City housing staff and advisors updated council members Aug. 15 on implementation of the city’s affordable‑housing plan and related regulatory reforms. James (housing staff) told the retreat that the city has met or exceeded several pipeline targets but is not yet reaching the deepest affordability levels the city identified in its plan.

“We are readily hitting our targets on the 80% of AMI. We are exceeding our target in terms of the 30 to 60% of AMI,” James said. “But in the most affordable category, we are still not quite hitting the goals that we established in the affordable housing plan.”

James and other staff reported roughly $9.8 million in direct investments to date, with recurring tax‑relief and other supports in place; they noted additional administrative capacity is needed to monitor outcomes and track when units come online. Staff said a pipeline of projects is underway, but that two properties with expiring affordability terms — named in the presentation as Hearthstone (about 200 units) and a second project of about 160 units — could see affordability lapse in 2026 unless owners extend covenants or the city or other partners intervene.

The discussion also covered zoning reform and non‑zoning barriers to small‑scale housing production. Councilmembers asked staff to analyze specific regulatory obstacles (stormwater requirements, development‑code provisions) that add cost to small infill and “missing middle” projects and to quantify the amount of subsidy required to produce units at 30% AMI versus higher AMI bands.

Staff urged additional work to build a monitoring dashboard tying city investment dollars to unit production, AMI levels and timing so council can better judge return on investment. No formal policy changes were adopted at the retreat; staff were asked to return with more detailed pipeline analytics and options to preserve expiring affordable units.