Not to Decide is to Decide

The City's Pulse Issue #15 June 21, 2007 by Mary Souza
Not to Decide is to Decide Affordable housing has been a growing problem in Coeur d'Alene. Like a huge thunderstorm marching down the lake in our direction, the wind has been whipping up the whitecaps and the sky has been dark with roiling clouds. It seems we've been frozen in the sheer disbelief that this squall could actually hurt us. Now it has hit hard and many in our town are left standing out in the rain. "Not to decide is to decide", are the words of Dr. Laurence Peter, author of The Peter Principle. The problem will not go away. If decisions are not made and protections put in place, the problem of affordable housing will continue to create its own path of destruction--much like a thunderstorm. Our city leaders saw it coming. They have talked about it, met about it and spent our money to have it studied More than a year and a half ago, the city of Coeur d'Alene contacted BBC Research out of Denver to conduct a study of our city's housing needs. The $40,000 study was funded by the city, our urban renewal agency LCDC and the Idaho Housing and Finance Association. The conclusions were presented at a workshop I attended last December, which suggested a list of very specific actions. The #1 action they recommended is that LCDC spend urban renewal dollars to induce affordable housing within its developments. "Affordable housing ... should be available to buy for between $83,000 and $167,000", the study says. The Coeur d'Alene Planning and Zoning Commission, of which I am a member, sent a letter supporting this recommendation to the city council last February. "We are writing this letter to offer our support for your prompt action on the issue of affordable housing in Coeur d'Alene. We suggest, for your consideration, that every project containing residential areas approved by LCDC be required to include a percentage of affordable housing units ... The use of the tax increment in this way could help create a positive turn-around to a difficult situation." But LCDC has been part of the problem. It's like they've been doing a rain dance to increase the intensity of the affordable housing storm. They have given millions of tax dollars to subsidize private luxury residential development in the central core of CdA. With this public money, developers have been able to build bigger and faster. The entry level price for these new residential units is over $300,000, nowhere near the affordable range defined by the study. Has the city council asked LCDC to include affordable housing in their developments, as was recommended by the study and seconded by P&Z? It would appear not. The city council has been a strong defender of LCDC and their focus on promoting high-end luxury living units rather than career-level job creation like many other urban renewal agencies in our state. Councilman Mike Kennedy was recently quoted in the Press, saying of the affordable housing problem, "It's an issue people are talking about all over the community, and the city also has a disadvantage. Our growth has been so colossal, so quick we feel we're behind the 8-ball on it right now." Mr. Kennedy and the rest of the city council finally took action on the issue of affordable housing in our community last Friday ... they had yet another panel discussion on the subject. Not to decide is to decide. Please hurry, the storm is upon us.

Not to Decide is to Decide

Affordable housing has been a growing problem in Coeur d'Alene. Like a huge thunderstorm marching down the lake in our direction, the wind has been whipping up the whitecaps and the sky has been dark with roiling clouds. It seems we've been frozen in the sheer disbelief that this squall could actually hurt us. Now it has hit hard and many in our town are left standing out in the rain.

"Not to decide is to decide", are the words of Dr. Laurence Peter, author of The Peter Principle. The problem will not go away. If decisions are not made and protections put in place, the problem of affordable housing will continue to create its own path of destruction--much like a thunderstorm. Our city leaders saw it coming. They have talked about it, met about it and spent our money to have it studied

More than a year and a half ago, the city of Coeur d'Alene contacted BBC Research out of Denver to conduct a study of our city's housing needs. The $40,000 study was funded by the city, our urban renewal agency LCDC and the Idaho Housing and Finance Association. The conclusions were presented at a workshop I attended last December, which suggested a list of very specific actions. The #1 action they recommended is that LCDC spend urban renewal dollars to induce affordable housing within its developments. "Affordable housing ... should be available to buy for between $83,000 and $167,000", the study says.

The Coeur d'Alene Planning and Zoning Commission, of which I am a member, sent a letter supporting this recommendation to the city council last February. "We are writing this letter to offer our support for your prompt action on the issue of affordable housing in Coeur d'Alene. We suggest, for your consideration, that every project containing residential areas approved by LCDC be required to include a percentage of affordable housing units ... The use of the tax increment in this way could help create a positive turn-around to a difficult situation."

But LCDC has been part of the problem. It's like they've been doing a rain dance to increase the intensity of the affordable housing storm. They have given millions of tax dollars to subsidize private luxury residential development in the central core of CdA. With this public money, developers have been able to build bigger and faster. The entry level price for these new residential units is over $300,000, nowhere near the affordable range defined by the study. Has the city council asked LCDC to include affordable housing in their developments, as was recommended by the study and seconded by P&Z? It would appear not.

The city council has been a strong defender of LCDC and their focus on promoting high-end luxury living units rather than career-level job creation like many other urban renewal agencies in our state. Councilman Mike Kennedy was recently quoted in the Press, saying of the affordable housing problem, "It's an issue people are talking about all over the community, and the city also has a disadvantage. Our growth has been so colossal, so quick we feel we're behind the 8-ball on it right now."

Mr. Kennedy and the rest of the city council finally took action on the issue of affordable housing in our community last Friday ... they had yet another panel discussion on the subject. Not to decide is to decide. Please hurry, the storm is upon us.