Growth and affordable housing were recurring threads in last week’s meetings. You can watch any of these meetings or review their meeting packets on the City website.
GURA met on Monday (5/14). They heard from Confluence, which is the company that built the 8th Street Apartments. They have tentative plans to partner with the owners of the Briarwood to build apartments and a hotel on that property. Confluence is also seeking to buy the AAA-1 U Store It property on Colfax and redevelop it into restaurants, low income housing, and creative office space. The Jefferson County Housing Authority plans to build low-income housing on 24th between Ford and Jackson. They will bring this to the Planning Commission in June.
The Planning Commission had a study session on Wednesday (5/16). They agreed with citizen requests to require more setback and green space for new buildings, to set a higher bar on granting special use permits, and to limit 100% residential buildings to two stories. New mixed use or commercial buildings may be allowed to build a third story if they include affordable housing, exceptional sustainability, or extra streetscape or open space. Staff needs to write up the results of their discussion and bring it back to the Planning Commission. If they approve it, it will go on to City Council for their consideration.
City Council met on Thursday (5/17). They discussed the future of the Astor House. They decided to post a Request for Proposals to see what kind of ideas people and organizations have for the building. In the meantime, they will clean up and spruce up the back yard of the Astor House for use as a public park.
One of my readers expressed concern over the plans to build more low-income housing in the south end of town. Both the existing and proposed low-income housing are in the Shelton Elementary district, which currently has 42.35% of their students on the free and reduced lunch program. The City’s comprehensive plan suggests that affordable housing should be distributed throughout the city. Shelton’s 42.35% versus Mitchell’s 11.11% does indicate a significant imbalance. This is a problem with no easy solution. The City is anxious to have more affordable housing, but no developers have stepped forward with a plan to build any on the north end of town.
Tonight’s Meeting
The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) meets tonight at 6:30 in City Council Chambers. They will consider a $2500 grant request from the Golden History Museum to help fund a new exhibit about Magic Mountain. They also have a $20,000 grant request by the Downtown Merchants. That group wants to encourage downtown visitors on Friday and Saturday nights this summer by providing musicians and carriage rides. The merchants plan to stay open until at least 8PM every Friday and Saturday night and provide various types of entertainment and demos. City Staff will also report on a plan to improve and unify the city’s “wayfinding” signage.
This year is the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. The Golden History Museums will be hosting a book discussion on Wednesday afternoon from 2-3 of The Last of the Doughboys. The discussion will take place in the Guy Hill Schoolhouse at the History Park. This event is free, thought they do ask that you register.
