OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Dayton City Commission Work Session on Housing Updates - July 23, 2025

City CommissionWednesday, July 23, 2025
BodyDayton, Ohio
SessionCity Commission
DateWednesday, July 23, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record

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Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

All right, good morning.

0:06

Mayor, commissioners, city manager staff.

0:09

Steve Gondel, director for the Department of Planning, Neighborhoods, and Development.

0:13

With me today to this discussion around housing, I have Karen DeMassey, who is my co-chair on the housing policy steering committee.

0:20

Daniel Simpson, a housing inspections conservation supervisor.

0:25

Johnny Kroger, who is my division manager for planning.

0:28

Throughout this presentation, they're going to kind of come in and help on a few of the points.

0:33

But we have a really exciting update around our housing work here in the city of Dayton.

0:37

Those four items today, we're going to start with the housing policy steering committee update, then move on to the issue six housing funds, then transition over to housing code enforcement, civil prosecution.

0:48

And then lastly, the Dayton Recovery Plan Housing Investment.

0:51

So again, jam packed update.

0:54

And I just want to uh thank as we get into this work that this is not just staff.

0:58

This is staff, this is partners, it's residents.

1:01

Much of my colleagues uh behind me.

1:04

Um what I want to credit is that this is really high-level uh innovative work while also managing day-to-day tasks.

1:11

And so I give them credit for balancing both the um uh you know the desire to address these really core issues while also can um providing service to our residents on a daily daily basis.

1:27

Trying to get rid of that.

1:28

Oh hide.

1:29

I think we might have to do it every no, it's not it, Shelley.

1:36

It's not that there you go.

1:41

There it is.

1:43

I just said it.

1:44

It's like putting it's like growing up with an antenna, trying to hit the right angle.

1:48

The mouse works right there.

1:50

Just a quick recap on the housing policy steering committee.

1:54

Uh, we have 12 policy areas of focus.

1:56

Uh we have one overarching steering committee made up of again uh partners.

2:01

Uh Karen is my co-chair, uh professional and residential partners out in the community.

2:07

We have four subcommittees uh looking at uh kind of focused areas around housing trust fund, historic property preservation, uh data, and tenants.

2:17

And so um what I'm uh really pleased to share is that over uh since the launch of that steering committee and the subsequent subcommittees, to date we had 61 items that uh the residents with your support had put forward for us to look into around a cohesive housing policy.

2:35

Of those 61 items, 15 of those have been completed.

2:39

Twenty of those in the completed are in the bottom blocks in the orange.

2:43

Uh the underway, 28 are in the green.

2:47

Those are things that we are currently looking at right now.

2:50

Um, and you'll see that uh a little bit later as our 2025 work plan.

2:55

And then lastly, 18 in the blue, the future, are things that either will come later once we flesh out some of the earlier policy items, uh, or things that we just have yet to start because we're focusing on other other um issues.

3:10

One of the things I'd like to note is that some of the uh high level completed items that you might recall is that uh from the housing policy, we used uh data, uh, working with our data subcommittee to inform our implementation of issue six.

3:25

That's how we uh look to see where would be the most opportunistic and lever uh ability to leverage other funds.

3:31

And so working with that data committee, we identified uh the communities that uh were going to put the issue six funds to use in initially.

3:39

Additionally, uh one of the items in the housing policy was around transparency.

3:43

Uh that task was around um enhancing and increasing our use of portals, and to date we've launched the housing condition survey portal as well as our housing uh inspection tracker, just two of the many different portals that working with our colleague um Abby and MMB and Richard Bailey to bring uh information to the public.

4:04

And then lastly, you'll hear the um one of the things was the universal application that Dayton Home Repair Network just mentioned to you.

4:12

We are um that was an item in theirs having a singular simplistic point of entry into the home renovation repair world.

4:21

Uh so everybody's on the same page.

4:24

As I noted, and I'm not for the sake of time, but uh the items that we're currently in our 2025 work plan.

4:30

Um, and I guess it's funny saying it because uh most of the people involved are volunteers, and so we have a pretty hearty uh work plan that uh we're moving into, but again, they're really dedicated.

4:41

And so the the core areas of our work as it's ongoing is around the streamlining the development process.

4:47

Uh, my deputy director Emily Crow just led a session with our developers around how can we better work together to streamline that process.

4:55

Activating land for housing, thanks to you all.

5:00

You um granted us the ability to transfer properties to the land bank so that we could uh support future housing through their welcome home program.

5:07

Um aligning plans, goals, and incentives.

5:09

Again, uh our planning division did a great job with our comprehensive plan.

