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Monthly Archives: September 2016

Habitat for Humanity needs volunteers for confluence rebuild

26 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by amyreinholds in What's the future of affordable housing in Lyons? column

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Published in the September 22, 2016, edition of the Lyons Recorder.

Habitat for Humanity needs volunteers for confluence rebuild

by Amy Reinholds

Do you want to support Lyons neighbors rebuilding in the confluence neighborhood? Sign up with a Habitat for Humanity ReBuild project in Lyons starting today through the end of October.

Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley is working Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays on Mark Bray’s home on Park Street. The foundation and home have been raised above the flood plain, and Habitat is now ready to staff teams three days a week for about two months. They are ready to rebuild and need your help to reconstruct and finish the first floor of the home.

No experience or tools are necessary, says Rebecca Shannon, Outreach and Volunteer Manager for Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley. “We will have all supplies on site and can teach folks whatever construction related task we’re focused on that day.” The work day begins at 8:30 a.m., with about an hour for lunch, and an expected end time of 4:30 p.m. Everyone must be present for a mandatory safety orientation at the start of the day.

Habitat asks people to register ahead of time so that they have enough materials and supervision so that everyone can be productive. Sign up for a day on the online build schedule at www.stvrainhabitat.org/flood-repair-volunteer-opportunities. Anyone who would prefer to register by phone or email, or who has questions about this Lyons rebuilding project, can contact Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley at 303-682-2485 x 102 or volunteer@stvrainhabitat.org.

This work is part of the ReBuild program, Habitat’s critical home repair program, designed to help homeowners affected by the September 2013 floods. Later this year and next, Habitat for Humanity expects to be starting construction on 6 new townhomes on a newly subdivided southern portion of the former Valley Bank site near 2nd and Park streets in Lyons.

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Trustees support ADU proposals, but more work to be done

23 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by amyreinholds in What's the future of affordable housing in Lyons? column

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ADUs, AmyReinholds, policy, rentals

Published in the September 22, 2016, edition of the Lyons Recorder.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

Trustees support ADU proposals, but more work to be done

by Amy Reinholds

The Lyons Board of Trustees expressed support for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on single-family home lots sharing tap fees with the primary house, requiring owner occupancy in either the main house or the ADU, and requiring longer-term rentals of 30 days or longer. However, more steps are required before Town of Lyons ordinances are changed, including sending the proposed ordinance wording changes reviewed by the town attorney back to the Planning and Community Development Commission (PCDC) for an Oct 10 public hearing. Then, there will be two public hearings before the Board of Trustees on Oct. 17 (first reading) and Nov. 7 (final reading).

That means the public will have three opportunities to comment on proposed changed town policies for ADUs, also called mother-in-law apartments or carriage houses, within the town limits of Lyons.

At the Sept. 19 meeting of the Board of Trustees, representatives from the PCDC and the Utilities and Engineering Board (UEB) met in a workshop about votes on proposed revisions to Lyons municipal code earlier this month. The UEB approved a recommendation 4-1 that ADUs, which are defined as 800 s.f. or less, should be connected to the water, wastewater, and electric utilities of the principle dwelling unit, and additional utility connection fees (approximately $15,000-$16,000) are required only for new primary dwelling units. The PCDC approved a recommendations 5-1 to revise Town code with ADU definitions, aiming to encourage more small apartments for long-term rentals at the lower end of the market: ADUs would be able to share the utilities with the main house, but the property owners would be required to live in either the ADU or the main house more than half of each calendar year, and the ADU could only be rented out for a period of time of 30 days or longer, eliminating short-term vacation rentals by the week or by the day.

Then as part of the regular agenda, the Trustees further discussed possible routes to encourage ADUs. They raised more questions for the PCDC and Town Planning staff to address at the Oct. 10 public hearing, including a discussion on whether market-rate, although smaller, homes could help meet goals for affordable housing, or if there could be ways to encourage below-market rents.

There is direction for ADUs in two documents that the PCDC, Trustees, and Town Staff are guided by. Housing Strategy 1.1.1 in the 2010 Lyons Comprehensive Plan is “Review and revise Lyons’ Land Use Code as necessary to promote: mixed-use buildings such as live/work units near downtown, accessory dwelling units such as mother-in-law apartments and caretaker residences, and a variety of lot sizes and types of homes in all residential districts.” Also, Housing goal 1.3.1 in the Lyons Recovery Action Plan includes housing that is affordable based on size or square footage. Additionally, the PCDC was directed to look at tools for encouraging increasing affordable housing that were listed in the the April 2016 Affordable Housing Ordinance, which included reducing or waiving tap fees for ADUs. All of these are market-rate solutions. A current Town of Lyons ADU policy has been in place for about two years, but no one has requested a permit.

