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Housing Authority, Tiny House Group eyeing same Ashland-owned land for different projects Wednesday Jan 31, 2018 at 6:47 PM Jan 31, 2018 at 6:47 PM By Tran Nguyen for the Mail Tribune A local nonprofit wants to build a tiny house village on two parcels of city-owned land that the city had offered to sell to the Housing Authority of Jackson County three years ago. The land, located on two tax lots at 380 Clay St., was offered to the Housing Authority in 2015 to build as many as 20 affordable housing units across the street from Snowberry Brook, a 60-unit, low-income housing development owned by the authority. The plan was postponed when a petition surfaced advocating for the preservation of a large cottonwood tree on the site. The tree and planning commissions denied the tree removal permit. The city then revised its offer to sell 33,075 square feet of property for $268,238, which would allow 15 to 17 units, and has been working on a partition plat for the tree that was once named city Tree of the Year. Ashland Tiny House Group, a local nonprofit sponsored by Eugene-based SquareOne Villages, announced on Tuesday its offer to purchase and lease the same land on Tuesday to build transitional housing options for women and children in Ashland. “Women and students are the most vulnerable population on the streets,” said director Karen Logan, adding that there are currently no services for transitional housing for homeless students in Ashland. “We want to provide the city another choice for transitional housing, in particular for women and children,” Logan said. “... I don’t want to compete (with the Housing Authority), but Ashland is a small town, and I think the more options the council has, the better.” She said the transitional housing project will be a more valuable option to the city because it will demolish the existing vacant house on the property and “the city will receive cash almost immediately.” Housing Authority Director Jason Elzy said his agency is ready to purchase the land per the city’s 2016 offer and was “surprised” to see media reports on a new tiny house project proposed at the same site. “We’re working through the details to purchase the land,” Elzy said Wednesday, “so we were surprised to see the news report yesterday.” Director of Development Ryan Haynes said the city of Ashland hasn’t notified his agency of any change of plan regarding the 2016 offer. Snowberry Brook is at capacity and can no longer accept applications on its wait list due to its current length. The city’s housing specialist Linda Reid said the land on Clay Street is desirable for many reasons, and it’s now up to the City Council to decide who it would sell the property to. “We don’t have a lot of buildable land in Ashland, so that land is definitely desirable,” Reid said. “The city has an altruistic view where we make decisions based on public benefits, rather than for profits.” The transitional housing project, a brainchild that Logan said she has developed over a year and a half, would build 12 to 15 tiny houses ranging from 8-by-12 square feet to 8-by-22 square feet in a fenced community. The village would share kitchen, restrooms, laundry and a community center that will be monitored by two on-site staff, Logan said. The tiny houses are said to be built in compliance with Oregon law for transitional housing, with a possibility to install solar panels to provide electricity. The houses would provide temporary shelter for six to 24 months for qualified participants, Logan said. Logan, who said she has been in communication with the council and mayor, hopes to get a preliminary approval so that the project could qualify for two city grants totaling up to $650,000. Through benefactor Lloyd Matthew Haines, Logan said the project has $350,000 in funding to purchase 0.32 acre of the land, and she hopes the city will allow the project to lease the rest of the 1.1 acre property. But the organization will still need the grants to cover construction and infrastructure costs. Applications for the two grants, Community Development Block Grant Program and Affordable Housing Trust Funds, are both due on Feb. 16. Ashland Tiny House Group applied for CDBG last year but was rejected as the proposal wasn’t fully developed and unable to identify an adequate site to materialize the project, Reid said. The City Council is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, for a study session and 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, for a regular business meeting. Both will be in the council chambers, 1175 E. Main St. Logan said she will be asking for the council’s approval during the public forum at the beginning of the regular meeting. — Reach reporter Tran Nguyen at 541-776-4485 or [email protected]. Follow her on twitter @nguyenntrann.