5:13

We're looking broader beyond us in a way of incorporating other work within the city and region as we um have a cohesive look at housing, strengthening our partnerships and advocacy.

5:25

Um I think some of the members on the uh steering committee uh have a greater skill set for that and really helping us fight uh be part of and finding our voice when it comes to advocacy for federal and state programs and funding, targeting public funding effectively.

5:39

Again, uh an ongoing uh process of leveraging um funds from various sources uh and make sure that they get put into use where we need to.

5:49

Leveraging data, uh, this is really one of the exciting things.

5:52

I think we're making just huge strides in our um shared data approach among us, uh, our colleagues in water, citywide Montgomery County Land Bank, Montgomery County itself.

6:04

That is a huge step in terms of seeing the whole picture for our city.

6:08

Code enforcement.

6:09

Um, again, we're doing some great work that you'll hear a little bit later, and expanding access to home repair loans.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Housing█████████████████████████████████████████████56%
Affordable Housing█████████████████████26%
Fiscal Sustainability████████10%
Housing Abandonment█████6%
Water And Wastewater Management██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Dayton City Commission Work Session on Housing Updates - July 23, 2025

On July 23, 2025, the Dayton City Commission held a work session focused on housing initiatives. Staff from the Department of Planning, Neighborhoods, and Development presented updates on four major areas: the Housing Policy Steering Committee, Issue 6 Housing Funds, Housing Code Enforcement Civil Prosecution, and the Dayton Recovery Plan Housing Investment. Commissioners asked clarifying questions about program details, funding allocation, and neighborhood impacts.

Discussion Items

Housing Policy Steering Committee Update

  • Director Steve Gondel reported that the steering committee and its four subcommittees (housing trust fund, historic property preservation, data, and tenants) have reviewed 61 policy items to date. Of these, 15 have been completed, 20 are underway, and 18 are planned for future action. Completed items include using data to inform Issue 6 implementation, launching the Housing Condition Survey Portal and Housing Inspection Tracker, and creating a universal application for the Dayton Home Repair Network. The 2025 work plan focuses on streamlining development, activating land for housing, aligning plans, strengthening partnerships, targeting public funding, leveraging data, code enforcement, expanding home repair access, preventing displacement, and promoting city living.

Issue 6 Housing Funds Update

  • The funds target home repair for owner-occupied properties rated 3 or 4 (condition). Maximum repair cap is $30,000 per home. A dollar-for-dollar matching program is available for households above 120% AMI. In years 1–4, funds will be concentrated in Welcome Home Program neighborhoods: Fairview, Dayton View Triangle, Wolf Creek, and Madden Hills, to leverage other investments. Applicants must use the Dayton Home Repair Network Common Application to avoid duplication. The program is an eight-year funding stream with $650,000 annually.

Housing Code Enforcement Civil Prosecution

  • Implemented June 2025, the civil penalty process begins with a warning notice (10-day compliance period). As of July 16, 2025, citations have been issued for violations, with a 20-day compliance period. Approximately 15–20 citations have been issued. Property owners may pay or request an administrative hearing, which will begin in August 2025. Some technological adjustments have been made.

Dayton Recovery Plan Housing Investment

  • Projects under the Dayton Recovery Plan include: Towns of Wright Dunbar (26 units under construction), Edgemont homes (two with Habitat for Humanity, one completed), County Corp home improvements (56 homes stabilized), Wolf Creek new construction (four homes underway), down payment assistance (18 home buyers), vacant home rehab with land bank (beginning July 2025), Flats South Park (88 units, site preparation), Center City (soft costs), Wolf Creek Levee layback project (utility work started, dirt stockpiled for levee modification), and Kiwi and Valley (19 units planned, building permits expected fall 2025). Additional external awards include Kinship Care Housing (26 three-bedroom units on Alaska Street), critical roof repairs (60 completed), Rebuilding Together home improvements (89 properties stabilized), and Hoover Senior Lofts (under construction).

