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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM1993-322 - 11/23/1993MOTIONS- 11/23/93 2. Motion accepting the City of Corpus Christi's Fair Housing Assessment. M93-322 ~ FAIR MOUSING ASSESSMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FAIR HOUSING POLICIES: (1) The City of Corpus Christi shall enhance the City's fair housing ordinance to more effectively minimize discriminatory actions and to help foster an appreciation of other people's world view. {2) The City of Corpus Christi shall make the creation of affordable housing opportunities and neighborhood re-development a priority. Goal (A): Increase compliance of the Federal Fair Housing Act, Strategies to Achieve Goal (A}. (1) The Human Relations (2) Department shall strengthen the City's Fair Housing ordinance to make it substantially equivalent with the Federal Fair Housing Act enabling the Human Relations Department to enter into a work share agreement with the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A work share agreement will allow the City of Corpus Christi to more fully process housing discrimination claims and be reimbursed by HUD for the same. Provide funds for a Fair Housing Officer to further accessibility to fair housing opportunities by: a. Providing public education and training on the rights and protection afforded by the Act and the responsibility of public and private sector groups to uphold the law. Establish agreements with the Board of Realtors, the Apartment Association, the American Bankers Association and other groups to support fair housing goals through education and training, self compliance audits, or other means. Process fair housing discrimination claims through the Human Relations Department. Goal (B): The City should implement strategies to meet the affordable housing needs of Iow and moderate income citizens and special population groups as called for in the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS}. Strategies to Achieve Goal (B). (1) The Community Development Department shall continue to coordinate and expand existing government funded programs with private financial institutions' reinvestment efforts to address housing and neighborhood re-development needs. (2) Development Services Departments shall develop and implement incentives which encourage the development of affordable housing in all areas of the City. (3) A non-profit housing corporation should be established to implement recommendations and assist the City in developing its city-wide Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) to support 2 homeownership and the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing housing. The corporation would benefit the City and City's economy by: a. Meeting the City's requirement through the HOME Program to set Co so aside at least 15% of the HOME entitlement for a local Community Housing Development Organization(s) (CHDO's). HOME is meant to be a partnership among the Federal government, state and local governments and those in the for- profit and non-profit sectors who build, own, manage, finance and support Iow-income housing initiatives. Working with key community and business leaders to link economic development policies (job creation) with housing development policies (resulting demand for housing and increased houses choices for all income groups in the community). Educating people in the home buying process through a mentoring program that supports the potential homebuyer in the process of interacting with representatives of real estate agencies, mortgage lending institutions and insurance companies. Assisting local financial institutions in satisfying the requirements of the Community Reinvestment Act. Bringing together representatives from the private and public sector, educational institutions and economic development groups to help coordinate local resources to increase the formal and 3 informal educational level of the workforce to improve their ability to earn better wages by: 1. Promoting existing programs that provide a variety of adult education programs including preparation for the General Education Development (GED) certificate through the local public school systems, community colleges and universities and adult community education resources. 2. Promoting tuition assistance programs, in-house college level courses, and other means to advance higher education. 3. Improving the linkage between job training programs and local job creation efforts to attract jobs that pay above minimum wage and give people the ability to service a home mortgage or afford rental housing payments. 4. Developing a scholarship trust fund to enable college bound adults to continue their education. Goal (C): Enhance community input and participation to allow citizens an opportunity to better their communities by developing self sufficiency and taking ownership and responsibility for their lives, neighborhoods and communities. 4 Strategies to Achieve Goal (C): a. Sponsor a comprehensive series of neighborhood meetings designed to allow citizens an opportunity to discuss neighborhood problems and to allow them to help determine solutions. Goal (D): The City should conduct an assessment of housing and land development regulations to determine if they meet the original purpose they were designed to meet and if the same need remains. Strategies to Achieve Goal (D): a. The City Manager should charge a committee of appropriate departmental staff, ie. Engineering, Planning, Building Inspections, Community Development and private sector representatives to evaluate land development regulations. b. Staff shall continue to pursue actions necessary to carry out adopted Comprehensive Policy Statements. 5 FAIR HOUSING ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Department of Community Development has conducted a Fair Housing Assessment that complies with the City's responsibility as a CDBG grantee and a HOME Program participating jurisdiction to affirmatively further fair housing. The proposed policies, goals and strategies of the assessment are intended to promote the policies of the Fair Housing Act by maintaining a nondiscriminatory environment in all aspects of the housing marketplace. Moreover, as part of the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) the city is required to assess housing needs and to develop strategies to address the needs identified. The City's Fair Housing Assessment contains recommendations to address the barriers to fair and affordable housing needs identified. The following is a summary of the problems and issues considered that resulted in the recommendations of the assessment. The north central area of the city has a high minority concentration and exhibits the highest degree of housing