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2004 Master Plan Annual Report
Housing
2004 Annual Report | Land Use | Economy | Community Appearance | Community Facilities & Services | Housing | Transportation | Implementation
Click here to view/download a pdf file of the Housing section.
Housing Meeting Summary
From Meeting Dated Friday, March 11, 2005
In Attendance
- Larry Helscel (Public Services Department), moderator
- Doug Green (Public Services Department), Recorder
- Emma Bramley, Gerald Smith (City Manager’s Office), Steve Cothrel (Parks & Recreation Department), Matt Davis, Chad Gibson, Bryan Wagner (Development Department)
Goal
Facilitate the provision of a full range of housing that is well built and well maintained and that utilizes old and new housing stock to accommodate people of all ages in a setting convenient to their needs.
Executive Summary
An overall goal of the City’s Master Plan is to address the fact that less than five percent of the City’s land use is dedicated to commercial activities. As the Master Plan facilitates the enhancement and expansion of commercial land uses and activities to assure long term fiscal security, the Housing section provides a counter balance to ensure the City’s high quality, residential neighborhoods and resulting property values are maintained, another primary Master Plan goal.
Specific objectives under the Housing section are aimed at maintaining and enhancing existing housing stock, creating housing opportunities for senior citizens and ensuring affordable housing opportunities for new residents.
In 2004, a new Property Assessment Monitoring Program was launched by the Development Department with much success. It takes a proactive approach, reviewing the community’s neighborhoods to identify and work with property owners to educate them on and rectify any code violations. Originally intended to be a five-year cyclical program, the resulting workload and existing staffing levels indicate a slower timeframe to encompass the entire community than was originally anticipated.
Other potential programs, such as regular and more comprehensive inspections of rental housing, and point-of-sale inspections for all residential properties, remain on hold as a direct result of existing staffing level limitations.
An option to help the Code Compliance Division maximize inspector workloads would be the addition of administrative support, enabling inspectors to spend more time in the field. Further consideration of the extent of support necessary, its justification and associated costs would all be required before any recommendation or request is brought forward.
Because property values are influenced by the infrastructure that provides basic services, the City has aggressively invested in its streets, roadways and utility systems, with an average of $5 million invested each year since 2001. While this represents a substantial rate of reinvestment, the age of facilities and a deferral of maintenance in previous years, raises the question of whether this level is adequate to address the extent of work needed.
During the Master Plan review process, an evaluation of the progress made to enhance senior housing opportunities brought forward a discussion of expanding definitions within these objectives to be all inclusive of different population segments and their respective housing needs. Recommended changes are included in the Housing table at the end of this chapter.
While there are currently no direct incentive programs to encourage rehabilitation and new construction of senior housing, the zoning framework is in place to facilitate such development. While this represents a beginning, it also encompasses an ongoing effort to identify “zoning incentive nuggets” for developers of housing suitable for seniors and other segments of the population.
A strong indicator that the community is doing its part to preserve and enhance the high quality of housing in Upper Arlington, comes from the consistently high levels of home renovation projects that are occurring from year to year. Residents are reinvesting in their homes at unprecedented levels, keeping the housing stock current and desirable. For example, in 2004 the residential construction value was more than $32 million, continuing a more than six-year trend.
Several strategies within this section are identified as routine City business and have been marked as such for future Master Plan Annual Report updates. As a result, they will only contain update information in future reports as projects or items of note occur.
Objective Highlights
Objective 1. Maintain and improve the existing housing stock.
In early 2004, the Development Department began its proactive Property Assessment Monitoring Program, with the goal of inspecting all residential properties at least once every five years. A major undertaking for the current staff (with one new position added to enable this program to begin), the workload being generated has resulted in a slower pace than originally anticipated with approximately 30% of properties inspected having one or more violations. It is, however meeting with good results, as property owners are made aware of and educated on how to bring their properties into compliance with various building, health and safety requirements.
Plans for 2005 include expanding education efforts and providing advance notice to neighborhoods of impending inspections. It is hoped a combination of these efforts will encourage property owners to check for and rectify any issues in advance of their area being inspected – achieving the same end result and possibly streamlining staff’s workload.
At this point, exploration and implementation of a residential “point of sale” inspection program is on hold as a direct result of staffing levels. Likewise, additional administrative support within the Development Department could do much to further efforts, enabling inspectors to expand their caseload and spend more time in the field. Further discussion and consideration of financial requirements and the extent of additional staffing for both areas would be required.
Typically, approximately 30% of violations involve older adults, who can often be “house rich” but “cash poor,” struggling to maintain their properties adequately and lacking the funds to seek professional help. While there are many identified social service programs in existence that can assist the elderly in such situations, the typical Upper Arlington household value exceeds the levels at which such assistance can be obtained. While the question arises about the role and extent to which the City should play in assisting elderly or financially challenged property owners, existing or prospective options to help address this include:
- Continuing and expanding the use of community service workers to help rectify simple code violations (landscaping, removal of litter, etc.) for those property owners in need of assistance.
- Consideration of the formation of a volunteer task force comprised of community members willing to donate their skills and time to help property owners whose situations meet a pre-established set of criteria (needs assessment). For example, the City of Whitehall operates the Pride of Whitehall program where volunteers provide repair services for seniors or disabled residents.
- Consideration of a City needs assessment and financial assistance program for qualifying property owners, however further research would be necessary on the feasibility of such a program, to include a discussion of the associated staffing and financial costs, and a review of successful programs run by other communities.
