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Housing commission urges Title 21 rewrite to unlock inclusionary funds for homeownership in Franklin City
Summary
The Franklin City Housing Commission told the Board of Mayor and Aldermen it is revising Title 21 to broaden incentives for developers and repurpose roughly $200,000 in inclusionary funds toward down-payment or interest buy-down programs and deed-restricted homeownership.
The Franklin City Housing Commission presented its annual update to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, urging changes to Title 21 of the municipal code to broaden the city’s tools for creating deed-restricted homeownership.
“We are in the process of revising Title 21 of the current municipal code for the purposes of streamlining the process as well as opening it to for profit developers to give them an option to be a part of the incentives that the city offers,” the Housing Commission representative said during the presentation.
Why it matters: commission members said lot prices in Franklin are substantially higher than comparable communities and that the city recently supported a $335,000 lot purchase that will receive a deed-restricted home. The commission argued that repackaging existing inclusionary funds — which Chair, Housing Commission said “had developed about $200,000 and it’s been sitting there 8 years” — could be used to support multiple down payments or interest-rate buy-downs, rather than being restricted to water and sewer taps.
Chair, Housing Commission framed several possible tools for increasing ownership opportunities: revising open-space rules to allow a small percentage of required open space to convert to single-family lots, reviewing accessory-dwelling-unit and flag-lot restrictions, partnering with nonprofit and private developers to preserve homes through city subsidies, and exploring modular or manufactured housing if the city can secure land.
Alderman Brown asked the commission to return with practical guidance the board could use when negotiating incentive-driven developments (IDDs), including example calculations or a “calculator” to show what a reasonable workforce-housing ask would look like on a typical project. Vice Mayor Baggett and other members suggested the commission also examine rental and multifamily options so the city does not miss non-ownership affordability opportunities.
The commission said it is finishing a short survey to send to developers and contractors to learn what incentives would be most effective. Staff indicated a revised ordinance will be returned to the board for consideration in roughly six weeks.