Commissioner Questions

  • Commissioner asked for detailed update on the four subcommittees and the completed 15 items. Staff noted a packet with the 2025 work plan would be provided.
  • Commissioner questioned the initial understanding that Issue 6 funds would be allocated per year rather than committed for four years. Staff clarified that the four-year focus leverages additional partner investments and will be presented for commission review.
  • Commissioner asked about addressing blight around new construction in Wolf Creek; staff described ongoing code enforcement and demolitions.
  • Commissioner inquired about senior renovations at Grand and Salem. Staff reported the high-rise redevelopment is complete; the ground-floor retail space is being marketed and a tenant is close to signing.
  • Commissioner requested dollar investment totals and a project-level accounting of the $55 million ARPA neighborhood allocation. Staff indicated the housing improvement program totals $12 million and an ARPA financial briefing is scheduled for the following week.
  • Commissioner asked why the civil penalty program took time to implement. Staff cited the required 10-day warning period and the need to ensure an administrative hearing officer was in place.
  • Commissioner asked about the safety of relaxing the levee. Staff confirmed the Miami Conservancy District supports the modification as it improves flood protection and stability.
  • Commissioner asked about the housing condition survey frequency. Staff stated the survey will be conducted every two years, with the next beginning September 2025, using new technology for faster data upload.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken. Updates were provided for commission awareness and feedback. Staff will provide a detailed packet on Issue 6 funding recommendations and a comprehensive ARPA financial report at a future meeting. The 2025 housing work plan will be shared with commissioners.

Meeting Transcript

All right, good morning. Mayor, commissioners, city manager staff. Steve Gondel, director for the Department of Planning, Neighborhoods, and Development. With me today to this discussion around housing, I have Karen DeMassey, who is my co-chair on the housing policy steering committee. Daniel Simpson, a housing inspections conservation supervisor. Johnny Kroger, who is my division manager for planning. Throughout this presentation, they're going to kind of come in and help on a few of the points. But we have a really exciting update around our housing work here in the city of Dayton. Those four items today, we're going to start with the housing policy steering committee update, then move on to the issue six housing funds, then transition over to housing code enforcement, civil prosecution. And then lastly, the Dayton Recovery Plan Housing Investment. So again, jam packed update. And I just want to uh thank as we get into this work that this is not just staff. This is staff, this is partners, it's residents. Much of my colleagues uh behind me. Um what I want to credit is that this is really high-level uh innovative work while also managing day-to-day tasks. And so I give them credit for balancing both the um uh you know the desire to address these really core issues while also can um providing service to our residents on a daily daily basis. Trying to get rid of that. Oh hide. I think we might have to do it every no, it's not it, Shelley. It's not that there you go. There it is. I just said it. It's like putting it's like growing up with an antenna, trying to hit the right angle. The mouse works right there. Just a quick recap on the housing policy steering committee. Uh, we have 12 policy areas of focus. Uh we have one overarching steering committee made up of again uh partners. Uh Karen is my co-chair, uh professional and residential partners out in the community. We have four subcommittees uh looking at uh kind of focused areas around housing trust fund, historic property preservation, uh data, and tenants. And so um what I'm uh really pleased to share is that over uh since the launch of that steering committee and the subsequent subcommittees, to date we had 61 items that uh the residents with your support had put forward for us to look into around a cohesive housing policy. Of those 61 items, 15 of those have been completed. Twenty of those in the completed are in the bottom blocks in the orange. Uh the underway, 28 are in the green. Those are things that we are currently looking at right now. Um, and you'll see that uh a little bit later as our 2025 work plan. And then lastly, 18 in the blue, the future, are things that either will come later once we flesh out some of the earlier policy items, uh, or things that we just have yet to start because we're focusing on other other um issues. One of the things I'd like to note is that some of the uh high level completed items that you might recall is that uh from the housing policy, we used uh data, uh, working with our data subcommittee to inform our implementation of issue six. That's how we uh look to see where would be the most opportunistic and lever uh ability to leverage other funds. And so working with that data committee, we identified uh the communities that uh were going to put the issue six funds to use in initially. Additionally, uh one of the items in the housing policy was around transparency. Uh that task was around um enhancing and increasing our use of portals, and to date we've launched the housing condition survey portal as well as our housing uh inspection tracker, just two of the many different portals that working with our colleague um Abby and MMB and Richard Bailey to bring uh information to the public. And then lastly, you'll hear the um one of the things was the universal application that Dayton Home Repair Network just mentioned to you. We are um that was an item in theirs having a singular simplistic point of entry into the home renovation repair world. Uh so everybody's on the same page. As I noted, and I'm not for the sake of time, but uh the items that we're currently in our 2025 work plan. Um, and I guess it's funny saying it because uh most of the people involved are volunteers, and so we have a pretty hearty uh work plan that uh we're moving into, but again, they're really dedicated. And so the the core areas of our work as it's ongoing is around the streamlining the development process. Uh, my deputy director Emily Crow just led a session with our developers around how can we better work together to streamline that process. Activating land for housing, thanks to you all. You um granted us the ability to transfer properties to the land bank so that we could uh support future housing through their welcome home program.

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