Consideration and Adoption of Resolution No. 2022-03:  A resolution adopting Flagstaff's 10-Year Housing Plan

There is a strong and growing movement among Flagstaff community members, housing advocates, and City Council to ensure all Flagstaff residents have access to affordable housing. On December 1, 2020, City Council declared a Housing Emergency in Flagstaff, committing to prioritizing affordable housing within City operations to create safe, decent, and affordable housing opportunities for all community members. Although the City has several Housing planning documents, when declaring the Housing Emergency, Flagstaff City Council directed staff to create a single, comprehensive community-facing document to summarize the City's immediate and long-term needs and strategies to improve housing affordability.

The current Housing Emergency in Flagstaff has deep roots, with no single root cause. There is no single solution to addressing the Housing Emergency, but rather multiple strategies that will work together in providing residents with additional housing stability. Flagstaff residents’ responses to the Housing survey illustrated that the Housing Emergency is causing residents to leave our community. A little over 58% of Flagstaff residents stated that they were either “nearly certain” to “somewhat likely” going to relocate due to housing costs. The question we must ask ourselves is what would Flagstaff become if 58% of our population moved?
 
This Plan defines the Housing Emergency, provides one overarching goal, supported by two fundamental elements that together will significantly impact housing attainability. The goal will be achieved through the implementation of the policy initiatives and strategies in this Plan. Implementation of the policy initiatives and strategies will be accomplished by the City of Flagstaff through the budget process, collaboration with City staff, and private, public, and nonprofit partnerships.

The single overarching goal of the Plan is to:

• Element one: Impact at least 6,000 low-to-moderate income Flagstaff residents through a combination of unit creation or subsidy provision.
• Element two: Create or preserve 7,976 housing units by 2031 with a minimum of 10% of them being affordable. This will increase the overall supply of market rate, workforce, and affordable housing occupied by local residents.

As the City implements the 10-Year Housing Plan, the goal is to substantially increase housing subsidies for our neighbors that are unable to afford housing in Flagstaff and to increase the number of available and affordable housing options for Flagstaff residents at all income levels.

Funding is imperative for the implementation of the 10-Year Housing Plan's goal, policy initiatives and strategies. Funding sources include the City budget, agency grants, private, public and nonprofit community partners and new sources such as general obligation bonds.

This policy document is a framework for action: it outlines thirteen (13) robust policy initiatives and fifty-eight (58) comprehensive strategies to accomplish the goal to substantially increase housing subsidies for our neighbors that are unable to afford housing in Flagstaff and to increase the number of available and affordable housing options for Flagstaff residents at all income levels. The policy initiatives and strategies provide a foundational framework for establishing housing programs, prioritizing staff work and allocating necessary funding for implementation. The Four policy categories are create, connect, preserve, and protect.

The thirteen (13) policy initiatives are as follows.
Create housing options for households at all income levels and family sizes occupied by local residents. Connect people to equitable housing solutions. Preserve affordable housing, Protect people from housing discrimination and remove housing barriers. For the fifty-eight (58) comprehensive strategies of the Plan, refer to the Detailed List of Flagstaff's 10-Year Housing Plan's Policy Initiatives and Strategies on page 52.

Priority Based Budget Key Community Priorities and Objectives

• High Performing Governance 
• Safe & Healthy Community
• Inclusive & Engaged Infrastructure
• Robust Resilient Economy
• Livable Community
• Environmental Stewardship

Carbon Neutrality Plan

• Community Resilience
  • CR-2 Strengthen existing community systems to create resilience to both short-term shocks and long-term change.
• Equitable Systems
  • ES-3: Design targeted climate policies and programs to serve vulnerable communities first.
• Decreased Dependence on Cars
  • DD-1: Encourage vibrancy, appropriate density, and attainability in existing neighborhoods, so that more residents live within walking distance of their daily needs.

Regional Plan

• On December 1, 2020, City Council declared a Housing Emergency in Flagstaff, committing to prioritizing affordable housing within City operations to create safe, decent, and affordable housing opportunities for all community members.
• On June 8, 2021 City Council received an update regarding Flagstaff's 10-Year Housing Plan's progress and Public Participation Plan. 
• On September 28, 2021 City Council received an update on the Draft Housing Plan, it;s overarch goal and draft policy initiatives and strategies.

• Option A. Adopt Resolution 2022-03 as submitted and adopt the 10-Year Housing Plan.
• Option B. Recommend changes to Resolution 2022-03.
• Option C. Not adopt Resolution 2022-03 and adopt the 10-Year Housing Plan.    

On December 1, 2020, City Council declared a Housing Emergency in Flagstaff, committing to prioritizing affordable housing within City operations to create safe, decent and affordable housing opportunities for all community members. When declaring the Housing Emergency, Flagstaff City Council directed staff to create a single, comprehensive community-facing document to summarize the City's immediate and long-term needs and strategies to improving housing affordability.

