Affordable housing debate clouds zoning vote

The next controversial development Rockford City Council members will vote on is a proposal for a mix of affordable and market-rate housing with commercial space and other amenities on 15 acres at South Avon and Cedar streets near Kent Creek.

Sounds like a good thing in an often-neglected part of the community. It shouldn't be controversial because the vote only should be about whether the property gets a special use permit to change zoning from light industrial to residential.

City staff recommended the change and the Zoning Board of Appeals voted 6-0 in favor of granting that permit in April.

The City Council needs to approve. A vote has been delayed a number of times, mainly because Linda McNeely, who represented the 13th Ward where the project would be, died. Council wanted to wait until a replacement was named and could familiarize himself with the project. Jeff Bailey was sworn in as 13th Ward alderman on July 10.

The item is on Monday's agenda and even though it should be a simple yes or no on zoning, members of the City Council are taking it as an opportunity to debate the merits of the project.

The $47-million proposal calls for a mix of affordable homes, apartments and market-rate apartments. It's that “affordable” term that seems to be confusing people inside and outside of City Hall.

Affordable housing is defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as housing where the occupant pays 30 percent or less of his or her gross income on total housing, including utilities. It's not a free ride. The occupant needs to pay the rent and pay it on time, just like any tenant in any apartment.

The Avon project has “affordable” one-bedroom apartments for as low as $645 a month. Two bedroom units would range from $750 to $935. The developer can keep the rents low because of federal tax credits.

Market rate multiplex units, which would be about half of the development, would rent for $925 for a two bedroom or $1,256 for a three bedroom.

A person or family would have to earn no more than $30,000 a year to be eligible for the $750 two bedroom unit. The median annual income for a resident of Winnebago County is $57,779, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

We often talk about “best practices” and look to other communities to see how it should be done.

We don't have to look too far. Minneapolis eliminated zoning that allowed only single-family homes. Since 2018 the city has invested $320 million for rental assistance and subsidies, according to an article in Bloomberg. The zoning change and investment has been credited with a housing boom, a stable population and a low inflation rate.

Minneapolis is rated No. 35 in U.S. News & World Report's Best Places to Live.

Rockford has a shortage of homes and apartments and the city has been searching for ways to add more houses and living units to the area.

Rockford Housing Development Corporation, Wisconsin-based Gorman & Co. and Place Foundry LLC, a Rockford-based urban design and real estate consulting firm, are partners in the Avon project.

Gorman & Co. partnered with Bridge Rockford Alliance, a nonprofit subsidiary of the Rockford Housing Authority and the Illinois Housing Development Authority, to build The Grove on New Towne Drive on Rockford's eastside.

The Grove had its share of controversy before it was approved and built and there are still hard feelings among elected officials and residents about how that project was presented and delivered.

I hesitated to write about this because Ron Clewer, vice president of the Rockford Housing Development Corporation and Gorman & Co.'s Illinois market president, is a member of the Transform Rockford Steering Committee.

He was CEO of the Rockford Housing Authority when the Grove project was proposed.

Transparency is one of the community's shared values, and it would be inappropriate of me not to mention Clewer's involvement with Transform Rockford.

However, the Avon project is the kind of development that the Editorial Board would have championed during my time as Opinion editor. We encouraged the development at the Grove and urged community leaders to ensure that all areas of the region had an opportunity to succeed.

But there I go writing about the merit's of the project instead of focusing on what Monday's vote should be: zoning.

Zoning for this area should be changed. It's a disservice to the neighborhood to keep it as it is.

That's what city staff and the ZBA determined. That's what council members should consider Monday night.