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032387-Workshop Session268 MINUTES City Commission, Sanford, Florida March 23, 19 87 The City Commission of the City of Sanford, Florida, met in Workshop Session in the City Manager's Conference Room of the City Hall in the City of Sanford, Florida, at 4:30 o'clock P. M. on March 23, 1987. Present: Mayor-Commissioner Bettye D. Smith Commissioner Whitey Eckstein Commissioner John Y. Mercer Commissioner Bob Thomas Commissioner A. A. McClanahan City Manager Frank A. Faison Acting City Clerk Janet Donahoe Absent: City Attorney William L. Colbert City Clerk H. N. Tamm, Jr. Also Present: Florida Center for Urban Design and Research Picot B. Floyd, Administrator David Crane, Principal Investigator Frank Setzer, Project Manager and Senior Urban Designer The meeting was called to order by the Chairman. The Chairman announced the purpose of this workshop was the presentation of "WESTSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD STRATEGY" (WINS) from members of the Florida Center for Urban Design and Research. The City Manager introduced Picot B. Floyd, the Academic Administrator in the Florida Center Core Staff and who also holds Associate positions in the University of South Florida's Center for Public Affairs and Policy Management and the Center for Applied Anthropology. In the WINS project he will provide expertise for collection and analysis of socio-economic data (including the resident interviews) and provide other advice on regulatory, administrative, and financial planning aspects of the project. Also, Mr. Floyd brings a wide range experience in federally-assisted community improvement, urban services and technology, city and county government administration, and has held the senior administrator posts in Savannah, Georgia, Clearwater, Florida; Hillsborough County, Florida; and Temple Terrace, Florida. Mr. Floyd introduced David A. Crane, FAIA, AICP, the Director of Florida Center and a Professor of Architecture at the University of South Florida in Tampa, who in the WINS project, will serve as overall Principal-in-Charge, the chief representative of the team, as well as generally overseeing the work of all team members and being ultimately responsible for all the team's recommendations. And further, Mr. Crane has served with distinction in local government, private consulting practice, and professional schools in leading universities; and of particular value to the WINS process will be Mr. Crane's extensive experience in the following areas: urban redevelopment planning and project execution management; intown housing and neighborhood preservation and revitalization strategies; industrialized housing innovations; and state-of-the-art techinques for "public-private partnership" development organization and financing. Mr. Crane referred to excerpts of information in the Florida Center report entitled "Proposed for the Westside Neighborhood Strategy", Sanford, Florida. That based upon contacts in Sanford and understandings of how the Westside project has evolved as a current City development priority, Florida Center sees the WESTSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD STRATEGY plan as a pilot action program of wide significance to the City's MINUTES City Commission, Sanford, Florida March 23, 269 19 87 future ability to compete for economic activity and investment. The Westside opportunity site can be viewed as the obvious starting place for different types of intown housing and neighborhood livability programs over the long-term, both for their intrinsic resident benefit merits and for their infusion of strength to economic development efforts in the Central Business District (CBD), the airport area, and across the City. Knowledgeable public and private leaders believe that City government and private industry must do more to provide decent and affordable housing choices for the lower income groups. They are particularly concerned about housing and socio-economic conditions in the poor/Black concentration areas around the CBD. They know that the increasingly dynamic private housing market of the region is concentrated on the I-4 urban growth corridor, and the lower-income, minority residents are not being served by that market. Just as important, they feel, is the fact that the City's chances of capturing the economic base and tax revenues growth associtaed with the I-4 corridor will be adversely affected by the current negative perceptions of the general public concerning the livability and/or safety of Sanford's downtown neighborhoods. It has been emphasized to us that Sanford presently has a substantial inventory of low-income public housing units which were produced over the years using heavy subsides from the federal government. We agree with concerned leaders who feel that more of the same in the close-in neighborhood would only worsen the problem of low-income and minority groups concentration. The current direction of thinking is to look for ways to assist private construction and financing of living units of acceptable quality and deliver them within the intown areas at varied prices (or rents) affordable to a diverse range of household offerings which could cover a range from small, middle-income households without children to households of more varied size in the moderate and low-income sectors. The key concern, or area of innovation in traditional housing market offerings and delivery systems, must be the creation of homeownership opportunities for people in the lower income brackets. This will be a key to the search for neighborhood stability and maintenance. Various forms of ownership must be explored, including fee simple, condominiums, and cooperatives. Sanford's search for new solutions to previously unmet lower income housing needs, unfortunately, must be conducted without the traditional support of the federal government. Most private developers who have served the low and moderate-income housing markets in the last thirty years were enabled to do so by U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidy programs for developers