The stories we hear from residents and local reports verify that a lack of affordable housing is not just an individual problem, but rather a community problem that has collective consequences that negatively impact Flagstaff. This Plan demonstrates how the consequences of failing to create, preserve and provide access to affordable housing in Flagstaff is linked to lasting negative effects on our neighborhoods, health, children, environment, and jobs.

The City of Flagstaff's Carbon Neutrality Plan notes that Flagstaff faces a multitude of community challenges and competing priorities which must be met with open dialogue, innovative thinking, and good faith that we can find creative solutions that move us forward towards a healthier, more inclusive community. Partnerships across the City organization and the community at large are vital for addressing the Housing Emergency and creating a healthier, more resilient Flagstaff.

Policy initiatives and strategies in the Plan that have financial implications, these policy initiatives and strategies will still be subject to review and approval through the regular budget process in the future.

The housing gap analysis informal working group found that 12,072 lower income Flagstaff households are living in less-than-ideal housing situations such as paying too much in rent and unable to advance through the housing continuum, while remaining 7,976 market rate houses are needed to free up pressure on the Flagstaff's housing stock and catch up with population growth. This Plan provides a path forward for the next ten years and solutions to reducing Flagstaff’s Housing Emergency.

This Plan establishes one overarching goal to reduce the current affordable housing need in our community by half over the next ten years. The goal will be achieved through the implementation of the policy initiatives and strategies in this document. Implementation of the policy initiatives and strategies will be accomplished by the City of Flagstaff through the budget process, collaboration with City staff and private, public and nonprofit partnerships.

Extensive and inclusive public participation has occurred from the beginning to the completion of the Plan. Community involvement starting with informal working group meetings, four Housing Commission meetings, three Council Meetings and the City of Flagstaff's Housing Survey. These interactions have resulted in the creation of Flagstaff's 10-Year Housing Plan.

Informal working groups convened on the topics of housing and health, neighborhood and equity, housing and sustainability, and zoning and land use. Informal working groups were composed of City staff, Housing Commissioners, and community experts. The working groups grew into more than 80 volunteers and 1,000 volunteer hours. The informal working groups discussed how mutually connected housing is to all the above topics. The groups defined housing barriers and challenges for residents and created policies initiatives and strategies to address the Housing Emergency and advance housing opportunities for all.

The 10-Year Housing Plan Survey collected data from Flagstaff residents on local living conditions, the cost of housing, and household goals. The survey was shared with Flagstaff businesses, multifamily developments, community members, and the service provider network known as the Continuum of Care. The City shared the survey via social media, Housing Authority program participant newsletters, Flagstaff’s Community Forum, and clients of emergency shelters and transitional housing. The survey was available online via Survey Monkey and in print at local libraries and with various service providers. Both English and Spanish surveys were available. 2,949 responses were collected. 

In September the draft 10-Year Housing Plan was released to the public for a 30-day public comment period. The draft Plan was shared via public meetings, stakeholder meetings and the Community Forum Survey. During the 30-day comment period, staff received over 400 comments from over 400 individuals and organizations. The virtual community forum garnered 327 responses with an estimated 16.4 hours of public comment. Each comment was then read and split into multiple rows based on distinct and differentiable content within the comment, resulting in over 600 rows of content. Refer to the attached document titled "Response to Public Comment" for details on how public comments were incorporated into the final Plan. Provided below is a timeline of the Plan's Public Participation Plan.

• January 28, 2021 - Housing Commission Meeting, Consideration of Informal Working Groups, Public Participation Plan and Project Timeline
• January - April - Informal Working Group Meetings
• May 27, 2021 - Housing Commission Meeting, Discussion and Input: Update regarding Plan
• June 8, 2021 - City Council Meeting, Discussion and Input: Update regarding Plan
• May - August, 2021 - Creation of Draft Plan
• August 26, 2021 - Housing Commission Meeting, Consideration and Approval of Draft Policy Initiatives and Strategies
• September 23, 2021 - Housing Commission Meeting, Establish Goal and Approve draft 10-Year Housing Plan 
• September 28, 2021 - City Council Meeting, Update and Review of Flagstaff's Draft 10-Year Housing Plan
• Sept. 29 – Nov. 2, 2021 – Public Comment Period & Community Forum Survey
• October 5, 2021 – Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona
• October 7, 2021 – Northern Arizona Association of Realtors
• October 7, 2021 – Virtual Public Outreach – City of Flagstaff Commissioners
• October 19, 2021 – Friend of Flagstaff’s Future
• October 21, 2021 – Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce
• October 27, 2021 – Virtual Public Outreach
• November 2, 2021– Continuum of Care
• November 9, 2021 - Coconino County
• November 2021 - January 2022 - Reviewed Public Comment and incorporated Plan Updates
• January 27, 2022 – Housing Commission Meeting for consideration of approval of Final Plan 
• February 15, 2022 – City Council Consideration of adoption of Final 10 Year Housing Plan