Agenda - 01-22-2009 - 6e - Laserfiche WebLink

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I8 and the answer was yes, they had. She said after looking at several studies, they had decided to focus on the chronic needs of the homeless and that group was pretty much already identified. Alderman Gist stated that did not mean that those that were experiencing short-term homelessness would be ignored. She stated the Task Force had looked at all the options to keep affordable and livable units within the Land Trust, and at the economic and the demographics of those in those units. Alderman Gist stated they could not continue to build one-bedroom, small condominiums that would only meet a very small population of those needed to be served. She said instead of having developers build such units, they could implement the PILS program and keep people in existing units and have those units remain operational, as well as to help deal with other homeless issues. Alderman Gist stated that was why they were asking their fellow elected officials to give serious consideration to the PILS program. Alderman Broun stated she wanted the elected officials to think holistically to include in the plan not just how to provide housing for the chronically homeless but to match that housing with the appropriate and necessary services. Alderman Gist stated those services were included in the plan. Commissioner Foushee stated it was important for all of them to understand that during this economic climate, that the model could not be sustained primarily on government funding. She said the PILS program would provide the opportunity for all of them to assess what their exact needs were at any particular time, whether it be additional units or maintenance of existing units, as well as to provide subsidy where it was needed. Commissioner Foushee stated it had been mentioned during the Task Force meetings that there should be a possibility as it was in other jurisdictions that they dedicate ad valorem funding for affordable housing. She said with their tax climate at this point, that was not the way to go, so they had quickly placed that at the bottom of the list of how to provide funding streams. Commissioner Foushee stated that Robert Dowling had presented these recommendations to Chapel Hill on September 8, and it appeared that they were in agreement that this was a time to reconsider how the payment-in-lieu system worked. She said she would hope that having been given the charge to bring forward these recommendations that they would be considered in a way that would move them forward. She stated the recommendation regarding using scattered sites was a way for providing somewhat more immediate housing to the chronically homeless, because that would use existing housing in established apartment complexes. Commissioner Foushee stated they were talking about $1.5 million over 25 years, and it was not something that could continue to come from ad valorem funding only. 9:34:46 PM Alderman Coleman asked did they know if they had the authority to impose an affordable housing transfer fee. Council Member Kleinschmidt sated they did that in Chapel Hill using the Special Use Permit process. Alderman Coleman stated Commissioner Foushee had mentioned the $1.5 million over 25 years, and asked was that actually based on the assessment of programmatic recommendations. Commissioner Foushee stated that was the figure that Robert Dowling had presented to them. 13