OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Lands Housing and Economic Development Committee Meeting Summary - March 17, 2026

Assembly Meetings — Tuesday, March 17, 2026
BodyJuneau, Alaska
SessionAssembly Meetings
DateTuesday, March 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 55:25

Transcript — Verbatim
0:07

I will call this March 16th meeting of the Assembly Lands Housing and Economic Development Committee to order.

0:15

Mr.

0:16

Steiniger, would you please give us a land acknowledgement?

0:20

We would like to acknowledge that the city and borough of Juneau is on Clinkett Land and wish to honor the indigenous people of this land.

0:27

For more than 10,000 years, Alaska Native people have been and continue to be integral to the well-being of our community.

0:33

We're grateful to be in this place, a part of this community and to honor the culture, traditions, and resilience of the Klinka people.

0:43

Ms.

0:43

Hendricks, would you please note the role?

0:46

The role is noted.

0:47

And so you're aware your preclone is online.

0:50

Great.

0:51

Moving on to the approval of agenda.

0:53

Any requested changes to the agenda.

0:56

Seeing none, that is approved.

0:59

Approval of minutes.

1:00

We have our February 23rd minutes in the packet.

1:02

Any requested changes or corrections?

1:05

Seeing none, those are accepted as presented.

1:08

Which brings us to our agenda topics.

1:10

Mr.

1:11

Blydorn, it was unavailable to be with us this evening.

1:14

So we are staffed by our manager Custer, and we have some special guests in Mr.

1:21

Chamber and um attorney with us tonight.

1:25

So affordable housing fund annual report.

1:28

And a manager.

1:32

Thank you, Chair.

1:33

I will hand it over to Acting CD Director Shamborough, who will give you an update on the program.

1:42

Great.

1:43

Thank you.

1:43

So through the chair.

1:44

In your packet tonight, you have the affordable housing fund report.

1:48

It's an annual report.

1:49

We've given this to the lands committee.

1:52

This is the fifth year.

1:53

So congratulations to everybody who's been involved in the program.

1:56

You now have five years of this program running continuously with a lot of lessons learned and now some data that's also in your packet.

2:04

Just to kind of give you some guidance, what's in the memo, uh, you have the updated budget.

2:09

Uh you have small program reports for the competitive affordable housing fund program.

2:14

Uh the budget also includes the accessory dwelling unit grant program that's run through CDD.

2:20

So you have information on the progress of that program.

2:23

And then the manufactured home uh down payment assistance program is also in the affordable housing fund in your budget.

2:29

And so you have some uh updates uh on that program as well.

2:34

Uh again, uh the key difference in this year's annual report is you have five rounds of data, and so you have three spreadsheets.

2:42

Uh, one that gives you all of the grants uh and loans that have been applied for uh with their status, which has been approved, uh, and kind of some key details about each of them.

2:53

And then we actually broke them out into uh affordable housing grants and the workforce housing loans because there's really two components to the overall competitive program.

3:03

Uh and you kind of see some numbers there in the packet.

3:06

Uh again, 29 total applications received, uh, 15 uh workforce housing loans and 14 grants, so uh split evenly over the five years.

3:15

Uh the lands committee also talked about uh potential modifications to the program, specifically looking at uh adding some uh preference points for you know teacher or healthcare uh uh kind of uh professional uh uh personnel uh type of projects.

3:33

Uh there's some some uh information and and analysis uh in your packet on that concept uh for the the committee to consider.

3:42

Uh and then like I say, uh at in the the actual program guidelines are there for you so you know that what is being promoted.

3:50

Uh and at this time of year, uh we take direction from the from the assembly and the committee uh to make any modifications as we prepare for round six, uh, which would be after the fiscal year and the budget is approved.

4:04

So uh with that I can take questions uh on this program.

4:09

Thank you for that.

4:10

Lots of good information in our memo here tonight.

4:13

What questions do we have for Mr.

4:14

Chambur?

4:18

Mr.

4:19

Steiniger.

4:20

Um thank you, Mr.

4:21

Shambur.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing█████████████████████████████████████████████57%
Short Term Rentals███████████████████████29%
Procedural██████7%
Budget Equity Analysis███4%
Public Engagement██3%
Summary of Proceedings

Lands Housing and Economic Development Committee Meeting Summary - March 17, 2026

The Lands Housing and Economic Development Committee met on March 17, 2026, to discuss the annual report of the Affordable Housing Fund and consider potential limits on short-term rental units per person. The committee received updates on program performance, discussed modifications, and advanced two motions related to short-term rental regulation.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of the agenda with no changes.
  • Approval of the February 23rd minutes as presented.

