Park Ridge city officials heard about a range of options for how the city might plan to increase its number of affordable housing units at a July 24 City Council meeting.
A 2021 state law requires municipalities with less than 10% of their housing units affordably priced to draft and file a plan with the state detailing how they would make at least 10% of their housing units affordable. In Park Ridge, affordably priced housing units make up about 8% of the overall housing stock, according to the most recent data.
State law defines affordable housing as housing whose total cost “constitute(s) no more than 30% of the gross annual household income” for households that make less than the area median income, although the specific threshholds vary depending on whether the households own or rent their units of housing.
Park Ridge has been working with the Metropolitan Mayors’ Caucus on its plan. Park Ridge Community Preservation and Development Director Drew Awsumb said the group would eventually present the city with a set of recommendations that could form the basis of a plan to submit to the state.
Caucus representative and former Glenview Mayor Nancy Firfer said the group would leave the city with a “menu” of options and examples of possible ordinances.
“It will be up to you in the end, but we will be leaving you that menu,” she said.
The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus recently convened a pair of focus groups of community leaders, school officials, activists and other involved citizens to discuss potential goals of an eventual affordable housing ordinance and what suited the needs of Park Ridge.
Northbrook Village Trustee Heather Ross addressed aldermen on her experience drafting and approving an affordable housing ordinance in Northbrook.
Northbrook finalized its plan in December 2020, Ross said.
“It was really just a necessity that was driven by residents,” she said. “People who work in our community should be able to live there.”
She named senior citizens, local service workers, residents who were getting divorced or downsizing and young people who wanted to move to the village as potential beneficiaries of increased affordable housing stock.
Community Partners for Affordable Housing Director of Development and Community Relations Amy Kaufman told the council that most successful affordable housing plans included one or more of three pillars: an inclusionary housing ordinance, an affordable housing trust fund and a community land trust.
An inclusionary housing ordinance refers to a requirement that new developers sell or rent a proportion of developments in any new project at an affordable price, she explained.
An affordable housing trust fund, made up of proceeds from developer fees or “teardown taxes,” helps a community subsidize the building of new affordable housing or preserve existing units.
A community land trust is an organization that holds and administers the purchase and sale of land on which housing is built to maintain its affordability, according to Kaufman.
State law defines a community land trust as a private corporation “created to acquire and own land for the benefit of the local government, including the creation and preservation of affordable housing.”
Naperville Deputy Director of Transportation, Engineering and Development Group Allison Laff said that in Naperville, the city council hadn’t been comfortable with creating requirements for developers and had taken a different approach by trying to incentivize developers who build affordable units.
“It’s important that the incentives are good enough that people want to participate,” Laff said.
Awsumb cautioned council members that while the city had invited the guests because their experience could apply to Park Ridge, “it’s not a copy and paste.”
“What makes sense for their towns might not make sense for Park Ridge,” he said.
The council also heard two public comments: League of Women Voters President Julianna Lopez de Philbrook said her organization supported the city’s efforts around affordable housing.
Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Jim Hanlon said, speaking for himself and not his board, that he’d support city efforts to make an even greater proportion of units in Park Ridge affordably priced.
6th Ward Alderman Rick Biagi had the only question from the horseshoe, asking to clarify that it would be Park Ridge City staff who would write the final plan and not members of the different groups advising the city.
The Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus will present a Housing Action Plan to city officials early this fall, Awsumb said. That plan could form the foundation for a plan to submit to the state. But it will ultimately fall to Park Ridge city officials to put together the final product, he said.
