Urban Jacksonville

Thanks to special guests Beverly Toney from Fresh Ministries and Abel Harding, Urban Jacksonville Weekly political correspondent and Times Union business columnist.

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Fresh Ministries

• building hope, changing lives
• holistic approach
• get people to do things for themselves
• Jax v Chicago
• step by step
• thriving, safe community
• beautification
• how do we market this area?
• partner with COJ
• Crime-walks with JSO
• East Jacksonville boundaries
• other associations have formed as a result
• freshministries.org
• Twitter
• Tony – Eastside is looking better
• Beaver Street Enterprise Center
• community garden
• Tony – no permit required to sell produce from a community garden
• Abel – what is Beaver Street?
• Beaver Street – incubation center for small businesses, classes, resources
• anyone able to use it
• 6 Point Community Initiative
1. economic development
2. education
3. affordable housing
4. safety
5. health
6. strengthening families
• Tony – school system is a mess
• Eastside Resource Center – 1104 E 1st Street
• Joey – relationship between Stadium District and East Jacksonville
• stadium to Springfield should be a showcase
• Tony – old buildings, no money being lent
• proud that the community has come as far as it has
• volunteer

Recommendations

Abel – Annual Tour of Historic Churches downtown (tix at the library)
Tony – Black Saturday at RAM
Joey – Designers in Toyland December Art Walk (229 Hogan)
Jonathan – Burro Bags Art Show December 12th
Beverly – Fresh Ministries Annual Christmas Party – 1104 E 1st Street

Music

Tuesday, November 24
Cafe Eleven
Mountain Goats
Final Fantasy

Wednesday, November 25
Shantytown Pub
Americans in France (Chapel Hill, NC)
Business Casualties (Duval)

Friday, November 27
TSI
Gil Mantera’s Party Dream
Sunbears

NEXT WEEK

Chad Landenberger to talk about his role at AIGA Jacksonville, Designers in Toyland art show and I’m Board IV, Jacksonville’s 4th Annual Skateboard Art Show.

In this fourth installment of Urban Jacksonville’s dissection of the city’s task force on Affordable and Workforce Housing I will break down another of the task force’s recommendations:

Update the City’s Comprehensive Plan

This recommendation leads off with:

The City must update the Housing Element of its “Comprehensive Plan – Evaluation and Appraisal Report” with current data on the supply and need for affordable housing.

Every seven years, State law requires the City of Jacksonville to review and evaluate its Comprehensive Plan, or EAR, Evaluation and Appraisal Report. Lucky for us the newest revision of the plan has a deadline of October 2007, that’s just around the corner!

The task force states that the current plan is significantly out of date, about six years and 8 months by my counting. Check out this passage from the housing element of the EAR:

The EAR for the 2010 Comprehensive Plan comprises the 1990-1995 period. The EAR summarizes the condition of the element at the time of adoption of the 2010 Comprehensive Plan (1990) and the conditions at the time of preparation of the EAR (1995)

Wow, so our City’s decision’s on housing are based on data from 1990-1995. After skimming the housing element of the EAR (it’s 29 pages, no way am I reading the entire thing), it reads just like the current affordable and workforce housing task force report released two months ago. Sure some things have changed, but the song remains the same. It will be interesting to see how much of the most recent task force study will be regurgitated and propped up as the new EAR housing element document.

The current task force feels an updated plan would provide better guidance to a wide range of city government employees in: Planning & Development, Housing & Neighborhoods and the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. This updated plan would inform them on how to make decisions when it came to reviewing and commenting on new residential development proposals.

A notable conclusion to this third of thirty eight recommendations is the suggestion that Housing & Neighborhoods should work with the Planning Department to complete the housing element of the updated Comprehensive Plan.

So what’s in this EAR plan besides the previously mentioned housing element? It consists of historic preservation, transportation, recreation and open space, conservation and coastal management, capital improvements, future land use, infrastructure and intergovernmental coordination.

The City does solicit public input for this study. It is using findings from the Blueprint for Prosperity as a major source of input. You can fill out this survey to make your voice heard. If you provide your email address you will be added to the email notice list for upcoming meetings. Also for further information regarding public input into the EAR, contact Kenneth Logsdon, (904) 630-1606.

tags: jacksonville, affordable housing, workforce housing

LaVilla, future site of affordable housing?

Recommendation #2: Make Affordable Housing a Priority in the Disposition of City-Owned Land

This recommendation requires yet another task force to develop an inventory of City-owned land which may be appropriate for affordable housing. In addition the new task force must finalize criteria to foster affordable housing development. Apparently the city has been trying to develop this list for some time.

