PRELIMINARY Action Steps for Consideration to Recommend for inclusion in Strategic Plan (New Construction Only)

Following are the PRELIMINARY Action Items identified by the group to carry over for further discussion into what ultimately will serve as recommendations from the group for inclusion in the city's final strategic plan. These were identified by the group at its May 27 meeting. The previous post (seen below if you are viewing this on the blogspot page) highlighted the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats identified by the group, which led to these preliminary recommendations. The topic of the May 27 meeting was simply the New Construction component of the housing picture facing the community, so these points were made in that context only. The June 10 meeting will focus more directly on Urban Living and the Established Housing Stock. If you are a member of the Housing Committee, please use the comments field of this post to provide any input or hold online discussions of any of the identified issues / recommendations, or to discuss alternative recommendations not included here that should be considered.

PRELIMINARY ACTION ITEMS (NEW CONSTRUCTION):

• Initiate Meaningful Regulation / Certification Reform
• Open up zoning options to allow for greater "mix" of blended housing options
• Evaluate a process by which builders could qualify to pull permits (local license? proof of compliance with basic insurance requirement already required by law?)
• Other?
• Promote Consistency in Codes, Regulations, Enforcement
• Where possible, coordinate building code adoption and amendment between city, county, and other area entities
• Consolidate some building/development departments and/or functions within city government
• Consolidate some building/development departments and/or functions between city and county government (functional consolidation)
• Promote Diversity of Housing Types and Development Patterns
• Remove barriers to innovative design concepts
• Allow "trade-off" incentives for builders & developers with new concepts to make the new concepts financially feasible
• Promote a philosophy of enhancing and supporting existing market opportunities and market forces (rather than attempt to create ones that do not exist)
• Avoid temptation to "design from scratch" without regard to what the market is demanding
• Make true local market measures (buying patterns, demand trends, etc.) a meaningful part of master plans for future growth
• Establish an Awards Program for Innovation in Housing, Development & Residential Design
• Model Best Practices of Other, Comparable Communities

ISSUES RAISED AT THIS MEETING, BUT "PARKED" FOR DISCUSSION AT A FUTURE MEETING:

• Enhance existing housing options for urban lifestyles (parked for discussion May 27)
• Training from the private sector to P&Z, Council, & city staff re: the development process (parked for discussion during implementation / operations phase of recommendations)
• Affordability challenges at all levels of new construction (parked for continued discussion on June 10)