BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council took a hard look Tuesday at what the city needs in order to keep up with housing demand for the next couple of decades.
Councilor Patty Bacon is chair of the Affordable Housing Task Force, and she presented just some of the recommendations the group has generated.
The Task Force’s list has multiple recommendations divided into Tier I and Tier II. The items are not prioritized in any order, Bacon said.
Tier 1 items should be implemented in 12 to 18 months, the Task Force recommended. Bacon covered about half of the items in Tier 1; the remaining recommendations will be covered in a future council study session.
The items she discussed were:
• Implement parking reductions when alternative transportation infrastructure is provided. This could be expanded to provide further reductions if a certain percentage of the units are maintained in an affordable price range.
• Reduce minimum lot size and height restrictions in the zoning ordinance.
• Improve educational programs on affordable housing and styles (i.e. condominium).
• Support concentrated neighborhoods with housing, retail, and service mix in key locations of the community.
• Evaluate fee structure for permits and provide waivers for affordable housing.
• Explore opportunities to leverage state and federal programs.
• Evaluate Accessory Dwelling Units as an affordable housing option.
“Forty-three percent of Brookings households earn less than $35,000 a year,” Bacon said. That leaves them $875 available to cover all their monthly housing costs.
“We have some work to do,” she added.
One way to lessen the impact for parking was to partner with Brookings Area Transit Authority, suggested Jacob Mills, with Prairie Hills, LLC.
City Manager Jeff Weldon asked if BATA would respond with a fixed route. Bacon said they could possibly have a run at the beginning and end of the work day and other accommodations.
Councilor Dan Hansen asked if a bike path could be put in nearby for alternative transportation. That could definitely be taken into account, Bacon said.
Reducing lot size would mean changing the ordinance or being open to requests from developers, Bacon said. Also on the table would be decreased setbacks, and detached garages and where they are placed.
“The biggest hindrance cities have is their zoning laws,” said Councilor Mary Kidwiler, adding people need to get used to taller buildings and smaller setbacks.
Mike Struck, Community Development director, said minimum lot size was 6,000 square feet with 50 feet of frontage.
Hansen said the idea is to have “small pockets all around Brookings,” not multi-acre developments with these special terms.
Struck explained measurements and how close to the streets and boulevards buildings can get, and some streets have one-side parking.
“There’s trade-offs,” he said.
“I see our job is to educate folks,” Bacon noted.
Weldon suggested the Task Force and city need to hear from the developers about what they need to make all of this work for safety and other reasons.
Bacon added that a number of items on the list have to do with developers, so she is planning an opportunity to have a conversation with them.
The city has made changes over the years, including adding zoning districts, said Al Heuton, executive director of Brookings Economic Development Corporation.
“The city does have options in place now,” he said.
We have to re-think housing styles because the city is just about out of land due to water-restricted areas, Bacon said. That means we redesign or see where to go beyond the current city limit, she said.
Mayor Keith Corbett asked if the city will need to be supportive with education or will it be expected to subsidize these ventures.
Struck said both will probably be needed.
“We want to be progressive, but we’re in a conservative area of the world,” he said.
The city should be willing to champion the projects, starting with zoning, Struck said, predicting “a lot of pushback because people don’t want that in the neighborhood.”
There will need to be future land development so space can be incorporated for these projects, Heuton said.
When you promote something new and different, there’s a risk, Mills said, adding that if the city wants to see something happen, it must be willing to make it happen.
“It comes back to education,” Bacon summed up.
Brookings needs to build 175 new housing units per year just to meet the basic needs in the next 10 to 20 years, Bacon said.
That’s total units, not just affordable housing, to meet the population increase the city is experiencing, Struck added.
“Just keeping up with growth,” Bacon said.
Another possibility for stretching housing availability is accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Sometimes called mother-in-law suites, many people consider them to keep aging parents close, but they can be utilized as garage apartments for students. These work with long, deep lots, and alley access is important, Bacon said.
ADUs encourage owner-occupied structures, said Angie Boersma, an architect with Mills Construction. This encourages self-policing, in contrast to places where the owners live elsewhere.
It provides affordable housing and helps the homeowner pay the rent, Kidwiler said.
Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne asked if basement apartments could be counted as ADUs, but Struck said those were listed as two-family dwellings; an ADU needs to be detached.
“It is an area that is expanding across the country,” Bacon said.
Corbett wanted to make sure the council checks what the ordinance says about separate dwellings.
Struck said language can be drafted and the council can designate areas for ADUs, and specify that if it’s not owner-occupied, they lose the ability to have the ADU.
Bacon asked to have more time at a future study session to go over the other items on the Task Force’s list.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