Luckily the State (Florida House of Representatives Bill – HB 1363) requires tangible results from this task force by July 2007. Task force members from Housing & Neighborhoods, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, JEDC and the City’s Real Estate Division will have to kick it into high gear to finalize this list by Summer.

Recommendation #2 also “suggests” that:

land determined to be appropriate for the construction of affordable or workforce housing should be given top priority for disposition to qualified affordable housing developers (prior to the City declaring such land as “surplus”) through a competitive Request for Proposals process.

Unfortunately this is only a suggestion. These recommendations are just that, recommendations. Without any defined goals they will remain suggestions. Fortunately the next sentence in the recommendation requests that the city target LaVilla, Brooklyn and East Jacksonville as locations for affordable housing developments.

LaVilla and Brooklyn are both in desperate need of any type of housing. East Jacksonville also known as Oakland or that “ghetto neighborhood North of Alltel” has a pretty good housing base, but most of it is dilapidated and in need of life.

If the city did inject additional residents into East Jacksonville by creating new affordable housing units it could very well be the next “it” neighborhood. Gridded streets, proximity to the sporting complex, Downtown, the river and the new residential and retail developments at The Shipyards could make this area an awesome alternative to the currently overpriced housing market that is Springfield.

Also in this recommendation the task force suggests that areas surrounding City-owned land should be evaluated to see if the exchange of land with surrounding property owners would benefit the City’s overall goal to develop infill, affordable housing. It cites the following example as a successful case study:

In 2006, Riverside Avondale Development Organization (“RADO”), a community-based nonprofit entity devoted to the development of affordable housing in Jacksonville, obtained land in North Riverside from the City of Jacksonville for the development of affordable housing. The land was previously used by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department for storage. Twelve single family homes will be developed on the three-acre site, priced at approximately $145,000 each. This is a prime example of how City-owned land that is appropriate for the development of affordable housing was put to productive use.

Finally the task force asked the city to review all existing DRIs within Duval County to see if they can fit some affordable housing units into the developments. DRI stands for Development of Regional impact. Basically it’s a big-ass development like Nocatee or Oakleaf. These housing developments are so large that they have an “impact on the region” and must be approved before the project can go forward. This part of the recommendation could act as an audit to make sure that developers who said they would include affordable units in their plans actually follow through with those promises.

At this time I would like to mention that I have contacted Elaine Brown three times to request information on my affordable and workforce housing series. I have not heard back from her. Does anyone know her or have any influence with her? I think her feedback could be a valuable contribution to this series.

Related Links:
411 on DRI’s from the Jacksonville Business Journal
Other posts in the Jacksonville affordable housing taskforce series

tags: jacksonville, affordable housing, workforce housing, dri

Recommendation #1: Preserve Existing Affordable Housing

In 2005 the State of Florida’s Affordable Housing Study Commission recommended preserving existing affordable housing as it’s primary objective. Any city in Florida studying affordable housing would, and should, come to the conclusion that preserving existing affordable housing stock would be a good first move.

It’s also a good place to kick off my continued evaluation of the Jacksonville Affordable and Workforce Housing Taskforce. I’ll dice the report into tasty bite-size chunks with none of the stuff you don’t need.

In it’s first recommendation the taskforce identifies five reasons why the current stock of affordable housing is dwindling and points out 4 ways to stop the bleeding.

Our Current Stock

1. The City’s (entire) housing stock is aging
2. Thousands of market rate rental units have been converted into condominiums
3. The lost multifamily units (above) have not been replaced by new affordable housing
4. Units built in exchange for property owner commitments to maintain affordability are near the end of mandated affordable compliance periods
5. Federal funding for programs that preserve affordability are decreasing

So why is it so important to preserve existing affordable housing?

The preservation of existing multifamily units is less expensive and more efficient than new construction. The MacArthur Foundation has estimated that it costs 50% to 75% less to preserve an affordable unit than to build a new one.

How do we stop the bleeding?

1. Listen to the state report and bust our ass to preserve existing affordable housing
2. Study public records to determine what income levels are being served by existing units and when the mandatory affordability compliance periods end.
3. Incentives for developers to preserve affordable units approach the end of their compliance periods.
4. Offer low-interest loans to improve and maintain existing affordable housing units in Jacksonville.

Preservation seems to be a very popular theme in affordable housing right now. After my research I feel this is an excellent recommendation to kick of the rest of the report. The City of San Diego lists affordable housing goals on the city’s website. Some searching on the City of Jacksonville website yielded the Jacksonville Housing Commision page which does talk about affordable housing initiatives.

The difference in our two cities is San Diego also has a page of accomplishments. Talk about accountability. I didn’t see any measurable goals listed in Jacksonville’s affordable housing taskforce report. Maybe we should create a taskforce to create measurable goals.

