Before we begin, uh the Mariners just won against the Detroit Lions eight to four in game three.

Tigers and Lions football.

Yeah, oh my.

So anyway, beat against the Tiger.

They they beat the Tigers, so that's good.

Um anyway, welcome to the October 7th, 2025 City Council meeting.

Thank you for joining us this evening for translation services.

Please use the QR code on the poster in front of the room, right over there.

Uh, or on the front page of the agenda.

You will have access to up to 60 languages in real-time two-way translation that you can listen to as audio or read as text.

If you'd like headphones, please see the deputy city recorder right over there, Aubur Manir Ari, give a wave.

There you go.

Great, awesome.

To begin this meeting, I invite you to join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

This meeting is being recorded.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with authority and justice for all.

May I please have a roll call?

Mayor Pace.

Here.

Councillor Harris.

Here.

Councilor Sinclair.

Here.

Councillor Salgado.

Here.

Councillor Case.

Here.

Counselor Anbury.

Here.

Councillor Alcare is absent.

Excellent.

So there's no presentations this evening, so we'll move on to public comment.

Persons wishing to speak.

We recognize that this time.

If you are here in person and wish to speak, please fill out a yellow card.

These little yellow cards are over on the desk over there on the left hand side.

There's two tables up front.

And please speak into the microphone, and there's a little button there.

We'll help you out.

Press the button, speak into the mic so we can all hear you and people on Zoom can hear you as well.

And because of the translation tool, community members who testify during public comment can speak in their language of choice, and the city recorder can display the translation on the screen.

So we have zero persons registered to speak virtually, and the deadline has now passed.

Just so you know, comments are limited to three minutes, and this is an opportunities for members of the public to inform the council about their views.

Please note that the council will not enter into dialogue during this time.

So there will not be back and forth.

However, the city manager may direct staff to follow up with you regarding your comments or questions.

And we'll begin hearing by Dirk Knutson.

And the next person after Dirk, you can come up to the other table is Mr.

Tamilasan.

You can come right up there.

And then after him will be Jaime Miranda.

So Jaime, you're third up.

Mr.

Tamilasan's on deck.

And then Mr.

Kenitson, you have three minutes.

Please hit the center button to turn on the mic.

Yes.

Good evening.

Thanks for having me and this opportunity.

Start out by really giving a big shout out to Amber, our city recorder, and all the city staff that pulled off the monumental moments this weekend with a lot of other volunteers and some Hillsborough Historical Society members.

Big event, best fun we've had, looking towards Hillsborough 150 next year and hoping there'll be some more great projects like that.

As you probably know are aware, Hillsboro uh has about 20 data centers now.

There's another 10 planned.

And as a broker in the area, I can tell you anybody that's got a piece of land or building or house or anything they can put a data center on is under option.

Um I know that we're gonna have a lot of property tax revenue from them when these enterprise zone things sunset, but they were coming anyway, whether we all knew it or not.

We have eight trans-Pacific cables that run through Hillsborough.

We are the internet highway between Asia and the East and Australia.

And um I really think we need to sit down as a city, maybe have a committee or however we do it, and really look at our energy policies in terms of data centers and where our valley is headed.

They data centers have driven our land prices from 250 an acre for industrial up to 1.1 million.

This city's paid over a million for some of the land it had to buy.

They've created grid instability, which we have now, whether you're hearing that or not, we do.

And we've lost valuable tech centers like Komatsu.

Um, Komatsu's former facility and Rogers Oregon, both data centers now.

We do not charge them a franchise fee.

There's reasons for that, I suppose, but they are a communication company, and we rightfully should be charging them between three and a half and seven percent.

The city has 24 million in last year's budget from our franchise fees.

Based on how much gross revenue these these partners, new partners of ours make, there are some very low-hanging fruit in the neighborhood of 50 to 70 million a year that they would pay if they paid franchise fee.

And they'll just pass it on to their customers who are not in Hillsborough, very few.

Most of them are back east in California.

If you don't know what co-location is, look it up.

We might as well charge them uh uh a transient tax because they're just building buildings, renting it, filling them with machines that are owned and operated by people back east.

So I've written about an initiative petition to go after some of that revenue.

We need it.

The county needs it, and the state needs it.

Last week, several large agencies from the state met me for a tour, and they are working on a policy statewide to go after that revenue.

We have home rule in Oregon.

If we were to take a move sooner, we would be the beneficiaries of the majority of that income, which should rightfully be ours.

Um franchise fees are paid by our partners at FIOS at Xfinity, and if that's not communication, I don't know what is.

So thank you guys very much.

I'd say we take a hard look.

Thank you.

Um, Mr.

Mr.

Tamilarasan, thank you for coming in today.

Hope you can hear me clearly.

Yes, we can.

Thank you.

Okay, I can get started.

Oh, and before you get started, real quick, can can we stop the time?

Thank you, Mr.

Knutson and Jaime.

You can come up and take his seat.

Thank you, just for efficiency.

All right.

False start.

You ready?

Yeah.

Okay, here we go.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Good evening, honorable mayor and council members.

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak today.

My name is uh Kanishkan Tamlarson, uh proud resident of Hillsboro.

Uh I'm here to share something very close to my heart, uh Seva Diwali food drive, uh, which runs from September 20th to November 10th.

Uh the word seva in Sanskrit means selfless service, uh, which basically means serving without expecting anything in return.

This food drive is rooted in that very spirit.

Uh it's about coming together as a community, especially the Indian and Dharmic communities to ensure that no one goes hungry during the festival season of Diwali.

Uh, a time traditionally marked by light, joy, and togetherness.

When we talk about neighbors, we often think of the people living next door.

But in reality, our neighbors are our brothers and sisters, members of one big family called Hillsboro.

Uh, and just like in any family, when someone is in need, we step up.

We share what we have, not because we have extra, but because we care.

Uh last year, the Sevadivali food drive collected over 700,000 pounds of food nationally, and more than 8,000 pounds of food right here in Oregon, uh, which was donated to local pantries of the Beaverton Police Department and Gleaners of Oregon Food Bank.

Uh, these donations directly supported families in need, making a real difference in their lives.

This year, we have an even bigger responsibility, and we can only achieve it together with your support, with the support of our community, and the belief with the belief that compassion is the strongest bond we share.

We can ensure that no one in our city goes hungry this Diwali and the upcoming holiday season.

So I invite each of you and everyone listening to join us, whether it's donating non-perishable vegetarian food, volunteering your time, or simply spreading the word, every effort counts.

Uh, you can learn more and find drop-off locations at www.seva diwali.org, or email us at info at sevadivali.org.

We also welcome your suggestions.

If there are any local communities or organizations you believe could benefit from this initiative, please let us know.

We are here to serve.

Thank you for letting me share this message.

Let's make this Diwali season one of giving, caring, and unity.

Thanks again.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Tamilar Son.

Appreciate it.

Um, how are you doing?

Doing all right.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Uh just press that middle button and then the timer is above.

And you have three minutes.

And thanks for coming in.

Thank you for having me.

Hi, City Council and Mayor Page.

Thank you for the opportunity.

I'm here mainly to invite you guys to come and join us.

We're celebrating 25 years at MN Marketplace.

We are chairing a little flyer with you guys.

We have created great partnerships in the community.

You know, I'm here mainly to thank all of you and all our partners for contributing to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We need it more than ever.

And it's important for us to continue working together and show up.

One of the main things is just showing up makes a big difference.

Supporting each other makes a big difference.

And we really depend on uh the support that the city gives us, other partner organizations, and the community for us to continue providing the service to everyone in Hillsborough.

And so MM Marketplace has been there for 25 years.

We will be uh doing celebration throughout the month of October.

Uh our anniversary is going to be October 25th and 26th.

We're gonna have uh in folkloric groups, uh music, live music, um, a step dancers.

Uh for the first time, we're gonna have a group of artists from the area uh working on some uh art uh on some benches.

Uh so hopefully we could capture some of the memories that we have created over the years here in Hillsborough, Washington County in Oregon.

And uh we want to end it up with the other Los Muertos and hopefully make the best one in the region.

So uh thank you again for your uh contribution to the community for being there representing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

I think it is very important.

And like I said, I think the main thing for us is continue those relationships working together with the community and with the different entities.

Thank you.

Gracias, Jaime.

Thank you, Jaime.

Thanks for coming in.

Any more public comment, Aubri?

Okay.

So moving to item four, the consent agenda.

The items on the consent agenda are normally considered in a single motion.

Any item may be removed for separate consideration upon request from any member of council.

Is there a request to move any items for separate consideration?

And similarly, do any members of council have any lingering questions for staff on any of these items?

Okay.

Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda?

So moved case.

Thank you.

Second, Sinclair.

Thank you.

Is there any discussion?

Maybe please have a roll call.

Councillor Harris?

Hi.

Councillor Ambry.

Hi.

Councillor Salgado.