or tenants, such as mortgage rate reduction programs or low income rental subsidy program. However, since 1981, many such housing assistance programs have been eliminated, or are funded at low levels; other important HUD financial assistance for local community development such as Urban Renewal, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG), have also been dropped or greatly reduced. Most knowledgeable observers of our national urban policy believe that Washington's disengagement from housing and community development assistance will continue indefinitely regardless of which party is in power. Therefore, Sanford must go on to tackle its housing and neighborhood problems with 27O MINUTES City Commission, Sanford, Florida March 23, 19 87 a new configuration of sponsors and financial resources is self-evident to some, if not all, Sanford leaders. Some might think of pursuing state government alternatives; certainly, the tax-exempt housing mortgage revenue bond program of the Florida Housing Finance Agency is an important tool to be considered. However, all of the signals point to the need for greater local commitments of resources and leadership through a new "public-private partnership" delivery system. Within such a partnership delivery system, the City of Sanford could obviously play a very influential role. Its contributions would include legislative, financial, and managerial powers and capacities for redevelopment, land assembly, zoning and other private development controls, public improvements, and direct financial aid to builders or users of affordable housing. However, our own national experience with this type of intown housing development suggests that WINS will certainly fail if the City and such willing homebuilders as it may find are left to carry the costs and risks all alone. WINS can only succeed if it is supported more broadly within the community. One vital ingredient will be the involvement of a group of committed and progressive banks and thrift institutions who will share the lending risks for both developer and homeowner financing, and be willing to create unusually favorable financing terms by taking good advantage of the available public assistance. It is also quite likely that some elements in Sanford's affordable housing delivery and management system will need charitable sources of leadership, expertise and/or dollars. Efforts to organize the existing and new neighborhood residents and housing occupants for cooperative activity will be another important aspect of creating viable partnerships for action. During preliminary discussions between City officials, representatives of Cardinal Industries, Inc. indicated substantial interest on the part of the company in playing a role in the affordable housing strategy. Based in Sanford, Cardinal Industries is a leading manufacturer of modular housing products, and it has acquired a strong reputation for quality site development and management of single story housing, for both single-family and multi-family users. We assume that Cardinal Industries might participate in the WINS project at several levels. First, as a leading corporate citizen of Sanford, representatives of the company could join other private leaders in forming the housing action partnership with the City, for instance, by providing advice on housing policy and strategies, as well as making other civic-interest contributions to be determined. Second, the company would have potential contractual business relationships with the City and/or intermediary housing sponsors for the delivery of prefabricated components, builiding installations, and site improvements; if Cardinal products were used for multi- family rental projects, the company's experienced managemetn division would be a potential contractor. The specific sites and circumstances in which future contractual negotiations will be conducted should be determined later on in the light of the overall housing needs, urban design planning, and economic feasibility of the project to be investigated during the work program. MINUTES City Commission, Sanford, Florida March 23, 19 87 Florida Center will work closely with Cardinal Industries (on behalf of the City) to devise appropriate housing units and site design standards, as well as jointly evaluating the conditions of units delivery, tenure, and management that will guarantee lasting quality and livability of the product. A high quality outcome is important to the company's reputation, as well as the ultimate success and widespread application of the affordable housing prototypes to be defined in this work. Mr. Crane explained a substantial effort had been made to tailor an in-depth investigation of a pioneering housing strategy to address Sanford's special need and circumstances, and described the proposed plan of work in terms of a 4-phase planning and implementation process for WINS and the scope of tasks and products offered by Florida Center as follows: FIGURE I' WORK PROGRAM TASKS, PRODUCTS & PHASING Legend: INTERIM REVIEW/PRESENTATION- ORAL, MEMO fi/or INFORMAL GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATED FINAL REPORT TASKS & PRODUCTS 2../CONGER T_. P__L.ANNLN_g_G. OES_IGN a. DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY' 2A. ORBAN DESIGN PLAN-ALTERNATIVES CONCEPTS ~ FINAL PLAN OELIVEHY SYSTEM ~'.~.. URBAN REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT PtAN {DRAFT VERSION) 2.D. WES I $IOE NEIGHI~ORHOOD iNPROVEmENT $ fRATEGY ~./._LMP. L_E_ ~g N.T__AT__I9 N____ A C!IO N .~OGRAM PHASE l-5w~,~ PRELIMINARY STUDIES FINAL PRODUCT REVIEW DRAFT WRITTEN fi/or GRAPHIC PHASE 2 -12 wkJ. CONCEPT PLANNING. DESIGN fi DE?E~_OP?E,NT , ST, RAIEG~Y , , , -- Or,,Or,,~ FINAL PRODUCT- WRITTEN &t/or GRAPIIIC - ---I~ ADVISORY SERVICES AS NEEDED ~HASE ~-II wks. IMPLE MEN TA]'IO,",/ ACTION ph{OGi(AM,_ _ _ .... t , , ASS~ S T_~.