ASHLAND PLANNING COMMISSION

ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION

JOINT STUDY SESSION

JUNE 27, 2006

CALL TO ORDER – Chair John Fields called the meeting to order at 9:00 p.m. at the Ashland Civic Center, 1175 East Main Street, Ashland, OR  95720.

Planning Commissioners Present:                                Housing Commissioners Present:

John Fields, Chair                                                          Faye Weisler, Chair

Michael Dawkins                                                                          Alice Hardesty

Olena Black                                                                    Bill Street

Tom Dimitre                                                                    Jennifer Henderson

John Stromberg                                                              Liz Peck

Pam Marsh                                                                      Aaron Benjamin

Dave Dotterrer                                                                Don Mackin, absent

Mike Morris                                                                    Carol Voisin, absent

Kate Jackson, Council Liaison, absent                       Cate Hartzell, Council Liaison, present

Staff Present:

Bill Molnar, Interim Planning Director

Brandon Goldman, Housing Specialist

Sue Yates, Executive Secretary

CONDOMINIUM CONVERSIONS

Molnar said one of the Council’s tentative goals this year was to have a net increase of 200 affordable units by the year 2010.  He explained that the City’s Housing Action Plan and Housing Needs Analysis concluded that Ashland needs more affordable rental housing, with a need to designate more land for apartments and consider restricting uses in certain zones to apartment.  An issue has come up concerning the impact on the rental market through condominium conversions; that is, apartments or rentals converted to “for purchase” condominiums.  Do we want to work toward a draft ordinance with a recommendation to the Council?

We are required under Goal 10 to have rentals because we have to provide the housing needs based on different income levels. Ashland has seen a drastic change where the market isn’t meeting the needs of the whole community.

Goldman reviewed the information in the Commissioners’ packets.  The condominium conversion is surpassing the number of apartment units being constructed.   He offered examples and statistics.  He said the Council budgeted money to hire a consultant to do a rental needs analysis with some kind of yearly maintenance.  It is structured to assess how much land is needed to accommodate different housing types that would typically apply to different income levels.  The study should answer most of the questions asked tonight.

Marsh encouraged the Housing Commission to draft an ordinance using language that actually asks for what we want.  She read language from an ordinance from Palo Alto that we could use as a guide.

Hardesty pointed out that a rental needs analysis will take awhile to complete.  The Commissioners concluded that the Housing Land Use Committee and Staff will continue their work and write a draft ordinance addressing condominium conversions and bring it back to the Housing Commission and Planning Commission before sending it to the Council for their review and approval.  Dawkins and Dotterrer expressed an interest in working with the Housing Land Use Committee.  Molnar thought Staff could come up with some language pretty quickly.

Next Step – Fields announced that anyone interested in working on this issue should meet outside this meeting and work out a date to meet.  He suggested meeting in the mid-July. 

ADJOURNMENT – The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by

Susan Yates, Executive Secretary