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<br />RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
<br />5.Identify New Support & Opportunities. Support non-profits to preserve land and units for
<br />
<br />affordability. Opportunity to acquire land and units for long-term affordable housing.
<br />Based on the robust responses that are applicable across multiple scenarios, the following
<br />
<br />recommendations are made to ensure affordable housing for all Lakewood residents now and in the
<br />Contingent Responses
<br />future:
<br />
<br />
<br />1.Adopt Affordable Housing Mandates. Require affordable housing as an exaction during time of
<br />1.Support and Maintain Infrastructure. The City of Lakewood is built to support an additional
<br />high growth and low affordability.
<br />20,000 people. Recognizing household sizes are continuing to decrease and Lakewood is a fully
<br />
<br />built-out community, affordable housing opportunities will only exist through redevelopment. As
<br />2.Develop New Programs for Residents & Businesses. When affordability is high there will be a
<br />such, capital improvement planning and budgeting needs to ensure the existing utility and
<br />need for new programs to retain and attract residents and business, including rethinking the
<br />transportation infrastructure capacity is maintained, modernized, efficient, and resilient. Any
<br />existing business support programs.
<br />proposed reductions in sewer, water, or mobility capacity need to be evaluated for negative
<br />
<br />impacts on the ability to provide affordable housing in the community.
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<br />
<br />2.Continuously Evaluate Affordable Housing Programs. As the demographics of the community
<br />change and income levels increase, the City will likely continue to receive less federal funding to
<br />support maintaining existing and building new affordable housing. This will require more reliance
<br />on local funds and regulations to ensure Lakewood continues to have housing for all. Additionally,
<br />existing programs need to be evaluated to ensure they are accessible and achieving the intended
<br />benefit. In this regard, the City should consider the following:
<br />
<br />a.Advocate for changes in the minimum thresholds for eligibility of programs. As an
<br />example, currently the maximum sale price for an existing home is $149,900 for eligibility
<br />źƓ ƷŷĻ /źƷǤƭ ŅźƩƭƷΏƷźƒĻ ŷƚƒĻĬǒǤĻƩ ķƚǞƓƦğǤƒĻƓƷ ğƭƭźƭƷğƓĭĻ ƦƩƚŭƩğƒ͵ ŷźƭ ğƒƚǒƓƷ Ǟğƭ
<br />determined nearly 10 years ago. There are currently no single-family homes for sale in
<br />the community at or below this threshold, and the condominium units that are available
<br />have association and common maintenance fees that make the housing costs ineligible
<br />for low-to-moderate income buyers. Changing outdated eligibility thresholds will ensure
<br />programs are accessible.
<br />
<br />b.Reexamine the tax abatement program for the creation of affordable housing. Currently,
<br />only new development projects larger than 100 dwelling units are eligible. This results in
<br />an extremely limited number of sites in the community where the abatement can be
<br />implemented. Tax abatements are a valuable and successful tool for creating affordable
<br />housing. Such changes need to consider impacts to other taxing authorities, such as the
<br />Lakewood City School District, that may be impacted by changes.
<br />
<br />c.Simplify existing programs that support existing homeowners and renters. The City of
<br />Lakewood has a host of programs that include no-interest loans, forgivable loans, and
<br />grants and funding for weatherization, home repairs, rental restoration, accessibility, and
<br />other similar purposes. This can be confusing for residents and landlords applying for
<br />such programs. There should also be clear parameters for eligibility of loans, forgivable
<br />loans, and grants.
<br />
<br />d.Ensure the period of affordability is maximized. As investments are made into homes
<br />and rental units, the term of maintaining affordability needs to be maximized to the
<br />extent reasonable and practical for the investment amount.
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<br /> Housing Agency, and Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity, to name a few. Similar efforts
<br />e.Examine and develop new programs. Lakewood is not alone in finding solutions to should be made to coordinate with private sector developers that are also active in providing
<br />maintaining housing affordability. The City needs to continually evaluate other tools and affordable housing.
<br />resources that are available. For example, Cleveland, Columbus, and Yellow Springs have
<br />established community land trusts. Community land trusts are non-profit organizations As a built-out community, the City is challenged to find land and building opportunities to create
<br />
<br />that own land and typically provide residential housing on that land and help ensure that long-term affordable housing. When opportunities do become available, they may not be readily
<br />
<br />housing stays affordable permanently. Additionally, as the City accepts a Climate Action advertised. The City should retain a commercial broker to monitor available properties that
<br /> may
<br />Plan, new programs that ensure equity in the implementation of the plan will be needed. be suitable for affordable housing.
