Title
Workforce Housing Development Planning in the City of Annapolis - For the purpose of emphasizing the important role the “Annapolis Ahead 2040 Comprehensive Plan” can and will play in identifying, planning, and furthering our workforce housing goals; ensuring an equitable distribution of such housing, factoring in nearby County zoning; ensuring City Council and public input; postponing significant zoning changes and decisions until the Plan is completed; setting dates for drafts of the Plan; and generally dealing with City housing development.
Body
CITY COUNCIL OF THE
City of Annapolis
Resolution 1-23
Introduced by: Alderman Savidge
Co-sponsored by: Alderman Arnett, Alderwoman Pindell-Charles, Alderwoman O’Neill, Alderwoman Finlayson
A RESOLUTION concerning
Workforce Housing Development Planning
in the City of Annapolis
FOR For the purpose of emphasizing the important role the “Annapolis Ahead 2040 Comprehensive Plan” can and will play in identifying, planning, and furthering our workforce housing goals; ensuring an equitable distribution of such housing, factoring in nearby County zoning; ensuring City Council and public input; postponing significant zoning changes and decisions until the Plan is completed; setting dates for drafts of the Plan; and generally dealing with City housing development.
WHEREAS, Our desire is for One Annapolis with diverse populations, multiple income levels, and rich history, where we can all live in unity together to build a more prosperous and inclusive City for all; and
WHEREAS, The national cost of living continues to outpace income growth; and
WHEREAS, Our teachers, fire-fighters, police officers, reporters, public employees, and other workers in our City need housing they can easily afford to live in the City where they work; and
WHEREAS, The Annapolis Five-Year Consolidated Housing and Community Development Plan (CHCDP) found that “The median income in Annapolis has not increased at a rate greater than the rate of inflation”; and
WHEREAS, The City of Annapolis is in the process of looking for new solutions as it revises the City's end-of-decade comprehensive building, zoning, and economic growth that constitutes the guide for future development; and
WHEREAS, The Comprehensive Planning process shall include a robust and inclusive discussion with all communities and their representatives to develop and plan a shared vision for Annapolis; and
WHEREAS, We need to ensure equitable distribution of housing options throughout the City and surrounding jurisdictions to prevent concentrating or oversaturating one part of our City with a certain housing type, to ensure our diverse workforce can live throughout the City; and
WHEREAS, We also need to ensure that infrastructure impacts are not concentrated around certain parts of our City or around certain development types, to ensure that all residents have adequate infrastructure and that the Comprehensive Planning Process, along with our Adequate Public Facilities code, allows us to equitably plan infrastructure needs while also maintaining environmental and social justice; and
WHEREAS, Significant changes to our zoning are comprehensive in nature and would benefit from being part of the democratic and public planning process, including efforts to achieve community consensus to ensure a successful vision that is an integral and inherent component of developing the Annapolis Ahead 2040 Comprehensive Plan; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ANNAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL
that a work session or series of work sessions be held with the City Council and the Department of Planning and Zoning by this Spring to discuss workforce housing goals, targets, and priorities before the completion of the Annapolis Ahead 2040 Comprehensive Plan;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, those City Council priorities and goals resulting from the work session(s) be incorporated into the 2040 Comprehensive Plan;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Annapolis Ahead 2040 Comprehensive Plan includes specific policy recommendations and zoning changes for meeting our workforce housing goals in Annapolis and recommends how to ensure equitable distribution across the City;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Annapolis Ahead 2040 Comprehensive Plan include policy recommendations that ensure recommended zoning or density increases incorporate and recognize adequate public facilities (police, fire, school, traffic, stormwater, recreation, etc.) requirements;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Annapolis Planning Commission, the Annapolis Department of Planning and Zoning, and the Annapolis Ahead 2040 Comprehensive Plan shall acknowledge and reflect the impact on the City of Anne Arundel County's zoning and housing that's been constructed, or is in planning, within a three-mile radius of the City/County jurisdictional boundary;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a draft of the Annapolis Ahead 2040 Comprehensive Plan be submitted to the Council and public by the end of May, with a final draft provided to the Council by the end of July;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Annapolis Planning Commission and Department of Planning and Zoning consider the totality of, and the specific guiding ideas of preserving and enhancing community character while maintaining a vibrant economy, promoting a “Green” Annapolis (the three guiding principles to the 2009 plan) when determining whether legislation or developments comply with the currently active comprehensive plan (2009), and look at these collectively when making such an evaluation of compliance;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, following the example of the 2009 Comprehensive Plan adoption process, a Citizens Advisory Committee be formed to hold public hearings to review and receive public comment on the draft plan;
AND, BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that any significant changes -- be it actual or de facto -- to the City's zoning districts be postponed until the Annapolis Ahead 2040 Comprehensive Plan is completed.