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Presenter urges city action to close gap of "thousands" of affordable housing units
Summary
A presenter at a Wichita City meeting said the city lacks "thousands of units" of affordable housing and proposed a two-pronged strategy: public investment in housing and incentives to help small private builders create duplexes and infill homes on vacant lots.
The presenter urged local officials to prioritize affordable housing, saying the city is ‘‘short thousands of units of affordable housing’’ and calling for concrete steps to increase supply. "The one issue I'm most focused on now is affordable housing," the presenter said.
The presenter outlined a two-pronged approach, starting with public investment: "It's gonna have to be public. Is the public investing in housing, too?" They said the city should consider direct public involvement to expand affordable stock.
On the private side, the presenter argued the city should make it easier for small-scale builders to add housing supply, especially by encouraging "mom and pops" to build duplexes or rental houses on vacant infill lots. "How do we get the little, the mom and pops to build a duplex, to build a house maybe for themselves or a rental," the presenter said, urging measures to remove barriers and provide supports for small developers.
Earlier in the remarks, the presenter gave examples of routine municipal services the office can coordinate, noting the city can set up processes to abate nuisance properties and bill owners, arrange removal of downed trees in parks, and address potholes. Those items were presented as examples of everyday problems the office can help residents resolve.
The remarks in the transcript did not record any formal motions, votes, or commitments with timelines. No statutes, ordinances, or specific funding amounts were referenced in the recorded remarks, and the transcript does not show a decision or next procedural step on housing during the excerpt.