Hi.

Councillor Case.

Aye.

Councilor Sinclair.

Aye.

Thank you.

The motion passes.

Moving all the way forward to item eight, new business.

Consider the library board's recommendation to adopt a resolution approving the library administrative rules related to collection development, unattended children, and gallery space and exhibits.

Resolution number two nine zero one is available.

Do I have a motion to adopt resolution two nine zero one?

So moved case.

Thank you.

Do I have a second?

Second, Sinclair.

Thank you.

Is there any discussion?

May I please have a roll call.

Councillor Salgado.

Hi.

Councillor Harris.

Hi.

Councillor Sinclair.

Hi.

Councilor Ambry.

Hi.

Councillor Case.

Hi.

Thank you.

Resolution 2901 is adopted.

Moving to item nine, City Manager Report.

Turning the time over to Robbie Hammond, City Manager.

Thank you, Mayor Pace.

Um, a couple of things to share tonight.

And before I do, uh, I know I got several questions about a helicopter that was circling downtown for quite a while.

Um, I have confirmed with our police chief it is not police related, and it's actually Hillsborough Aviation doing infrared calibration in the area, and I don't know what that means.

So just wanted to let everybody know.

Uh, two items that I wanted to share though.

First, I'm glad we have so many library staff here tonight.

Our libraries are a community treasure, and one of the popular features of the public library, Hillsborough Public Library is our library of things.

As many of you know, uh, you can borrow musical instruments, board games, cooking equipment, and much and so much more.

I remember just checking out a Darth Vader cake pan about 10 years ago for my son's birthday.

It was amazing.

Uh now our awesome library team is asking community members what they want added to the collection in on Engage Hillsborough.

Uh, everyone can weigh in on what items they want to see.

Uh added in several uh categories, and voting will continue through mid-November.

More than 800 people have responded so far, and we're excited to see what the community decides.

And second, and and finally, uh, thank you to our Hillsborough Fire and Rescue Department for hosting another community open house this weekend.

These are very popular events.

This one will be held this Saturday, October 11th from 10 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

at the Ronler Acres Fire Station number three.

That's on Northeast Century Boulevard next to the Hundred Dog Park.

Uh, kids and adults will enjoy meeting Hillsborough firefighters, and they can tour all the fire apparatus, see the station, and learn valuable safety information.

Uh I am grateful uh for a Hillsborough fire and rescue team that prioritizes these community connections.

Thank you.

Thank you, Robbie.

Moving to item 10 advice and information.

Community members who want to be informed and engaged on city council matters can sign up to receive happening in Hillsborough email newsletters.

Spanish language updates are also available through our Creciendo Juntos email newsletter.

Please note that the following city council work session will be convened here shortly.

The city council will meet an executive session under ORS 192.6602H to consult with council regarding the legal rights and duties of a public body with regard to current litigation or litigation likely to be filed.

No action may be taken in executive session.

If action needs to be taken, the council will do so in regular session.

Only news media representatives and staff designated by the city council are permitted to attend the executive session.

If you are a news media representative and would like to attend the Zoom conference executive session, email council at Hillsborough-Oregon.gov for the Zoom details.

And with that, the city council meeting is adjourned to the work session.

We will meet at 7:30.

And one of the people in the environmental storage committee is you made it.

To get an update, Robbie.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good evening, everyone.

I wanted to set a little bit of context for this council for this work session.

The last two years, the previous city council went through multiple work sessions and did a lot of work to get to this point with a housing production strategy.

It was approved by that council.

It was submitted to DLCD who remanded it back to the city.

Over the past several months, staff have been working with Cascadia and Paul who's here and another staff to also work with DLC to get it to make the tweaks that we need to resubmit it.

What we're showing you tonight is the final version that will be submitted to DLCD.

It's been uh we worked with them, and so I share that because tonight is more of a presentation.

We're kind of beyond the part where there's lots of input because the previous council went through that.

We're now to the point where we're just hoping to get this approved by DLCD.

We think it's to that point.

And so I just wanted to share the background with you all.

And with that, I'll turn it over to Paul.

Great.

Thanks.

For those of you that I haven't met before, uh, my name is Paul Runge.

I'm a project director at Cascadia Partners, which is an urban planning firm based in Portland.

Um we also do real estate strategy work um and our practices throughout the country.

I'm joined by one of my colleagues tonight, uh, the big head over there.

Do you want to introduce yourself, Alex?

Yeah, good evening, everyone.

Everyone, Alex Joyce here.

I'm uh the managing partner with Cascadia Partners and assist Paul and others on our team with uh real estate related strategies and housing production strategies across the country.

So uh happy to be with you all tonight.

Like Rami said, last year we were the consultants or among the leads on the team working on your housing production strategy that was adopted by your council and then remanded by uh Oregon's Department of Land Use and Development.

Uh so we've had an opportunity this fall, given those unfortunate circumstances to refine the work that we did and arrive at something that we hopefully can all agree on is stronger.

Um so that's what you'll be seeing tonight.

Um we'll talk a little bit more about the actions themselves and how they've adjusted, where they've landed, um, and we'll talk a little bit about the remand conditions that are in place and how those actions intend to respond to them.

So I see a presentation is gonna come up here.

So yeah, our agenda essentially is we're gonna start by just giving a very quick overview of the housing production strategy process, what it is.

Then we'll talk about the uh readoption conditions and how the city is planning to meet those conditions.

Uh, then we'll talk about all the different needs that the city needs to plan for.

For some of you, this will be review, but we wanted to touch on it briefly because it's a big part of what DLCD is wanting us to focus on in our sort of adjustments to the documentation and to the actions themselves.

Um, and then from there, we're gonna get um pretty quickly into the actions themselves.

And I'll go through sort of a handful at a time, but it starts to get a little unwieldy when we talk about the action, the changes to it, the needs that it addresses, and we do that 20 times.

So we're gonna need to pause periodically so that questions can be answered, and if there's discussion, we can have that as well.

Um so that's the game plan.

I think I'm in charge here, so we're gonna give that a try.

All right.

So the housing production strategy is a plan that jurisdictions have to put together every six or eight years, six years for Hillsboro and jurisdictions within Metro.

Um it is a state requirement for cities in Oregon above a population threshold of 10,000.

What you have to do essentially is you have to identify actions that you commit to in order to meet the identified housing needs that were found in your HA, and in the contextualized housing needs section of this report.

So the report sort of has us do the HA again, but with a very targeted set of lenses that we apply to them.

There are specific populations that we're supposed to look into, specific needs that we're supposed to look into.

These needs are very common across Oregon cities, and so what that ends up meaning is we need to plan for those needs too, right?

And so this is your to-do list of things to do over six years to try to meet those needs.

Um, and then in six years, you'll update it.

We're already in year one because of the remand, the clock has kept ticking.

Um, so there are five and a quarter year remaining uh in that timeline, and then there will be another HPS, um, and it'll be built on what your housing capacity analysis at that time says and what the forthcoming Oregon housing needs analysis says.

So, anyway, that is a general overview.

The next touch point that will affect many of the folks on the council is not just adoption later this year, but also um there will be a check-in between DLCD and the city at year three.

This is not something that happened because of the remand, it's just standard procedure.

Um, so at that point, the city will report out on the progress that it's made on the actions that it said it was going to take on.

So DLCD in April, I believe, uh provided their decision letter.

Um they uh remanded the HPS uh with two readoption conditions that we need to pay attention to when we are adjusting the document in order to readopt.

So I'm gonna read them verbatim so that I don't mess up the legal language here.

But readoption condition number one is that the city shall not include action 2.2, coordinate with partners to pursue residential land UGB expansions as an action in the readopted HPS.

Readoption condition number two is the city shall clarify the actions and sub-actions currently included in the HPS uh report to address identified gaps in specificity, implementation timelines, and alignment with identified housing.

So if you haven't seen the remand letter or the excuse me, the decision letter, uh, taking a look through will provide a lot more insight into what DLCD specifically is asking for.

They make a lot of specific requests and recommendations.

So it's a document that's worth taking a look at if you haven't before.

Um, but essentially they found that these two conditions needed to be met in order for us to readopt.

I'm gonna proceed through just like a couple, maybe one more, and then I'll pause and see if there are questions just about this introductory material.

Um, not only do we have the conditions, but we have Hillsborough's response, right?

The approach that staff and then us as consultants are assisting with putting into place.

So the overall approach is to take uh the direction from the state to focus on the identified housing needs very seriously.

So we start by refocusing on housing needs and making sure that there is strong committed alignment between the needs and the actions.

Um the city is sort of lining up one for one and then bring a proposed approach to council, um, answer any questions, and then it proceeds later in the year towards adoption.

So for the specific conditions, condition number one is very simple to address.

It's removing a specific action.

You might ask yourself, you know, the UGB, is it still something that we can a UGB expansion?

Is that still something that we can pursue?

