Loading...
2023 01 12 WS Minutes MINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN January 12, 2023 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas, met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday, January 12, 2023, at 5:35 P.M. in the Council Chamber of the Baytown City Hall, 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance: Laura Alvarado Council Member Sarah Graham Council Member Kenrick Griffith Council Member Heather Betancourth Council Member Jacob Powell Mayor Pro Tem Mike Lester Council Member Brandon Capetillo Mayor Scott Lemond City Attorney Angela Jackson City Clerk Jason Reynolds Interim City Manager Mayor Capetillo convened the January 12, 2023, City Council Regular Work Session with a quorum present at 5:35 P.M., and with all members present. 1. DISCUSSIONS a. Receive and discuss a presentation regarding the rehabilitation by Atrium Housing, Inc., of Bay Terrace Apartments, an approximately 130-unit affordable rental housing complex, located at 1502 Nolan Road, Baytown, Harris County,Texas. Planning and Development Services Director Martin Scribner opened the item to introduce the applicant of the low-income housing tax credit. A part of that program requires documentation from the City that states they do not object to the applicant's development. The project would be a rehab of existing units and not to add units to Bay Terrace Apartments. He further informed Council there would be no approvals that night. It was only a presentation of what the applicant planned to do in preparation for asking of that letter of no objection at their next City Council Regular Meeting. With that, Mr. Steve Anderson and Ms. Lora Myrick introduced themselves and proceeded with the presentation. Ms. Myrick reiterated the points made by Mr. Scribner and noted a lot of the focus would be inside the units to make them more energy efficient. While there would be work on the exterior, the focus would be on the interior. The item was for the 9%program and their last transaction that came before Council was for 4%. The 4%was non-competitive while the 9%was a competitive housing tax credit. The 9% transaction, as mentioned, required a resolution of support from the City of Baytown of their development. Ms. Myrick then further discussed over the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Program which the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) was the allocating and monitoring agency. City Council Regular Work Session Minutes January 12,2023 Page 2 of 3 Their project would have an experienced development team and property management company. Ms. Myrick displayed photos of other properties they had done as well as the property in question. The rents of the apartments targeted families 50%-60%of the area median income; in other words, it was work-force housing. The applicants expected the improvements to begin in the Winter of 2023 and to last nine to twelve months. If necessary, they were prepared to get hotel rooms and put residents' belongings in storage,which would be taken care of by the developer. In such event, Ms. Myrick estimated it would take ten days to get residents back to their units. Ms. Myrick displayed additional photos of the existing conditions of the units' interior. They hoped to bring in about $8 million in construction to the City and would create approximately thirty-five jobs. Furthermore, the 9% program incentivized supportive services for residents based on the population. As they had a family population, they wanted to bring in a variety of family activities. The property currently had a building that they wanted to revamp to make in to a community space for all of those activities. Ms. Myrick reiterated they needed a resolution of support for their rehabilitation development. The competitive program also had a financial contribution required for them to gain points in the process. The $500 could be cash or waived fees. Ms. Myrick further discussed the point system of the competitive housing tax credit program and where they were in that process. The TDHCA awarded the housing tax credits by July 31' and the applicant would know in June if they would get that award to start the rehabilitation of Bay Terrace Apartments. As they were unsure which district the apartments were located in, Council Member Graham and Council Member Lester both voiced their support of the rehabilitation. Mayor Capetillo assumed the letter of support would be on the agenda of the January 26th City Council Meeting.Mr. Scribner confirmed staff submitted an item in the system for that meeting. Ms. Myrick added they had already submitted a copy of their resolution of support to be reviewed by the City Attorney. b. Discussion regarding possible amendment to the Crossings at Baytown Planned Unit Development(PUD)to permit RV and boat sales in the commercially designated areas of the property. Item 1.b. was pulled from the agenda and therefore, not considered by Council. c. Discussion regarding future housing needs in the City of Baytown. Planning and Development Services Director Martin Scribner shared the item was a staff-led conversation as there had been requests for rezone recently. The requests ranged from single- family to multi-family as well as some that were somewhere in between. Mr. Scribner observed there has been confusion on what Baytown needed or did not need; therefore, staff contracted a consultant to help get to the bottom of that. The City was embarking on a new housing needs assessment as of that week, which they hoped to complete and be ready to present to Council sometime in April. Mr. Scribner inquired if Council was open to the conversation about, during the time staff put that assessment together, a moratorium on rezones to any multifamily over a ninety-day period. With a moratorium, no one would be able to submit new applications during those ninety days. Of course, any developer that was already in the process would be allowed to complete that process. The point of the assessment was to make sure staff accurately portrayed the needs of the City Council Regular Work Session Minutes January 12,2023 Page 3 of 3 community of all housing types. Staff did not feel it would reflect on current applications, and would continue to present those to Council. Mr. Scribner noted the housing market, especially in the last year,had been a moving target. It was difficult for staff to nail that down until they received up-to-date information. Mayor Capetillo expressed concerns with demolished single-family homes being replaced with mobile homes. With the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) being updated, Mr. Scribner relayed that would be put in to that conversation as the needs assessment would not go in to that. Council Member Betancourth believed the assessment was a great idea and would support the moratorium. Council Member Alvarado inquired over the timeline of the assessment process. Mr. Scribner replied they were starting now and would have it completed in three months. Staff would not ask for a moratorium that night, so they would have to come back with an ordinance for that. Council Member Alvarado wondered what the base of the assessment would be and noted there may be opportunities to share data from surveys by the communications team.Mr. Scribner relayed the scope was to look at a regional assessment and also get in to much more detail within the City of Baytown than those outside sources. The assessment would include some of each. Moreover, Council Member Graham voiced her support of the moratorium and the assessment. Council Member Lester similarly supported the moratorium so they were not changing something as new applicants came on board. He also liked that those already in the system would move forward. 2. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Capetillo adjourned the January 12, 2023, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:00 P.M. �t� zr Angell Ckson,Cit rk City of Baytown m4/gqu mt i g