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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002/11/12-Minutes-HEDC City of Fort Worth City Council Economic and Community Development Committee Highlights of the Meeting Held November 12, 2002 Committee Members Present: Jeff Wentworth, Wendy Davis, Frank Moss, Clyde Picht City Staff Present: Chris Anderson, Vanessa Ruiz Boling, Dana Burghdoff, Bette Chapman, Fernando Costa, Bea Cura, Hugh Davis, Sarah Fullenwider, John Garfield, Ossana Hermosillo, Tom Higgins, Chun-I Lu, Christine Maguire, Vincent Mantero, Penny McCook, Elizee Michel, Reid Rector, Anthony Snipes, Robert Stums, Peter Vaky, Jerome Walker, Ardina Washington, Barbara Wilson Call to Order: Chairman Jeff Wentworth called the meeting to order at 12:10 p.m. Approval of Minutes from the Meeting Held on October 8, 2002: Committee Member Wendy Davis moved to approved the minutes. The motion was seconded by Committee Member Clyde Picht and carried. Discussion and Consideration of Amending the City of Fort Worth's Zoning Ordinance to Address Issues Related to Shelters: Planning Director Fernando Costa made the presentation (attached). After briefly reviewing the background relating to the City's zoning regulations as they affect homeless shelters, Mr. Costa asked the Committee to review both the recommendations for a zoning ordinance text amendment that would clarify the regulations concerning shelters and an application to rezone certain property in the Near East Side to the MU-2 and PD classifications (MU-2 + shelters). Mr. Costa then requested authorization to place both items on the December 11 Zoning Commission agenda. Mr. R da added that the Shelter Advisory Group is requesting that the City reconstitute the Homeless Shelter Task Force vise the City on issues relating to homelessness. Mr. Wentworth asked if there were any existing uses that would not be permitted in the proposed MU-2 area. Mr. Costa said there were no conforming uses that would become non-conforming as a result of the zoning change. Mr. Wentworth asked that this be verified before proceeding to the Zoning Commission. Mr. Costa said he was not aware of any opposition to the zoning change. Ms. Davis moved to authorize staff to present both the zoning ordinance text amendment and the rezoning application to the Zoning Commission on December 11. The motion was seconded by Committee Member Frank Moss and carried. Mr. Picht added that this would be conditional on not finding any non-conforming uses as a result of the zoning change to MU-2. Mr. Wentworth concurred. Mr. Costa added that both issues would come back before the full Council for a public hearing on January 14, 2003. Status Report on the Assessment of Community Leadership in Urban Villages: Planning Director Fernando Costa made the presentation. He explained that some proposed urban village projects are making better progress than others, and while this can be attributed to a number of factors, one of the most important factors is community leadership for the project. Mr. Costa said that Leadership Fort Worth has requested to work with the City on an assessment of community leadership in the designated urban villages. He added that they plan to report back to the Committee next spring with their findings. ss OWentworth commended Leadership Fort Worth for their efforts and said he looked forward to their report in the g. Page I ot'4 Mr. Picht also expressed his appreciation to the group, but asked what staff hoped to achieve by the assessment. He also asked if it was expected that any new committees would result from this effort. Mr. Costa said staff hoped to ascertain to what extent the community leaders understand the urban villages and to V es s their ability to impart that understanding and to work effectively with the City to implement the plans. He d that it is not expected that Leadership Fort Worth will recommend the creation of any new entities; however, if they did so, the recommendation would be considered. Ms. Davis expressed her support for the assessment because she said challenges have sometimes occurred in bringing together the leadership to work on the urban village projects. Status Report on Neighborhood Empowerment Zones (NEZ): Housing Director Jerome Walker made the presentation (attached). He presented background on the creation of both of the NEZs that are currently in place: the Ridglea/Como NEZ and the Stop Six NEZ. Mr. Walker said that while the total value of incentives given in these two areas equals $944,474.10, the total investments leveraged equal $38,670,068.57, for a leverage ratio per public dollar of 41:1. He then reviewed progress on various developments in the two NEZs. Committee Member Moss said that the biggest challenge in the Stop Six NEZ was the availability of land for development. He added that while staff has done well so far in doing some land assemblage, a