HomeMy WebLinkAboutA017 - Letter from Deborah Krauth, further information oin ordinance impact on affordable housing cc,'. p'co�► i l
DEBORAH S. KRAUTH
463 Westwood Drive G!TY CLEs K
Ames, IA 50014 _.. CITY OFfiiyIES, IflWa i
August 4, 1998
To Mayor Tedesco and the Ames City Council:
I appeared and spoke at a council meeting regarding the proposed new zoning ordinance
for the City of Ames. In addition to supporting the statements made by Dick Roseland for
the Ames City Council Task Force, I raised the issue of the impact of the proposed
ordinance on affordable housing projects in the City of Ames. Councilwoman Hoffman
requested further input on that issue.
I currently serve on the Board of Directors for the Iowa Finance Authority. A large part
of our mission is to provide programs to promote the availability of affordable housing in
the State of Iowa. Through my several years of service on that Board, I have become aware
of the fact that many of these programs are not available to Ames residents. This stems
to some degree from the fact that Ames has not been certified as an SMSA. The cost of
development in Ames is, however, a substantial impediment to this end. Your city
employees can attest to the problems as they currently exist.
The proposed zoning ordinance compounds those problems simply because it raises the cost
of construction on numerous bases--increased parking requirements, additional landscaping
requirements, limited ways to bring land into the City, increased up-front costs of
development and increased density requirements. It is difficult to be more specific than this
because the Code as a whole increases the cost of development and thereby limits any
potential profit margin on an affordable housing project. The developer must be able to
see some profit to have any incentive to do that type of project. Without the public
incentive programs, that profit isn't there;with increased cost of building, any possible profit
margin disappears.
Ames NEEDS affordable housing now more than ever. It is today very difficult to attract
an affordable housing project to our City. The proposed code will make it nearly
impossible.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. If I can provide further input or assistance,
please contact me.
Sin er ly,
orah S. Kr t