Testimony at January 9 hearing for the Senate's Committee on Housing and Community Affairs, and a December dialogue among mayors and developers both advance clear priorities.
Two recent
housing forums underscore the value of MPC’s legislative agenda, which
is outlined at the conclusion of this article.
On January
9, MPC
helped organize and moderate the second annual kick-off meeting for the new
Senate Committee on Housing and Community Affairs . Following an update on
activities implemented through “Building for Success:
Illinois’ Comprehensive Housing Plan ” from Kelly King Dibble, chair
of the Governor’s Housing Task Force and IHDA executive director, the senators
heard testimony from two different panels.
The first panel -- consisting of
Housing Action Illinois’ Bob Palmer, Riverdale Mayor Zenovia Evans, and the
Corporation for Supportive Housing’s Sue Augustus – outlined the many reasons
the current Executive Order on Housing needs to be transformed
into legislation in 2006. Palmer focused on how such legislation could better
advance the plan’s goals around helping lower-income households, while Evans
and Augustus focused on the need for mandatory intergovernmental coordination -- both
as it relates to housing and services for special needs populations, as
well as how it relates to housing and economic development and infrastructure to
preserve and expandworkforce housing options in high job growth areas and redeveloping
communities.
The second panel – consisting of
King Harris of Chicago Metropolis 2020, Mary White Vasys of the Preservation
Compact, Juanita Irizarry of Latinos United, and Rosanna Marquez of Leadership
Council for Metropolitan Open Communities - focused more on
existing market barriers that increased state leadership can address. Citing recent data from
Homes
for a Changing Region, Harris outlined the need for more multifamily
housing and how the state could encourage local policy change. Vasys outlined
trends related to the loss of existing affordable housing - challenges
to keep in mind as state and other policymakers work to address those trends
- and the overrall goals of the Preservation
Compact , whose final
report will go public this spring. Irizarry illustrated local examples of the
above market barriers, such as those addressed by the MPC Rolling Meadows Task Force
and a current private transaction inHighwood,
Ill. Marquez reminded state officials that the
need for fair housing enforcement and creative thinking are greater than ever,
and encouraged them to familiarize themselves with the facts and potential of The Segregation of
Opportunities
.
This Senate Hearing came on the heels of a
forum on December 14, when the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Housing Task Force
responded to requests from the development community and substituted its
regularly scheduled meeting with “How to Make Mixed-Income Housing Work: A Conversation
with Mayors and Homebuilders.” Hosted byRooseveltUniversity, at theSchaumburg campus, andHolland and Knight,
this forum was co-sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago
(HBAGC), Illinois Housing
Council, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus,
and Metropolitan Planning Council. Over two
dozen suburban municipalities were joined by approximately the same number of development
firms, most of which brought more than one representative, so that ultimately over
110 people were in attendance. The forum started with
some brief but informative updates from the co-chairs of the Metropolitan Mayors
Caucus, MPC, HBAGC, and from Joyce Probst, the governor’s new senior
housing advisor. These presentations offered a flavor of how the governor’s housing
plan is responding to local needs, while also challenging those in attendance to
advance the state’s housing priorities – especially the live-near-work and preservation goals.
Following these overviews were presentations of three
case studies
-- from the developers and municipal leaders involved
in mixed-income housing recently approved or developed in suburban
Chicago
communities, areas in which
workforce housing is scarce.
These case
studies
focused on whether the developments made money - for the builder and/or
for the town, what community acceptance issues were faced, and what tools
and policies can make it easier to do similar developments in the future. In
large part, these case studies demonstrated that the way these developments
succeed is through local leadership and creativity. However a big focus
of the conversation was to determine common
“asks” that mayors and developers have for the state - in other words, what key
state activities will enable us to increase the number of well-built homes
developed or preserved for Illinois’ moderate and low-income families. The common message was that those on the
ground trying to increase and improve the affordable and workforce housing
options per the governor’s housing plan hope for more support from the state by way of
bureaucratic relief and even some financial compensation.
Currently,
MPC is supporting four pieces of pieces
of legislation in Springfield
which advance this goal. Please email
rsnyderman@metroplanning.org
if you would like to be added as a supporter to any of the
below :
SB
2290 , the Comprehensive
Housing Planning Act, codifies
Gov. Blagojevich’s Executive Order
on Housing into legislation so that state departments such as
Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Department of Commerce and
Economic Opportunity, and others will really begin to work with Illinois
Housing Development Authority and the municipalities to make sure plans and
dollars are being efficiently connected to ensure housing affordable to the
local workforce is near jobs and transportation. By passing SB 2290, the state
continues momentum past this gubernatorial term and truly links state spending
in key areas such as economic development, transportation, and education to
affordable housing. This act also begins to combine funding applications,
creating the potential for something akin to that a one-stop shop. Click here
for a fact sheet on SB2290.
SB 2885 ,
Location Matters, provides
incentives for employers to consider and invest in housing options for
the local workforce. This legislation would allow DCEO to make the most
efficient use of limited state funds while assisting businesses with progressive
methods to invest in workforce stability - such as employer-assisted housing or
transit programs. DCEO would be able to apply limited state economic development
funds wisely; reduce commute time resulting in less traffic congestion and air
pollution; promote the availability of workforce housing near jobs; and help
businesses build a stable workforce. Click here
for a fact sheet on SB2885.
SB2698, School Funding Bonus for
Affordable Housing . In the spirit of the executive order and
governor's housing plan language encouraging municipalities advancing
affordable and workforce housing, and as a follow-up to Dec.14 forum, SB 2698
provides a school funding reimbursement to school districts affected by new
multifamily housing activity. Loosely modeled on the
Massachusetts ordinance that offers
this incentive in "smart growth districts," this bill provides the
reimbursement when multifamily housing (non-age-restricted, not
detached single family dwellings) advances the preservation and/or
live-near-work goals of the governor's housing plan. The bill is
structured as an amendment to the Local Planning Technical Assistance Act, which
enables the state to provide funding preferences for state programs (education,
transportation, planning, etc.) to towns with updated comprehensive plans, as
defined by the LPTA (and includes housing), or local housing plans as defined by
the Affordable Housing and Planning Appeals Act. Click here
for a fact sheet on SB2698.
SB2875, Fund Planning and Technical
Assistance Act . This act, which was passed in 2002, not only defines what
should be included in a comprehensive plan and offers a competitive edge to
towns implementing such plans, but also offers aid from the state to
municipalities and counties to update their plans. This act still lacks a
dedicated source of funding, so the impact of this legislation has been severely
diminished. Funding support for this legislation will provide much needed
aid for communities trying to address local housing supply issues. Click here
for a fact sheet on SB2875.