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Planning Commission <br />Meeting Minutes <br />June 09, 2022 <br />Page 3 of 14 <br />city needs to provide other incentives or tools that will increase density. One of the <br />goals is to increase overall density in order to achieve affordable housing. <br />Moline asks if that would happen by project -to -project or is that done citywide. <br />Ritchie says she thinks the city could adopt a number of tools to get there. One <br />example would be increasing the number of dwelling units allowed in any given zone <br />district or adopting a height allowance incentive. <br />Hoefner states that what they are currently reviewing does not currently comply with <br />state regulation. <br />Ritchie says potentially. <br />Krantz asks that the fact that we are allowing it to be rezoned, would that already be an <br />incentive? <br />Ritchie says potentially as it would increase density, but she is unsure. It would be a <br />legal question to answer <br />Zuccaro mentions that we are not allowing the zoning. That would be a separate <br />process to go through. Right now there's no policy alignment with the rezoning. <br />Ritchie points out that having more affordable housing does not always translate to <br />higher density. <br />Diehl asks that if a developer pays the fee -in -lieu, where does that money go? How <br />would that money be utilized? <br />Ritchie says essentially the City would have the discretion to use those funds toward <br />affordable housing projects. The City is in discussion with other local jurisdictions to <br />enter into a partnership of management and oversite as the best way to structure this. <br />Diehl says that the financial account will be left for some future affordable housing. <br />Ritchie says that is correct. <br />Osterman asks staff to clarify the timing of this. Is there a reason why we are <br />discussing this now without the data from the housing study? <br />Ritchie says when City Council develops their work plan, they also develop the <br />priorities and when, throughout the year, they would like to see the agenda items. This <br />item being scheduled now is in alignment with that direction. <br />Brauneis asks if the work plan was revised after the fires. <br />Ritchie says they adjusted the work plan after the fires. <br />Howe asks what the current percentage of housing is affordable in Louisville. <br />Ritchie says it is approximately 3%. <br />Brauneis says given that we are now acutely aware of building costs, do those differ <br />significantly with affordable housing? <br />Ritchie says the building cost estimates were studied and given to the city from last <br />summer, pre -fire. Staff know that building costs have changed since even that time. <br />They were also not based on building costs but on value of sales. Staff imagines that <br />new cost estimates will differ from the previously developed numbers, especially the <br />fees -in -lieu. <br />Diehl says in lieu of a number of units that we would require a developer to hit for <br />affordable housing, what mechanism would we put in place to show developers to help <br />them understand that the city is interested in affordable housing getting built and they <br />can build that into their development plan and ask for waivers verses having a <br />mandated 30%. <br />Ritchie says she thinks that is one of the tools that could come from the housing study <br />or Comprehensive Plan. She gives the example of if there are certain areas that the City <br />is interested in having affordable housing, if the developer goes beyond 12% then here <br />are the incentives in exchange for that. <br />