Council tables housing resolutions

FAYETTEVILLE — Confusion over several proposed amendments and the process to craft resolutions prompted Fayetteville City Council members on Tuesday to hold a pair of proposals dealing with affordable housing for at least two weeks.

The first resolution would declare a housing crisis in the city and call for the creation of a task force and a housing coordinator position to address the issue. It was sponsored by council members D’Andre Jones and Sarah Moore.

The second resolution touts the city’s past and current efforts to alleviate housing affordability issues and asks for higher developer fees to pay for a new planning staff position. It was crafted by Mike Wiederkehr, but co-sponsored by Scott Berna, Sarah Bunch, Teresa Turk and Holly Hertzberg.

Council members spent more than three hours discussing potential changes to both resolutions and hearing public comment from residents. In the end, both resolutions were tabled to April 2 with an 8-0 vote.

Jones offered amendments to his resolution, including removing the request to hire a housing coordinator, specifying criteria for the task force members and adding a section supporting the city’s current efforts that borrowed largely from the second resolution.

Council Member Bob Stafford offered a pair of amendments. In one change, rather than specifically naming a new position, the city would commit to hiring staff as necessary to address the issue. Stafford’s amendments also would have added language to the “whereas” clauses in the first resolution.

Senior Assistant City Attorney Blake Pennington offered a number of options to the council, including scheduling a workshop to shape one document. The council opted to ask Pennington to craft a combined resolution that it will consider in two weeks.

More than 30 residents spoke during public comment and expressed support for the first resolution. Many shared stories of their own struggles to find housing, experiencing rising rents and suboptimal living conditions. Council members expressed confusion at several points in the discussion. Berna said he wanted the council to show unity on the issue.

“My personal preference is we show the community a united front and merge the two resolutions,” he said. “That shows a vision that we are on the same page.”

Representatives with Circles NWA, New Beginnings and Arkansas Renters United initially presented the first resolution to the council, saying it was crafted primarily by community members. Solomon Burchfield with New Beginnings said its contents came from a series of community meetings in which residents shared their stories and discussed potential courses of action.

“I thought this was probably going to be the most noncontroversial resolution the City Council ever works on,” he said.