Although encouraging ADUs is generally a free-market approach, discussion at past PCDC meetings and the Sept. 19 Board of Trustees meeting included how to encourage landlords to make ADU rentals affordable to renters with lower incomes instead of just renting at market rate. Ideas that the trustees discussed briefly included possible licensing fees or permit fees being tiered, or waived based on whether landlords building ADUs committed to renting below market rate. Town Staff will also look into whether some flood recovery funds at the county or state levels might be available for some incentives, such as low-interest loans for homeowners who commit to renting at affordable rates to lower incomes for a set period of time.

Additional questions that the Board of Trustees discussed include whether there should be a change to the number of unrelated people who can live in a home (current Town of Lyons code is 3), and whether there should be a limit on the number of people who can live in an ADU, maybe based on square footage. The PCDC had considered these limits previously and will revisit them again as part of the Oct. 10 PCDC public hearing.

Other items that will go back to the PCDC for further discussion with Town Staff include how to track separate addresses for ADUs and registration for emergency response officials, and a statement in the code that would allow homeowners to install their own separate meter to track ADU utility use, even though ADUs are sharing the utility with the main house.

The Town of Lyons also is beginning a larger discussion of short-term vacation rentals that are not in ADUs but in rooms are part of the main house. At the Sept. 19 meeting, trustees discussed support for including sales tax and even a future occupancy fee, although limits will still be discussed further. On Thursday, Sept. 29, Lyons town staff will hold a focus group for people who currently rent out their homes, or part of their homes, for short term vacation rentals (such as on AirBnB or VRBO websites).

If people are renting out rooms or homes in a single-family residential zoned lot in the Town of Lyons, it is not currently a use allowed by right. However, those who participate in the focus group will have a chance to shape future short-term vacation rental policy to allow some vacation rentals in neighborhoods. It’s a chance to decide what is reasonable for number of people in a vacation rental and how many days a year it is rented out, develop a code of ethics for landlords, and get important advice for dealing with homeowners insurance companies that might drop or not cover homeowners who rent rooms or homes as short-term vacation rentals. Any homeowner who rents out rooms needs to pay attention to homeowners insurance. Contact Lyons Flood Recovery Planner Matthew Manley at Town Hall if you are interested in participating in the Sept. 29 focus group: mmanley@townoflyons.com.

And even if you aren’t renting out rooms in your house, Town Staff who are meeting with the focus groups want some data on how Town of Lyons residents feel about short-term vacation rentals in single-family home residential areas. Before Sept. 26, you can give your input in a survey at http://www.townoflyons.com/FormCenter/Surveys-12/ShortTerm-Vacation-Rentals-STVRs-in-Lyon-60 .

While rental policies can help Lyons, we still need other affordable housing options that are subsidized and permanently affordable, not dependent on the market. For a history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns posted on my blog at https://lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com . All town meetings of the elected Lyons Board of Trustees and appointed town boards and commissions like the PCDC are open to the public and posted on the town calendar at www.townoflyons.com/calendar.aspx. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @hotmail.com.

 

Amy Reinholds served on the Lyons Housing Recovery Task Force from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee from 2015-2016. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.

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Planning Commission votes 5-1 for ADU recommendations

16 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by amyreinholds in What's the future of affordable housing in Lyons? column

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ADUs, AmyReinholds, policy, rentals

Published in the September 15, 2016, edition of the Lyons Recorder.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

Planning Commission votes 5-1 for ADU recommendations

by Amy Reinholds

After hearing public comment that supported similar goals on Sept. 12, the Lyons Planning and Community Development Commission (PCDC) approved recommendations to revise Town code with accessory dwelling unit (ADU) definitions, aiming to encourage more small apartments for long-term rentals at the lower end of the market.

Both the PCDC and the Utilities and Engineering Board (UEB) will present their proposed revisions to Lyons municipal code to the Board of Trustees on Monday, Sept. 19 at a 5:30 p.m. workshop, and the trustees will make a final decision on changes to town code, after another public hearing. The biggest change recommended is that the ADUs, such as carriage houses, mother-in-law apartments on single-family-home lots, would be able to share the utilities with the main house (with no additional tap fees or connection fees, also called development or community investment fees). The UEB approved 4-1 a recommendation on Sept. 7 that ADUs, which are defined as 800 s.f. or less, should be connected to the water, wastewater, and electric utilities of the principle dwelling unit, and additional utility connection fees (approximately $15,000-$16,000) are required only for new primary dwelling units.