I'm sure you all have talked about this at various points, but the answer is yes, there's just a different process for it.

Um so the um the state's reading of the statute is that the HPS needs to pertain to actions within the city.

Um, and so that is why that action is not included among these, but it does not preclude the city of Hillsborough from going through the process that you are already familiar with in order to seek that in order to meet the housing needs that you identify in the future or that you know of now.

Um condition number two is revising the document to do all the sort of the three underlying things that you saw on the last page.

So more clearly articulate the timelines, um, edit the actions in order to align them very cleanly with the identified housing needs, and then make the actions more clear and committal in nature.

So sometimes that's changing uh May to a will, sometimes it's adding more details than that.

Sometimes it's changing a could to a will, whatever that might be.

But some are small adjustments and some are larger, and we'll try to point them out as we go through.

I'll pause here.

Any questions about that initial material?

Okay, great.

There we go.

Oh, I overdid it.

I knew I should have waited.

Okay.

So there's a lot that we could go over to talk about all the housing needs that are present in Hillsboro.

Um we've tried it to provide just like some quick hits.

Um, there's a lot of words on this slide.

I'll try to talk us through all of it.

Let's start by looking on the right side of the slide, which has this bar chart.

This is the results of your HA.

The HA found that over 20 years, the City of Hillsborough needs roughly 14,000 housing units.

As we discussed some last year, you know, it's quite possible that the city of Hillsboro will grow more than that or have greater need than that.

So uh that number is the one that came out of your HA, but um, we shouldn't fix it on it too much, aside from as is required as part of this process.

Um that need breaks out into a bunch of different income segments, right?

It's not just housing of any type, it's housing need to suit people's budgets.

So we have about um 35 to 40 percent of it in the affordable range, so that would be under 80 percent of the median family income for Hillsboro.

Um, and then there's a middle income range, which is 80 to 120% of that median family income.

So you can think of this as your median household with a little wiggle room, and then on the other side of that is the market rate, which we're calling 120% of median family income and above.

So um, you know, earning more than six figures as a household um and much higher than that.

So this is how the need breaks down.

Um, you sort of have sort of 20% in the middle and then 40% on either side.

Um, and we have to plan for all of this.

We can't just plan for the market rate because we like that, or we can't just plan for the affordable housing because that's what we're passionate about.

We have to plan for all of it.

Um, so here's how this shows up in the reality of some of the folks on the ground living in Hillsboro.

43% of renter households in Hillsborough are spending more than 30% of their income on rent right now.

Um that is worse among um specifically within communities of color.

So, in particular, black households, the majority of black households that rent are cost burdened.

Um, can I have a quick question here?

Yeah, please.

Um, the over housing needs is this based on historic Hillsborough growth rates, or is it the Metro growth rates?

Because they don't uh from what I remember, there was some sort of a debate as to which one to use there.

Yeah, somebody with better historical memory might provide a better response.

And yeah, uh Dan Retic Long Range Planning Manager.

So the housing needs analysis, the HA required us to follow very prescriptive uh methodologies.

So we had to rely on a growth rate of 0.7% versus our historical 1.6% growth rate.

So we did as a reminder complete in alternatives analysis that looked at um if we were to grow more, but we are required per the housing needs analysis to run with the numbers that are shown here on the screen per both the state and the metro requirements.

So based on that, it's if we use 0.6 by statute or rule or whatever, but we think the growth rate might historically be what'd you say 1.7.

So we could be three times off.

Yes.

So when we completed this housing needs analysis, um we had went to council and had adopted it in early 2024.

Um it really identified, as you can see here on the slide, quite a lot of need just in this assumption that our growth rate was uh 0.7% versus the 1.4.

And so that alternatives analysis, just like as Paul mentioned, we can pursue urban growth boundary expansions beyond the housing production strategy.

Similarly, we as staff are looking to both the all the housing needs analysis and the alternatives analysis to inform the policy work that we're doing, but it can has to happen outside of kind of this formal process per the state and metro requirements.

I see.

So if our growth rate is higher than 0.6, then that would actually we could point out to the housing needs statutory versus what we projected, and then maybe pivot to additional area within our I don't want okay.

I think I never mind.

I just tried strike that.

Okay.

I I'm thinking out loud, I shouldn't do that.

So thank you very much.

That's the end of my questions.

Any additional questions?

Don't encourage it.

Well, while we're at it, uh, how are we defining affordable middle income and market rate?

Is affordable and middle income like they use light tech funding?

Is that the definition, or how do those definitions the definitions are based on you start with the median family income and then you work as a percentage of that?

So I think the median family income in Hillsboro is around what is it, around 100,000.

Um, and so take 80% of that.

Let's just call it 80,000, or take 120% of that, 120,000.

And that's uh the different two numbers that are showing up here.

So low income would be below that 80,000, middle income would be between 80 and 120,000, and then uh the upper income would be 120,000 and above.

Yeah, what I was referring to is like the because it's 14,000 total.

That's the number that you have up there, right?

That's reflected in the graph.

And you have that sectioned off by affordable middle income market.

I understand the definitions of you know, the 80% MFI.

Yeah, my question is around the actual housing that goes into the ground.

What is it just the price of the house or the price of the apartment?

What goes into that definition?

Because we can't guarantee how much, but we can't we can't tell people how much to charge for housing.

Yes, good, right?

Good clarification.

So what we do is we go from that income to the amount that you could afford to spend on housing.

So uh the typical metric that gets used by that and the one we're prescribed to use is 30% of your income.

So you can spend a maximum of 30% of that 80,000 on uh yes, it's pre-tax on um rent or on your mortgage in order for that to be an affordable situation for you.

Does that make sense?

And if I could just jump in and build off of that, is it says 2023 housing needs analysis?

This is a forecast for 2043.

Right.

And so we will have a forecast and need per the methodology of for about 14,000 housing units within that 14,000.

This is the percentage breakdown of where we need to hit targets.

Um 20 years out is a long time from now, so it's all forecasted, but it's kind of trying to give a picture and it's a requirement of us to kind of imagine both what our current need is and our need is 20 years out.

And so does that help also provide some.

No, I don't think I'm asking the question is making sense in my head.

Maybe I'm not asking it the right way, or maybe this is not the place for this question.

It seems like we're trying to out like the goal is to output this many homes within these different where these incomes can afford it, right?

But how do we like is it affordable housing complexes that receive light tech?

Is that the 37% that you're talking about?

Or is it workforce housing that you're talking about with the 21%?

I mean, market rate is really easy to understand, right?

It's private developers putting up a house or an apartment.

So that's what I'm trying to get at is what's yeah, what's the definition there?

I think you're the examples that you gave are really good ones.

So another term that we use for the middle income tranche is workforce housing, and then for the affordable tranche, much of it is built using low income um housing tax credits.

Yeah, so uh um, you know, sometimes somebody gets a really affordable deal because you know a family member rents it to them at a really low rate or something.

So it's not that, or you know, maybe the place just happens to be very affordable.

So it is not strictly, we don't define it based on like who's paying what or what funding is coming in or what situation it is, it's typically defined based on the income and then what you can afford to pay.

But you're absolutely right, those are the typical paths or other terms.

So earlier you mentioned 30% of their of their income going towards rent.

Is that something that you can that can go into this housing needs analysis?

That's like can we define that or say this is what we would qualify as affordable housing, or is it just strictly if they receive light tech funding?

Because earlier it was mentioned you mentioned the 30% cost burden, because you know it's referenced there.

So cost burden um is as you mentioned, um, when you're spending more than 30% of your income.

These thresholds are about what the household total income is.

And so if you're at 80%, 80,000 household income here in Hillsborough or below, you would qualify for affordable housing.

But there are folks who are middle income who are cost bourbon.

They're spending more than 30%.

The slides that come are the housing production strategy slides, and these I think will help provide more information about the range of different tools that we can bring forward to address the affordability at the 80% and below the workforce housing at the 80 to 120% and the market rate housing at 120% below.

So I think partially to respond to some of your questions, maybe the strategies are the slides that come.

Okay, and then one last question.

Just to if if if somebody builds an apartment complex and they use light tech funding, but the residents are paying, let's say 40% of their income towards the rent, will that not be counted as affordable housing and as you're tracking the build, right?

Because we the point of this is to have somewhere to shoot for in the building production.

Yeah, and so my understanding is for it to be affordable, it has to have a government subsidy.

That's the definition of affordable housing.

Yeah.

Okay, thank you.

All right.

Let's um let's keep going here.

Uh I'll just very briefly say that you know there are these uh renters have needs and are cost burdened.

Owners are not having a very easy time right now, mortgage rates are quite high.

The median household in Hillsborough cannot afford a mortgage on the median home in Hillsboro.

Um, and that's a really unfortunate situation.

This is worse among communities of color, which have lower home ownership rates.

Um seniors and people with disabilities also have a variety of housing issues.

