HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/01/2017 Work Session City of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY MAY 1,2017
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room,225 Fifth
Street, Springfield,Oregon,on Monday,May 1, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.,with Mayor Lundberg presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon, Wylie,Moore, Stoehr,Woodrow and
Pishioneri.Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi,City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith,City
Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
1. Developing an Affordable Housing Strategy.
Sandy Belson, Comprehensive Planning Manager,presented the staff report on this item.
Mayor Lundberg complimented Ms. Belson and her team for writing the packet materials in a way that
is understandable and clear,and has a good question format.
Councilor Pishioneri agreed and said the document kept him engaged.
Ms. Belson introduced her team: Neil Obringer,Erin Fifield and Liz Butterfield.
Ms. Belson said during the last work session,the Council got through a large amount of information
and provided direction on a number of things.The Council focused on ways to incentivize the building
of affordable housing, including tax exemption options. They agreed to take what is currently in the
Springfield Municipal Code and bring it up to date in terms of statutes,and to explore the multi-unit
property tax exemption. Staff will look into that over the summer in order to understand the full
context and add suggested sideboards as requested. They will bring it back to the Council in the fall.
Ms.Belson said the Council also discussed system development charges(SDC)for accessory dwelling
units(ADU)and provided direction to waive the SDC. She asked if they were ready to have that come
to them as a resolution for Council action in the next month or two,or if they would prefer to wait
until after the Code amendments are completed.
Councilor Pishioneri asked when the Code amendments would be ready for Council.
Ms.Belson said as a land use process, it would go out for public comment,be presented for a public
hearing before the Planning Commission, and then a public hearing for the Council. It would likely be
near the end of the calendar year. Council could waive the SDCs by resolution in the next couple of
months,which is what she would recommend.
Councilor Moore said she is concerned in waiving the SDC if the Code does not clearly identify
ADUs.
Councilor Pishioneri said they would follow the current Code language.
Councilor VanGordon said he is ready to waive SDCs now. There will be code changes by the end of
the year,but this would give people time to do something and start planning now.
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Council Work Session Minutes
May 1,2017
Page 2
Councilor Stoehr asked for an explanation of SDCs.
Ms. Belson said it is the cost to the developer or builder when they build. It is their share of the system
improvement made to accommodate the increase in service needed to provide for that building. There
are three SDCs: transportation,wastewater and parks.
Councilor Stoehr said waiving the SDCs would provide an incentive.
Ms. Belson said it could also be considered removing impediment.
Mr. Grimaldi said if the Council decides to waive the SDC, staff will talk to Willamalane Parks and
Recreation District and Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) about waiving
their SDCs.
Mayor Lundberg said it is another good reason to do it now in order to allow time for conversations
with those agencies.
Council supported moving forward with the SDC waiver resolution.
Ms. Belson referred to the memo and the remaining questions: Question 6: Should Springfield allow
a small house to become the ADU and then build a second dwelling on the property as the primary
dwelling?
Councilor Stoehr referred to an example provided and said he would support that.
Councilor Woodrow said it didn't matter to her which was built first;the primary home or the ADU.
Councilor Pishioneri said that would be the preferred method if they are waiving SDCs. It relates to
the next question about the size of the ADU. He doesn't want to abuse the waiver of SDCs, and would
like some protections.
Ms. Belson said if they were building one small house first, it wouldn't be the ADU so they would pay
the SDCs.
Councilor Wylie said it makes sense to add to the housing stock.
Council supported allowing a small house to become the ADU and then build a second dwelling on
the property as the primary dwelling.
Ms. Belson referred to Question 7: How big can the accessory dwelling be in comparison with the
primary dwelling? Currently,the Code requires that the ADU not exceed 40%of the larger structure,
with a maximum of 750 square feet.
Councilor Pishioneri asked if this was applicable to the 6250 square foot lot.
Ms. Belson said 6250 was in Medium Density Residential(MDR)zoning.
Councilor Pishioneri said he liked the proportion of 40%,but he is thinking about how applicable that
is for houses under 750 square feet on the minimum lot size.
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Council Work Session Minutes
May 1,2017
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Ms.Belson said there are not many homes smaller than 750 square feet. If someone had a 1000 square
foot primary dwelling,this Code as written would mean the ADU could not be any larger than 400
square feet.
