Education and Outreach

Here is an email sent to the Ames City Council on Feb. 18, 2020:

I wanted to provide a few comments to you as you consider development/housing plans for Ames at your meeting tonight.
 
As much as nonprofits like Story County Community Housing Corp (SCCHC) do to help low income folks with their housing needs, nonprofits cannot solve the problem of housing affordability for this population in Ames.
 
Public policy makes the most difference, and thank you for studying this issue and moving forward with policies which can reduce the cost of developing less expensive housing types such as town houses, apartments and secondary suites.
 
As Josh Leopold with the Urban Institute indicated at a recent homeless symposium at Iowa State University (organized by one of our board members), local government policies drive the creation of affordable housing.  So, this is up to you, and thank you for moving forward on it.
 
Leopold emphasized that maintaining existing housing stock is quite important.  Ames has much housing stock that is quite old and so rehabilitation and upgrades to keep existing housing stock in place are important.
 
One of the most effective and cheapest ways to increase affordable housing, would be to change zoning/codes to allow property owners to increase density by converting a garage or basement into a rentable suite or adding a story or replacing a single-family structure with a multi family housing unit.
 
As we address neighborhood infill and upgrade needs, and new construction, I think that “Missing Middle Housing” is a key to affordability. Website listed below.
 
Of course, neighborhoods in Ames, with our particular student housing sensitivities, drives many to abhor more density. But you have much skill in working with neighborhoods on these issues!!
 
Missing Middle Housing includes duplexes, triplex or 4-plex, Courtyard Apartments, bungalow courts, and town houses. It is similar in form and scale to detached single-family homes and so can fit into neighborhoods very nicely.
 
Missing Middle Housing is a development strategy that typically involves policy reforms that: 
 
– allow smaller parcel sizes and subdivisions,
 
– support condominium and cooperative ownership structures, 
 
– allow higher density’s and building height, 
 
– reduce minimum parking requirements, and
 
– streamline the building approval process.
 
 
To make Missing Middle Housing possible, Form Based Coding is the necessary alternative to conventional zoning as it effectively regulates it, as it will remove barriers and incentivize it in appropriate locations in the community. It uses physical form rather than a separation of uses as the organizing principle to create predictable build results and a high-quality public realm.
 
It’s a cost affective development strategy because it minimizes infrastructure and future transport costs including residents’ vehicle expenses, and indirect costs such as road and parking infrastructure requirements, congestion, accidents and pollution.
 
For many households, affordability is best achieved with these lower-priced housing types such as apartments and townhouses. Using them for both old and new developments will matter to affordability, best use of resources, and sprawl for our community.
 
Resources I have used for my email to you today include:

https://www.planetizen.com/node/85106/evaluating-affordable-housing-development-strategies

https://missingmiddlehousing.com

https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/107442-dont-miss-middle-critical-role-moderate-priced-housing-affordability

Story County Community Housing Corp. has done some strategic planning recently and with new board members and renewed vision, we look forward to future collaborations with the City of Ames.  I am glad to say that John Klaus, former Ames City Attorney, has joined our Board of Directors, and has been designated as our liaison board member with you !

Thanks so much for your work on housing issues for the City of Ames !

Best Wishes,

Trish Stauble

Past Education and Outreach

Board members have been working with AMOS, A mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy, to educate and thus increase the visibility of affordable housing needs for low-income families in Ames and Story County.  Many meetings on various topics have taken place with city council members and city officials to prioritize housing issues for low-income families.  Some movement in focus has taken place by the city towards this important objective.  Plans for the use of federal Community Development Block Grant monies is now more focused on the construction of affordable housing for low-income families, for instance.

As these educational efforts continued, it became obvious that more publicity was needed to focus on this need.  A Housing Conference became a focal point.  AMOS has spearheading this idea and efforts.  The committee they formed are in the process of organizing this major Housing Conference event for our area.  It will take place on March 23, 2016, at Iowa State Center’s Scheman Building. City of Ames, ISU and County funding was secured for the conference, and the committee organizing the conference contains members from City and ISU staffs.

As a part of the educational process AMOS has conducted in the past year, Eric Burmeister, director of the Polk County Housing Trust, was invited to present on Housing Trusts.  He came to Ames in November and presented to interested citizens.  As discussions about topics for the Housing Conference continued, his presentation brought some focus to future efforts AMOS and other non-profits might employ to move affordable housing construction forward.

Many community partners will be needed to form a Housing Trust in our county, but with the continuing efforts of AMOS to build interest with the Housing Conference, we will find the interest and energy to get this done.  The Iowa Housing Finance Authority is the regulating authority for Housing Trusts in Iowa and the application to form one will go through them.  A synopsis of Eric’s presentation by Cornelia and Jan Flora, two local AMOS leaders, is here.

Current SCCHC Projects

Currently, the Board is in communication with St. Cecelia’s Catholic Church regarding a bequest which may become available for construction of a future project.  We are searching for a parcel of land which can accommodate another 4-plex.  This is a very exciting development and we hope to be able to move forward on building another affordable housing project soon !  Our president, Dale Vander Schaaf, and board member, Chuck Abbott, are experienced developers at this point in their non-profit careers !  We look forward to another “build” to create more affordable housing for low-income families in Ames.

Policy Strategies for Affordable Housing

In our work with AMOS, A mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy, we are discussing many strategies to create affordable housing.  Other communities have used various strategies to increase affordable housing in their areas.  One of these, inclusionary housing, has been a housing policy overseen by our current City of Ames Planning and Housing Director in two cities prior to his job placement in Ames.

Attached are some documents on this topic.  We will try to summarize some of this information, but wanted to get it on our website !

InclusionaryHousing-LincolnInst-June2014

Dec2015-InclusionaryZoning-PalmerCase

InclusionaryHousing-MarketPriceImpacts