Planning staff updated the commission on two strategic housing plans — a county strategic plan (Strategic Plan 2035) and the Summit County Housing Authority strategic plan — and demonstrated a beta land‑prioritization mapping tool designed to identify and rank parcels for affordable-housing potential.

Planner Maddie summarized the two strategic plans and said the housing authority plan expands beyond development targets to include acquisition, voucher programs, down-payment assistance and conversion of market-rate units to affordable housing. Maddie said the county’s goal to develop 1,500 affordable units over 10 years underlies the work and that the housing authority will coordinate implementation.

GIS specialist Trey Olsen (staff) created a beta mapping tool that layers ownership (municipal, county, school district, nonprofit and quasi‑governmental), sewer district boundaries, transit stops, grocery stores, employment hubs, parks/trailheads, and other amenity distances. The tool computes an accessibility score and can be adjusted by weighted preferences; staff showed example parcels and scores that can be used to prioritize sites for acquisition, land swaps or future land‑use changes.

Commissioners discussed possible next steps: using an overlay zone or performance-based overlay to streamline affordable and workforce housing approvals, adding definitions for multiple housing tiers (low income, moderate, workforce), and building incentives. Several commissioners expressed support for an overlay approach tied to performance criteria and for including water-availability and utility connection information in the map. Commissioners asked staff to share the beta map for review and to consider incentives the housing authority might offer developers or employers to spur construction of targeted unit types.

Staff said the map and strategic plans would inform future community-area planning, land-acquisition priorities and code amendments; the commission asked for continued updates and suggested staff share the materials with commissioners for review before further actions.