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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997 05-20 HCM MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND STATE OF MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION MAY 20, 1997 CONFERENCE ROOM B BROOKLYN CENTER CITY HALL CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission was called to order by Chairperson Robert Torres at 7:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Chairperson Robert Torres, Vice Chairperson Ernie Erickson, Commissioners Lloyd Deuel, Henry Yang and Mark Yelich. Also present were Council Liaison Kay Lasman and Community Development Specialist Tom Bublitz. Absent and excused from the meeting was Commissioner Jonathan Carter. Also absent from the meeting were Commissioners Todd Cannon and Michael desParois. APPROVAL OF AGENDA There was a motion by Commissioner Erickson and seconded by Commissioner Deuel to approve the agenda, as submitted. The motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FEBRUARY 18, 1997 AND MARCH 25, 1997 There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Erickson to approve the February 18, 1997, minutes of the joint Housing Commission and City Council, as submitted. The motion passed. There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Erickson to approve the March 25, 1997, Housing Commission minutes, as submitted. The motion passed. REVIEW OF HOUSING ELEMENT OF DRAFT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER The Community Development Specialist noted the Housing Commission has the opportunity to review the housing element of the draft Comprehensive Plan for the City and to return their comments to the Comprehensive Plan Task Force for inclusion in the final document. At the request of commission members, the Community Development Specialist reviewed the process for developing the updated Comprehensive Plan for the City. He noted the update of the 5 -20 -97 -1- Comprehensive Plan is required by the State Senate every ten years. He explained a task force had been appointed by the City Council whose members include the entire City Council, all Planning Commission members, and other appointees from the community. There are 22 members on the Comprehensive Plan Task Force. The task force was appointed in the fall of 1996. The Community Development Specialist explained the task force is working with the consulting firm of Bather, Ringrose and Wolsfeld (BRW) in a workshop format to develop an updated Comprehensive Plan for the City. He noted elements of the plan include transportation, housing, park and recreation, water, sewer and water management, and land use. The task force has used the old Comprehensive Plan as a base document. He noted the task force has reviewed most elements of the Comprehensive Plan, and the draft housing element of the plan has been discussed by the task force. The Community Development Specialist noted that the City of Brooklyn Center's Livable Communities Action Plan, developed by the Housing Commission, was used as a base document for the housing element of the Comprehensive Plan. In conclusion, the Community Development Specialist pointed out the commission's comments and review of the housing element would be forwarded to the task force. A final recommendation by the task force is expected by the end of July. It is expected the Comprehensive Plan document will be finalized by the task force by the fall of 1997. Commissioner Erickson commented that the first 18 P a g es of the draft plan are statistical data and noted that on page 19, the questions at the end of the statistical section are good. Commissioner Erickson noted that on page 20, the goal of a "balanced housing supply with housing available for people at all income levels" is desirable, but the city does not have a balanced supply of housing with regard to higher income housing. Commissioner Yelich noted an inconsistency in the City's support of the Minnesota City Participation Program and the goal of encouraging higher income residents. He questioned whether the MCPP helped to achieve a balance of housing in the city. In response to Commissioner Yelich's comments, Commissioner Erickson pointed out one goal of the Housing Commission was to attract young homeowners and to provide children for the school districts in the city. He noted there is an assumption that young families will improve their housing and Commissioner Erickson noted examples of this can be found throughout the city. Commissioner Erickson also noted the City of Robbinsdale has developed a program where, for example, they purchase a property for approximately $30,000, put $60,000 rehabilitation dollars into it and build a detached garage. He noted one council member from Robbinsdale involved in this program noted Brooklyn Center should• be involved in this program. 5 -20 -97 -2- The Community Development Specialist pointed out the program Commissioner Erickson is referring to is the nonprofit organization that has been established to represent the cities of Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal, New Hope and Robbinsdale. He noted a nonprofit body called the Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) has been established to take advantage of federal dollars under the HOME program. He noted at this point, the City of Brooklyn Center has made a decision not to participate in the HOME program and, at the present time, has directed its redevelopment efforts in other areas. The commission continued its discussion of the housing element of the Comprehensive Plan. The focus of the commission's comments turned to page 17 of the draft plan. Commissioner Yelich stated the City has a good opportunity to provide businesses that pay relatively higher salaries. An example he cited is the area along 694 which may be conducive to Class A office space. He pointed out the assumption here is higher salaries are paid in businesses located in Class A office space than in the hotel and hospitality industry. The commission agreed with Commissioner Yelich's comments and felt there was a need to emphasize the need for Class A office space in the Comprehensive Plan. The commission believed there should be a few sentences in the plan to reflect the need for Class A office space and the benefit of this type of space as related to employment opportunities in the city. In making this observation, the commission wanted to establish the link between housing and employment in that a solid employment base tends to reflect upon the health of the city's housing market. Commissioner Erickson stated that the recommendation regarding Class A office space should be in the goals and objectives section of the plan. In continued discussion of the issue of Class A office space, the commission requested the following language be considered for inclusion in the Comprehensive Plan on page 27 of the draft: "The City should seek and recruit Class A office or corporate office space to attract and enhance higher paying employment opportunities in the city." The commission believed a separate heading below the marketing paragraph could be created to accommodate this language. The commission also believed it may be possible to link some type of language on higher end housing relative to the creation of Class A office space. There was a motion by Commissioner Erickson and seconded by Commissioner Yelich to direct the Community Development Specialist to forward the Housing Commission's comments and recommendations regarding Class A office space and its link to housing to the task force for their consideration. The motion passed. Commissioner Erickson stated he has viewed a number of City Council meetings where public service agencies ask for Community Development Block Grant dollars to fund their programs. He noted the agencies do a good job with providing immediate assistance, but believes there is no way we can address those issues by funding them with relatively scarce CDBG dollars. He stated his opinion would be to urge the City Council to continue its present strategy in the use of CDBG dollars. 5 -20 -97 -3- Commissioner Yelich noted that on page one in background information, the draft plan lists major trends. He noted he was concerned with the term "inner city problems" with regard to the City f Brooklyn Center and found this term somewhat offensive. ty y ns e. He stated that rather than describing the city's issues with a phrase such as "inner city problems there should be a list of specific items rather than a blanket phrase. He suggested that a reference to "inner city problems" should either be spelled out in more detail or left out completely. In discussion of Commissioner Yelich's comments, the commission felt that the term "inner city" was unnecessarily vague and created an inappropriate image. The commission felt strongly that either the specific problems referenced in this area of the plan should be spelled out or the entire sentence referencing "inner city problems" should be left out of the plan. On page ten of the draft plan, Commissioner Erickson noted that the Victoria Townhomes lie east of Brooklyn Boulevard. He noted that the second sentence on page 10, single family areas, are east and not west of Humboldt. MEETING SCHEDULE AND MEETING ATTENDANCE Commissioner Torres stated his preference would be to not meet in the summer. Commissioner Yelich suggested perhaps the commission could review Chapter 12 over the summer. The commission briefly discussed the 53rd Avenue Development and Linkage Project, and there was a consensus among commission members to be kept informed of the proposed development for the project. The commission then discussed attendance at meetings. Commissioner Erickson inquired whether there was any form letter we could use to send to commission members who have not been attending meetings. Council Member Lasman noted she had called the Mayor and there is no form letter and that each commission handles it in their own way. After continued discussion, the Housing Commission agreed to adjourn for the months of June, July and August and to reconvene in September. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Erickson to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission adjourned at 8:45 P.M. Chairperson 5 -20 -97 -4-