Councilor Pishioneri said he likes the 40%proportion,anything larger gets into a different housing
niche. This takes care of affordable housing.
Councilor Stoehr said the intent is to build small units that are affordable.He is comfortable with the
750 square foot cap, but not as comfortable with the 40%proportion since some very large houses on
big lots could then build a large house.He would be for reducing the 40%to 30%.
Councilor Woodrow said she is fine with 40%or the 750 square foot cap,because it says whichever
one is smaller. She wants to make sure the language in the Code addresses the option of building the
second home to be the primary dwelling and maintaining that proportion.
Councilor Wylie said she doesn't want to be too restrictive. What makes sense here in the meeting
may not make any sense at the permit counter.
Discussion was held regarding the proportion of the ADU to the primary house, regardless of which
was in place first.
Ms.Belson referred to a previous question about minimum lot size in LDR. She said the minimum lot
size in LDR(depending on orientation of the street), is 4500 or 5000 square feet.
Councilor VanGordon said he was fine with the 40%ratio.
Mayor Lundberg said there are small homes on large lots,and they won't want to put an 1800 square
foot house on the lot,but would still want an ADU. She feels restricting to 40%may be too
prohibitive. She would advocate for something that would make sense. She noted the many housing
designs in her neighborhood.
Councilor Stoehr asked if she would be supportive of keeping the maximum of 750 square feet.
Councilor Woodrow asked if they might want to create a range that was equal to or up to 40%for
existing small houses.
Mayor Lundberg said she is looking for something Council could live with,but not box them into a
corner.
Councilor Pishioneri said they could leave the maximum of 750 square feet for the ADU,and do away
with the proportionate piece. The purpose is to increase housing and be less restrictive.
Council supported Option B with the accessory unit smaller than the primary dwelling,with a
maximum of up to 750 square foot.
Councilor Moore clarified that if a 750 square foot home already existed on the property, a second
larger home could be built as the primary home.
Ms.Belson referred to Question 8: Is it OK to allow an unpaved(e.g. gravel)parking space if the
driveway serving the parking space is at least 18 feet long measured from the property line?
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Council Work Session Minutes
May 1,2017
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Councilor Moore said we have a lot of unpaved streets so we shouldn't require paved from unpaved
streets. There are two types of gravel and one compacts better so it doesn't track in. She asked if they
would have to pave if they currently didn't have a paved driveway.
City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith she would look into it further.
Councilor Woodrow said she had no problem with the parking space being gravel past the paved area.
Councilor Stoehr agreed. The people paying the price are those living there.
Councilor Pishioneri said he liked Option A which is that parking spaces do not have to be paved if
they are at the end of a paved driveway at least 18 feet long.
Ms. Belson said if they need a separate driveway coming off a paved street, it would need to be paved.
Councilor VanGordon said he also supported Option A.
Councilor Wylie said she doesn't want to see anything that adds to the cost.
Mayor Lundberg said many driveways still have gravel with utilities underneath. Paving over it could
cause an issue for the utilities.
Council was supportive of Option A.
Ms. Belson referred to Question 9: Should one of the dwelling units be owner-occupied?
Councilor VanGordon said he had no issue with it not being a home owner. The goal is to try to drive
up the housing stock. Homeownership remains a goal,but now they need to drive up the housing
inventory.
Councilor Moore said she will recuse herself when voting on this due to her circumstances on her
property. She is good with both being rentals.
Councilor Pishioneri said requiring one remain a homeowner could be a hindrance if someone wanted
to buy the property. He doesn't want to obstruct people moving to larger homes.
Councilor Wylie said she agreed. She didn't want to add restrictions.
Councilor Woodrow said she is comfortable with no restrictions.
Councilor Stoehr asked what the cap was of number of ADUs on a property.
Ms. Belson said currently one is allowed. In MDR they may allow two to meet minimum density.
Councilor Stoehr said he didn't have a problem with no homeowner on the property.
Councilor Pishioneri asked how the square footage of 6666 on Question 1 was calculated, and if it
could be rounded to a number that reads easier.
Ms. Belson said she could change it to 6650.
