City working on housing issue

There is no doubt that Sisters needs more "affordable" housing. Residents and potential residents are discussing the lack of it. At Sisters' recent Economic Vitality Summit the shortage of workforce housing was highlighted as one of the most pressing issues facing the City. Employers have identified affordable housing as an issue in hiring and retaining employees.

The City of Sisters is doing considerable work behind the scenes to address the shortage. City Manager Andrew Gorayeb and Community Development Director Patrick Davenport are working with a task force of people from NeighborImpact, Habitat for Humanity, Housing Works, the low-income-housing builders community, and Central Oregon Builders Association to look at all available options for encouraging builders and developers to build affordable housing in Sisters.

Concurrently, Davenport and his staff are conducting a thorough needs assessment and inventory of housing in Sisters to collect the necessary data that will inform the discussions and decisions of the planning commission and City Council as they address plans for housing in Sisters.

In order to quantify the need for affordable housing in Sisters, data is being collected and analyzed. What affordable housing is already in place? How much is expected to be built based on current approvals? What will be the total number at build-out of the current urban growth boundary (UGB)? What are the ages and incomes of city residents? At this point in time, Gorayeb expects to have a formal presentation with recommendations ready to present to council in 30-45 days.

The term "affordable housing" usually refers to housing that is deed-restricted for a particular period of time, meaning it cannot be sold at market rate for so many years, thus maintaining its affordable status. The current ratio in Sisters when a builder starts a new development is that 10 percent of the houses must be affordable.

But that specific class of housing is only one component in solving Sisters' housing problem.

The other is the need for "housing that is affordable" - more manufactured homes, multifamily structures (apartments, duplexes and triplexes), and moderately priced homes in the $200,000-$300,000 range - for people needing smaller down payments and/or lower mortgage payments. Availability of rentals is also considered crucial right now.

A variety of financial programs and instruments are being investigated: block grants, public/private partnerships, tax credits, and grants for system development charges to name a few. These kinds of programs make building lower-cost housing in Sisters economically viable for builders.