~_C_ E :__ 0 o o <>---< ,> o o o o O (,> PHASE 4 IMPt.,E MEN'[ATION 272 MINUTES City Commission, Sanford, Florida March 23, 19 87 Tasks/Phases 1 and 2, involving activities in a period of just over four months, represents the principal front-end process of research, analysis, conceptual planning and design, and feasibility testing of the project's implementation strategy requirements, costs and benefits. A factual foundation of preliminary on-site surveys, analyses, and mapping relating to existing conditions and planning/design opportunities/constraints is created in Task 1/Phase 1. In Task 2/Phase 2, work progresses to a series of WINS plan and program components which are developed interactively in parallel sub-phasing. Alternative "sketch plans" and programs are offered for local review in the early phase components of Task 2/Phase 2; final recommendations are then developed within the framework of locally preferred alternatives. By the end of Task 2/Phase 2, some planning and design components and all feasibility studies will be in final form. However, the official redevelopment plan will require broader public review and will be in semi-fianl review draft form. The conclusion of Phase 2 will represent a major milestone decision for the City; the project could be terminated, delayed, or pressed forward from this point depending on the demostrated economic feasibility and prospects for financing. Task 3/Phase 3, which involves a work period of just under three months, is a time for shifting from the planning/study mode to activities in preparation for formal Urban Redevelopment Plan approval and implementation. Broad, concensus-building reviews and refinements of the draft plan will be undertaken, while the City's independent financial advisers would evaluate specific options for public financing. Advice and support would be provided to local leaders for their organizational and capacity-building efforts. Since Florida Center's product obligations will be at a reduced level in this period, the overall timetable of Phase 3 will be determined by local review and approval circumstances. Task 4/Phase 4 represents a long-term period of redevelopment, construction, and marketing activities. Depending on the nature of implementation issues to be dealt with by the City and the established partnership development organizations, Florida Center would offer periodic expertise and support services for successful execution of the project. We would like to see the total project to successful completion and would make appropriate personnel commitments. The City Manager introduced Frank Setzer, Senior Urban Designer in the Florida Center Core staff. He will serve as the Project Manager for the WINS project. In this capacity, he will have the most freguent contact with Sanford officials and senior staff, provide day-to-day coordination of the research and consulting team, and play the lead urban design and physical planning role for which he has distinguished talents. Mr. Setzer is a highly qualified architect with specialized graduate training and experience in urban design. He has had substantial residential unit and site design experience through his current outside practice and previous firms. Of special relevance to the Sanford situation is the five years of urban design and planning consulting work performed with the City of Milwaukee's Department of City Development; he had extensive involvement with urban redevelopment and related tax increment bond financing procedures in this period. Mr. Setzer and Mr. Crane have previously collaborated in major projects in the Southwest. Mr. Floyd reported other key Senior Professionals were as follows: Dr. Charles E. Connerly, PhD, an Associate Professor in the Departmentof Urban and Regional Planning at Florida State University, Tallahassee. He will function in the WINS project as a Senior Housing Adviser, taking lead responsibilities for studies to assess housing needs/market forces, options for financial and technical assistance for developers and users of affordable housing, and strategies for meeting various types of low-and- moderate-income household needs, as different forms of ownership, financing, management, etc. Thomas Martineau is the Director of the Institute for Building Sciences and is affiliated to the School of Architecture at Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, Florida. The building and technology research performed by members of that faculty is coordinated by Mr. Martineau. For the WINS project Mr. Martineau will participate as a Senior Housing Adviser, along with Dr. Connerly. Based on experience in housing users surveys, Mr. Martineau will advise on the design of the resident surveys. He will go on to offer advice and review on housing facilities programming, site and units design and technology, and methods of organizing residents for cooperative activities. John Jernigan is a Senior Architect in the Florida Center Affiliated Staff, and he has an independent architectural practice in Tampa. For the WINS project he will contribute specialized expertise in single-and multi-family housing design and related redevelopment criteria; he will review and guide illustrative and prototypical unit and site design work by the Graduate Interns. MINUTES City Commission, Sanford, Florida March 23, 273 19 87 John J. Lesniak, ASLA, is a Senior Landscape Architect in the Florida Center Affiliated Staff and has his own independent practice of landscape architecture in Tampa. In the WINS project he will provide review and oversight of design staff work pertaining to site and area environmental analysis, site development and landscaping plans in the redevelopment area, and concepts for Westside area street and open space beautification. There was discussion Of recreation facilities/open space, funding for streets roads, water and sewer, and issuance of bonds. Persons appearing in support of the WESTSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD STRATEGY redevelopment were as follows: David Farr, Executive Director of the Greater Sanford Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Thelma Mike, 1710 West 15th Street. Amefika Geuka, representing Cardinal Industries, Inc. The Commission authorized same to be considered at the next regular meeting. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.