Strategies for addressing the city’s housing affordability crisis will be outlined in mid-June as part of the much-anticipated affordability piece of CodeNEXT.

Consequently, the deadline for public comment on the yet-to-be-released affordability section will be extended one month to mid-July, according to project managers.

With the second draft of CodeNEXT—the four-year, $6.2 million overhaul of the city's restrictive land development code—due out in August, the city is beginning to wrap up its work and feedback on the first draft of the proposed code's text and zoning maps.

 

“We want to give the community ample opportunity to provide comments on the affordability piece [before it's presented to the land use commissions],” CodeNEXT project manager Jorge Rousselin said. However, the deadline extension will only apply to the affordability piece, he said. For other sections of the code, staff will still only consider comments made prior to June 7 for their official presentation of the second draft to the city’s land use commissions in August. Rousselin said there is not an exact date for the mid-July deadline as of yet.

However, the comment deadline extension will only apply to the affordability piece, he said. For other sections of the code, staff will still only consider comments made prior to the original June 7 deadline. That feedback will be used when presenting to the city’s land use commissions in August. Rousselin said there is not an exact date for the mid-July deadline as of yet.

The code’s affordability section—a layout of affordable housing incentive programs—has proven to be highly complex and requires more time to sort out, CodeNEXT spokesperson Alina Carnahan said. The effort has included input from a team of experts, including staff from the city’s Planning and Zoning Departmen and consultant teams from Fregonese & Associates, Opticos Design, ECONorthwest and Lisa Wise Consulting.

Carnahan said the complexity comes in finding the correct balance. She said a successful incentive program cannot give away too many nor too few entitlements. Such a deal also has to be attractive enough for developers to buy into but balanced enough to avoid abuse—giving the city the chance to receive some return on investment.

Throughout the drafting process, Rousselin said CodeNEXT alone will not solve the city’s affordability crisis, nor will it be able to mandate home and rent prices or the development of affordable housing. That all is dictated by the market.

“CodeNEXT can offer more options that the market can react to,” Rousselin said Tuesday night at the District 2 CodeNEXT public meeting. “We can provide options, but we cannot legislate what is built.”

In addition to incentive programs, Rousselin said CodeNEXT affordability section also outlines ideas for allowing a greater diversity of housing types, a streamlined permitting process and the possibility for more “by-right” development, all of which are absent from the existing code.

The public will still be able to comment on the revamped land development code all the way until its final reading by City Council in 2018, Rousselin said. This initial comment period will contribute to staff presentations to the Planning Commission and the Zoning and Platting Commission. After June 7 and mid-July, the comments will go directly to the land use commissions for consideration before those groups offer their final recommendation to council in the fall.