If these changes are adopted by the Board of Trustees, with a discount of about $16,000 for a homeowner from current requirements, it will be interesting to see how many people apply for permits for ADUs. The current ADU policy has been in place for about two years, but no one has requested a permit.

Also part of the PCDC recommendation determined on Sept. 12, the property owners must live in either the ADU or the main house more than half of each calendar year, and the ADU can only be rented out for a period of time of 30 days or longer, eliminating short-term vacation rentals by the week or by the day.

Town staff and members of the PCDC and the UEB have been working on some recommended changes in policy over the past two months, researching ADU policies for municipalities in Colorado and other states, and responding to direction from the Board of Trustees. Earlier in the summer, the Lyons Board of Trustees directed the PCDC to come up with a work plan that promotes affordable housing through rentals of accessory dwelling units, referring to the Affordable Housing Resolution that the Board of Trustees passed on April 18 for possible incentives and policies to implement (see https://lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com/2016/04/21/outgoing-trustees-pass-affordable-housing-resolution ).

It’s important to note that ADUs would be market-rate housing, estimated to be lower-priced than other rentals because of the size, but still controlled by the market, or the optional choice of landlords to rent below market rate. According to standard definitions across the country to determine housing-cost burdens, if the rents are less than 30 percent of income of a particular tenant, the rental is considered “affordable” to that tenant. For example, a $1,000-a-month rental that includes utilities ($12,000 a year spent on housing costs) would be “affordable” for an individual who makes more than $40,000 a year (approximately $3,334 a month or more). My example is a math exercise – there’s no telling if market rate ADUs in Lyons will be as low as $1,000 a month, including utilities, or even if they are, how long they will stay that low.

If the time that landlords can rent out for short-term vacation rentals is limited, hopefully, some new apartments can be available for people who work in town and want to find a small place on the lower-end of the rental market, but there is no guarantee that homeowners will rent to long-term tenants. ADUs also can be free or discounted housing for family members (for example, actual mother-in-law apartments) or can support aging-in-place as options for live-in caregivers for people who live in the primary houses.

As a separate issue, many of the people who spoke at the Sept. 12 PCDC public hearing were interested in policy for short term vacation rentals that are not part of ADUs, such as rooms in their homes. On Thursday, Sept. 29, Lyons town staff will hold a focus group for people who currently rent out their homes, or part of their homes, for short term vacation rentals (such as on AirBnB or VRBO websites). If people are renting out rooms or homes in a single-family residential zoned lot in the Town of Lyons, it is not currently a use allowed by right. However, those who participate in the focus group will have a chance to shape future short-term vacation rental policy that will allow some vacation rentals in neighborhoods. It’s a chance to decide what is reasonable for number of people in a vacation rental and how many days a year it is rented out, develop a code of ethics for landlords, and get important advice for dealing with homeowners insurance companies that might drop or not cover homeowners who rent rooms or homes as short-term vacation rentals. Any homeowner who rents out rooms needs to pay attention to homeowners insurance. Contact Lyons Flood Recovery Planner Matthew Manley at Town Hall if you are interested in participating in the focus group: mmanley@townoflyons.com.

While rental policies can help Lyons, we still need other affordable housing options that are subsidized and permanently affordable, not dependent on the market. For a history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns posted on my blog at https://lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com. All town meetings of the elected Lyons Board of Trustees and appointed town boards and commissions like the PCDC are open to the public and posted on the town calendar at www.townoflyons.com/calendar.aspx. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @hotmail.com.

 

 

Amy Reinholds served on the Lyons Housing Recovery Task Force from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee from 2015-2016. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.

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What I’ve learned in the 3 years since the flood

15 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by amyreinholds in What's the future of affordable housing in Lyons? column

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AmyReinholds, background, media

Published in the Sept 14, 2016, edition of the Redstone Review. 

COMMENTARY: What’s the fix for affordable housing in Lyons?