Seniors, about 40% of them uh live in an overcrowded living situation, live in cost burden or have inadequate plumbing or kitchen facilities currently in Hillsboro.

Um folks with disability live at essentially twice the rate of poverty in Oregon.

So all of these contribute to very difficult housing situations for those uh groups.

Last but not least, uh it sort of goes without saying that there's a homelessness crisis in our region that also affects Washington County and Hillsboro.

The reason why we bring up all of these categories is these are the exact categories that the state is asking us to look into, identify within Hillsboro, and then plan for through our actions.

So that's that's why we're highlighting these specific ones here.

Any uh any other questions before we move to the next?

The one question I have is so the AMI per state regulations doesn't change like readjusted so as economic opportunities change in our cities, um it our AMI doesn't adapt but for every six years.

Um I'm asking, I don't I'm not telling, I'm asking.

Like for more looking at our our category, our three categories.

So to meet those housing standards that our our community can go into if if we're if they can't meet that price because of job opportunities in our cities, because obviously that changes AMI and how how does that equate with as our projections being so far out?

How how often does that change and get re-adapted?

Uh I don't know if you're I think these are I think those are set by HUD actually.

Oh, is it those those percentages like federal poverty level AMI?

I think those are set by the housing of urban development, right?

Uh yeah, they're set by the housing authority.

Um, and uh I'm not sure of the specifics of how all of that flows within Washington County, but they should be refreshed refreshed on an annual basis because there are investments that are required to provide affordability at these levels and you know how much money people are making, like you're saying, is changing every year.

And so they need to recalculate that, understand what the incomes are in the jurisdiction in order to say, okay, projects built in this year in order to meet this threshold, they are providing rent below this amount.

Um, and then that'll continue to be updated over time.

And you know, some projects, the projects every year will fall into these different buckets, but over time, the buckets themselves, the exact definitions of them will shift because the incomes are changing.

Okay.

Was there another comment?

No, I thought you want to we're good?

Okay.

Um, so uh this slide is just a reminder of the different types of things that we can do within a housing production strategy report.

Um we can take a bunch of different actions, but essentially it amounts to this.

There are tools that you can use, um, and that's sort of the metaphor that we have for them.

And then you also need the capacity to use them.

You need to know how, you need to have the staff.

Sometimes it requires funding, right?

And so put those things together, you decide what's in your toolkit, and that's that's really what the HPS is all about.

So there are five different types that we've identified here: regulatory strategies, strategies that involve you partnering in some way to try to uh produce with that partner more housing, investments you can make, incentives you can set up within your fees or tax structure in order to promote certain types of housing or things that you can do with uh with land that you own or acquire.

So you'll see that organization sort of flow through the rest of the presentation.

Like I was just mentioning, we need to plan very carefully for all the different needs.

And so this is just to acknowledge that equity, the needs for lots of different groups is something that we consider for every action because we need to holistically put together a group of actions that responds to all the needs that were found to be present.

So uh just to be clear, that's considered sort of all the way across this.

So we want to meet the needs, but we also want to make sure that we don't do anything that's going to inadvertently create bad outcomes.

The classic example is doing something that might promote displacement within one of your communities.

And then last, uh, before we get into the actions themselves, this is a slide that we shared last year just to help contextualize a little bit the trade-offs that the city faces, right?

You have these needs that you've identified, and you have tools that you can use, but tools themselves come at a cost, right?

They come at an opportunity cost, they also come with you know financial costs or staff time costs.

And so we just want everybody to be aware that um the city is always trying to, every city is trying to play this balancing act between what we can do to respond to the needs and respond to the um the requirements that the state is laying out while also caring for the other aspects of our city like our budget that you need to sort of um keep a city functioning, right?

Um, and so just uh we want to acknowledge that things that you know involve direct financial commitments, things like incentives or investments, you know, those have um consequences for the budget that the city faces going forward.

Okay, so we're gonna get into the actions now.

I'm gonna walk through um you know, chunk by chunk and pause for more questions.

Uh, any other discussion before we move into that.

All right.

Wonderful.

So we'll start with action 1.1.

Uh pretty much all of these.

I will highlight if there's a new action that isn't based on anything that existed last year, the vast majority, I think everything except for two actions is building on work that was done previously.

So this action is no different.

Um, it's adopting comprehensive map, uh excuse me, comprehensive plan map amendments and zoning map updates to expand multi-unit housing capacity.

So that's a that's a big mouthful.

But what that essentially means is uh looking at the zoning map and where you allow housing right now and finding more places to allow multi-unit housing, or you could call it apartments.

Um an additional thing that this action is including that it didn't um that was included as an option last year, but the city is committing to is doing a uh an analysis of your uh city's spatial distribution of vulnerability and opportunity.

Um, those are two really important concepts that we often consider when we're looking at a zoning map zoning map.

Where uh you know, where can you build housing right now that has access to great schools, great jobs, parks, uh, great amenities.

Uh this action would examine where within your city sort of meets some of those criteria and help you make an intentional informed choice about planning for allowing new types of housing, multi-unit housing in those areas.

So this helps us meet overall need by creating more capacity to build housing.

Uh, it helps us meet the identified needs of renters because multi-unit housing tends to serve renters.

Uh, but then also because of this opportunity and vulnerability mapping that I just described, it very importantly helps us tell the state how the city is planning for what's called housing choice.

And that's essentially trying to provide opportunities for people to live in great living situations for them, right?

Trying to live in great neighborhoods.

This is a way that we can go through a deliberate planning process to arrive at a position where people have more opportunities to choose the neighborhood that they live in, right?

Because we're providing more housing opportunities there.

Multi-unit housing tends to be the type of housing that's most affordable or most often is paired with financing tools like LITEC in order to reach deeper affordability levels.

And so that's why that housing type is the particular focus here.

So that's a little bit on the changes and the needs that it addresses.

I'll move to the next one.

Action 1.2 is increasing housing in your city's multi-dwelling zones.

So these are uh zones that already exist, but allowing uh higher density in these places in um uh in alignment with a code audit that was just completed.

So you probably know all about that.

The code audit found that if you made some adjustments to your code, you would actually it would be feasible to build more housing in some of these locations.

So these zones were highlighted as an area where if you made those tweaks, that would be feasible, um, and you'd be able to meet some of your need there.

Another piece of this action that was added and strengthened uh relates to something called density bonuses, a concept that I'm sure folks have heard before, but is essentially an exchange where you say if you meet these criteria, then we'll let you build a slightly bigger building.

Um, and what that does is it gives the developer more financial opportunity, uh, but in exchange, the city gets something that's a priority uh or a public policy priority for them.

So in this case, the public policy priority is affordable housing, so income restricted housing.

Um, so a percentage of the units, maybe 5%, maybe 10% would be sort of a typical range.

Um, and then accessible units.

So these are units that meet uh Oregon building code or some other standard uh related to accessibility, physical accessibility.

So think things like wider doors, elevator access, um, being able to turn around a wheelchair in the bathroom, things like that.

Um so these are these are needs that we need to plan for, right?

For uh people with disabilities and seniors were on that initial list that we looked at before.

And so we're trying to be really intentional now about drawing a direct connection between those needs and uh between this uh this way of producing that housing through density bonuses.

Um let's see, I think that covered that piece.

I'm gonna do two more and then I'm gonna pause.

This next one, 1.3, is essentially a mirror image of the one we just talked about, but it's focused on your commercial zones.

So the code audit um also found that there was an opportunity to change some of the development standards that are in your code in order to promote more housing production there.

Um, and so this action is changed to provide those specifics from the code audit, and then also have that strengthened density bonus language that we just discussed.

There's also some stuff in here about uh some cases in which you might allow within your mixed-use zones standalone residential buildings.

So there are corridors within the city where it's still a priority to have ground floor mixed use, right?

Because you're trying to achieve a particular pedestrian experience and neighborhood experience, and that's something that the city, I think still or that that is reserved for the city to be able to do that and say, no, these are areas where we want mixed use to be what happens.

But in some areas, maybe we could loosen things up a little bit and say, hey, if it works better, you can build just standalone residential in this area.

Um remember if that was both, I think that was both the commercial and uh mixed use zones.

Did I get that correct?

Okay.

Um let's see.

So this meets overall housing needs by helping you produce more housing overall.

Um, and it also helps you meet those specific population needs that I mentioned earlier through the density bonuses.

So folks who need affordable housing and folks who need assess accessible housing.

All right, last one before I pause and get a drink of water.

Um action 1.4 is refining middle housing development standards.

This action's title is unchanged since the year prior, but it's updated based on state law that has passed that sort of changed what the city is required to do.

The code audit also found that there are a couple opportunities for you all to make some adjustments in order to make middle housing easier to build, more feasible to build.

Um, and so it makes those recommendations for those changes.

Um this is a really important one when it comes to home ownership.

We've been talking a lot about a lot of stuff that is geared more towards renters.