Beyond the Property Assessment Monitoring Program, resident-driven complaints pertaining to code violations are on the rise, most likely a result of increased awareness and response time to such issues made possible by expanded staffing.
Objective 2. Identify and stabilize neighborhoods that are threatened by physical decline.
At this point, the City’s Property Assessment Monitoring Program is essentially serving as the tool for assessing housing conditions throughout the City, identifying any neighborhoods threatened by physical decline, as well as working to rectify code compliance issues that might be contributing to that decline.
A more comprehensive assessment of housing types and values would ideally also be part of a more comprehensive study to help identify market availability versus needs.
Monitoring and maintaining infrastructure within neighborhoods falls under several areas:
- The Public Services Department maintains inventories and condition ratings for street pavements, curbs and gutters, and street lighting, and uses this information to prioritize improvement projects.
- Sidewalk installation and maintenance fall under the responsibility of the homeowner, with the exception of repairs arising from street tree damage. Inspections and responses to complaints fall under the responsibility of the Code Compliance Division.
- The Parks & Recreation Department maintains comprehensive inventories of street trees and park conditions, with annual efforts underway to maintain and enhance these community assets.
The City continues to invest significant dollars and manpower annually through its Capital Improvements Program to support infrastructure maintenance, however the current need outweighs available dollars. This has in part resulted from a previous deferral of necessary maintenance, combined with many aging facilities reaching a point where improvements are vital at the same time. As mentioned in other sections of this report, prioritizing how funds are spent, identifying new funding sources to support the many areas that need to be addressed is an ongoing challenge for the City that will require significant attention for many years ahead.
Objective 3. Enhance senior housing opportunities.
There are no specific incentives in place to enhance senior or diverse housing opportunities, something that might merit further consideration and discussion if deemed necessary at some point in the future.
The Board of Zoning and Planning has approved rezoning in some cases, to enable certain developments to occur. Of particular note is the Avia project at 1630 Northwest Professional Plaza where the former office building has been renovated into independent living units suitable for seniors. While actually taking away office space, this action arose from the Board of Zoning and Planning’s consideration of the “highest and best use” for that particular property.
As with several other Master Plan objectives, the City is in a position to facilitate and encourage desired housing changes as opportunities arise in the private sector, therefore implementation progress is primarily dependent on outside forces.
It is hoped that an upcoming senior needs assessment study planned for 2005 will address housing needs relative to existing availability to help identify what is needed to help older adults stay in their community.
During the review process, staff carefully evaluated the focus of this objective, concluding it should be broadened to represent the interests of several different segments of the population. The recommended language change is to “Enhance diverse housing opportunities, suitable for seniors, single adults, young families and other segments of the population.”
Objective 4. Ensure affordable options for new residents.
Staff is recommending that Strategy 4a be combined within a more broadly defined Objective 3, and that 4b be combined within an Implementation objective specific to all Master Plan-related public relations and marketing activities.
Housing
Strategy Responsibilities / Recommended Amendments
Objective 1. Maintain and improve the existing housing stock.
a. Continuing to expand the enforcement of property maintenance requirements and related zoning codes.
| Development
| Immediate / Ongoing / Routine
|
b. Considering the feasibility of undertaking point-of-sale inspections of all owner-occupied residential dwellings.
| Development
| Short Term / Further direction required
|
c. Considering the feasibility of undertaking a regular inspection of all rental residential properties.
| Development, Board of Zoning & Planning
| Short Term / Further direction required
|
d. Considering a financial assistance program to assist economically disadvantaged single-family homeowners with exterior maintenance and building code issues.
| Development, Commission on Aging, Northwest Counseling, Economic Development, Finance, Development
| Mid Term / Further consideration required
|
Objective 2. Identify and stabilize neighborhoods that are threatened by physical decline.
a. Conducting a survey and analysis of housing conditions throughout the City.
| Development
| Short Term / Ongoing / Routine
|
b. Maintaining infrastructure, in particular streets, curb and gutter, sidewalks, street lighting, street trees, and parks.
| Public Service, Parks & Recreation
| Ongoing / Routine
|
Objective 3. Enhance senior housing opportunities.CHANGE TO: Enhance diverse housing opportunities, suitable for seniors, single adults, young families and other segments of the population.
a. Exploring zoning incentives to encourage rehabilitation and new construction of housing attractive to seniors.
| Development, Economic Development, Community Improvement Corporation
| Short Term / Ongoing
|
b. Identifying and promoting parcels as possible sites for new construction for senior housing.
| City Manager, Commission on Aging, Community Improvement Corporation, Community Affairs, Development
| Short Term
|
c. Promoting suitable amenities to create a quality living environment in senior housing.
| City Manager, Economic Development, Commission on Aging, Community Improvement Corporation, City Clerk
| Short Term / Remove
|
d. c. Locating senior housing that is convenient to retail, medical, personal services, educational, and cultural facilities.
| City Manager, Economic Development, Commission on Aging, Community Improvement Corporation, property owners
| Short Term / Ongoing
|
Objective 4. Ensure affordable options for new residents.Combine with Objective 3 and remove
a. Maintaining the quality of rental options for new residents.
| Development, Code Enforcement
| Ongoing / Change to 3d
|
b. Continuing to promote the City as an excellent place to live.
| Community Affairs, Chamber of Commerce, UA Leadership, Economic Development, Community Improvement Corporation
| Short Term / Combine with Public Relations Strategies to be Established in ImplementationRemove
|
City Manager's Office
City of Upper Arlington
3600 Tremont Road
Upper Arlington, OH 43221
Phone: 614-583-5040
Fax: 614-457-6620
www.ua-ohio.net
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