policy to assemble land in the area for development might be needed. Discussion and Consideration of Amending the Contract with Polytechnic Heights Community Development Corporation (CDC) to Include Housing Development Funds: Housing Director Jerome Walker made the presentation (attached). He requested that the Committee recommend that the City Council amend the contract with Polytechnic Heights CDC and approve the reallocation to them of an estimated $183,576 in HOME funds. W. Davis moved to recommend the item to the full Council. Mr. Moss seconded the motion, which carried. Discussion and Consideration of Conditional Designation of Polytechnic/Wesleyan and Hemphill/Berry as Neighborhood Empowerment Zones (NEZ): Housing Director Jerome Walker made the presentation (attached). He requested that the Committee recommend that the City Council designate the Polytechnic/Wesleyan and Hemphill/Berry urban villages as Neighborhood Empowerment Zones (NEZ) and Neighborhood Reinvestment Zones, conditional upon the City Council's approval of mixed-use rezoning of the urban villages, which constitute the core of these NEZs. Mr. Picht asked what gave Hemphill/Berry priority to be designated as a NEZ over other areas that need assistance. Mr. Walker explained the guidelines adopted for the designation of NEZs, which include location in the Central City or in a Community Development Block Grant eligible area, and the fact that the entire neighborhood must be considered both socially and economically distressed. Mr. Moss expressed concern that the Stop Six NEZ stops at Edgewood, and vacant land runs between Edgewood and Rosedale. He asked if it were possible to expand the NEZ to take in all of Rosedale, in order to take advantage of the redevelopment incentives on both sides of that street. Mr. Walker said the matter could be referred back to the neighborhood organization for their consideration. Penny McCook, Senior Planner, said staff would look at the boundaries again. She added that she did not think that the neighborhood would disagree with enlarging the boundaries. Wentworth asked Mr. Walker and staff to meet with Mr. Moss to discuss the matter further. w. Ms. Davis moved to recommend that the City Council designate the Polytechnic/Wesleyan and Hemphill/Berry urban villages as NEZs, subject to Mr. Moss' approval of the possible expansion of the Polytechnic/Wesleyan bOUndarles. Page 2 of 4 The motion was seconded by Mr. Moss. Mr. Wentworth, Ms. Davis and Mr. Moss voted in favor of the motion. Mr. Picht was opposed. Discussion and Consideration of the City of Fort Worth's Role in the BOLD Initiative: ,lasistant City Manager Reid Rector prefaced the presentation by saying that City Manager Gary Jackson had asked Qto bring the Committee a report on the North Texas BOLD Initiative (NTBI) and to answer any questions regarding the City's continued involvement in the program. He added that money for this year's involvement has already been appropriated, and he explained that the program promotes economic opportunity in the minority community through employment opportunities. Anthony Snipes, Assistant to the City Manager, made the presentation (attached). He said that the City's current contract calls for a three-year agreement from June 1, 2002, through September 2004, for which the City pays $25,000 per year. He said that the City has referred 7 senior-level positions and 4 non-senior level positions to the BOLD Initiative. Mr. Snipes then reviewed the NTBI's accomplishments and presented four staff recommendations: (1) continued support of the NTBI, (2) that Council receive annual updates, (3) that NTBI staff provide the City of Fort Worth's Executive Team with an overview of the program, and (4) that the City Manager be provided information on the status of the recruitment of the new Executive Director. Mr. Moss said he thought the program was a good one for recruiting local minority individuals for top-level positions in Fort Worth. He added that he thought this was important for getting companies to recruit and hire locally. Ms. Davis suggested that something be done to commend the companies who are participating in NTBI. Mr. Wentworth concurred. Mr. Snipes also agreed, saying that more companies might participate if they knew about those already involved. Vanessa Ruiz Boling, Human Relations Commission Director and NTBI Council Member, said NTBI was featured on cable television early on, but it was probably time to update the community on the status of the program. She said she would look into it. Picht said he felt that the City gets good talent from outside the area, and that as a measure of the talent here, he the City couldn't go wrong in making a nationwide search. Mr. Wentworth said he didn't feel that the intent of the program was to restrict hiring to the local area, but rather to make sure that companies are aware of local citizens who have the required background and expertise, and conversely, to give potential employees access to these companies. Discussion and Consideration of Purchase Agreement with Fort Worth South, Inc. for Property Located at 2222 Rosedale Street: This item was deferred to a later meeting. Discussion and Consideration of Amending the Tax Abatement Agreement with Cotton Depot LLC: Business Development Coordinator Ardina Washington discussed a request received from the attorney representing Cotton Depot LLC (attached). She said that Cotton Depot Lofts is requesting extension of their tax abatement agreement from the starting point. Ms. Washington explained that as early phases of construction began on the project, hazardous materials were found on the property, and the clean up process has taken longer than anticipated. Therefore, Cotton Depot is requesting the tax abatement agreement be extended for an additional two years. Mr. Wentworth asked about the exact date for the extension and if the other terms of the abatement were the same. Assistant City Attorney Peter Vaky said the project was to have been substantially completed by December 31, 2002; therefore, the new completion date would be December 31, 2004. Mr. Vaky added that the only other revision would be adjusting the value of the required improvements. He said that the original agreement included the land value, and 'ill;,figure would be adjusted to provide that the value of the improvements constructed on the property, excluding the e of the land, be the minimum benchmark, which is $13.4 million. Page 3 of 4 Mr. Picht asked if this would change the nature of the abatement. Mr. Vaky said that it does not change the amount or term of the abatement, but that the new agreement extends the amount of time that the property owner has to complete the improvements, and it modifies the amount of investment the owner has to make on the property. Davis moved to recommend the amended abatement agreement to the full Council. The motion was seconded by Moss and carried. Discussion and Consideration of Refunding and Waiving Development Fees Associated with the JohnSons Press Expansion Located at 3300 South Freeway: Business Development Coordinator Ardina Washington made the presentation (attached). She said that JohnSons Press, which is located in the South Enterprise Zone, is requesting a waiver of development fees of approximately $7000 for a 24,000 square foot expansion they are building. Mr. Moss moved to recommend the waiver to the full Council for consideration. Ms. Davis seconded the motion, which carried. Mr. Picht said he felt that at some point the City must look at the economic development of the whole community rather than just in certain areas. Status Report on the Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program and Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) Funds: Housing Director Jerome Walker made the presentation (attached). He said that the HOME program is designed by the federal government to offer local jurisdictions the ability to work with non-profit organizations and the private sector to provide housing for lower income families. Mr. Walker explained that over the last six years, the City has received approximately $16.5 million dollars in HOME funds, which have been allocated for various activities (see presentation attached). He then gave details on CHDO funding, saying that $3,636,586 have been given to CHDOs, and that this funding produced 138 housing units. Mr. Walker next gave information on the allocation of AHDF 0 ns, of which $877,423 has been earmarked for a proposed Housing Development Fund. He said this had originally set aside for a housing trust fund, but because of difficult financial times this fiscal year, staff has proposed creating a development fund and deferring establishing the trust fund to a later date. Mr. Moss asked what would be done with the proposed Housing Development Fund. Mr. Walker said that this was available to provide loans to housing sponsors who might be undertaking various housing projects. He said that it was a very flexible fund that might also be used for interest rate write downs. Mr. Moss then asked about funding available for apartment rehabilitation. Mr. Walker said that the HUD rental rehabilitation was now extinct, but the proposed Housing Development Funds could be used for this. Executive Session: The Economic and Community Development Committee conducted a closed meeting to seek the advice of its attorneys concerning legal issues regarding current agenda items that are exempt from public disclosure under Article X, Section 9 of the Texas State Bar Rules, as authorized by section 551.071 of the Texas Government Code. Requests for Future Agenda Items: There were no requests for future agenda items. The next meeting is scheduled for December 10, 2002. Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 2:09 p.m. r Page 4 o1'4