What I’ve learned in the three years since the flood

By Amy Reinholds
Redstone Review

LYONS – I started writing this “What’s the fix for affordable housing in Lyons?” column in early 2015, after a majority of Town of Lyons voters rejected a proposal for affordable housing in part of Bohn Park. For the three-year anniversary of the flooding that permanently changed our town, I’m thinking about what affordable housing initiatives our community has pursued since the flood, and what I have learned in the past three years. For everyone in the Lyons community, I wish you the best in rebuilding, focusing on your future, and reflecting on the past of our resilient community.

Here’s a summary of what I’ve learned in the past three years since the flood:

1.) Affordable housing takes a long time, and it’s not easy. But nothing happens at all if no one tries in the first place, or if no one perseveres.

2.) We can’t rely on Facebook posts for factual information. Like accepting rumors heard on the street, believing Facebook posts at face value causes misinformation and strife.

3.) As part of human nature, people are naturally self-centered. And in our time-crunched society, people often prioritize attending town meetings or volunteering their time only for issues that affect them personally. But under certain circumstances, we do reach out beyond ourselves to help our neighbors, as we saw an overwhelming majority of our community and visitors do in the immediate aftermath of the flood.

4.) “Lead, follow, or get out of the way!” I saw this motto on a plaque at an event honoring LaVern Johnson, who has devoted decades to serving on Town of Lyons boards and commissions. Related to the previous point, there’s a natural tendency to proclaim that something needs to get done (like affordable housing), but it is someone else’s job. We naturally want to blame others when events don’t unfold the way we think they should. Instead, I prefer the approach that people who are passionate about initiatives should take the lead, and those who aren’t willing to devote the time and energy should accept the leaders who step forward. There’s always room for others debating the direction to sit at the table, but you have to be willing to devote at least equal time and energy – and be willing to actually sit in a chair at the same table with the leaders.

5.) Each person was affected uniquely in Lyons by the flood. We can be emotionally tied to our neighbors’ struggles, and we can join together in support groups for moving through common challenges. But we will never truly walk in our neighbors’ boots.

6.) Similarly, each person has a unique perspective on who to trust and distrust. What makes sense to me about the levels of trustworthiness of federal, state, county, and town government officials or staff, those with authority like professors or heads of religious organizations, or big or small corporations and business owners, isn’t the same as what other neighbors think.

7.) As a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission, I’ve learned that there is a significant financial need in Lyons. Increasing housing costs only make it more difficult for a family to stretch a budget. An estimated 25%-30% of Lyons-area residents rely on some form of assistance from external agencies to have their basic needs met, based on data from the Lyons Emergency Assistance Fund (LEAF), and the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. About 10%-15% of Lyons kids qualify for free/reduced school lunches (less than $44,000 annual income for a family of four), and it takes $75,906 for a family of four in our county to be “self-sufficient” (not require assistance from external agencies, such as social services, nonprofits, or churches).

8.) Finally, another human nature observation: We all want to feel good about doing something. Some of us crave affirmation, and some of us like to do good in secret, or we fall somewhere in between. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, my employer offered an opportunity to donate through our paychecks to specific relief funds that helped in New Orleans, and I continued donating through paychecks each year to organizations I learned about like the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and Habitat for Humanity. Then in 2013, I saw those organizations come to help Lyons, and I met more like Team Rubicon and Calvary Relief. Although it sounds gloomy, there is always going to be another natural disaster somewhere, whether the New Jersey coast, the Gulf Coast, Nepal, Oklahoma, Japan, Mexico, Texas, India, South Carolina, California, Louisiana, or somewhere else. I urge you to regularly donate to organizations you have seen help in Lyons, so they are ready to deploy wherever the next disaster hits.

Keep following my columns in both Lyons papers for news about accomplishments to increase affordable housing stock in Lyons after the 2013 floods. For history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns posted on my blog at lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com. All town meetings of the elected Lyons Board of Trustees and appointed, volunteer town boards and commissions are open to the public and posted on the town calendar at www.townoflyons.com/calendar.aspx. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, contact me directly at areinholds @hotmail.com.

Amy Reinholds served on the Lyons Housing Recovery Task Force from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee during its existence from April 2015-April 2016. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.

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Three years since the flood

10 Saturday Sep 2016

Posted by amyreinholds in What's the future of affordable housing in Lyons? column

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2nd&Park, ADUs, AmyReinholds, background, easterncorridor, habitatforhumanity, media, policy

Published in the Sept 8, 2016, edition of the Lyons Recorder. 

