Renting to buy

By SHANNEN TALBOT

Staff Reporter

The Airway Heights City Council had a full agenda to address at their Feb. 5 meeting, getting a legislative update and approving some employee contracts but primarily deciding whether or not to approve a preliminary plat proposal for a development within the city.

Arrowleaf Homes, a proposed development located at Ketchum Drive and Whitetip Avenue, divided Planning Commission members at a special meeting Wednesday, Jan. 23 when a resolution to approve or deny the preliminary plat proposal was brought to the table. According to city documents, the meeting left the commission deadlocked with two votes for the resolution and two votes against, the primary reasons for the votes against being the “significant amount of low-income development already occurring within that area of the city.”

According to city documents, the project will create 72 units on 20 duplex lots and 32 single-family lots, as well as a community building. Those documents indicate that the proposal meets or exceeds all necessary requirements.

But what makes Arrowleaf Homes a unique development is its rent-to-own structure, in which residents would have the ability to build up their down payment over time and eventually purchase their residence. If tenants move out, the benefits stay with the property and can be picked up by the next resident.

Tenants would buy their residences at market-rate, but could potentially have some of that cost forgiven due to the project’s partnership with Commonwealth Agency Inc., an Idaho nonprofit promoting affordable housing in multiple states.

Since the Planning Commission could not agree on a recommendation to City Council, the responsibility fell on council members to decide.

Todd Prescott, co-owner of the regional affordable housing development company Whitewater Creek Inc. and project lead, attended the meeting to discuss details with city officials.

He was accompanied by Helen Stevenson with Commonwealth Agency. Stevenson has been a presence in the housing industry for more than 30 years and in 2013 was honored as a Friend of Housing by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission for her work in developing affordable housing in the area.

“In Airway Heights, 25 percent of the population lives below the poverty line,” Prescott said. “This could be quite the program for low-income people to have that pride of ownership.”

Mayor Kevin Richey expressed concern over the concentration of low-income developments in that area of the city.

“I want to avoid the appearance of carving out part of the city for low-income residents,” he said.

Councilmember Larry Bowman said he had spoken to city residents currently living in the neighborhood of the proposed subdivision and they had expressed concerns for their property values.

Stevenson quickly clarified that the development is actually mixed-income, and the rent-to-own program includes training with classes on home maintenance and minor home repair, building credit and finance management.

“This property could remain affordable in perpetuity,” Stevenson said. “I have seen this work.”

Prescott also noted that the project has been funded with tax credits, “not your tax dollars.”

After considerable discussion, the council unanimously approved the resolution. Council members Steve Lawrence and Dave Malet were absent.

All of the City Council members own their homes, with the exception of Malet who is renting while in between houses, Richey said.

The resolution has more than two pages of conditions for approval which will have to be met. Prescott added that in a recent development, a two-acre parcel near the subdivision will have a large, shared garden area, hopefully planned by a Master Gardener from one of the local universities.

In other news, council unanimously approved contracts for exempt employees and heard a first reading of an ordinance setting 2019 city salaries. City Manager Albert Tripp also explained several bills in the Legislature that may pertain to Airway Heights or its interests, such as House Bill 1628, which would create an account to reduce development conflicts between small communities and nearby military installations.

Also discussed was House Bill 1584, which would restrict the availability of state funds to regional transportation planning organizations that “do not provide a reasonable opportunity for voting membership to certain federally recognized tribes.” According to Tripp, the Spokane Tribe of Indians had reached out to the city in hopes that officials would provide some form of testimony or a letter of support as it argued for the bill in the Legislature.

The council ultimately leaned toward a letter of support or sending testimony to be read in Olympia, with Tripp saying he would continue to pursue the matter as the Legislative session progresses.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at shannen@cheneyfreepress.com.