Discussion Items

Affordable Housing Fund Annual Report

Acting Community Development Director Shambourgh presented the fifth annual report on the Affordable Housing Fund, which includes three programs: the Competitive Affordable Housing Fund (grants and loans), the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Grant Program, and the Manufactured Home Down Payment Assistance Program. Key highlights:

  • Over five rounds, 29 total applications were received: 15 workforce housing loans and 14 grants.
  • The ADU grant program has seen 35 grants and 28 denials, primarily due to failure to obtain a certificate of occupancy within 18 months. Grant amount is currently $13,500; staff noted some applicants feel this is insufficient, with a past proposal to increase to $50,000.
  • The manufactured home down payment assistance program was updated in 2024 to $20,000 or 50% of required down payment, leading to increased interest.
  • The program requires at least 20% of units at 80% Area Median Income (AMI) for workforce housing loans, but rising AMI has made this threshold easier to meet; staff cautioned against frequent changes to maintain developer confidence.
  • Assemblymember Kelly proposed adding preference points for teachers, healthcare professionals, or similar personnel, or offering incentives for developers to set aside additional units for these groups. Staff will refine the concept.
  • Assemblymember Steiniger inquired about ADU denial reasons and why more homeowners do not apply; staff cited lack of awareness, insufficient grant amounts, and reluctance to engage with government programs.
  • Assemblymember Kelly asked about budget projections for sales tax revenue and general fund contributions; Manager Custer responded that the FY27 CIP includes scheduled funding, but future years may be affected by revenue reductions.

Short-Term Rentals – One per Person Limit

The committee discussed potential limits on short-term rental units following a memo from the municipal attorney. Key points:

  • The attorney confirmed the city has legal authority to impose limits, such as one per person or owner-occupancy requirements.
  • Assemblymember Steiniger suggested defining the policy goal (e.g., returning housing to long-term market vs. revenue generation) before deciding on specific limits.
  • Assemblymember Hall expressed interest in an upper limit on units per entity to bring housing stock back into long-term use, noting that most operators own few units but some own many.
  • Assemblymember Kelly supported exploring limits and using permit fees to fund the affordable housing fund.
  • The committee also discussed data availability on current operators with multiple units; staff can provide aggregated data.

Key Outcomes

  • Motion 1 (Kelly): Direct staff to bring back an ordinance establishing an upper limit on the number of short-term rental units per applicant. Approved without objection.
  • Motion 2 (Kelly): Direct staff to bring back an ordinance charging a fee for short-term rental applications and dedicating those fees to the affordable housing fund. Approved without objection after brief discussion on administrative costs.
  • Staff will prepare ordinances for the committee's next meeting on April 13, 2026.
  • Regarding the Affordable Housing Fund, staff will consider Assemblymember Kelly's incentive idea for units targeting licensed professionals.

Meeting Transcript

I will call this March 16th meeting of the Assembly Lands Housing and Economic Development Committee to order. Mr. Steiniger, would you please give us a land acknowledgement? We would like to acknowledge that the city and borough of Juneau is on Clinkett Land and wish to honor the indigenous people of this land. For more than 10,000 years, Alaska Native people have been and continue to be integral to the well-being of our community. We're grateful to be in this place, a part of this community and to honor the culture, traditions, and resilience of the Klinka people. Ms. Hendricks, would you please note the role? The role is noted. And so you're aware your preclone is online. Great. Moving on to the approval of agenda. Any requested changes to the agenda. Seeing none, that is approved. Approval of minutes. We have our February 23rd minutes in the packet. Any requested changes or corrections? Seeing none, those are accepted as presented. Which brings us to our agenda topics. Mr. Blydorn, it was unavailable to be with us this evening. So we are staffed by our manager Custer, and we have some special guests in Mr. Chamber and um attorney with us tonight. So affordable housing fund annual report. And a manager. Thank you, Chair. I will hand it over to Acting CD Director Shamborough, who will give you an update on the program. Great. Thank you. So through the chair. In your packet tonight, you have the affordable housing fund report. It's an annual report. We've given this to the lands committee. This is the fifth year. So congratulations to everybody who's been involved in the program. You now have five years of this program running continuously with a lot of lessons learned and now some data that's also in your packet. Just to kind of give you some guidance, what's in the memo, uh, you have the updated budget. Uh you have small program reports for the competitive affordable housing fund program. Uh the budget also includes the accessory dwelling unit grant program that's run through CDD. So you have information on the progress of that program. And then the manufactured home uh down payment assistance program is also in the affordable housing fund in your budget. And so you have some uh updates uh on that program as well. Uh again, uh the key difference in this year's annual report is you have five rounds of data, and so you have three spreadsheets. Uh, one that gives you all of the grants uh and loans that have been applied for uh with their status, which has been approved, uh, and kind of some key details about each of them. And then we actually broke them out into uh affordable housing grants and the workforce housing loans because there's really two components to the overall competitive program. Uh and you kind of see some numbers there in the packet. Uh again, 29 total applications received, uh, 15 uh workforce housing loans and 14 grants, so uh split evenly over the five years. Uh the lands committee also talked about uh potential modifications to the program, specifically looking at uh adding some uh preference points for you know teacher or healthcare uh uh kind of uh professional uh uh personnel uh type of projects. Uh there's some some uh information and and analysis uh in your packet on that concept uh for the the committee to consider. Uh and then like I say, uh at in the the actual program guidelines are there for you so you know that what is being promoted.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com