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

Three years since the flood

by Amy Reinholds

I started writing this “What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?” column in early 2015, after a majority of Town of Lyons voters rejected a proposal for affordable housing in part of Bohn Park. For the three-year anniversary of the flooding that permanently changed our town, I’ve collected a summary of what affordable housing initiatives our community has pursued since the flood, and a summary of what I have learned in the past three years. For everyone in the Lyons community, I wish you the best in rebuilding, focusing on your future, and reflecting on the past of our resilient community.

Here’s the status of possible post-flood affordable housing initiatives that have been proposed in Lyons in the past three years since the flood:

  • Before the former Board of Trustees ended their term on April 18, 2016, they unanimously approved an Affordable Housing Resolution that specifies a goal of 10% affordable housing stock in Lyons with a list of possible housing policies and incentives that future boards can use to accomplish that goal. The current Board of Trustees directed the Planning and Community Development Commission (PCDC), the Utilities and Engineering Board, and Town Staff to determine proposals for implementing policies that encourage affordable housing.
  • On July 5, 2016, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved final rezoning and subdivision steps to allow 6 residential lots at 2nd and Park to be sold to Habitat for Humanity of the St Vrain Valley. The 6 lots for 3 duplexes can be sold to Habitat for Humanity after the plat is recorded, and the former bank building will remain on a commercial lot. Habitat for Humanity will complete the required subdivision improvements for the residential lots, planning to begin these improvements after closing on purchasing the lots from landowners Downtown Lyons Development, LLC. In June 2015, Craig Ferguson purchased the 0.76-acre parcel from Valley Bank, and the previous Board of Trustees voted unanimously to waive water and sewer connection fees that they have control over for the proposed Habitat for Humanity homes. The total of about $173,500 in savings will help Habitat for Humanity meet its permitting and fees budget, keeping mortgages down to about $150,000 for homeowners. Habitat for Humanity acts as a builder and a lender of no-interest loans for homeowners.
  • In recent months, the PCDC and Town Planning Staff, directed by the current Board of Trustees are focusing on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and rental policies, a possible free-market approach to increase the number of initially lower-priced rentals for people who work in town. If you are a landlord or vacation rental host in Lyons town limits, or want to be one, make sure to attend the PCDC public hearing next Monday, Sept. 12, at 7-9 p.m. at Lyons Town Hall, where the public has a chance to comment and help shape policy for how ADUs can be built and used in single-family residential lots in Lyons town limits. For more details, see https://lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/public-can-comment-about-adus-at-sept-12-planning-commission-meeting/.
  • A proposal for subsidized affordable housing rentals and some Habitat for Humanity for-sale affordable homes (a total of 50-70 units) in 5-7 acres of Bohn Park was voted down 614 to 498 in a March 24, 2015, special election mail ballot, an attempt at post-flood housing recovery after 14 months of work by the Lyons Housing Recovery Task force and hired planning consultants and the Lyons Housing Collaborative. The Boulder County Housing Authority (funded by our county tax dollars) continues to manage three other rental properties in Lyons that have long waiting lists: 8 apartments at Bloomfield Place, 12 apartments at Walter Self Senior Housing, and 6 apartments at Mountain Gate.
  • At the end of 2015, the Town of Lyons submitted a proposal to the National Disaster Resilience Competition, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that included affordable housing and a safe haven community center, and the Town entered into option-to-buy contract with the City of Longmont for the former Longmont water treatment land on the north and south sides of Hwy 66. Lyons received the disappointing news in January 2016 that the competition didn’t award any funds to the State of Colorado, but other funding might be found. In March and April of 2016, the Lyons community participated in the Eastern Corridor Primary Planning Area planning process, providing input on future land use in that area, whenever future landowners apply to annex to Lyons. Affordable housing, senior housing, small cottages, and mixed residential, business, and retail use were some of the land uses that the public strongly supported for the Eastern Corridor. In July 2016, trustees said results of a survey showed community support for affordable housing in the Eastern Corridor with 65% of respondents saying that affordable housing was “essential” or “very important.” They saw it as a positive endorsement of moving forward if the opportunity presented itself to have the Town of Lyons buy and annex a parcel in the Eastern Corridor. At the Sept. 6, 2016, Board of Trustees meeting, the trustees and Town Administrator Victoria Simonsen talked about options for possibly using parts of the northern parcel of the former water treatment plant as a site for the Lyons Public Works building, because FEMA has determined that the temporary location at the Vasquez stone yard does not meet requirements for a permanent location. Other options discussed were a possibility of Colorado Department of Transportation moving out to a part of the former water treatment plant site, maybe swapping land it currently owns near Eagle Canyon that could become residential.
  • Simonsen also told the Board of Trustees at the Sept. 6 meeting that in the last few weeks, two separate groups have come to her saying they would like to build permanently affordable housing in Lyons and leverage $4 million in federal disaster recovery funds that will be available. The groups are considering buying some privately owned parcels in the Eastern Corridor and elsewhere. The Board of Trustees directed her to meet with the groups to understand the proposals and bring updates to a future meeting.

