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Council votes on plan targeting advances in affordable housing By Myles Murphy Ashland Daily Tidings The Ashland City Council is moving forward again in the continuing struggle to create and retain affordable housing in Ashland. The Council on Tuesday will consider official adoption of the City of Ashland Affordable Housing Action Plan and Housing Needs Analysis. The meeting is at 7 p.m. in the Ashland Civic Center council chambers, 1175 East Main St. It will be carried live on Rogue Valley Community Television Channel 9. "It's very important they adopt this and actually work on the recommendations in the plan," affordable housing advocate Nancy Richardson said. City staff has recommended approval of the plan, created by Portland firms Sextant Consultants, Inc. and Cogan Owens Cogen. The document came on the heels of an affordable housing needs analysis which quantified ways in which many Ashland problems are linked to a lack of affordable housing. The plan recommends: The creation of a housing trust fund; reductions in development and operating costs for affordable housing developments; the adoption of land-use regulations to promote affordable housing; and the preservation and creation of affordable housing. A core aspect of the plan is the hiring of a housing program specialist - a position which was approved by the Ashland Citizens Budget Committee earlier this month. In a memo to his fellow councilors, City Councilor Chris Hearn warned of the possibility that encouraging affordable housing might hasten growth in general in the city - a side-effect unpalatable to many residents, according to Hearn. "If our decision as policy makers is to embrace more rapid growth and development in order to promote affordable housing, then we need to honestly accept that as a policy the majority of the council is willing to embrace," Hearn wrote. "If not, we need to direct those who will work further on the Affordable Housing Action Plan that we will not actively encourage more rapid growth and development for any purpose." Richardson and more than 100 others assembled on Thursday to discuss the issue of affordable housing in Ashland at a forum which gathered members of the Ashland Community Land Trust, the League of Women Voters, Jackson County Housing Coalition, Harvest Built Homes, Options from Southern Oregon, the Housing Authority of Jackson County, ACCESS, Rogue Valley Habitat for Humanity, the Rogue Valley Community Development Corporation and the City of Ashland Housing Commission. "There's more interest now, and people are becoming more aware of the need," Richardson said. In other business Tuesday, the council will: consider a resolution setting a Local Improvement District for Tolman Creek Road; consider a resolution adopting a new fee schedule for the city's building division mechanical and plumbing inspection programs; consider granting authorization to declare the belt press equipment at the Wastewater Treatment Plant as surplus and offer it for sale at an offering price of $75,000; read by title only a resolution transferring appropriations in the 2002-03 budget; consider termination of an easement at 118 Nevada Street; and, consider approval of minutes of boards, commissions and committees. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -