By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
September 12, 2007

Mike Kitts and Greg Crafts believe the City of Hood River is shutting down their ability to build affordable housing with unnecessary bureaucracy.

“We’ve asked for help so that we can provide homes for working professionals,” said Kitts. “I don’t know if we will eventually get that support or not but the silence from City Hall has been deafening.”

The Cottage Housing LLC development team specializes in constructing residences that sell for under $200,000 — well below the market value. But Kitts has become so frustrated this summer with city officials that he is taking a break from the challenges of erecting quality homes on a budget.

He will help Crafts finish working at the latest project on 29th Street and then join with another developer to build more expensive homes off Freedom Loop. Kitts said it has become “agonizing” to jump through regulatory hoops in order to provide middle income residents with an opportunity to fulfill the American dream of home ownership.

“As long as we are not compromising safety, we absolutely need more flexibility than they are giving. If we can’t get that we can’t do this because the land prices here are so high,” said Kitts.

He said Cottage Housing has a proven track record of creating “pocket neighborhoods.” For example, the company paid an extra $10,000 at 29th Street to run infrastructure around the root systems of two large willow trees instead of having them removed.

They also added an unexpected design element to the project when Kitts found stained glass windows for a reasonable price at an antique store. He bought one of the colorful panels to install at each of the 18 homes planned for the property that comprises 1.7 acres.

“I think when you are trying to do the right thing and keep running up against a stone wall you start to ask why you are doing it,” said Kitts.

“As a team this is probably our last affordable housing project.”

In May, he and Crafts asked the Hood River City Council for assistance. They requested that the elected body offset the rising cost of land by making the following policy changes:

n Reduce building fees that typically add $10,000 to the construction cost of a new residence.

n Provide developers with the ability to pay for the permit later in the building process. That would free up capital to speed up construction or invest in another available property.

n Streamline the permitting process so that building is unimpeded by any unnecessary delays.

n Eliminate real estate taxes for the original buyer of the home for several years.

“Time is money in this business and we really needed some kind of immediate support,” said Crafts.

Bob Francis, city manager, said a comprehensive affordable housing plan is being compiled for the council to review in November. He said the elected body understands the community need and, once fully informed of all options, will move forward in a way that is fair and equitable to all developers.

He said the plan could not be completed earlier because a couple of major projects are now underway. He said the expansion of Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital and the 12th Street for Columbia Gorge Community College campus have kept staffers busy this summer.

“We are moving slower than we want to but everyone just has to take their place in the queue. We have to be fair to all,” said Francis.

Kitts contends there is nothing unfair about giving “wiggle room” to developers who undertake an affordable housing project.

“We’re more philanthropists than anything. We are walking away from huge amounts of money but we’re doing it to give back,” he said.

Crafts said a consistent waiting list of 80 people keeps him from throwing in the towel. Instead, he has hired an attorney to challenge the city for “inconsistencies” in the interpretation of some building code interpretations.

For example, Crafts said Cottage Housing’s McKinley Court complex on Eugene Street could never have been built under today’s lot line standards. With that project, the lot line began at the foundation of a home and the eaves were allowed to overhang onto common green space.

At the 29th Street project, the city sets the line where the eaves end and then adds two feet, a five and one-half foot differential.

Crafts said that footage might not seem like a lot — but cumulatively it adds up. He said the 18th house will have to be eliminated from the 29th Street development if building officials win the day. He said when that footage is added to the mandate that 30 percent of the property be maintained as open space, the price of the 1,200 square foot homes that have not already sold will cross the $200,000 benchmark.

“Density is what you want if you don’t want sprawl so it should be encouraged,” said Crafts. “The way that we make affordable housing work with these prices is to utilize every square foot that we can.”

He said the city’s own code states that planned unit developments, such as the 29th Street site, are designed to capitalize on space with zero lot lines and planning innovations.

“They would have to do very little to make our job easier,” said Kitts.

For example, he said the city could factor the landscaping of 1,500 feet of roadway easement into the open space percentage. Or not require he and Crafts to pave the easement along Ordway Road when it is slated to be closed off and traffic re-routed to 29th Street in the future. He said that land could also have been considered as open space.

Francis said the city might have “loosely interpreted” the lot line code in 2003 to accommodate the McKinley Court project. But that mistake has been rectified and will not serve as a precedent for other approvals.