HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_HOUAB_03.21.2007Housing Advisory Board Minutes, March 21, 2007 Page 1 of 3
City of Georgetown
Housing Advisory Board
Minutes
March 21, 2007, at 3:30 p.m.
Glasscock Conference Room—Georgetown Municipal Complex
300-1 Industrial Ave., Georgetown, Texas 78626
Members present: Hartley Sappington; Chair, Carol Parsonage, Cynthia Anderson, Deena Berg,
Emily Northrop, John Gavurnik, Larkin Tom, Nancy Biggs, Naomi Walker
Members absent: Dan Bonner, Janis Cowman-Arteaga
Staff present: Jennifer Bills; Housing Coordinator, Robyn Rye; Administrative Assistant, and
Tom Yantis; Assistant City Manager
This is a regular meeting of the Housing Advisory Board of the City of Georgetown. The Board,
appointed by the Mayor and the City Council, makes recommendations to the City Council on
affordable housing matters.
Regular Session - To begin no earlier than 3:30 p.m.
Meeting called to order at 3:40pm.
Carol Parsonage, representing Habitat for Humanity of Greater Georgetown announced that
due to her departure as the Director of Habitat for Humanity she will be resigning from the
Board. Debbie Hoffman will be the new Director and will be sending in a letter to get on the
City Council for appointment to the Board.
A. Consideration and possible action to approve the minutes of the Housing Advisory
Board meeting held on Wednesday, February 14, 2007. - Robyn Rye
Motion to approve by Walker, second by Nancy Biggs. Approved 9-0.
B. Review of article summaries from Workforce Housing, Innovative Strategies and Best
Practices. - Robyn Rye
Reminder about outstanding articles.
C. Introduction of new Housing Coordinator Jennifer Bills. - Tom Yantis
Yantis introduced Jennifer Bills, the new Housing Coordinator for the City of
Georgetown and liaison to the Board.
Housing Advisory Board Minutes, March 21, 2007 Page 2 of 3
D. Update on Georgetown Housing Authority's presentation to City Council. - Naomi
Walker and Tom Yantis
Walker related that the City Council, at the February 27th meeting, unanimously
approved support for the Low Income Tax Credit program applications for the Sierra
Ridge Development and the Rehabilitation of the Shady Oaks Apartments. Further
information was provided that the immediate outlook for the Shady Oaks Rehab project
is very positive, with the project application scoring very high in the scoring criteria.
However, the Sierra Ridge Development new construction scored very low, due to the
project's proximity to previous new construction tax credit projects in Georgetown. With
the high possibility of not receiving this funding, Walker has begun discussion with
Capital Area Housing Finance Corporation for other possible funding mechanisms.
E. Discussion of Katy Crossing townhomes and possible support of Housing Advisory
Board.
Walker introduced this item suggesting that John Gavurnik, Board member and
developer of the Katy Crossing Section 7 Subdivision, make a presentation about the
project and current status within the Planning approval process. Walker stated that
with the recent public perception problems and Planning and Zoning recommendation
for denial for rezoning the land for the single-family attached homes, the Housing
Advisory Board could also review and make a recommendation for the project to City
Council. Yantis pointed out that at present; the Housing Advisory Board does not have
a Council approved definition of affordable housing by which to review projects and
make recommendations. After further discussion on the definition of affordable housing
and the role of the Board, it was agreed that this case was already too far into the
approval process to make a recommendation to Council, but that reviewing the current
situation would assist the Board in future education and review of affordable housing
projects. Gavurnik asked if he could still present his project before the Board.
Sappington clarified that due to the conflict of interest for Gavurnik that he would have
to recuse himself if the Board were to take any action regarding Katy Crossing Section 7.
Gavurnik gave a description of the project, which would be a 60 lot subdivision on the
southwest side of Katy Crossing. The housing type provided would be single-family
attached homes that would be marketed around $110,000-130,000 per unit. He then
described the reasons why the Planning & Zoning Commission denied the rezoning and
the neighborhood's perception problems about this project that lead to their decision.
The Board asked questions about the project and regular development requirements
such as lot size, traffic impact and parkland dedication.
Housing Advisory Board Minutes, March 21, 2007 Page 3 of 3
F. Discussion of Housing Advisory Board's role in upcoming Planning and Zoning Board
meetings. - Naomi Walker
With the discussion of recommending the Katy Crossing project, the board discussed
how developers could approach the Board for review and recommendation. Walker
stated should the focus be on all housing projects or just affordable housing projects.
Sappington put forth the idea of using incentives to get developers to include affordable
homes within larger projects. Gavurnik agreed with setting up a process for
recommendations for projects but stressed the point that he didn't want to add an extra
layer of bureaucracy to the development approval process.
G. Discussion of next meeting date and agenda items.
Presentation by Bills on her vision for the Housing Advisory Board role in housing
development.
The next Housing Advisory Board meeting was set to be April 25, 2007 due to a conflict
for a majority of the Board on April 18th.
H. Adjourn.
Meeting was adjourned by Chair Sappington at 5:20 p.m.
__________________________________ _______________________________________
Approved, Hartley Sappington, Chair Attest, Naomi Walker, Board Member