Related Links:
Affordable Housing Series from Urban Jacksonville
Florida’s Affordable Housing Study Commission (pdf)
Affordable and Workforce Housing Taskforce Report (doc)
City of Jacksonville Affordable Housing Taskforce

tags: jacksonville, affordable+housing, workforce+housing

It’s been two weeks since the City of Jacksonville released it’s study on affordable and workforce housing in Jacksonville. With little (Thanks Karen!) or no media coverage of this report I am taking it upon myself to cover it. WJCT’s Karen Feagins did an audio report on the affordable and workforce housing taskforce story. It clocks in at just under 5 minutes and is a great summary of the report. At two weeks this story is old news by today’s standards, but whatever.

The study begins by summarizing the affordable housing crisis in Jacksonville and across the country. It attributes the affordable housing crisis to increasing land costs, hyper-appreciated housing values and insurance, rising interest rates, wages that don’t track inflation and government affordable housing programs that can’t keep pace with these changes.

Jacksonville attacks the affordable housing crisis by studying three areas identified by the taskforce as important to addressing housing needs in the city:

1. Leveraging the availability of City-owned land to spur affordable housing production;
2. Furthering existing and establishing new City partnerships with both not-for-profit and for-profit developers to bring affordable housing to the market
3. Identifying and making recommendations about legislative and regulatory barriers to the development of affordable housing.

Mmmmm. So vague. So tasty. So bureaucratic sounding. At this point, the study starts throwing out definitions and figures. It offers definitions of affordable housing and workforce housing and begins to lay a framework for the 38, yes, 38 recommendations of the taskforce. The recommendations, some which taken from other cities around the country:

are intended to be a starting point for ongoing discussion, and will serve as a guide for elected officials, City staff, and community stakeholders as they continue to address Jacksonville’s ongoing needs for affordable and workforce housing.

The taskforce goes on to say not all the recommendations will be implemented, they are merely a starting point for discussion and may require additional investigation. In other words a taskforce taskforce. So on to the recommendations:

1. Preserve Existing Affordable Housing
2. Make Affordable Housing a Priority in the Disposition of City-Owned Land
3. Update the City’s Comprehensive Plan
4. Create an Affordable/Workforce Housing Development Office
5. Strengthen the Affordable Housing Components of DRIs
6. Continue to Build Support for the “Seeds of Change: Growing Great Neighborhoods” Program
7. Improve Infrastructure
8. Use CDBG Funds on Complementary Projects
9. Coordinate Drainage and Open Space Requirements in All Neighborhoods
10. Encourage Employer-Assisted Housing Programs
11. Adopt the “Don’t Borrow Trouble” Program to Increase Financial Literacy and Homebuyer Readiness
12. Eliminate Barriers to Efficiently Allocating Housing Resources and Improve Communications with the Mayor’s Office and the City Council
13. Mandate Long-Term Affordability
14. Ensure Shared Appreciation & Recapture Funds
15. Continue Local Bond Issues
16. Create an Affordable/Workforce Housing Trust Fund
17. Create a Revolving Loan Acquisition Fund
18. Create a Predevelopment Fund and Facilitate Title Clearances
19. Create a Local SAIL Product
20. Accumulate Funds for Downtown and Infill Housing
21. Become More Aware of and Involved with FHFC’s Programs
22. Encourage Development Along Transportation Corridors and Mass Transit
23. Appropriately Assess Ad Valorem Taxes
24. Study the Save Our Homes Amendment to the Florida Constitution and Proposed Increase in the Homestead Exemption
25. Support the “Scrap the Cap” Initiative
26. Support Insurance Reform
27. Expedite Review Processes
28. Waive or Defer Permitting Fees
29. Implement Density Bonuses
30. Consider Fractional Permits for Increased Density
31. Transfer Development Rights
32. Provide Other Incentives
33. Combat NIMBYism
34. Utilize Architectural Design Standards
35. Develop Strategies to Better Address the Homeless and the Extremely Low-Income
36. Encourage Inclusionary Communities by Incentives, Not Mandates
37. Implement Community Land Trusts
38. Authorize a Nexus Study

With so many recommendations it’s hard to know where to get started. What is City Hall actually doing to implement these recommendations? What are CDBG Funds? What is the “Scrap the Cap” Initiative? I don’t know. I hope to find out.

In reality homebuilders and developers are not going to find it in their hearts to start producing affordable housing units. It’s going to take government intervention and developer incentives to bring affordable housing to the market. It’s also going to take an educated populace to demand affordable housing for our teachers, firefighters and police officers.

Affordable and Workforce Housing Taskforce Report

tags: jacksonville, affordable housing, workforce housing