Council Postpones Hearing to Spend more Time on Housing

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

The San Juan County Council decided Tuesday, April 7,  that it wants to learn more about Housing Authorities before it gives final shape to the revised Housing Element of the County Comprehensive Plan. State law requires that the “Housing Element” show evidence that the County is dealing with its future housing needs.

After Council Members Rich Peterson and Bob Myhr expressed reservations about including a section of the revised element that called for the formation of a County Housing Authority without further study, Council Member Lovel Pratt urged the Council to schedule a workshop session on the subject before making the final decision.

The Council workshop on Housing Authorities will be held on Monday May 18 beginning at 1 p.m. The final public hearing was postponed until 2:30 p.m. on June 9^th so the ordinance will be available in its final form well in advance of that hearing.

Several Council members had previously expressed reservations about establishing a County Housing Authority, but members generally said that many of their concerns have been answered. Pratt and others have supported the idea saying that it could serve a broader segment of the community than current programs, which generally provide only short term assistance, to the disabled and people earning between half and 80% of the ‘area median income’ (AMI).

With San Juan County’s average wages 30% below the state’s average and housing costs 30% higher, that low-level of assistance isn’t meeting the need, she said. “In San Juan County the need is great for those families earning 80 to 150 percent and even 200 percent of the of the AMI. . . a housing authority could serve that need,” she said.

County Affordable Housing Coordinator Angela Lausch had told the Council in a previous session that, even without county funding, a Housing Authority could help the County qualify for additional federal and state housing program grants. During the Tuesday discussion, Council Member Richard Fralick noted that he wanted the Housing Element to explicitly state that any taxpayer levy to support a housing authority would have to be approved by voters.

The County had requested a 90-day extension to the March 31^st deadline for adopting the updated Housing Element to allow it to complete its work. That extension will expire on June 30.

Video of the April 7 Housing Element discussion will be posted on the County website at www.sanjuanco.com/council/video.aspx on Friday, April 10.

Copies of staff reports and the currently proposed Ordinance amendments to the Comprehensive Plan are available as downloadable attachments to the Council’s April 7 on-line agenda at: www.sanjuanco.com/council/councilagenda.aspx?agendaid=101