Uh middle housing is proving to be uh as it's implemented throughout Oregon, one of the most affordable ways to own a home right now.

Um, and I see a lot of that in my own neighborhood, and I know it's happening in Hillsborough too.

And so by making middle housing easier to build and to get permitted and being flexible around that, you can promote this uh this uh type of housing that is very often for ownership and serving folks in that middle income band without a subsidy.

Okay.

Any questions or comments on those?

I had a question on the first one.

Um 1.1.

So what was the change from the because yeah, in in specifically 1.1.

Yes, thank you.

And I'm gonna I'm gonna try to do a better job of clearly delineating the changes here.

We strengthened the language around um in the title and in the action itself to say that this will be adopted.

It's not something you're undertaking, it's not something you're pursuing, it is going to be adopted.

Okay.

Um, that's part of it.

And then the other part of it is rather than saying, you know, we think it'd be a good idea to do some sort of analysis related to vulnerability or opportunity.

It says we will do this analysis.

We will look at this, and if we find that there are risks, we will mitigate for those risks.

So it's more clear and committal in that that way.

Other questions?

Yes.

And 1.4 for middle housing.

Uh refined development standards.

So what what did that mean specifically refine?

Yeah, good question.

Um, so I can give two examples that came out of the code audit.

Um, one example is right now, if you want to build something called a cottage cluster, um, all the units have to be separated.

Yep.

And what that creates is these really funny side yards that are useless.

And um, you know, some people don't want to share walls, and that's totally reasonable, but we don't let those be attached.

And some of the best looking cottage clusters that at least I've seen have a mix of some houses that are standalone and some are duplexes.

Rather than it's like all these, I don't know, separate sort of blocks that are all arranged.

Um, it sort of creates more of the um the diversity and visual interest and visual diversity.

That's sort of uh uh it's flexibility that the developers could use, and it's also I think conducive to good design.

So that's one of the pieces that's getting introduced.

Um the other piece is that right now um the city perhaps has already been working on this, but um uh the land division process that the state created, the MHLD process.

Right now, it's not easy to have those things that process occur at the same time as other permitting processes, and this will change that to make it so those things can happen at the same time, which speeds things up a lot.

Um so those are the two biggest changes that I'm aware of that come out of the code audit.

Um so we call out those specifics and we try to make a clear case of how that connects back to the needs.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um I think this might be a good moment to add uh some context to some of the questions you all had before.

I just want to make sure that they were answered appropriately.

So just to maybe take us back to a little higher level for a second, um, and I'll ask um if we can send this presentation out to you that we shared with you at the housing 101 presentation about the different programs that we have, right?

So we have the housing needs analysis that tells us what our targets are for an X amount of years.

There's a there was a little bit of a disagreement on what we thought we needed versus what we um our state partners said we did.

At the end of the day, we need a lot of housing.

So at the end of the day, just making that very clear.

Um, once that was adopted, we're here now to talk about how we produce that housing, but not just us necessarily, but how do we incentivize this?

And I think we'll focus a little bit more on the next slides and some of the things that have changed from the last time you saw this, because you've seen some of this material in the 101 session.

Um, and then counselor Salgado to your question around the rents.

There's a really good slide in the material we shared with you previously that we'll make sure to share with you again that actually sores those dollar amounts per AMI level.

Um, and it just provides perspective on what people in particular categories are going to have to pay for this.

Again, this gets updated every certain amount of years, and that gets refreshed over time.

Um, and I just wanted to set that context because the different purposes of these documents and what we're asking to get approved by the state vary depending on the document.

So I hope that answers maybe some of the questions you had.

Um, things like um subsidies or or or additional benefits we can provide affordable housing developers that we partner in, usually are very specific to the project and are negotiated with the project.

Um so there isn't like a blanket thing we do across all affordable housing projects.

Also wanted to mention that.

Yeah, no, thanks for providing more context.

I mean, I understand from what our presenter mentioned that this is already set, right?

So there's no changes that we can make to this.

So this is a learning opportunity for all of us about the actions that are being taken.

And I think questions are good.

So thanks for clarifying because these are things that we're we're going to be able to influence, right?

For those of us that are going to stay longer on the city council.

So understanding how that goes through and how we define things and how that interprets to how we implement the strategy, I think is important.

And so I think that's why I like to dig in on the definitions, right?

Because it's it's important that when we say affordable housing, it's actually affordable for the people that are renting.

And so if we're going to build housing that is going to cost burden people, and then we're going to count it as affordable.

Like to me as a city councilor, it's like, well, what do we need to change?

What lever do we need to turn to actually make it affordable?

So I understand that we're not going to change anything, but this is why the presentation is happening, right?

So that we can ask questions and get clarification on things.

So I appreciate your input.

Yeah, and to provide clarity to uh council Songata, this isn't set in stone.

These are the changes that we're sharing with you to get your feedback.

So this isn't approved by the state at this point.

I just want to make sure we're all on the same page.

Yeah.

The next step would be to take this to the state to get approved.

Yeah, what I meant is like it's already that far in the process where you're just waiting for the state to approve it, right?

So and any input we have is a little too late to input now because now we're just waiting on the state.

I wouldn't say that.

Okay.

Um your input would be considered in how we um get this refined.

We will be coming back to you in December to get it adopted.

So between now and then we have some time to make a few changes.

I would just discourage major changes at this point because a lot of this language has been negotiated with DLCD, and we're still working through that process.

Um that doesn't mean we can't take on additional actions outside of this.

But I just also want to point out that we have a state partner agency that we have to please essentially.

For sure.

So we're kind of in that delicate place.

Yeah, no, it's I mean, it's a push and pull, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So thank you for that.

I I do have a question on the 1.4.

So these are, and I'm sure that there's more here, but um these are focused on like changing code and allowing more things to happen.

Do any of these address the cost of, for example, building ADUs?

Because I know that's some feedback that I've heard out in the community where people try to build ADUs and it ends up costing them a lot of money.

Is up is that any is that in the strategy at all?

Or is there anything mentioned in that?

And maybe you'll cover it later.

But yeah, I think these next ones are going to speak to a couple ways that the city is trying to streamline things in order to um help provide cost savings and time savings to data.

Okay, I'll just leave for that.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, let's proceed to the next ones.

And I'm gonna I'm gonna try to move a little quicker uh to be sensitive to everyone's time here tonight.

Um, as much as I could go on about this stuff right.

Okay, uh 1.5 is streamlining design standards.

The title is unchanged, but we did add new details to this in line with the code audit.

Um, streamlining these design standards influence things like how much it costs to build a house because if you reduce the number of design standards or make it more flexible so that fewer of them pertain, for example, to small units like ADUs or or other small units, uh, you can make it easier, right?

To build housing, and sometimes that can save money.

Um, so those changes were integrated into uh this action.

We think this pertains to overall housing need, but a lot of your design standards focus on um design for single detached dwellings, and so this also sort of has a specific focus on ownership housing.

Um next one is adopting a user-friendly code.

We adjusted the title here by adding the word adopt, which DLCD takes as a indication of clear uh commitment to uh following through with implementing the action.

Um the other part of it is there was another recommendation from the code audit that found it wet its way into here.

You have a lot of zoning districts in Hillsborough.

One of the recommendations was to try to consolidate some of those in the years to come.

So that's a big part of uh the work that would come along with creating uh user-friendly code that hopefully makes it easier for people to do the work of building housing.

Um, and that's something that would pertain across all housing needs.

Uh 1.7 is producing uh and removing uh development code and permit process barriers.

Um so essentially the you know, the code is one piece, and then the process itself can create all sorts of other headaches or timing issues.

Um the city has known this, this action was included last year.

We've um done some minor tweaks in order to try to improve the commitment level of the language uh as well as including recommendations from uh the code audit about what specifically to focus on.

Um, I think the biggest part of that is committing to an internal audit of your city's processes.

Um, that could be something that your own team does or hires a consultant to do in order to identify okay, where are things slowing down?

Where do we need more capacity?

Where can we move or remove a requirement in order to move things faster and then implementing the results of that audit?

So uh we think that should help all different types of housing production.

So it's sort of an overall housing needs strategy.

And then 1.8 is the last regulatory strategy, it's to adopt a local pre-approved housing plan for ADUs with universal design.

Um, so last year there was a pre-approved housing plan related action.

This is more specific and targeted at people with disabilities and seniors who would benefit from universal design.

I guess it's universal, so it's it really is everybody, but it is uh, you know, uh is a specific help to those groups that we that are a high priority uh for this state planning process.

Um way that this differs from last year is again the use of the the language around adopt.

The state has also passed some laws this year that indicate that they're going to produce at least one, but maybe multiple pre-approved plans at the state level.

Um, and so what that means is that the city of Hillsborough sort of has an opportunity to focus on what it does.

Um, and so the focus has been on universal design and an ADU uh for this particular plan, knowing that the state is also going to produce something.

