Hurricane council launches cross-sector committee to study affordable housing options

Hurricane’s mayor proposed creating a cross-sector committee to examine barriers and practical solutions for affordable housing in the city. Councilors agreed to assemble builders, developers, mortgage lenders, a real-estate professional, a planning commission member and a council representative to identify concrete options that could increase affordable housing supply.

The mayor said the committee should collect input from developers, builders and lenders about the specific obstacles they face—impact fees, land costs, infrastructure hook-ups and material pricing—and then return with a short list of actionable items. Staff noted the city already offers an impact-fee incentive (a half-fee waiver plus a density bonus for projects that commit to rent or sell units at 80% of area median income), but councilors pressed to evaluate other levers such as bulk purchasing, nonprofit partnerships, marketing to philanthropic donors and tighter definitions of what ‘affordable’ means locally.

Council members discussed a range of policy possibilities: targeted fee waivers funded by the general taxpayer base, changing minimum lot widths to permit two-lot subdivisions on marginal properties, greater use of ADUs, and pilot projects that aggregate purchasing to lower construction costs. Several councilors emphasized the need to define the target price or income level (for example, 80% of area median income) before proposing incentive programs.

The council directed staff to convene the committee, solicit developer participation, and return with a scope and timeline. The mayor and council emphasized that the process should be open to varied ideas and should not preclude trade-offs such as modest taxpayer support or targeted fee adjustments if the committee proposes them.