problems. From 1980 to 1990, 790 new housing units were added to this area, however the balance of units lost was 1,919. This area contains over one-third of the total number of vacant units (10,737) in the city. Due to the significant increase in the number of persons below the poverty level from 1980 to 1990, about one-fifth of the city's population (50,525) is below the poverty level. The household income trends for Blacks and Hispanics is predicted to continue to decline in the future. These trends require that appropriate measures be taken to improve these trends. Low educational attainment of Hispanics and Blacks is a barrier to acquiring jobs that pay above the minimum wage. There are 26,521 and 21,176 White Non-Hispanics with 1 to 3 years of college and 4 or more years of college compared to 15,103 and 5,341 for Hispanics and 2,149 and 566 for Blacks, respectively. Measures that attempt to improve access to safe, decent and affordable housing need to include educational and employment opportunities. Locally, Hispanics account for the fastest growing population group and face the greatest degree of poverty. Based on the 1990 Census, Hispanics make up over 50% of the total population, and comprise 69% of the 50,525 persons with incomes below the poverty level. Some major barriers to homeownership include inability to accumulate funds for a down payment, the lack of affordable housing stock, little understanding of the home buying process and a lack of awareness of housing assistance programs. The city and area cities need to develop a regional strategy to help bring people to a condition of homeownership. This should be part of the area's economic development strategy since jobs that pay decent wages and job training that provides marketable skills are needed in order to upgrade the standard of living and enhance the ability of people to afford safe, decent and affordable housing. There is a need to educate the community on the housing rights of the mentally and physically disabled. These rights are protected by the Fair Housing Act, yet the community has little understanding of this. The city as well and agencies that provide services to the disabled should take the lead in educating the community on the housing rights of people with disabilities. The extent of people's reliance on public assistance programs needs to addressed to stem increasing dependency on government assistance. Vocational education needs to be stressed along with academic skills and a college education. Education and vocational skills along with decent jobs are major factors that lead to self sufficiency. Many neighborhoods with unsightly, deteriorated housing make the city unattractive to individuals who might consider relocating here. These conditions lower our tax base and usually create crime problems which are costly to solve. The community recognizes that safe, decent and affordable housing provides a sense of self worth, pride, and values that promote family stability and a sense of community, especially for children. The impact of the city's housing programs has been to improve existing housing stock and to help stabilize neighborhoods. However, the city's housing problems are of such a magnitude that there is a need to more fully coordinate all housing programs by encouraging the efforts of non-profit groups, public agencies, and the private sector. In order to take full advantage of federal funding sources, priority needs to be given to assist community housing development organizations or CHDO's to provide affordable housing. A comprehensive education and training program on the rights and responsibilities of the Fair Housing Act and achieving local substantial equivalency with the Act will allow the city to ensure the housing rights of local citizens. HUD will continue to perform audit testing and may require local enforcement in the future. According to the 1990 Census, 38,181 or 38.2% of the city's housing units were 31 years or older. Of the same number 15,522 (15.5%) were both vacant (3,901) and renter (11,621) occupied. A 1991 housing survey indicated seventy-five percent of 14,200 housing units were substandard. Of these approximately 46% required minor repairs and 27% required moderate to major repairs or demolition. Extensive efforts to provide housing assistance through 2 publicly subsidized housing has brought relief to the long waiting list for housing assistance. In spite of this, the 4,000 families currently on waiting lists for assisted housing probably represents only a percentage of the those in need. Over the last seven years single family construction has declined to about one-third of what it was prior to 1985. Since 1986, the number of single family units authorized for construction annually has not exceeded 1000. This compares to an annual average of over 1,500 units built between 1980 and 1985. The city's development and building codes need to be thoroughly studied to determine if appropriate changes can be made to reduce the cost of housing. The conflict between the need for regulation and over-regulation or inflexible regulation must be evaluated carefully, if the city is to impact housing affordability. Similarly, the use of incentives to encourage builders to build affordable housing needs to be pursued. Although an apartment occupancy survey shows an occupancy rate of over 90%, new multi-family housing is not being constructed. Since 1986 only 390 multi-family units have been authorized for construction, a drop from a high of over 3,800 units at its peak in 1984 to less than 100 units over the last two years. Housing assistance resources made available to the general population do not generally benefit population groups with special needs. The City's CHA$ addresses the housing needs of special population groups such as large families, the elderly and frail elderly, the disabled and the indigent who require a greater commitment of planning and resources to meet their needs. In arriving at the recommendations of the Fair Housing Assessment, an effort was made to address the root cause of the problems identified rather than the symptoms. The proposed goals and strategies of the Fair Housing Assessment were developed based on the need to provide greater access to housing by making the creation of affordable housing opportunities and neighborhood re- development a priority; and to provide fair housing opportunities by enhancing the City's fair housing ordinance to more effectively minimize discriminatory actions and to help foster an appreciation of other people's world view. Upon acceptance of the Fair Housing Assessment, staff will develop an implementation plan to include success measures to assure accountability. Recommendations requiring City Council consideration will be brought back for approval.