What: the city's policy, adopted in 2018, tying residential annexations to affordable housing, which the draft Comprehensive Plan proposes to drop.
Where it stands: At the November 2 joint work session staff said the policy has produced one residential annexation and four affordable units since 2018 and may deter development; several members and commissioners were hesitant to drop it without better data, and annexation figures were requested.
Next: Staff will bring more annexation data; the Planning and Zoning Commission hears the plan in December and the Council considers it around January 19, and the Council may keep the policy without sending the plan back to the Commission.
Sources
The city's posted City Council agendas and minutes (Granicus portal: https://icgov.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=1) and meeting video from the City of Iowa City YouTube channel when available. Minutes list only ayes; nays and absences are not recorded here.
Staff recommended removing the policy from the Comprehensive Plan Update, noting the 2022 Affordable Housing Action Plan also recommended it. Figures given: one residential annexation since 2018 yielding four affordable units, and no new single-family or duplex lots platted last year. The Riverfront Crossings affordable housing requirement and zoning incentives such as density bonuses would stay. Members asked for data on annexations eight years before and after 2018, for any developer applications deterred, and for alternatives such as lot-size or housing-mix rules; some worried about losing the only tool to compel affordability, including for annexed existing homes. The Council later agreed to let the Commission take up the plan and to receive more data.