[Council Communication]  [Attachments]

Council Communication

Title:	Ashland Housing Commission Request to allocate Strawberry Lane Property as an Asset of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Dept:	Planning Department
Date:	November 4, 2003
Submitted By:	John McLaughlin, Director of Community Development
Approved By: ...........................	Gino Grimaldi, City Administrator

Synopsis:	The City's adopted Affordable Housing Action Plan contains a strategy to create an affordable housing trust fund and identify and develop long-term and stable funding sources to support the City's efforts to develop affordable housing. While the Housing Commission is still investigating options for developing stable and continuous funding sources, interim bridge funding is needed to enable the City to leverage public funding sources currently available and facilitate the development of affordable housing in the near term. The Council has previously discussed the option of selling or trading some of its real property assets (particularly City-owned lots on Strawberry Street) to provide an interim source of revenue for the trust fund or for an alternate site that could suitably be marketed for affordable housing development. The Housing Commission voted unanimously on 9/24/03 to request that this action be accomplished as soon as possible. To facilitate this effort, the Commission requested that steps be taken to establish the affordable housing trust fund as a City special revenue fund and allocate or assign the real property assets on Strawberry Street to the trust fund. With these assets specifically reserved to the affordable housing trust fund, City staff will be in a better position to potentially leverage other public funding sources and evaluate and develop plans for its most effective use.
Recommendation:	Staff recommends that the City Council establish the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and allocate the real property assets on Strawberry Lane to the trust fund.
Fiscal Impact:	The Strawberry Lane property encompasses approximately 2.5 acres of land, with the potential to be approximately four separate single family lots. Lots in the area have been listed in excess of $300,000.
Background:	Minutes of the 9/24/03 Housing Commission meeting and a map of the city's property are attached to this communication.
Attachments:	• Housing Commission Minutes (September 24, 2003) • Maps

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