Here’s a summary of what I’ve learned in the past three years since the flood:

  • Affordable housing takes a long time, and it’s not easy. But nothing happens at all if no one tries in the first place, or if no one perseveres.
  • We can’t rely on Facebook posts for factual information. Like accepting rumors heard on the street, believing Facebook posts at face value causes misinformation and strife.
  • As part of human nature, people are naturally self-centered. And in our time-crunched society, people often prioritize attending town meetings or volunteering their time only for issues that affect them personally. But under certain circumstances, we do reach out beyond ourselves to help our neighbors, as we saw an overwhelming majority of our community and visitors do in the immediate aftermath of the flood.
  • “Lead, follow, or get out of the way!” I saw this motto on a plaque at an event honoring LaVern Johnson, who has devoted decades to serving on Town of Lyons boards and commissions. Related to the previous point, there’s a natural tendency to proclaim that something needs to get done (like affordable housing), but it is someone else’s job. We naturally want to blame others when events don’t unfold the way we think they should. Instead, I prefer the approach that people who are passionate about initiatives should take the lead, and those who aren’t willing to devote the time and energy should accept the leaders who step forward. There’s always room for others debating the direction to sit at the table, but you have to be willing to devote at least equal time and energy – and be willing to actually sit in a chair at the same table with the leaders.
  • Each person was affected uniquely in Lyons by the flood. We can be emotionally tied to our neighbors’ struggles, and we can join together in support groups for moving through common challenges. But we will never truly walk in our neighbors’ boots.
  • Similarly, each person has a unique perspective on who to trust and distrust. What makes sense to me about the levels of trustworthiness of federal, state, county, and town government officials or staff, those with authority like professors or heads of religious organizations, or big or small corporations and business owners, isn’t the same as what other neighbors think.
  • As a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission, I’ve learned that there is a significant financial need in Lyons. Increasing housing costs only make it more difficult for a family to stretch a budget. An estimated 25% -30% of Lyons-area residents rely on some form of assistance from external agencies to have their basic needs met, based on data from the Lyons Emergency Assistance Fund (LEAF), and the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. About 10%-15% of Lyons kids qualify for free/reduced school lunches (less than $44,000 annual income for a family of four), and it takes $75,906 for a family of four in our county to be “self-sufficient” (not require assistance from external agencies, such as social services, nonprofits, or churches).
  • Finally, another human nature observation: We all want to feel good about doing something. Some of us crave affirmation, and some of us like to do good in secret, or we fall somewhere in between. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, my employer offered an opportunity to donate through our paychecks to specific relief funds that helped in New Orleans, and I continued donating through paychecks each year to organizations I learned about like the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and Habitat for Humanity. Then in 2013, I saw those organizations come to help Lyons, and I met more like Team Rubicon and Calvary Relief. Although it sounds gloomy, there is always going to be another natural disaster somewhere, whether the New Jersey coast, the Gulf Coast, Nepal, Oklahoma, Japan, Mexico, Texas, India, South Carolina, California, Louisiana, or somewhere else. I urge you to regularly donate to organizations you have seen help in Lyons, so they are ready to deploy wherever the next disaster hits.

For history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns posted on my blog at https://lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com. All town meetings of the elected Lyons Board of Trustees and appointed, volunteer town boards and commissions are open to the public and posted on the town calendar at www.townoflyons.com/calendar.aspx. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @hotmail.com.

Amy Reinholds served on the Lyons Housing Recovery Task Force from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee from 2015-2016. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.

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A conversation about “market jihadists,” affordability, and economic growth

04 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by amyreinholds in What's the future of affordable housing in Lyons? column

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Published in the Sept 1, 2016, edition of the Lyons Recorder.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

A conversation about “market jihadists,” affordability, and economic growth

by Amy Reinholds

Here in Lyons, we are familiar with a healthy (or maybe unhealthy) suspicion of government at various levels. Some Town of Lyons residents or some unincorporated Boulder County residents in our surrounding areas talk about how they don’t trust Boulder County government. I’ve had conversations during the almost three years since the flood with people who have great disdain if neighbors or the town government take money from the federal government for some recovery-related costs, but they are fine with other services from the U.S. Government that they or their businesses benefit from. In Boulder County, we have our own real-life versions of the lovable Ron Swanson character on the “Parks and Recreation” TV series, who hates the government but works for the government.