•
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Council Work Session Minutes
May 1,2017
Page 5
Ms.Belson spoke regarding the option of expanding the overnight parking program. The City has
been providing$5000/year to St.Vincent de Paul to manage the City's overnight parking program
which allows homeless people to stay overnight at churches or industrial sites. That$5000 pays for St.
Vincent de Paul to do background checks on those living at those sites, do drug testing if necessary,
and arrange and pay for the porta-potty and garbage pickup. The$5000 does not cover all costs,so St.
Vincent de Paul has been subsidizing that program. She asked if the Council would like to expand the
program and add money to the administration part of the contract to enable more sites. The options
presented were to increase costs to$10,000 annually or$20,000 annually.
Councilor VanGordon asked what St.Vincent DePaul would do with the additional $10,000 proposed.
He wanted to know if there was a service increase requested.
Ms.Belson said there could be a service increase if the City wanted to have them put staff time into
soliciting sites and engaging with the churches. Currently,they just respond and don't do any
outreach.
Councilor VanGordon said if Springfield Shelter Rights Alliance(SSRA) is willing to volunteer and
do the outreach,he would prefer to put funds towards the hard costs,but there are still unanswered
questions.
Ms.Belson said currently,the $5000 the City pays does not cover all of the costs.If they chose to
increase to $20,000,outreach would be included. If they paid $5000 or$10,000 it would just cover the
cost for porta potty and garbage.
Councilor VanGordon said he is fine increasing the amount to cover the hard costs, including
additional sites that may open up, and having SSRA do the outreach.
Mayor Lundberg said if more sites were added,they would have to come back to add to the budget. So
far,no one has been able to do the outreach to procure more sites.
Ms.Belson said SSRA is willing and prepared to send out a letter to the churches to solicit
involvement. The SSRA are volunteers.
Councilor Pishioneri said he doesn't think St.Vincent de Paul should have to absorb the cost. The City
should help pay the hard costs and make sure they are reimbursed for out of pocket expenses.Before
increasing the annual fees to expand the program,he would like to see a plan to make this program
sustainable. We need housing that is acceptable and sustainable.
Councilor Stoehr said if SSRA is willing to do the outreach, he would like to allow and encourage
them.He feels the City is getting a good deal with any of the options. If they could get 14 sites to
commit, it would be worth every penny. There is a lot of work and a lot of people are volunteering
their time.
Councilor Wylie said it is important we continue with this program. The concept of having a safe
place to park and sleep is very important. She thinks they will find there are a lot of people who need
the additional spaces and it is a bargain.
Mayor Lundberg said she would like to see more of a breakdown of the cost including the time it takes
St.Vincent de Paul to determine if someone qualifies for the program.
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Council Work Session Minutes
May 1,2017
Page 6
Ms.Belson said St.Vincent de Paul is not charging the City for any staff time. The staff time involved
in the breakdown is for them to come out to the site if there is a problem. She can provide more
information on those details.
Mayor Lundberg said this program does provide a service that the Council agreed to do and is a need
in our community. She would like to see how the numbers break down. They need someone to
manage the sites, so she would like to see those costs. She referred to other temporary housing, but
noted she is not in favor of those other options. She would like to see what they can do with this
program since it is well respected and known in the community,and is run well. They can see what the
need is and then decide if they should expand.
Councilor Moore said she and Councilor Stoehr visited the Opportunity Village which was transition
housing. She encouraged everyone to go to the Square One Villages site at Emerald Village to see all
the plans. It is a great site with tiny houses of about 260 square feet. Cottage Grove and Eugene will
be moving forward with this and it will be interesting to hear about their experience. Emerald Village
is permanent,tiny housing.
Councilor Pishioneri said when they started the overnight camping program with St.Vincent de Paul,
the City was only to cover the hard costs. The extra expenses are in addition and are a change to the
program.
Mr. Obringer said staff time had never been part of the original contract.
Councilor Pishioneri said this proposal is a program shift and he is not taking that part lightly. They
need to decide if they are going to start covering operational costs. He compared it with reimbursing
other social programs for their operational costs.
Councilor Wylie said they need a budget identifying hard costs, staff costs and potential costs.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:03 p.m.
Minutes Recorder-Amy Sowa
jiler
-Gristine-h.-Ertndberg Sean VanGordon
-Mayor- Council President
Attest:
Amy So
City Recorder