<br />
<br />3.Educate. Federal law does not prevent landlords from rejecting housing vouchers. While some Once properties are identified as being available, the City will need to have financial
<br /> resources to
<br />states and localities have enacted income protection laws that increase voucher acceptance, the acquire the property or potentially support non-profit partners in the same. The City
<br /> maintains a
<br />State of Ohio and Lakewood have not taken such action. The amount of HUD subsidized housing Land Acquisition Fund, however, there is not a regular revenue stream to support the fund.
<br /> Like
<br />in the community is woefully insufficient given the need for affordable housing in the community. ƷŷĻ /źƷǤƭ 9ĭƚƓƚƒźĭ 5ĻǝĻƌƚƦƒĻƓƷ !ĭĭƚǒƓƷͲ ƷŷĻ /źƷǤ ƭŷƚǒƌķ ĭƚƓƭźķĻƩ ŷƚǞ Ʒƚ regularly fund
<br /> the
<br />The City should first take a proactive approach to gain greater landlord acceptance of housing Land Acquisition Fund to support property acquisition, development, or rehabilitation for
<br />
<br />vouchers in the community. affordable housing.
<br />
<br />This can be done by educating landlords about housing vouchers during the annual mandated In the event the community continues to experience low affordability or if conditions change
<br /> and there
<br />training all landlords must complete as part of their Rental Housing License to operate a rental are too many affordable housing units in the community with little or no growth, additional
<br /> actions may
<br />unit in the City. The City could also consider reduced housing license fees for those landlords that be needed. For those conditions the following contingent recommendations are made:
<br />
<br />accept housing vouchers. Through this more proactive approach, the misconceptions about
<br />housing vouchers can be dispelled. However, if this approach does not show a marked increase 1.Adopt Affordable Housing Mandates. In the event low affordability of housing perpetuates,
<br /> the
<br />in subsidized units in three years, the City should consider income protection legislation. City should consider mandating a portion of new or redeveloped units to be set aside as
<br /> affordable. It will be important to coordinate such a mandate with the larger economy as doing
<br />Similarly, credit counseling and education about the responsibilities of home ownership should so could stagnate growth opportunities and have other undesired consequences.
<br />be provided to homebuyers. While home ownership creates an opportunity for wealth
<br />generation, housing markets are cyclical and costs to repair major systems of a home can be 2.Develop New Programs for Residents & Businesses. In the alternative, if conditions result
<br /> in high
<br />burdensome if not properly planned. affordability with no growth, the City may need to consider programs that retain and attract
<br /> residents. Existing programs, such as the first-time homebuyer down payment assistance
<br />4.Support, Maintain, and Enhance Local Regulations & Enforcement. The City must understand program, will help, however new opportunities, including those for businesses that may be
<br />
<br />and eliminate any regulatory barriers to maintaining and creating affordable housing. experiencing a lower buying power of the community, will be needed.
<br />Immediately, the City needs to eliminate the zoning restriction that prevents a one-family unit
<br />located in the R-2 (Single and Two-Family) District from being expanded to a two-family unit. This A next step in the coming months will be to identify several broad indicators or metrics
<br /> to help the city
<br />alone will create the opportunity for over 6,000 additional units in the City. This could add supply, and other stakeholders track change and recognize when either of these contingent
<br /> recommendations
<br />and, in theory, help offset housing demand thereby stabilizing prices. These units may also be may need to be activated.
<br />affordable and support shared living. In the medium to long term the City needs to
<br />comprehensively rewrite the zoning code in order to modernize it and ensure the dated
<br />
<br />regulations allow for the community desired by the community.
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<br />Additionally, the City is fortunate to have established property maintenance compliance programs
<br />through the Housing Forward Initiative and Rental Housing License Program. These programs are
<br />imperative to proactively enforce health and safety codes and ensuring that housing in the
<br />community is maintained to a minimum standard of care and quality. The Housing Forward
<br />Initiative and Rental Housing License Program must be supported and maintained.
<br />
<br />5.Identify New Support & Opportunities. There are many non-profit organizations in the Cleveland
<br />region that are supporting for-sale and for-rent affordable housing opportunities. The City needs
<br />to identify opportunities to coordinate with and support non-profit organizations to supplement
<br />and expand their existing efforts. These include CHN Housing Partners, Cuyahoga Metropolitan
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