But the other side of the coin is giving free rein to the free market. An affordable housing advocate from San Francisco, who will speak in Boulder in September, warns of what he sees as a new trend across the country where economic booming metro areas with a housing crisis are pushed to build more market-rate housing as a solution, but it backfires when only high-end homes are built.

“There’s a curious debate in this county, arguing that the way to produce affordable housing is to allow developers to produce more market-rate housing,” says Calvin Welch, a founder of the Council of Community Housing Organizations, who will speak at an annual dinner for PLAN-Boulder County, a citizen group that has been promoting sustainable land use and environmental protection in the Boulder area since 1959.

Welch speaks the Sept. 23 event for PLAN-Boulder County, which I understand is a “slow growth” group that has been encouraging open spaces and protected land in Boulder for decades. I’ve been curious about what PLAN-Boulder County thinks about affordable housing. Are park lands more important than housing? I was surprised to see that the topic Welch is discussing at the PLAN-Boulder County event is “Priced Out! Left Out! Freaked Out! Why Can’t I Afford My Parents’ House?” I asked Welch more about the complex social, economic, and political influences on housing costs that he will discuss in Boulder.

“There is a very similar battle (in Colorado) that we’ve faced where market jihadists insist that deregulating housing and increasing the supply of housing will trickle down and reduce housing costs,” Welch said. “Political elites have bought into the notion that the market will dictate housing. The government is retreating on housing policies,” Welch said, saying that the current budget for housing, with a Democrat in the White House today, is only 14% of what the Carter administration spent on housing programs.

Yet the problem of attaining housing that is affordable is growing wherever the economy and jobs are growing, Welch said. “Every metro area that has a thriving economy has a housing crisis. People are spending 50-60 percent of their income on housing.”

“There is actually an economic belief that helping the market do its magic is the most legitimate role of government,” Welch said. “But in the end, the market is not always right.”

Welch said that developers driven by profit are not motivated to build affordable housing, although policies that remove restrictions end up rewarding for-profit developers and the financial industry that is part of that development. “Some policies end up being gifts to market-rate developers,” Welch said. “We need other tools.”

He said tools that have worked to keep some low-income, moderate income, and retired people in San Francisco are some rent control policies and requirements on new developments to include affordable housing and contribute to public transit. “Regulation of the market gives space for working people to survive.”

When there is a lack of land available for housing, like in San Francisco, or other areas like Colorado where open space land is protected from development, Welch said what works is increasing density in the right areas. “More dense development in already developed areas is how to deal with population growth.”

But housing is not the only investment, he said. “There’s got to be an investment in infrastructure, transit, services for people like libraries, community centers, child care centers, senior services, schools… a full spectrum of investment to ensure high density living has a high quality of life.”

“Jobs and the economy change much faster than housing can be built. There needs to be a coordinated regional plan that links jobs, transit, and housing together,” Welch said. “To talk about housing without transit and economic and social context leads to projects that fail.”

You can find out more about PLAN-Boulder County, including the upcoming event where Welch will speak, at http://planboulder.org.

For history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns posted on my blog at https://lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com. All town meetings of the elected Lyons Board of Trustees and appointed, volunteer town boards and commissions are open to the public and posted on the town calendar at www.townoflyons.com/calendar.aspx. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @hotmail.com.

 

Amy Reinholds served on the Lyons Housing Recovery Task Force from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee in the past year. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.

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Public can comment about ADUs at Sept. 12 Planning Commission meeting

01 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by amyreinholds in What's the future of affordable housing in Lyons? column

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Published in the August 25, 2016 edition of the Lyons Recorder.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

Public can comment about ADUs at Sept. 12 Planning Commission meeting

by Amy Reinholds

Whether you call them mother-in-law apartments, carriage houses, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), or garage (or basement) apartments, you have a chance in September to help shape policy for how they can be built and used in single-family residential lots in Lyons town limits.

