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Council committee hears citywide community reinvestment area proposal; ADUs and scoring rubric suggested
Summary
Executive director Molly Fitzgerald outlined a draft citywide Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) that would allow temporary property-tax abatements to spur qualifying construction and rehab projects; council members asked about boundaries, multiple zones, housing-council duties and whether accessory dwelling units (ADUs) could be included.
The Committee of the Whole heard a presentation on Aug. 10 about a possible citywide Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) that would allow temporary property-tax abatements on the increased assessed value created by qualifying construction and rehabilitation projects.
Executive director Molly Fitzgerald told council the draft she provided — modeled on standard state templates and excluding parcels already in the Ridges CRA — is deliberately broad to preserve flexibility. "CRAs are just another tool in the toolbox of economic development," Fitzgerald said. She urged council to pair any CRA ordinance with a scoring rubric to prioritize projects, citing examples such as universally accessible housing, workforce housing, or owner-occupied rehabilitation as categories that could receive higher abatements.
Council members asked whether the city should create multiple targeted zones or one citywide CRA. Fitzgerald said both approaches are possible but warned that multiple zones would require separate statutory housing councils and annual reporting for each area. "Each one would have to have its own housing council, and each one would technically have to have its own tax incentive review council," she said, noting the administrative burden of multiple CRAs and of annual state reporting.
During public comment, resident Mary Abel asked whether accessory dwelling units (ADUs) could be eligible under a CRA and urged council to seek public input on how ADUs would fit with existing zoning. Fitzgerald answered that ADUs "very can be" included depending on how the ordinance and rubric are written and confirmed the housing council established under CRA legislation differs from the city's Affordable Housing Commission and has statutory membership requirements.
The committee took no binding vote but directed staff to continue drafting options and to bring a tailored proposal and recommended questions to the Planning and Development Committee for additional review.