Um so I think that one maybe speaks a little bit to what you're talking about, right?

Okay.

Um any questions on those before I proceed to the next category?

Yeah, not on these specifically, but just generally when when uh when when it specifies actions like reduce and streamline or adopt, what is the timeline of that action?

Yeah, it varies from action to action.

Um the city is going to have the most specific details on that, but there are essentially 22 different timelines or 20 different timelines for the different actions, they occur over the six-year period.

Uh, Councillor Ambry, maybe just a follow-up to your question.

Our next step is then to provide a work plan on how we implement these.

And part of this is also us balancing some of our local needs and making sure that the actions that are in here are not necessarily very overly prescriptive on how we want to apply it in our local community, but also not being too general because that's some of the feedback we've received from the state.

So our next step after we adopt the HPS is to start implementing these actions.

And we've also already started implementing some of these actions.

So for example, reviewing some of our um SDC fees, we just began a project to do that, reviewing the cost to permit things.

We've already started doing that.

Um these are not all new items, they're also things that we've just started.

And just to add the housing production strategy that will come before council in December, uh, we'll have the very years we're initiating and the years that we're adopting and then the years we're implementing.

So there'll be more information in that final document to come.

So a quick question, just to be clear.

So when we're looking at this and looking at ADUs and mixed use housing, it's to create more density.

Is that correct?

In other words, it's to produce more housing overall.

And one of the ways that you do that when um you're working with the land that you have is through greater density.

So, yeah, it is a theme that comes up over and over again.

But the end goal is more production rather than density itself for densities purposes, if that makes sense.

And counselor Sinclair, it's also to provide more options that meet different affordability levels as well.

So it's a multitude of things.

Yeah, thanks for that.

Okay, let's proceed to the next one.

So the next category is land.

There are two actions here.

Um builds on an action from last year.

It's coordinate with public-private and faith-based organizations to identify underutilized land for affordable housing specifically.

Um, you'll see for many of the actions that are forthcoming, a lot of them have an affordable housing focus.

And that's because oftentimes you have to pull out all the stops in order to make that sort of stuff happen because the market won't do it on its own.

So as you hear that theme come up again and again, it's part of the need that we talked about earlier, and it's a difficult need to meet.

And so that's why there are a variety of different approaches that the city is taking.

Um, so the city uh had planned this action in a very similar way last time around, but the city has gone further to make additional commitments here to the uh and to try to be more specific about the number of meetings that it will be conducting with these different organizations in order to try to find on our use utilized land and then the specific assistance that it will provide to those groups in order to make it possible for them.

You know, a lot of groups that might be land rich but not necessarily have the knowledge of what to do in order to you know find a development partner that they can trust and enter into a development agreement that um you know works for them and they feel comfortable with.

Uh so these are the sorts of problems that they encounter, and the city with its experience and its staff capacity can be helpful with.

Um so as I mentioned earlier, this is an action that's focused on the needs of you know, folks in that lower income spectrum that also touches on some of the other needs that we saw earlier.

So, for example, if there was a development that was focused on deeply affordable housing, you could see that easily be uh you know, something that serves folks who are experiencing homelessness right now, right?

So that's a connection back to another group.

Um, the next action is action 2.2 identifying and using city-owned land for affordable housing.

So this replaces the previous action 2.2.

Um, this action is an entirely new action and it's focused on taking an asset that the city has right now or will have because it brings in land from some partner in order to support affordable housing, this need that's really difficult to meet and often requires funding, land, some additional assistance to get off the ground.

Um so the city is making a commitment to undertaking the work to review its uh land inventory and then to um it's committing to one or more sites being identified in order to support affordable housing production.

That could be affordable homeownership, like you saw with Alder Commons or Century Commons.

It could be uh affordable rental, uh like you've seen in or RCing in the Dolores or things like that.

It depends on the land, it depends on you know what funding is available at the time, it depends on uh sort of the city's priorities and what seems to make sense, but both of those options are on the table.

Let's see.

Keep going.

We have some partnership actions here.

3.1 is one I'm gonna breeze through very quickly.

It's an acknowledgement that the city actively partners with other jurisdictions and with organizations to advocate to the state and advocate to the federal government.

Um as much as the city can and should make moves in order to try to meet its housing needs.

Um, sometimes you need somebody with a bigger purse or you need helpers, right?

So the state and uh federal governments are really important partners in that, and city's advocacy to those groups is important.

So the city will undertake, I'm sure, a lot of that, and we've added some more specifics about the areas that the city would like to focus on uh in order to make that clear.

But this is an at this is not an action that's targeted at a specific type of need, but is uh just sort of in recognition of the work that the city does in this area.

Um, so it's uh classified as meeting overall needs.

Action 3.2 is continuing and expanding on uh the city's affordable homeownership partnerships.

Um the city has, like I mentioned with all their commons and Century Commons uh has worked with Proudground, has worked with uh Habitat for Humanity uh to provide more affordable homeownership opportunities, which is a very difficult type of housing to offer.

Um the city wants to continue with that work and wants to commit to expanding it.

So the city was able to complete two of those projects in recent years and is committing to doing at least that in the years to come.

Um so it's uh delivering at least two of those projects.

Um the sort of needs that this meets are fairly obvious, right?

It's homeowners, it's folks at the lower and middle income spectrum.

Um, but it's also I want to call out that because we know that communities of color have lower home ownership rates, there's a direct connection too between this action and that need.

I'm gonna do one more and then I'm gonna pause.

If it lets me.

There we go.

Okay.

Um 3.3 is adopting and implementing the 10th Avenue, Avenida Diaz equitable development strategy.

Um last year, this action I think was um the title was less strong.

So that's one of the big changes that we've made is it's not just that the city will create this plan, it's that the city will create this plan and then implement it.

Um, and uh uh the city sort of wanted to use the word adopt in order to signal that this is something that we're gonna adopt and implement.

Um I'm sure you all have talked about this equitable development strategy at length at various times.

So I'm not gonna get into that, but um I know that it you know contains anti-displacement components, housing production components, housing stability components.

And so through this work, um, you can meet a lot of the needs that uh those specific population needs that the state is very curious about.

So I know this is one that's really important to them as well.

Um, so the city has worked to add a little more implementation and mitigation action detail to how the action is written out.

Um and in addition, the city is citing that um it will explore the use of urban renewal area funds.

Uh, this area overlaps with the downtown urban renewal area.

Um, and that you know, TIFF district creates not only the tax revenue that it entails, but the lending capacity that comes with that revenue source.

And so that's something that the city could explore using, and the city has called that out as something that they will explore going.

Um I'm gonna just add a little bit to this for a second.

Um, so this is a perfect example of work that we've already started that is in the housing production strategy.

Um we will be bringing to you at a work session uh probably early next year um an update on this.

There's still a lot of work we're doing into developing that draft of what an equitable development strategy would look like.

So I just wanted to give you a heads up of an action that will be coming to you as its own separate work session, just because it's a very um big topic.

So just a heads up.

Okay.

Great.

Yeah.

Um yeah, I mean, maybe that that was that was my question.

So use using the funds from the urban urban renewal area is the plan any has is the plan anyway, even before this.

It is an option.

Oh, we have not been doing that.

So, right now, the funding mechanism that we're using right now for developing the equitable strategy equitable development strategy is a combination of some local funds, primarily through URA funding, and we actually got a metro grant to do this work as well.

Okay.

So we're just leveraging other resources to complete this plan, but we're still like kind of in the middle of it, but we'll bring a draft and uh some more info on this specific thing to council.

So another thing to note about this one in particular is um is that the state is very focused on it because we've identified, well, actually, your group has identified in the past that this area has what's called a racially and ethnically concentrated area of poverty.

It's the only one in Washington County, it's the only one in Hillsborough, therefore.

Um, and so it's an area of keen interest to the state as it looks to um make sure that the plan is doing enough to stabilize houses and to provide affordable housing.

So this action is very key because the state sees rightly that there is a geographic link between this action and um a group of essentially uh it's like a Latino neighborhood that um uh tends to have a high rate of poverty.

Um, and so this is an action that I expect the state will pay great attention to and will be working in the coming weeks to make sure it's as strong as possible, as the city feels is comfortable um, you know, to make as many commitments as we can without getting ahead of the planning process that um your staff just mentioned.

So there's a balance here, right?

Because the state wants to see strong commitments, they want to know clearly what is the plan, but the plan is still being made.

So this is some of the difficulty that we have here, and over the next month, you know, before you get the final, I think I expect that this is one that we might continue to make sure that the language is in tip top shape.

Um, but with knowing that this is such an important strategy, I think uh I'm sure that's no surprise to anybody.

Okay, um, I'll pause.

Any discussion or questions?

Yeah, um 3.1.

Can you remind me what the acronym DLDC stands for?

I think I have two of them, right?

And what what is their scope?

Um, let's see.

