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Council and builders discuss design, integration and cottage/triplex code to avoid 'pockets of poverty'
Summary
Workshop participants urged design guidelines and management to prevent stigmatization and avoid concentrating subsidized units at the edges of developments, with builders encouraging cottage, triplex and attached‑townhome types to improve affordability.
Councilors and developers debated whether affordable housing units should be interspersed with market‑rate homes or grouped for efficiency. Gary Ross urged mixing to avoid creating visible pockets of poverty: "I don't want to create pockets of poverty within the development." Peter Hoover and other builders said good design, comparable materials and quality management can integrate affordable units without stigmatizing residents.
Several builders and Habitat leaders recommended expanding allowances for attached housing types — triplexes, fourplexes and connected townhomes — and refining the city's cottage code. Speakers noted the need to update fire and building code approaches to allow closer separations and party‑wall designs while maintaining safety.
Design guidance: panelists favored 'comparable' exterior materials rather than absolute mandates that could make projects infeasible, while councilors asked for objective criteria to avoid disputes about what 'comparable' means.
