HomeMy Public PortalAboutPublic Comment - Ben Brandzel1
Kayley Metroka
From:Judy Price
Sent:Friday, May 5, 2023 12:02 PM
To:Kayley Metroka; Denyelle Nishimori; Jen Callaway
Subject:FW: Proposed addition to section LU-2.B re: goal of Town Density Bonus
Public Comment
From: Ben Brandzel <brandzel@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 4, 2023 5:33 PM
To: Lindsay Romack <lromack@townoftruckee.com>; Anna Klovstad <AKlovstad@townoftruckee.com>; Jan Zabriskie
<JZabriskie@townoftruckee.com>; Courtney Henderson <chenderson@townoftruckee.com>; David Polivy
<DPolivy@townoftruckee.com>
Subject: Proposed addition to section LU‐2.B re: goal of Town Density Bonus
Hello honorable Mayor, Vice‐Mayor and Councilmembers!
I believe I have spoken with all of you at various meetings in the last few weeks. I remain deeply impressed with your
professionalism, commitment and civic spirit. As a new permanent resident of Truckee, I feel quite lucky to have
encountered such accessible, well‐meaning and competent governance!
Following the suggestion of Mayor Romack and Vice Mayor Polivy at the Wild Cherries coffee talk, I'm writing to you all
to suggest a specific change to section LU‐2.B, (on page 2‐17 of the draft 2040 plan) which sets out the goals for the
intended Town of Truckee Density Bonus. Specifically, I propose we add the following sentence (or one like it) to the end
of the existing paragraph: "This program is primarily intended to increase housing stock that is accessible to Truckee's
lowest income residents." My rationale is below.
You might recall a comment I made at the last Council meeting, referencing the comments of a local woman who works
at the Post Office. She said she was the only local on her team, because none of her colleagues could afford Truckee
housing. And she told us her studio apartment would be sold soon, leaving her homeless. My plea to you was to use her
story ‐‐ and the story of all those at the ragged edge of affordability within our community ‐‐ as your north star for whom
this Plan should help the most. I believe you took this to heart. In return, I've heard each of you sensibly ask all
concerned citizens to send you *specific* recommended changes that could improve the Plan within the time and
constraints we have. And I've taken that to heart. So here is my specific recommendation and request to you.
It seems that the "Town of Truckee Density bonus program" is perhaps the most significant new mechanism established
by the Plan that could benefit the most disadvantaged members of our community. However, if and to what extent it
actually does so will depend a great deal on the specifics of the plan, all of which are yet to be determined. Therefore, it
seems the most important and effective thing we can do at this stage is ensure the mandate for the Density Bonus
plan is as pointed and clear as possible, guiding staff and future elected officials to prioritize specific policy objectives,
measure success, and adjust the plan as needed to better achieve the priority objectives. With this in mind, I believe it is
very important to add further clarifying language to the current mandate.
Section LU‐2.8 currently reads: "Town of Truckee Density Bonus / Create a Town of Truckee‐specific Affordable Housing
density bonus program modeled after the State of California’s Density Bonus Law that offers additional housing density
and financial incentives for the creation of workforce housing units in targeted infill areas that meet the affordability
needs of Truckee’s local workforce."
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2
This already pointed in a good direction! Calling it an "Affordable Housing density bonus" is great. And the goal is already
set to meet "the affordability needs of Truckee's local workforce"; also great!
But here's the problem: "affordability" is an inherently relative term that can only be defined in relation to specific
economic strata. What is "affordable" to the part of the local workforce that runs a dentistry practice or owns a law firm
is radically different from what is "affordable" to the part of the local workforce that works at the gas station, the library
or the post office. There is currently no language in this directive as it stands that indicates which segment of
"Truckee's local workforce" should be able to afford the new housing created under the Density Bonus program.
Unless(!) the capital "A" in the term "Affordable Housing density bonus program" is meant to be a binding reference to
the <80% AMI threshold that the state of California uses. However, my understanding of the discussion I heard at the
last Council meeting is that such is *not* your intent. Even if it were, I've come to understand official AMI thresholds can
be misleading for Truckee, because Truckee's poorest residents are generally higher‐income than their counterparts
across Nevada County ‐ meaning they might be inadvertently excluded by a strict regional AMI test. If I understand
correctly, this is one of the big motivators for wanting to set Truckee‐specific standards for a density bonus program
which differ from the state's. But in this case, it is even more imperative that we actually define those Truckee specific
standards.
So, here is my proposed solution: Add a final sentence to section LU‐2.8, which reads something to the effect of: "This
program is primarily intended to increase housing stock that is accessible to Truckee's lowest income residents."
I think this language is specific enough to create a meaningful weighing mechanism between different policy options,
and to shape future assessment and revision cycles. Yet it's general enough that it gives staff the freedom they need to
use specific data to empirically set the specific policy thresholds in good time. If we add a sentence like this, I believe we
would significantly increase the odds that the future staff and officials will optimize the Town Density Bonus program
towards the needs of our most vulnerable community members. And if this doesn't happen, this new language would
empower future voters and representatives to hold staff and officials accountable towards that goal. Overall, I think this
would be a small but important step towards making Truckee the more "welcoming, inclusive, and thriving" community
that our Plan envisions, and that our values demand.
Thank you for considering my suggestion. And for all your excellent service on behalf of our town.
With respect,
‐Ben
‐‐
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“Politics isn't about big money or power games; it's about the improvement of people's lives.”
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