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Council approves interim affordable housing policy
Friday, February 1, 2008 by Kimberly Reeves
City Council approved an interim policy on affordable housing benefits at last night’s meeting, overruling the objections of the Downtown Austin Alliance in favor of creating some type of policy that will end up putting affordable units downtown. The proposal is a hybrid of the Affordable Housing Incentive Task Force and the work of the Design Commission. As Council Member Jennifer Kim pointed out, participation in the incentive policy is entirely voluntary. Any developer who does not want to be involved in the program is welcome to take his chances at Council. And, as As approved by Council, the policy would apply to all residential, mixed use and commercial projects. A fee would be set at $10 per square-foot over entitled density. Half of that amount would go to community benefits and half would go to affordable housing. The motion for the affordable housing incentive fee passed unanimously. Discussion of the fee was surprisingly brief. The DAA made its case that the fee could hamper downtown development. The affordable housing incentive task force, represented by In addition, the fee would apply the only to downtown property, Echols said. Eventually, the Affordable Housing Incentive Task Force would like to see the fee spread to projects across the city. That will come after Council decides how to protect neighborhoods and provide compatibility with other city ordinances, such as the vertical mixed-use ordinance. Affordable housing advocate Although the incentive program might need some changes, “We need to act sooner, rather than later,” Passage of the ordinance on three readings, as it was last night, would indicate that affordable housing incentives was a community value, just like roads, libraries and public safety. To not pass the ordinance would make such a promise of affordable housing options ring hollow with many residents,
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