Resolution 7700 - Laserfiche WebLink

4. Affordability and Displacement Everett Housing Action Plan 52  EMC 19.51.145 for planned system improvements  EMC 19.52.060 for school impact fees This may involve reviewing the per-unit fee reductions provided for affordable housing under these provisions, as well as the potential for diverting funding to backfill impact fee waivers beyond 80% of the full fee amount for certain affordable housing projects. 4.5: Develop an Everett Surplus Lands Inventory and Strategy. The City should develop a Surplus Lands Inventory, where vacant, underutilized, and redevelopable lands owned by public, nonprofit, and religious organizations are identified, with a focus on sites appropriate for affordable housing. This should also include a Strategy to institute policies that encourage the reuse of these sites for affordable housing, primarily through the City helping to facilitate the transfer of these sites to affordable housing developers. This Inventory and Strategy should also include changes in the City’s policy for the disposal of surplus lands, which should state that it is a priority to use surplus municipal sites for affordable housing. 4.6: Review and update the Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) program. Everett’s Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) program (included under Chapter 3.78 EMC) provides a waiver of property taxes on the improvement value of residential development. While this program does allow for these waivers to be received for eight years for building market-rate housing in identified urban centers, developers can also receive a 12-year waiver of taxes for maintaining a certain percentage of housing as affordable during this period. This program should be reviewed to adjust:  target areas where this could be applied, such as adding all high-capacity transit corridors  current income thresholds for rental and owner-occupied units  options for encouraging family rental housing  other conditions for providing affordable units Additionally, the State Legislature recently approved a 20-year MFTE option for permanently affordable housing under SB 5287, as well as a 12-year extension to existing MFTEs for providing affordable low-income units. These changes should be reviewed to provide additional support for affordable housing projects. 4.7: Review and update development height incentives program for affordable housing units. Currently, the City provides a development height incentives program through EMC 19.22.080. This program provides additional height and floor area for development in exchange for public goods, including affordable housing (on- or off-site, or fees-in-lieu), green buildings, public parking, public art, and other benefits. As this provides an incentive to developers to provide affordable housing (among other benefits), a full review should be coordinated to determine whether these incentives are