Sorry, you said my question's gonna be regarding 3.1, but I just want to get clear.

DLC a reminder on DLDC and what their scope is.

Um I think that's the Department of Land Conservation and Development is what you're referring to.

Yeah, so that's development and land.

I just forgot to it's the uh it is the state agency that has oversight over the HPS process.

So they're the ones who issued the decision letter before, and they'll issue another decision letter once this plan is submitted to them again.

So they'll say this met the requirements or it didn't.

Um, so they're a very important partner uh in this whole process because they sort of grade grade the report.

Okay.

So they're just they're just oversight, they're not reporting back to the state, like where funding is needed and where investment is needed to meet these different development plans.

They have a variety of roles for this particular process and project, their role is an oversight role.

Um, but they they do a lot of other things that I think overlap with some of what you described.

Um, but yeah, in this instance, I think we can just think of them as the people who are overseeing this and we'll ultimately grade the work that we come up with.

Okay, yeah, I was just curious because I mean every action obviously means money, time and resources, right?

So advocating to the state, and there's the state agency overseeing the housing production, and they're well aware of all the needs and incentives to me.

It's like, why would we spend money and time and resources?

But I see that they have different kinds of scopes and maybe this related to something different.

Yeah, I mean, I think that there are a number of entities that you could advocate to at either the federal or state level.

And I know that your group talks a lot with DLCD, so I imagine that's one of them.

But yeah, I was gonna add to that.

Um, and I can't remember her name.

Uh, but the director of DLCD we actually had come into town a few months ago with Mayor Pace and I and Dan and Dan Diaz and I can't remember who was on that group.

We gave her a tour.

And the point of that was to try to show, hey, here's the things we're doing in Hillsborough, here's where we could use some help, you know.

So they're very important partner to your point.

And and uh so yes, they're part of this, and we're also trying to get involved with them in other ways to show them the needs of Hillsborough and how we can navigate more.

Okay, thanks.

One more thing, maybe to add counselor Solgata to expand on this a little bit.

One example could be asking the state legislature for funding, right?

To have funding for a specific project we may be doing, or a program to be set up to provide more funding to affordable housing.

So those are the other types of things that would be included in this action.

Is the is the hope that we increase a middle housing from the state's perspective?

Uh what type of housing?

Sorry.

Middle middle housing.

Is the state's hope that um that that is a that that is a part of production that's increased for Hillsboro?

Uh I don't know if they have a specific hope around the type of housing that is produced.

It's more those income bands.

And in order to produce housing at those different income bands, you often need a variety of housing types.

And so I think they imagine that middle housing is going to be a strong part of that.

Let's take home ownership, for example.

What we have seen, right, is that that's a really strong tool for home ownership.

And so, yes, I think uh we're seeing a lot of jurisdictions lean into that to try to provide more affordable options, still through the market for people trying to achieve homeownership for me the first time, or maybe they're downsizing.

Right.

Um I'm sorry I keep asking about little housing, it's just a I see so many uh older neighborhoods, my wards specifically that have larger lots and people want that opportunity to have legacy housing for that generational aspect for their families, um, and for us to get creative in that aspect and to increase our home ownership opportunities.

So that's why I keep asking.

So thank you.

Yeah, absolutely.

No, it's uh it's a really important part of the work that Hillsboro has been doing and will continue to do through this and implementing uh the actions related specifically to middle housing.

So, you know, um very commonly the affordable homeownership stuff is some form of middle housing.

Um, and so I think it's it's gonna sort of rear its head in that way uh going forward.

Any other questions before we proceed?

All right, let's keep going.

All right, incentives.

Um, we have two actions here that are both uh what we call exploratory actions.

Um, and so the state has clarified with us that there are committal actions and there are exploratory actions.

And uh committal actions are things where the city is firmly committing to a policy plan that is directed at meeting a specific type of need.

But as we've discussed, a lot of the city's work is ongoing, right?

It's not sure exactly what solution is going to be right.

So, in some instances, um, it has made sense for the city to say, you know, we're still exploring how to do this correctly.

We don't know that we can pre-commit right now to uh some policy outcome.

And so the state has said, okay, well, that would count as exploratory, and so we won't consider that as part of our review, but it's just it is still very much part of the work that your city will be doing, which is why it's included in the HPS, and it could very well end up helping you meet a lot of housing needs in the future.

So it's important for you to know about, even though it is classified under the state as exploratory in nature.

So the reason why it's exploratory is these two actions both start with a study, and then they result in your jurisdiction considering what to do next, but not predetermining that you will do one thing or another.

Obviously, the state is grading here, right?

And they're trying to say, okay, what are you for sure going to do?

And so they say, ah, well, we can't grade it if you're not gonna say for sure what you're gonna do.

So we're sort of at an impasse here.

Um, but this I'll just say these are important actions that could support, should support housing need in your uh jurisdiction.

And so we want to talk to you about them.

Uh action 4.1 is completing a permit application fee study.

This is already underway, correct?

Yes.

Um and then considering fee structure adjustments.

In the past, um, this was something where the language was perhaps a little more committal, but I think as budgetary constraints had become clear, um, and as the city had more thought about where it wanted to lean in, um, this is an action where the city uh felt most comfortable leaving it as an exploratory action.

Uh action 4.2 is similar, it's focused on SDCs.

My understanding is that study is already ongoing.

Um, and uh the city will consider whether there are adjustments that can be made to the SDC schedule that you control in order to try to promote the production of more needed housing.

This is a these two examples are good ones where we would come back to you with results and then have your input on the next decisions to make.

Um, because at the end of the day, if you use SDCs, for example, we still have to pay for those improvements through some other mechanism.

Um, same thing with permit fees.

We still need to pay for the staff who are reviewing those permit applications.

So it's where do you pay?

Do you pay it from your general fund or do you pay it from fees that the development community is is uh being charged?

So these are studies we're undergoing right now and would bring back some results to you when we're further along in the process.

Are you also considering not just how much to pay, but when to pay?

Because like the city of Portland may not charge the entire SDC charge, like until the house is sold.

So I don't know when we incur the expenses, but aligning that can make the cost of building more affordable because of the cost of the carrying cost, right?

That's a great point, Council Harris.

We also already have some of those programs in place right now that allows some deference of SDC fees to a later point in the development process.

But we we would be looking at all of that stack as part of this work.

Okay.

If there are no other questions and comments on these, I'm gonna keep going.

I'm sorry, I have one question.

Please go ahead.

4.4.

So for the systems development charges, does that study um does the protection that we choose go off of the complexity of the construction of our um STCs?

Like meaning the physical construction of um like our our um stormwater and our sewer.

Does that will that dictate the understanding where you're going?

Uh yeah, the the size, the scope, the complexity of the development, that all does go into the uh what the SDCs would be charged.

And so the larger the development, for example, the more units that are being um uh built, oftentimes we'll pay higher SDCs because it'll have a greater impact on the sewer, on the stormwater, um, on the park system transportation.

So that's what we're looking at right now is we have our own methodology, and we're looking now at do we do we need to tweak it?

Do we need to add layers to it, right?

So, but I think to your point, yeah, the more complex or the larger the development that we're talking about, typically they would pay higher SDCs.

Is that what you were asking?

Okay, I think.

And before we continue, I just want to say we're about an hour out before we check in about continuing.

We have nine more items to go over and five more slides, in addition to an executive committee meeting.

So just want to put that in perspective.

Understood.

Yeah, we're gonna move uh we're gonna move quickly through the remainder.

All right.

Action 4.3.

Um, this is uh we've essentially taken what was previously one action between these two pieces that are shown here.

We've broken them apart.

Um, but otherwise they are uh they're more or less consistent with where they were.

Um 4.3 is continuing to or continuing and expanding the use of vertical housing development zones.

That's something that the a tool the city has used before.

Um I there has been some debate about whether this is going to have some sort of income targeting or not.

I'm not sure of what the latest is on whether or not that is uh part of this or not.

So I think that is something that the city will decide in the the coming couple days.

Um have heard that uh, you know, this tool could be used.

For example, your neighbor Beaverton has used this and target it towards um different income levels, specifically at the lower end.

So it is possible, but it's a tool that uh you know can be difficult in that in that regard because it does have other requirements that come with it, and it's only a partial property tax exemption.

Um so uh there's a bit of a discrepancy here between the right side of the chart, which indicates the need that it addresses and the title.

Um, but just to be clear, I think that that decision is one that's still being made.

Um let's see, moving on to the next one, adopt a multi-unit property tax exemption.

So that's a the MUPTI program in order to target middle income and accessible housing.

So this is another type of tax exemption program.

And this one is a little more flexible than the vertical housing development zone program in a couple ways that we don't necessarily need to get into.

But the city knows that that middle income band all often gets left behind because there are tools that are focused on affordable housing, but not necessarily on the next rung up the ladder, so to speak.

