Laserfiche WebLink
` CITY OF DECATUR, (LLINOIS <br /> HOME COMPETITIVE REALLOCATION <br /> affordable, decent rental housing available to homeless persons. These two projects are the area's <br />, only Shelter Plus Care projects. Both offer tenant-based rental assistance,using existing housing <br /> stock rented from private landlords. The Decatur Housing Authority administers the proj ects <br /> with supportive services provided by Heritage Behavioral Health Center. Combined, the projects <br /> provide 31 units of subsidized rental housing. Of these units, 28 (90%) are designated for <br /> chronically homeless individuals with disabilities, and 3 aze reserved for homeless families in <br /> which at least one person has a disability. <br /> B. MITIGATING NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF PUBLIC POLICIES ON COST AND INCENTIVES <br /> Decatur is committed to pursuing policies that provide incentives for developing and <br /> maintaining affordable housing within its jurisdiction. <br /> Zoning. The City's Consolidated Plan identifies four types of zoning practices that can act as <br /> barriers to affordable housing: 1) family size restrictions; 2)presence of mobile/manufactured <br /> homes; 3) lot size; and 4)restrictions on group homes and multi-family houses. The City of <br /> Decatur adopted new zoning regulations in 2001 to address the barriers. The new regulations <br /> maintained the generous restrictions on family size. There are no restrictions on the number of <br /> related persons that may share a dwelling unit. Up to eight (8)unrelated individuals may occupy <br /> a single dwelling unit. This is much higher than the four or five allowed in the zoning ordinances <br /> of most Illinois communities. While mobile homes are restricted to mobile home parks, a <br /> manufactured home may be built on any residentially-zoned lot in Decatur. Such homes are <br /> regulated by HUD and the State of Illinois and need only to be constructed on a foundation <br /> meeting the City of Decatur Building Code. <br /> The new Zoning Regulations made some important changes to allow for creative development <br /> and provide incentives to construct affordable housing. For instance, the City's Planned Unit <br /> Development regulations were streamlined and have been used to allow for flexible development <br /> and redevelopment. Prime examples are the adaptive reuse of the former Roosevelt Middle <br /> School property into 72 dwelling units for low to moderate income residents, and the 249-unit <br /> Wabash Crossing development. In both cases,the flexible PUD standards have permitted <br /> reductions in lot sizes and setbacks. In addition, Wabash Crossing mixes single family units with <br /> duplexes, fourplexes and townhomes to help achieve affordability across the housing spectrum. <br /> Future phases of this proj ect will also include mixed residential and office/commercial uses. The <br /> City uses these flexible land use regulation tools to encourage further development of affordable <br /> housing. <br /> Building Codes. The Consolidated Plan cited building codes and fees as possible barriers to the <br /> construction of new affordable housing. To ensure that its fees were not barriers to new <br /> construction, the City's Construction Inspection Division surveyed building fees in all other <br /> comparably-sized cities in Illinois in 2002. The survey confirmed that Decatur's building fees <br /> were comparable to all other cities, and should not present any particulaz barrier to new <br /> construction. , <br /> This December, the Decatur City Council adopted the 2000 International Residential Building � <br /> Code to replace the outdated codes, in use since the 1960's. Though frequently amended and <br /> updated, these codes may have presented barriers to developers. Since it is standard to most <br /> communities, the new code will be easier for builders to understand and comply with, and thus I <br /> PAGE 7 'i <br />