Details

Title	Affordable Housing Toolkit for Evanston
Highlights	The authors say arbitrary codes and rehabilitation decisions make the development of affordable housing difficult.   They suggest communities standardize the rehabilitation process by creating a clear “cookbook-like” approval process.                       The authors say arbitrary codes and rehabilitation decisions make development of affordable housing difficult.   They suggest communities determine code requirements based on nature of the work, rather than the cost, and standardize the process.                       The authors suggest that the city consider commercial linkage fees, real estate transfer tax, and a tear down fee and tax to fund housing initiatives.                         The authors suggest zoning codes do not encourage affordable housing development.   The authors say inclusionary ordinances will allow low-income families to live throughout the community.
Description	This document, prepared by the Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI), contains a number of affordable housing policy suggestions for the city of Evanston, Illinois. Included in the document is a brief description of each recommendation, as well as case studies illustrating how the recommended action is used elsewhere. The authors describe affordable housing trust funds, community land trusts, new revenue sources, regional housing programs, employer-assisted housing, and property rehabilitation and sale programs. For new local revenue sources, the authors suggest the city consider commercial linkage fees, real estate transfer tax, and a tear down fee and tax. Regulatory tools they discuss include flexible zoning tools which consist of using inclusionary zoning, allowing more flexible rehabilitation codes, providing accessory dwelling units, and increasing the amount of land zoned for multifamily and mixed use developments. The BPI provides a list of questions and answers for each of the concepts presented which describe the concept, how it works, and why the city should use it. The authors provide a series of case studies that examine various aspects of the suggested strategies. They examine housing trust funds in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; San Diego, California; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. They examine inclusionary zoning programs in Davis, California; Newton, Massachusetts; Montgomery County, Maryland; Burlington, Vermont; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Durham, North Carolina. Community land trust linkage programs and employer-assisted housing initiatives from a number of communities are considered by the authors.
Publication Date	2003
Organization	Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI)
Web Location	http://www.bpichicago.org/rah/pubs/evanston_toolkit.pdf

Notice: The contents of this record reflect the views of the author and/or promulgating municipality, and should not be construed as representing the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or U.S. HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research. No attempt has been made by U.S. HUD or its contractors to verify the accuracy, currency, or validity of the record contents presented herein.