right here Dear Mr. Boudet, My name is and I am a resident of the hilltop area that is deeply concerned with the current development of this area. My biggest concern is that housing will no longer be affordable for me and quickly displace my family. The city has adopted a view that “affordable housing” is based on a person/family making 80% of the county-wide median income, specifically $40,150 for a single person and $57,350 for a family of four. The number of people who currently live in this area that meet that income level is extremely low. Additionally, the city is choosing to adopt the very minimum goal of 25% allocation of new units to meet this idea of “affordable” as set forth by the Pierce County Regional Council, which seems to be in direct conflict to what I understand as Tacoma’s goals and image. This approach to “affordable housing” is very unacceptable to me. The hilltop area has always been culturally diverse and vibrant with minorities, and the current development plans undertaken by the city will ultimately push all of these people out, only to make way for more affluent individuals. As new units are built they will be at market rate prices, intended only for those that exceed the “affordable housing” income levels. This will quickly increase the rental- rates of the current units, and I believe the goal of 25% of “total housing units in Hilltop shall be affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of the countywide median income” (Hilltop Subarea Plan) will be reached and surpassed relatively fast. The Hilltop Subarea Plan suggests establishing an “affordable housing monitoring system for the Hilltop Mixed-Use Center,” and exploring the “creation of a system that activates policies and regulations designed to promote the production of new affordable housing when affordability trends project a future shortfall,” which I believe to be of extremely high importance as the city is increasing its development activities within this neighborhood. It is also important who leads these projects and the representation of a diverse selection of current residents within the organization itself, not the business interests or outside entities. The Hilltop Subarea Plan contains directives for establishing “effective public information and feedback materials and conduct frequent town halls, public open houses, and other events at locations in the Hilltop Subarea to encourage public access and facilitate dialogue on Hilltop Subarea Plan implementation priorities, policies, programs, projects, and budgets” and I believe it is important to make this happen immediately. The outreach conducted in preparation of the Hilltop Subarea Plan was noted to “reflect more of the ideas of people who live outside of the area that the plan is trying to attract rather than current residents” (Tom Beckwith, MLK Subarea Plan and EIS Working Group Meeting – November 8, 2012) so I have very deep concerns about whether the city is genuine in addressing the concerns of the current residents. The groups such as Hilltop Business District Association, Central Neighborhood Council, and Hilltop Action Coalition that the city currently works with represent the needs of a very small selection of residents in the community with interests other than affordable housing, and I think the planning commission needs to do much better at getting more fruitful input from the actual residents of Hilltop. Phone Number Address Email
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 03:39:53 +0000
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