will send the committee the April report and a summary of ideas discussed at this meeting. Committee members will sendback initial thoughts and feedbackbefore the December meeting. Staff Updates County: Gap Rental Assistance Pilot Program Report Out Mr. McClammy presented asummary of data on the Gap Rental Assistance Pilot Program. Data was compiled for each separate program year, and collectively over the three-year program. City: ADU Updates Ms. Rogers stated that her presentation slides on ADU’s will be shared with the committee. Ms. Rogers presented the information at the NC Housing Works conference. Announcements Both County and City noted several staff transitionsin the coming months. The Starway project is close to closing, and construction is expected to begin soon. Adjourn Ms. Brantley requesteda motion to adjourn the meeting. Members agreed by consensus. The meeting was adjourned at 5:06PM. 4 NEWHANOVERCOUNTY-CITYOFWILMINGTONWORKFORCEHOUSINGADVISORYCOMMITTEE December 6, 2023, | REGULAR MEETING Committee Members Present: Sharm Brantley, Liz Carbone, Morgan Moskal, Paul Stavovy, RoxieWells NHC Staff Present: Tufanna Bradley, Tim Buckland, Angie Cavender, Katherine May, Theo McClammy, Rebekah Roth, Andrew Zeldin City of Wilmington Staff Present: Travis Henley, Haley Hopkins, Chianti Johnson, Rachel LaCoe, Suzanne Rogers Call to Order Themeetingwascalledtoorderat3:05 PMbyChairpersonSharmBrantley.A quorum wasn’t established; however, the meeting was still held for discussion. Agenda Approval and Minutes No quorum was established so there was no vote. Public Comments None. New Business Adoption of 2024 Meeting Calendar The Committee was not able to vote on the 2024 Calendar due to the lack of a quorum. Members didn’t see any issues with the dates listed on the calendar. Rebekah Roth reported that she had contacted County Legal and found out that the 2024 calendar could be voted forby email but would have to be rd ratified at the January 3 meeting. Chair Brantley stated they would be putting together a draft and sending RSVPs out to get confirmation rd on who will be attending the January 3meeting. Old Business Discussion Items - Committee2024 Report and Presentation Chair Brantley and Ms. Roth informed the members in attendance that the 2024 Report and Presentation topics listed on the agenda would be discussed both during the meeting and with small groups after the meeting to make sure everyone was able to provide feedback ahead of the January meeting when the recommendations must be finalized. Committee 2024 Recommendations The members in attendance discussed the recommendations they would be making to the City and County elected boards in January. Feedback provided during the discussion included: Relating the new recommendations from those to last year, potentially structuring the report so 1 the new recommendation was included with last year’s recommendation and its update; Including visuals and graphics in the report narrative; Using the same structure for the 2024 recommendations as last year’swith five broader umbrellas/topic areas that the more specific recommendations would fall under; Recommending a joint County Commissioners/City Council meeting, including both jurisdictions’ Planning Boards, to allow for greater coordination and to focus on development barrierssince individual board members had been hearing different information anecdotally; Including recommendations to reduce development barriers under the policy change topic. Chair Brantley mentioned that absent member Frank Smith had some good ideas of what could be done; Specifying legislative agenda items in the recommendation; Emphasizing the need for a larger housing fund that could allow for more diverse funding opportunities such as both seed money and grant matches, revolving opportunities, capacity building, land acquisition programs, and opportunities for land donations (Atlanta model cited); and Continuing existing programs with sunsetting funding. The County’s gap rental assistance program was specifically mentioned. Key Data Points The committee members in attendance then discussed the data that should be included in the annual report. Points of discussion included: Including more details and graphics on what had been achieved; Providing more details on the Home Ownership Pool (HOP) program, for example, the number of households served this year versus last year; Incorporating a graph showing income level/demographic data would be helpful; Showing more background on the number of buyers and renters and providing clarity on who is buying and who the builders are; Identifying county and city surplus property that could be used for housing; and Inventorying affordable projects, including those with periods of affordability that would be expiring. Staff indicated that not all of this data was currently available and a potential goal of the committee could be to improve data for both evaluation and communication purposes. Presentation The committee briefly discussed the anticipated January presentation and dates for the City and County board meetings and their agenda deadlines.It was the consensus of the members in attendance that the second January board meeting dates were still the desired presentation dates. 2 Staff Updates County: Theo McClammy, NHC Housing Program Manager,reported that three of theWorkforce Housing Services Program (WHSP) contracts were underwaywithhopes to disburse funding within 30 days. Blue Ridge Atlantic Development had requested involvement of a non-profit to be included in the repayment, which was not included in the application. To change the payment, the request would need to be brought to th the Board of Commissioners at their January 8 meeting asking for payment to go to the non-profit. The request is intended to avoid tax implications for Blue Ridge Atlantic. City: City staff announcedthat they will be holdingworkshops in early January for the Human Services Grant Cycle. A Contractor Fair would take place Friday, December 8 at CFCC North Campus, and information would be emailed out. The City’s Greater Downtown Plan kicked off last week. Announcements Dr. Roxie Wells with Novant Health, the newest committee member, introduced herself. She comes with years of experience and passion in the health care field. She moved from Fayetteville. Both County and City noted continued staff transitions in the coming months. Adjourn Ms. Brantley requested a motion to adjourn the meeting. Members agreed by consensus. The meeting was adjourned at 4:49 P.M. 3