Community Engagement Report 2022

Date: 02/01/2022 9:00pm

Location: Verde Facility

Related Group: CLC

Focus Topics: Eligible Investments

Meeting Notes: View Notes

Additional Notes: Cully Community-Led Development District

Community Priorities Summary

Property acquisition:	Keystone of affordability and anti-displacement
Commercial buildings:	Investment in local businesses and mixed-use spaces
Housing:	Most groups' top priority, covering rent, ownership, and homelessness
Recreation facilities:	Strong youth focus and adult education
Arts & culture:	Community arts access tied to place and housing
Infrastructure:	Equity in implementation and job opportunities

Themes and Priorities from Each Group

American Indian/Alaska Native Community

• Top priority is responding to the housing crisis through affordable rental homes, affordable homeownership, and housing for people currently experiencing homelessness.
• After housing, the group also supported investments in businesses, job creation, arts and culture, recreation facilities, mixed-use development and mental health services.

Black Community

• Property acquisition should include purchasing single-family homes (including foreclosed and abandoned homes) in order to keep them affordable for future homebuyers. Also, projects to stabilize low-income and elderly homeowners (e.g. home repairs, relief from rising property taxes).
• Cooperative/collective ownership models for housing, businesses and commercial property. This builds wealth and responds to the group's concern that TIF-funded projects will attract/benefit outside investors and newcomers, rather than existing residents, Black people, and low-income people.
• Proactive, intentional programs needed to make sure Black-owned businesses/contractors and Black workers can benefit from the construction and small business opportunities created by the TIF district.

Houseless Community

• Facilities that provide basic services (e.g. laundry, garbage disposal, warming center).
• Low-barrier housing that provides some autonomy, such as tiny house villages.
• Property acquisition.

Latinx Community

• Affordable housing was the top priority, including homeownership that is accessible for people who don't have a Social Security Number or need to build credit; rental housing for larger families; ADUs and other configurations with outdoor space for gardens and kids.
• Food carts and other lower-barrier business opportunities.
• Recreation and community education facilities, with activities and play space for kids and classes for adults, including classes on computer skills.
• Property acquisition to keep housing permanently affordable (e.g., what was successful at Oak Leaf, and could have been done at Normandy Apartments if funds were available).

Low-Income Homeowners

• Priority on affordable housing, including rental and homeownership; homeowners wanted others in the community to have access to housing as well.
• ADA accessible affordable housing.
• Recreational facilities for children and investments in commercial properties to support local small businesses.
• Land banking as a way to assure space to build future affordable housing and small business.

Mobile Home Park Residents

• Affordable homes are top priority, including rentals, homeownership (needs to be accessible to ITIN borrowers), and buying privately-owned mobile home parks.
• Housing and facilities for people experiencing houselessness.
• Resident-owned cooperatives for mobile home parks and apartments.
• Home repairs, including for manufactured homes.
• Property acquisition to make all of the other projects possible.
• Facilities that provide access to services (resources for people, rental assistance, energy assistance).
• Recreation facilities and commercial properties are supported, but a lower priority than homes.

Small Business Community

• Strong alignment between stable housing and successful businesses and commercial corridors:

"More people living in the area means more businesses, and more businesses means more people."

• Support for mixed-use development that incorporates commercial, affordable homes, recreational facilities, and gardens/green space.
• Importance of continuing the existing NPI programs for small businesses.

Somali Community

• Affordable homeownership.
• Tiny homes for people experiencing homelessness.
• Recreation options for youth.
• Spaces for adult education opportunities.
• Support for small businesses and mixed-use development.

Community Priorities for the Eligible Investments List

Drawing on input from all 8 constituencies

1) Property Acquisition

Common themes and priorities: Purchasing land before prices rise further was a popular idea. It was considered to be a keystone of maintaining affordability and stalling displacement.

"I like the idea of land banking, like buying the Oak Leaf, or like what happened at Normandy. I think we should be able to buy those so we don't lose that affordability, it isn't fair what happens to people when they raise the rent and people get displaced.” – Latinx Community focus group

Additional ideas:

• Purchasing abandoned properties and making them habitable for houseless community members.
• Purchasing single-family homes to create affordable homeownership opportunities.

2) Commercial Buildings

Common themes and priorities: Participants across all groups support investments to benefit local businesses. Popular support for mixed-use development that could combine commercial, affordable homes, recreation facilities.

"I'd love to be able to buy a home/land for my business. I rent right now. My rent is very expensive and with inflation and hazard pay for my staff, I've taken a pretty substantial pay cut. As a small business owner (on a preschool teacher salary), building equity is very important to be able to continue to do this work for a long time." – Small Business Community focus group

"Food carts are a great opportunity to have your own business. For example, with our friend who owns her food cart, during the pandemic they did well even though many restaurants had to close, since they didn't have a lot of employees. My husband and I both lost our restaurant jobs, whereas the food cart stayed open.” – Latinx Community focus group

Additional ideas:

• Affordable groceries
• Food carts
• Establishing a community bank
• Ensuring that commercial property investments have a long-lasting community benefit
• A revolving loan fund so that money gets cycled through multiple projects

3) Housing

Common themes and priorities: Affordable housing was the top priority of most groups. Affordable rentals and homeownership were supported. Participants also prioritized investments that support people experiencing homelessness.

"Housing first; businesses and communities won't mean anything without the people here... What good is a community center if the community is pushed out of the neighborhood?" – Mobile Home Park Residents focus group

“[Houseless community members] have the right to have a place to call home and both a place to work." – Somali Community focus group

Additional ideas:

• Home repairs (including for manufactured homes)
• Ability to purchase a home using an ITIN
• ADA accessible housing
• Resident-owned cooperatives
• Affordable housing for college students

4) Recreational Facilities

Common themes and priorities: Strong support for community spaces for recreation, education and connection, for youth and adults.

"[We need] something for the youth - they are the next generation and if we don't protect them, who will?” – Low-Income Homeowners focus group

“…for the youth in our community, if we could also build them a place to help guide them to stay out of trouble - somewhere to keep our youth safe" – Somali Community focus group

Additional ideas:

• Job and technical training at recreational facilities

5) Arts & Culture

Common themes and priorities: Community members supported public art paired with housing and/or businesses, but considered the housing and commercial investments to be a higher priority.

"It's great to have those art resources come to us so that art is more accessible to folks here that may not go to downtown to access art or community resources like this." – American Indian/Alaska Native Community focus group

Additional ideas:

• Setting up community spaces where art could be sold

6) Infrastructure

Common themes and priorities: While many supported infrastructure improvements, it proved to be less pressing than preventing displacement. The implementation of investments in infrastructure (and all the other TIF-funded projects) should create equitable economic opportunities.

"Will these [contracting] opportunities be specifically for BIPOC businesses to pursue? How will we ensure that people outside the community and larger contractors aren't just getting all of the contracts?" – Black Community focus group

Additional ideas:

• Repaying TIF loans back into a pool that could be used for other projects