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St. Helens Hosts Housing Needs Analysis Advisory Committee Meeting #3
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2019
St. Helens, Ore. – St. Helens is participating in a recently-launched statewide initiative to address the major housing availability and affordability problems being experienced across Oregon.
The St. Helens community is invited to attend the third Housing Needs Analysis Advisory Committee meeting on Tuesday, March 12 from 6 to 7 p.m. in the St. Helens Council Chambers, 265 Strand Street. This meeting will be held before the regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting.
At the meeting, draft findings will be reviewed that were created from feedback collected at the last two committee meetings. Consultants will share the demand for different types of housing based on population growth estimates and how the available residential land supply is related to those housing needs. The presentation will include housing price ranges and rental level estimates based on predictions about future home ownership and rental needs.
Based on input from the public and members of the Planning Commission, acting as the project Advisory Committee, the consultants will formulate draft housing policies for discussion at a meeting to be announced in the spring.
The first meeting in December 2018 established a baseline for the forecasted number of housing units needed for the next 20 years. The second meeting established the methodology used to calculate buildable land for future residential development within the City and Urban Growth Boundary.
“Buildable Land” is defined in OAR 660-008-0005(2) as land that is “suitable, available, and necessary for residential uses.” The definition specifically excludes land constrained by natural hazards, containing protected natural resources, with slopes of 25 percent or greater, within the 100-year floodplain, or on which public facilities cannot be provided. A map of the buildable land can be seen on the Project Website (https://www.ci.st-helens.or.us/planning/page/housing-needs-analysis), along with all other project documents.
Additional information about the Housing Needs Analysis has been uploaded to the project website (https://www.ci.st-helens.or.us/planning/page/housing-needs-analysis). The final Housing Needs Analysis document will be completed by June 30, 2019.
Background
The Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) received a special appropriation of funds for 2018-2019 to assist cities in updating their comprehensive plans and land use regulations to promote housing availability and affordability across the state.
The City of St. Helens was selected for this first round of funding from DLCD to complete a Housing Needs Analysis. DLCD prioritized St. Helens for funding because the City has over 10,000 residents, has never completed a Housing Needs Analysis, and is classified as severely-rent burdened. Severely rent-burdened means that over 25 percent of renter households in St. Helens spend more than 50 percent of their household income on gross rent for housing.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2016, 27 percent of the renting population in St. Helens is considered severely rent-burdened.
The overall purpose of the Housing Needs Analysis is to increase the supply and affordability of housing within the boundaries of the City. The consultant will complete products needed to update comprehensive plans and zoning codes, or adopt other housing strategies, to help ensure that the City has an available land supply to accommodate housing needs over the next 20 years. The consultants will also provide a code audit and a code update to help ensure the zoning code allows, and does not include barriers to, development of needed housing.
Anyone interested in receiving updates on the Housing Needs Analysis is encouraged to follow the City’s Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/cityofsthelens/) and subscribe to the City’s e-Newsletter (www.ci.st-helens.or.us/community/page/newsletters) where future meetings will be announced.
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For further information regarding the Housing Needs Analysis, please contact Associate Planner Jenny Dimsho at jdimsho@ci.st-helens.or.us or 503-366-8207.
