Iowa City council talks through affordable housing options

Following several months of discussion on affordable housing needs by three members of the Iowa City Council, the full council is interested in further pursuing the conversation.

The council on Tuesday discussed several possible ways to increase the availability of affordable housing options in Iowa City, a list of elements that was generated by council members Kingsley Botchway, Michelle Payne and Jim Throgmorton.

'It seemed like there was some possibility there, we were hoping to probe this further to give the staff time to do some ground work and see how many legs this has,” Throgmorton said.

Some items on the list include encouraging the production of small residential structures ranging from 600 to 1,000 square feet, allowing smaller lots, and identifying key lots that the city owns or could purchase that have the potential for affordable housing projects.

Members of the council said partnerships with other local entities, including the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, that have expressed an interest in exploring affordable housing initiatives is another option.

Mayor Matt Hayek added that there is an opportunity to address affordable housing through redevelopment projects, which also could add to neighborhood stabilization efforts in the community.

'There are so many modest-sized homes in neighborhoods we're trying to stabilize, that are aging,” Hayek said. 'I would add that to the list of things to look at, that would kill two birds with one stone.”

Further discussion on the topic will take place at a future council work session.

Payne noted that it's possible such an effort will require the city to 'put its money where its mouth is” in the form of a financial investment.

'If we really want to do this we might have to do some certain kinds of incentives that we haven't done so far,” she said.

The affordable housing item has been added to the council's list of pending work session topics, which is up to about one dozen items.

Throgmorton expressed a desire make affordable housing a high priority for the city.

'We think it ought to be high on that list,” he said.