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Council reviews Property Owners Association housing paper; staff warns expanded buyouts could reduce onsite affordable units
Summary
City staff critiqued a Property Owners Association position paper that recommends loosening on‑site inclusionary requirements, arguing the cited national studies do not translate to Highland Park and that expanding payment‑in‑lieu options risks lowering onsite affordable unit production.
City staff and councilors spent the second half of the May 27 Committee of the Whole meeting discussing a Property Owners Association (POA) position paper on housing policy and potential changes to Highland Park’s inclusionary housing program.
Joel Fontaine, the city’s director of community development, reviewed the paper’s recommendations — which urged measures to increase housing supply, preserve so‑called naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH), offer flexible compliance, optimize inclusionary thresholds and support downtown density — and summarized staff’s initial responses. "Staff respectfully disagree with the paper's assertion that the housing supply will increase by one decreasing on‑site affordable requirements required by the city's inclusionary housing ordinance and two expanding buy payment in lie of affordable housing on site," Fontaine said.
What staff told council: Fontaine and staff argued the POA’s principal sources (a Pew Charitable Trusts analysis and a UCLA study) examine metropolitan or very different local markets and are not directly applicable to Highland Park’s scale or current ordinance specifics. Staff presented local development counts showing 351 total units (44 inclusionary) from 2014–2019 and 486 total units (64 inclusionary) in 2021–2026, and said zoning and policy changes since 2015 have produced roughly 791 approved units in and around downtown — evidence that local regulatory choices affect production.
Program mechanics discussed: staff explained that the city’s 2019 code changes allow partial payments‑in‑lieu for fractional onsite requirements (to ease small‑project burdens) while whole‑unit buyouts remain discretionary. Fontaine said the revenue from payments and demolition tax is deposited into a housing trust fund that supports scattered‑site affordable acquisitions and grants to local nonprofits. He cautioned that expanding by‑right payment options for larger developments could produce more cash but fewer onsite affordable units.
Council reaction: members asked for more detailed local analysis and stressed the complexity of balancing housing production, affordability and downtown vitality. Council members and staff noted pending state legislation (discussed by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Illinois Municipal League) that could affect local zoning authority and the decision calculus.
Next steps: staff will continue analysis and return to the Committee of the Whole with further detail; council indicated the topic should be revisited at a subsequent meeting (staff suggested a likely June 29 follow‑up meeting).
