INNOVATE FOR IMPACT

24-MONTH CHALLENGE PROPOSAL SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
An Initiative of the Back Porch Group and Goose Creek Community Land Trust

For: Neighborhood property owners, neighborhood groups, affordable housing and other developers, business-commercial landowners.

Project Vision: Build up to 200 permanently affordable units scattered throughout Boulder County over and above “business as usual” (projects in the pipeline currently or soon to be included). Evaluate with 3rd party to harvest valuable lessons. Scale up best ideas as appropriate and approved by elected officials.

Boulder needs to develop a clear strategic direction and scale up middle income/workforce affordable housing efforts to preserve a vital, diverse community. We need to change how housing is developed in Boulder. AND do it in a way that addresses concerns about quality of life and neighborhood and city character. We are looking to engage our community to bring forth innovative solutions. Some topics with which we hope projects will grapple:

  • How much additional density does it take to attain various levels of affordability?

  • How does the required density bump vary from one zoning district/neighborhood to another?

  • What suite of additional programs or regulations can be applied to address traffic and parking impacts?

  • What housing types are best suited to creating this density in different zones?

  • Demonstrate new mechanisms  for ensuring permanent affordability (non-profit ownership/management, deed restrictions, CLT land ownership + limited equity in improvements)

  • How do those affordability mechanisms get applied differently to owner occupied vs. rental housing?

  • What type of residents are interested in trading property value appreciation for accessibility?

  • What other amenities besides pure affordability are helpful in enticing folks out of market rate housing?

  • What kind of changes might we see in per-capita vehicle ownership, VMT and household energy & water usage by virtue of changes in housing typology, location efficiency, car sharing etc (compare estimates of resource use with results after completion).

  • Demonstrate alternative financing mechanisms to build permanently affordable middle income housing built without cash subsidies, especially in the cases where improvements are severed from land tenure.

Process: We are gathering as many proposals as possible this early Spring of 2018 and are exploring mechanisms to  implement this program with the appropriate officials (City and County) now. We may need enabling legislation allowing it like the Coop Ordinance but not applying to whole zones. We hope the process can require only a modest amount of staff input. We suggest a selection process like the Boulder Energy Challenge model. We hope to get public resources to fund a 3rd party evaluation of results. Please get us your proposals ASAP so we can demonstrate public interest.

Please make your own Word document from this one, add any appropriate pictures, plans, elevations and email it to David Adamson (david@GooseCreekCLT.org). Calls with questions are welcome at (303) 545-6255.

Project Name:

Project Address:

Summarize your idea in one sentence:

Proponents contact information (clarify if proponents are a neighborhood group, commercial area/business group or affordable housing-general developer):

How will your proposal promote long term affordability, beauty, meet the concerns of neighbors and help achieve City climate and other environmental goals? (100 words)

Who will execute this project (contact info and role)?

Why is this the right idea for this city now? (2-3) sentences

 
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