A Sept. 12 public hearing for the Planning and Community Development Commission (PCDC) will give members of the public a chance to comment about proposed recommended changes to town zoning code about ADUs. As you may know, town staff and members of the PCDC and the Utilities and Engineering Board (UEB) have been working on some recommended changes in policy over the past month or two, responding to direction from the Board of Trustees. The Sept. 12 public hearing for the PCDC is from 7-9 p.m. at Lyons Town Hall.

Earlier in the summer, the Lyons Board of Trustees directed the PCDC to come up with a work plan that promotes affordable housing through rentals of accessory dwelling units, referring to the Affordable Housing Resolution that the Board of Trustees passed on April 18 for possible incentives and policies to implement (see https://lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com/2016/04/21/outgoing-trustees-pass-affordable-housing-resolution ).

This Monday, Aug. 22, all seven commissioners (including two newly appointed members) on the PCDC met with Lyons planning staff Matt Manley and Bob Joseph to shape the types of recommendations they will bring to the public and to the Board of Trustees in September.

Manley summed up the discussion about affordability and ADU and rental policies when he said “This is not a silver bullet for affordable housing,” but the discussion at Monday’s meeting focused on how policies that encourage more safe, legal, small apartments in town can add more market-rate but lower-priced rentals. If the time that landlords can rent out for short-term vacation rentals is limited, hopefully, new apartments can be available for people who work in town and want to find a small place on the lower-end of the rental market. They also talked about how ADUs can be free or discounted housing for family members (for example, actual mother-in-law apartments) or could support aging-in-place as options for live-in caregivers for people who live in the primary houses.

Here’s a summary of the types of policy recommendations the PCDC is preparing for consideration in September:

  • The property with the ADU should be owner-occupied. The owner should either live in the main house or in the ADU for a period of time such as more than 6 months every calendar year.
  • ADUs should be primarily for long-term rentals. However the PCDC will recommend a range of options for limited short-term vacation rentals to the Board of Trustees to choose from: no vacation rentals at all (current policy), allowed for a range of days each calendar year, such as 14 or 30 days, or allowed for any period of time (which would work against the Affordable Housing Resolution goals for increasing rentals that the Board of Trustees passed in April).
  • ADUs, whether in the main house or elsewhere on the property, should be able to share the water taps and utilities connections with the main house. The PCDC has found this approach to be consistent with municipalities across Colorado and the country.
  • The UEB’s role is to recommend specific water tap fees and utility connection fees for the ADUs. However, the PCDC encourages that utility tap/connection fees for accessory apartments should be proportional to the size, especially with the recommendation from the PCDC that they share the tap with the main house. At earlier meetings, staff and commissioners started out with the idea of waiving tap fees completely for the ADUs if they shared the taps with the main house. However they are investigating the costs and policies of other towns further so fee changes don’t burden the Town of Lyons utilities. Instead of being waived completely, it’s possible ADU tap fees will be smaller, maybe based on size, instead of the current regulations that are interpreted as requiring the same fee as a tap for a regular single-family home.
  • Lyons town staff will hold a focus group for people who currently rent out their homes, or part of their homes for short term vacation rentals (such as on AirBnB or VRBO websites). If people are renting out rooms or homes in a single-family residential zoned lot in the Town of Lyons, it is not currently a use allowed by right. However, those who participate in the focus group will have a chance to shape future short-term vacation rental policy that will allow some vacation rentals in neighborhoods. It’s a chance to decide what is reasonable for number of people in a vacation rental and how many days a year it is rented out, develop a code of ethics for landlords, and get important advice for dealing with homeowners insurance companies that might drop or not cover homeowners who rent rooms or homes as short-term vacation rentals. Any homeowner who rents out rooms needs to pay attention to homeowners insurance.
  • After new policies are put in place, Lyons town staff propose educational materials and workshops for homeowners who build ADUs and become landlords.

Do you have strong feelings or interest in any of these ideas? Make sure to attend the Sept 12 PCDC public hearing!

While rental policies can help Lyons, we still need other affordable housing options that are subsidized and permanently affordable, not dependent on the market. For history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns posted on my blog at https://lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com. All town meetings of the elected Lyons Board of Trustees and appointed town boards and commissions like the PCDC are open to the public and posted on the town calendar at www.townoflyons.com/calendar.aspx. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @hotmail.com.

 

Amy Reinholds served on the Lyons Housing Recovery Task Force from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee in the past year. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.

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Amy Reinholds served on the Housing Recovery Task Force in Lyons, Colo., from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee during its existence from April 2015-April 2016. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.

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