Business professionals, non-profit organizations and city officials came together Tuesday at Heading Home’s Regional Housing Summit to address housing insecurity in the community.
The meeting included multiple sessions on issues surrounding the building of housing for low-income residents in Bloomington, the different types of multi-family homes Bloomington could implement and the impact of House Enrolled Act 1001 on affordable housing.
Heading Home Executive Director Mary Morgan said that the goal of the event was to bring a variety of different perspectives together to be able to talk about the housing crisis in a productive way.
“The business community would talk about housing and homelessness, the nonprofit sector would talk about housing and homelessness, but we didn't see a place where people could come together from lots of different perspectives to really be solutions-oriented,” Morgan said.
This was the first such summit and Morgan said she hopes to make it an annual event.
During a session on ways to fund housing for low-income residents, real estate executives noted that Bloomington’s planning and building regulations make it too expensive to implement affordable housing. They cited the cost of land, permits and inspections, and high property taxes.
Scott Caulfield of Roseway Capital said low interest rates and grants are not enough to provide affordable housing if the price of a duplex, for example, is $300,000. Caulfield said one solution would be for the city to sell small plots of land for $50-60,000. He said that would create a higher likelihood that subsequent rental rates would be affordable for low-income individuals.
“We all need to be pushing local government to find solutions and to find a place for there to be small scale development,” he said.
Shelbi McConnell of the McConnell Company said it’s not possible to be both profit-driven and mission-based when considering additional costs and time. McConnell said she has not invested in Bloomington because of the number of regulations and permits required by the city.
“You have to have your house inspected, you know, to make sure the electrical is good, even if you have an electrician come in,” she said. “And I don't want to get a permit to put a ceiling fan on the front porch, you know, for tenants.”
Elizabeth Ruh of Personal Financial Services said she works with Section Eight homes, so her issues aren’t with inspections. However, Ruh said there is not a lot of profit margin in the homes she invests in because of the city’s property taxes, so a break in property taxes for affordable housing could make a significant difference.
Bloomington’s Director of Planning and Transportation David Hittle presented on the types of multi-family homes the city could build where land is available.
Hittle said more than 50 percent of Bloomington’s available land is zoned for single-family homes. He said no multi-family homes can be built in these zones without approval from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
Cottage developments and Accessory Dwelling Units are examples of multi-family homes the city could allow. However, he said city regulations and zoning ordinances would need to be changed to make it easier to build these types of homes.
“Right now, in Bloomington, it's easy to build a single family dwelling, a conventional house, and its easy like the process is easy to build a mega student apartment complex,” Hittle said. “It's sort of what we're geared for.”
For HEA 1001, Hittle said the original bill would have made it easier to build multifamily homes by changing the zoning landscape across the state. It was amended and now will require each city and county in Indiana to evaluate new housing barriers and report their progress to the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
According to an Indiana Capital Chronicle article, the bill also aims to decrease costs for builders and homebuyers by minimizing local zoning rules such as aesthetic and parking mandates, streamlining approvals for new construction and expanding the types of residential development allowed without a public hearing. Cities and counties can opt out of these changes.
He said he hopes lawmakers revive the bill next session and consider making revisions. In other states, such as California and Montana, similar legislation has helped increase the housing supply, Hittle said.
Beacon Executive Director Forrest Gilmore said one of the community’s biggest challenges is housing people who are considered to be at poverty level. Those are individuals who make $500 or less a month.
He said changing codes is not enough.
“I also think with people dealing with the more, you know, lower end of poverty, that the market's not going to be a solution by itself, that we really need to invest actively in affordable housing that actually is affordable for that population level,” he said.
