Door County village wants to hear from workers who might want to buy a home there
SISTER BAY - Village officials will hold a public input session from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 9 for people who are employed and are interested in owning a home in Sister Bay to learn what these aspiring homeowners want and need when looking for that home.
The input session is intended to enhance data from a village housing plan Stantec Consulting is putting together for the Sister Bay Village Board. Following the session, village businesses will meet to learn more about the workforce issues and offer ideas on how they can help solve the workforce housing crisis.
According to a news release from the village, it is trying to address the limited affordable housing opportunities for workers in Sister Bay, and the plan is meant to "help the village identify the number and types of housing needed to address their workforce housing needs, as well as a subdivision design, home plans and financing strategies." Input from the public will be used to finalize the plan.
The release further said that data from Stantec's study shows the affordable housing situation in Sister Bay is "worse than expected." Among that data:
Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed (ALICE) data from the United Way indicates 53% of Sister Bay’s households either are in poverty or fall below the ALICE threshold.
Sister Bay has the highest percentage of income constrained households among all Door County municipalities, and by a significant amount. The neighboring town of Liberty Grove, for example, has 30% of residents falling in the poverty or ALICE category.
American Community Survey data indicates almost 60% of renter households are cost burdened, with the majority classified as severely cost burdened.
The median rent prices in the village have changed over the last decade from lower than the county average to higher than average, and the ratio of rent-burdened households has correspondingly increased.
Sister Bay also is seeing an increase in families with children. Even while it maintains a significant percentage of senior citizen residents, its households with young children are trending higher than other areas, the county as a whole and the state. The 0-9 age group represents the demographic with the highest increase in residency.
The village has a slightly lower median age than before and is seeing a trend toward larger households.
Also according to the release, recent data shows the home ownership rate in Sister Bay is lower than that of comparable communities. The rate is lower than those in the village of Egg Harbor, city of Sturgeon Bay, Door County and the state, and in almost every household age bracket within those areas.
And, in most village age brackets, home ownership has declined over the past 10 years. It's blamed in part on the prices of starter homes, but also on the rise of vacation home and short-term rentals.
Five-year estimates from the American Community Survey show 60% of the total housing units in Sister Bay are not occupied by full-time renters or homeowners. Even with new apartment complexes being built in the village, vacancy rates that hovered above 15% a few years ago are now at nearly zero. The demand for full-time rentals is far outpacing the supply, especially the increasing conversion of them into short-term rentals.
With rental costs rising, that brings more people into the rent-burdened category, Village Administrator Julie Schmelzer said.
“Many people think income-constrained means those in poverty, but as our data shows, it also includes, for example, teachers, law enforcement, restaurant workers, medical personnel and even government workers," Schmelzer said in the news release. "We are at a point that if we don’t do something, we are going to lose the workers we need to make our community a place people want to visit or raise a family. Without housing, we will lose our service workers and they’ll eventually relocate to other areas with housing options."
Schmelzer also noted the difficulty service workers, who are vital to the county's tourism-driven economy, can have in finding affordable housing.
“Being a tourist area, job opportunities are limited and most jobs fall within the service sector," Schmelzer said. "Compared with some other areas in the county, the village’s service workers tend to have lower incomes than Egg Harbor or even Sturgeon Bay. Even when all village incomes are adjusted for inflation, the village median household income has declined over the past decade and is significantly lower than its comparables.”
The public input session for Sister Bay's housing plan will be at the Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Fire Station, 2258 Mill Road. Advance registration is required by emailing Village Clerk Heidi Teich at heidi.teich@sisterbaywi.gov. Workers interested in taking part can stop by at their convenience, provide anonymous information and fill out some questionnaires. Area students will watch participants’ children if needed, and the community is offering holiday gift bags to the prospective homeowners who attend.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Sister Bay wants to hear from workers who might buy a home there
