Libertyville trustees abandon affordable housing proposal 3 years in the making; ‘Having a law ... is not the only way to get compliance’
A proposal to draft an attainable housing ordinance was voted down by the Libertyville Board of Trustees Tuesday night after more than three years of volunteer input on the proposal.
The ordinance would have mandated future housing developments of 10 units or more to market at least 15% of their units at affordable prices.
In 2019, a Human Relations Committee was formed under the direction of former Mayor Terry Weppler with volunteers from the public to research and draft an attainable housing ordinance. By 2021, the committee finished its draft, and in September and October of this year the village Plan Commission held public hearings on the proposal.
Five board members voted against the measure, with only one vote in favor of drafting a final ordinance.
Village Mayor Donna Johnson believes village staff and the board are already committed to attainable housing, and an ordinance would have been overly burdensome.
Without an attainable housing ordinance, the village has been able to work with developers to ensure some of the units are made available at affordable prices, or the developers pay a fee in lieu that supports a village attainable housing fund.
Johnson said this process has been more efficient in accomplishing affordable-housing goals.
“Having a law in place is not the only way to get compliance,” she said. “Let’s not be too quick to put up the rigor and guardrails. There is more than one way to accomplish the goal of getting attainable housing.”
Johnson said developers have expressed concern already over the village’s process for approving development, saying the longer timeline for approval makes the developer’s expenses increase.
The mayor and some board members believed an ordinance would turn developers away from Libertyville, and take away the relationships that currently exist between the village and developers.
Trustee Matthew Krummick said his concern wasn’t about the goal of the ordinance, but rather about locking the village into a set way of supporting affordable housing.
“Without having an ordinance, we can throttle it on and off, slow down or speed up our participation in attainable housing,” he said. “If you look at the history of the village, we’ve done a great job at negotiating either friendly or attainable units within some of our most recent developments.”
If the ordinance was drafted, the village would have to forgo building permit fees and associated impact fees correlated with the developments as an incentive for the developer.
“That’s an expense and cost to the municipality that I’d rather not codify,” Krummick said. “I’d rather have that as a matter of flexible policy.”
Johnson expressed that when some units are kept at affordable prices, it can make the neighboring housing units skyrocket in price to keep up with inflationary pressures, putting the costs of the affordable housing onto the neighbors.
Members of the public voiced that concern during public comment at Tuesday’s meeting.
The mayor said she is appreciative and grateful for the work the Human Relations Commission did, but believes there is a better solution to affordable housing.
Based on data from the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), housing units that are owned in Libertyville were generally considered affordable.
However, 22% of homeowners and 40% of renters were considered housing-cost burdened, meaning they were spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs.
At least 17% of Libertyville renters were severely cost-burdened by their housing costs, spending more than 50% of their income on living expenses, the data from IHDA showed.
Trustee Matthew Hickey was the only member who voted in favor of drafting the ordinance. Hickey said the community has to address the housing burdened folks, and the ordinance would have created opportunities for more affordable units.
Community members spoke in favor of the ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting, including former members of the HRC, Jen Rich and Brenda O’Connell, who also serves as the Lake County Community Development administrator.
“High rents and rising home prices are limiting our future,” O’Connell said at the meeting, adding that Libertyville’s Comprehensive Plan identifies a mismatch between housing prices and wages.
Rich said that many retirees and older community members who wish to downsize are unable to find an affordable rental unit, and Libertyville professionals, such as health care workers and faith leaders, are unable to live where they work.
A new affordable senior housing building is underway in Libertyville, being developed by Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH). The organization received about $170,000 from the village’s attainable housing fund for the project.
The attainable housing fund has just under $600,000 dedicated for affordable housing developments, Johnson said.
Rob Anthony, the president of CPAH who helped educate the HRC on inclusionary housing policies, was disappointed the board didn’t adopt the ordinance.
“It’s disappointing that the board didn’t take advantage of an opportunity to formalize a policy that could help ensure young families, seniors, local workers and people of diverse backgrounds and incomes could afford to live in Libertyville,” Anthony said via email.
“It’s especially heartbreaking after more than three years of staff time, over 20 community meetings and positive recommendations from both the Human Relations Commission and the Planning Commission,” he added.
Both Johnson and Krummick stressed the village has been successful in delivering attainable housing projects to the community without an ordinance, and that the board and village staff plan to continue that commitment.
“I’d rather not have an ordinance that states exactly what we need to do,” Krummick said. “I’d rather be able to turn that on and off in the appropriate discussions with the developer.”
However, both noted that if commitments and outcomes change, discussion about an ordinance could be revived.
