Erie hears DRCOG regional housing assessment; staff urges using regional report to meet SB 174 deadlines

Town staff presented DRCOG's regional housing needs assessment and explained the town's obligations under Senate Bill 174 on Aug. 12.

Eric Leverage, Erie's housing management analyst, summarized the DRCOG report and the law. He said SB 174 requires jurisdictions with populations over 1,000 to have a housing needs assessment that conforms to Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) methodologies by the end of 2026; DOLA published that guidance in December 2024. Because the town's most recent local assessment (adopted 2023, updated 2024) does not meet DOLA's methodological requirements in several areas (analysis of accessible/supportive units, tying local wages and job markets to housing affordability, and displacement risk), staff recommended the council consider signing on to DRCOG's regional assessment and submitting council comments during the 60-day local review window to DOLA, which would allow Erie to comply without commissioning a new, costly local study.

Leverage said DRCOG found a regional shortfall of roughly 69,000 housing units today and an additional 145,000 units needed between now and 2032 (total regional need about 223,000), with the greatest need at incomes below 50% area median income (AMI). For Erie specifically, DRCOG's 10-year projection included approximately 1,400 additional units needed over the decade, with a majority at lower AMI levels. Leverage noted differences between the town's and DRCOG's numbers driven by different input datasets (town used ACS 2016-2020 estimates; DRCOG used 2022 data), which accounts for discrepancies in cost-burden estimates and total housing-unit counts.

Council members asked whether the DRCOG numbers are applied community-by-community (Leverage said the analysis is both regional and broken into submarkets, using county-level AMIs as appropriate), how transportation or transit-oriented developments affect need allocations, and how the council should submit comments. Staff recommended collecting council comments during public meetings and consolidating them for a single submission to DOLA/DRCOG before the Sept. 12 deadline; the council agreed to prepare comments via the consent agenda process so members could review and amend them at an upcoming meeting.

Leverage also reminded council that SB 174 requires a housing action plan by January 2028 (goals and strategies), and that DOLA released guidance for action plans in June 2025; staff noted regional collaboration is an option for the action plan but each jurisdiction must set its own goals and strategies.

Council did not take a final vote on whether to adopt the DRCOG assessment at the meeting; staff captured several council comments to be included in a consolidated submission and committed to returning a formal memo and consent-agenda item in time to meet the Sept. 12, 2025 comment deadline.