So the MUMTI program is one that the city intends to use to target that need, as well as the need for uh accessible housing units, trying to provide a tax uh exemption in exchange for sort of getting more of these units than is typically required under Oregon's building code.

Um so again, this is uh two tax programs in order to meet critical needs.

And then we'll go to the next one.

Action 4.5.

This is a new action.

So not I well, I guess it's kind of building on something that the city had before, but it is much more specific and committal than it was previously.

Um the city currently uh has a nonprofit affordable housing tax exemption that it renews every year.

Uh, you all were probably involved in that recently.

Um it is allowed under uh Oregon State statute to expand that to all affordable housing developers, uh not just not-for-profits.

Um, in most parts of the country, not necessarily here in Portland, for-profit developers build the majority, the vast majority of affordable housing.

Um, so uh and there are some that are active in the region and do quite a good job.

Um the city is uh committed to expanding the property tax exemption that is currently offered for affordable housing from uh not just nonprofit entities but for-profit developers that do this work as well.

There's a requirement within the state statute that any tax exemption has to be shown to flow directly into lower rents for the tenants.

So it's um it is helping essentially a for-profit developer meet the requirements for lower income in a way that uh you know still lets them play ball on sort of level playing field with other groups that are getting a tax exemption.

So uh this targets your affordable housing need uh in a really tangible way.

It should increase the number of uh developers that are able to participate in requests for proposals that you put out and access more of a national market when it comes to development activity uh as opposed to um just sort of the the local groups.

Um let's see.

All right, let's proceed.

Well, actually, um, any questions on these?

Keep going.

I know we want to keep moving.

All right, next ones, last category, action 5.1.

Uh, this builds on an action from last year, adds a couple more specifics about how the city will take an intentional or sort of have an intentional analysis in order to determine where to invest in infrastructure in the city in order to unlock housing development potential.

Essentially, there are sites that are maybe right on the cost of being developable, save for an infrastructure investment that's needed that maybe your city is already committed to and could just move up in the timeline, something like that, in order to unlock that development capacity.

So the city has already entered into a grant agreement with the state to do a development ready lands analysis.

So this adds in some text related to that grant and adds in some more specifics about the analysis that the city would conduct in order to arrive at that outcome of knowing which sites are close to being ready and can be made ready with uh modest investment.

Um that would meet all different types of housing needs.

Action 5.2 is another exploratory action.

It was exploratory in the last round.

Um, so this is a continuation of that.

It's to explore with your jurisdictional partners the creation of an ongoing res revenue source for affordable and middle income housing production.

What we know is that um gap funding is uh very hard to find for affordable housing, and that's often a very critical piece, filling that final gap in order to make a project feasible.

Um the problem is that it's a collective action problem, right?

Uh should one group act alone?

Should we act collectively, and how do we coordinate that?

Um, and so we've seen efforts like uh the Metro Affordable Housing Bond to work together regionally to try to come together with a solution for this type of housing, and your team continues to implement and use those funds in order to propel the production of affordable housing in your jurisdiction.

So this I think sort of builds on that sort of idea and that thinking and uh calls on the city to continue that conversation.

Action 5.3 is building and completing a year-round homeless shelter.

This is work that you all have already completed, but it's a really important part of the housing continuum.

There's really not much to change here aside from minor documentation fixes.

So no adjustments.

And Paul, if I could just join, jump in.

We're in year one of the housing production strategy.

And so as our homeless shelter is getting completed, uh well, that's gonna count along with other work that was mentioned earlier.

We're doing as well.

Yeah, thanks for that clarification.

All right, we are on to the last one.

I do have a question on the homeless shelter.

What is the uh we still need funding, don't we?

From the state, are we fully funded on the funding?

Fully.

Okay, thank you.

Awesome.

That's great news.

All right.

Action 5.4 is promoting the inclusion of supportive housing and accessible units in affordable housing projects.

Essentially, you have resources that you're already using in order to produce affordable housing in your jurisdiction, different types of grants, bond funds, things like that.

What this is doing is it's setting an intention for the city to direct those towards specific housing needs that we know that you have within your jurisdiction, and we know are important as part of the compliance process that this plan will go through.

Um, and so this is saying, you know, we're gonna be a little more careful with how we use those resources in order to meet those needs that we're aware of.

Um, so a key way that you can do this is through housing solicitations that you put out where you say we have this resource, we have this land or whatever, and we're looking for partners to do this work.

You can say we prefer to work with somebody who shares this preference with us, and that's a way to sort of move the needle to get more of that type of housing built while using the resources that you currently have.

So that's an action that's targeted towards you know, folks who benefit from accessible housing and from affordable housing.

Um, and uh, you know, helps meet parts of your need that are difficult to meet.

That gets us to the end of the actions themselves.

We can say a little bit more about the next steps and timeline, but I want to pause here and see if there were any questions, overall feedback on the actions, um discussion that you would like to have.

And counsel, just as um a point of reference if you're interested in seeing the exact language as it was previously in the presentation that Aubrey just sent to you.

Um, there's a slide that shows each item.

So you can compare the language if you're interested.

Thank you.

Thanks very much.

Any feedback or discussion before we talk timeline.

Okay, let's get you to executive session and home.

So uh timeline.

Um, we have this work session tonight, and then very shortly, uh, I think early next week is that the plan it's gonna go out for public comment for two weeks.

So uh groups can whether folks in your community or uh you know, advocacy groups can look and they can provide public comment.

Our group will summarize that for the city to review and for DLCD to have access to.

Um, at that point too, they will review the plan and provide informal input.

Um, thus far, they haven't done a sort of a full review, they've just sort of provided high-level guidance.

And this would be a point at which they could say, um, you know, you're on the right track, or we're gonna flash a warning sign, right?

So this is their opportunity to make it a bit more clear to the city what's going on and where they're standing.

Um, from there, we go into any final report revisions that are required and then adoption before you all.

As you've heard from your staff members today, um, you know, a lot of progress has been made, a lot of commitments have been made, a lot of negotiation has happened.

Um, there could be revisions that are still forthcoming, and there could not be.

It depends on what DLCD has to say and what the city staff deliberate on to think about what is prudent as uh as a route forward.

And we, of course, at Cascadia with our consulting hats on, our role is to try to advocate for what we think is the strongest case for compliance.

And the city has to decide what is prudent with that guidance and with what they're hearing from the state and with the constraints that they know that they have to face, the trade-offs that they know all of you all deal with.

So that's the balance that we all work with them.

Yes.

So uh to get to this point, have how have you been working with DOCD?

We've been meeting with them regularly, yes.

Um, and they've been able to provide some high-level guidance on what is most important to them, and that's guided a lot of our work so far.

Yeah.

Um, and they will continue, you know, they have priorities that are expressed as part of the administrative rules and how they interpret them.

And um, you know, they ultimately are the oversight body that will grade this report, so to speak.

And so we take that guidance, we try to process it and land in a place that works for the state and also works for the city.

them regularly yes um and they've been able to provide some high level guidance on what is most important to them and that's guided a lot of our work so far yeah um and they will continue you know they they have priorities that are expressed as part of the administrative rules and how they interpret them and um you know they ultimately are the oversight body that will grade this report so to speak and so we take that guidance we try to process it and land in a place that works for the state and also works for the city hi Becky Catino senior planner um just adding a clarification about our stakeholder engagement it is um you know limited this time around in that our first round of the housing production strategy we had three focus groups in English three in Spanish with our historically marginalized communities we also convened a technical advisory committee that met four times so those participants on the technical advisory committee are going to be notified of this public common draft coming out on Monday we're also posting that to our city website and then anyone that testified at our city council public hearing last December and the Department of Land Conservation development they had a public comment period so folks that testified there will also be getting notified of this public comment period and then of course there's public noticing for our December 2nd public adoption hearing meeting as well folks will have an opportunity to comment then as well thanks for that um is that the last slide that is the last I just I just wanted to add I just wanted to add two things really quick to conclude first of all I wanted to give a huge shout out to our staff Becky and Dan and Dan Diaz is on online as well I'm sure there were others uh and also uh Cascadia uh partners they this was um this has been a long complicated process I have you probably saw that it's really complicated and and uh they did a great job the first time around as well which is why it was a little disheartening uh you know with the remand but I'm glad Becky just mentioned what she did because there's been so much work with council and community engagement over the past couple of years on this so just wanted to say thank you and then second just a reminder that this also really stemmed from council priorities right councils of several years ago at the time created affordable housing and housing um as a priority and you've all continued that and you can see how long sometimes it takes right it's hard to sometimes say we want more affordable housing this is what it takes right these are the steps we're going to be taking now moving forward to figure out how to make it more affordable what we do internally you know to look at our processes and our fee structures and everything so it's exciting I just wanted to call that out that this isn't a direct result of some of the things in here of direction we received from council over the past several years and that you've all continued as as priorities thank you thank you all very much coming in thank you thanks Alex what