Utah Affordable Housing with Jenny Chamberlain: Recent Episodes
Jenny Chamberlain
This episode is a recap from my attendance at the Housing Supply Accelerator Workshop that was recently presented by the Southern Utah Land Use Task Force. The target audience was Mayors, city councils, city staff, planning commissioners, county commissioners, and builders & developers, but I think all of us can benefit from knowledge about how our government works and how it could work to serve the public.
If you are interested in learning more about how to help with affordable housing challenges in our county, check out the Housing Action Coalition's Fall Forum this year. Tickets are free, but we recommend you get one because they have sponsors for food, and we like to have a good headcount.
Click HERE to sign up to attend on October 30 at Black Desert Resort.
Brad Stucki of Bank of Utah shares some of his experience in the affordable housing space from the development standpoint as well as from his perspective as a board member of Sun Country Homes Solutions.
Julie Lindquist shares how the Self Help Homes program works, and then Adell and Josh Kirkman share their experience with using the program and building their affordable home. Several such programs run in the state of Utah, and they have a very big impact on affordable housing.
Jeff Madsen came to building from an accounting background, and that thinking informs his attitudes toward making housing more affordable. Check out our conversation on affordable housing topics from casitas to countertops. Thank you for listening to this podcast.
In this interview I talked to Mike Barben, executive director of the St. George Utah Housing Authority. He shares about how he came to be in his current role and some of the specifics about what the organization does to help individuals find deeply affordable housing. They are in a challenging situation with very limited resources, but the housing authority makes a huge difference for the people it serves. Find out more about what the authority does by listening to our discussion.
Deon Spilker is the vice president of mortgage banking at Utah Housing Corporation, and David Damschen is the president of the organization. In this episode we have a conversation about what the organization does, who some of the key stakeholders are in affordable housing in Utah, and what are some of the complications attendant to solving the problem of unaffordable housing on the state level. This interview was a great pleasure for me. I loved to hear insights from two of the most knowledgeable people in our state on affordable housing.
Here are a couple of highlight quotes from our discussion.
"It takes all of us together to do the building, and the lending, and to do the tax credits and to have the knowledge." - Deon Spilker
Spilker also pointed out that she frequently hears the phrase "We couldn't have without you" in the context of getting into a home.
A couple more quotes I liked: "You need all hands on deck for problems of this complexity and magnitude." - David Damschen
"Smart government, working hand-in-hand with the private sector can be very constructive and very helpful, but you want to have a light touch." - David Damschen
We also talked about Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which I have wanted to understand better for a long time, and I loved hearing Mr. Damschen's insightful explanation of how they work.
It was such a pleasure for me to talk to people who are truly making a difference for Utah families who need affordable housing every day. I hope you enjoy listening to this interview as much as I enjoyed having it.
Michelle Cloud is in her second term as a planning commissioner for Hurricane City. She recently sent me an article about the Ivins City open house about affordable housing, and in this episode we discuss that article as well as what NIMBYism is and what her role is as a planning commissioner for the city of Hurricane.
In this episode I talk to Hurricane City Planning Director Stephen Nelson. We talk about short-term and vacation rental policy and its recent history in the City of Hurricane as well as what the city is doing for affordable housing.
In this episode I talk with Mayor Nanette Billings about what the current housing situation is, her views on density and attainable housing, and what the short-term rental policy is in the city of Hurricane. I'm grateful for her squeezing some time from her busy schedule for this conversation.
This episode is the first in a series of three about Hurricane City. Former Mayor John Bramall shares some of his experience and history with affordable housing and short term rental policy in the city. The next two episodes will be with current Mayor Nanette Billings and City Planner Stephen Nelson regarding these same topics.
Photo courtesy of Mayor Bramall and his wife Connie.
In this episode, Toni and I discuss her experiences as a city planner with Hurricane, Utah. She served for over 20 years in various roles supporting cities, and she has insights on accessory dwelling units, transit-oriented development, and a variety of other aspects of affordable and attainable housing.
One of my favorite quotes from this interview was when we were talking about accessory dwelling units and how they have recently been pulled out of the affordable market by high demand for vacation short-term rentals. Toni said, "Short-term may be more lucrative, but man, I would rather have the people that are renting from me wash their own sheets." I think there is definitely some wisdom there to consider.
In this episode we take a short break from talking about attainable housing to check on what the Washington County market is doing with Mitch Godfrey. He is a fellow buyer agent on The Porter Team at ERA Brokers Consolidated. Mitch has been working in real estate for five years and investing for eight years.
In this episode we discuss current market data from a couple of different sources. The root of all of the information is the Washington County Multiple Listing Service. Additionally, we use an update from Macrae Heppler's at Eagle Gate Title, and our favorite resource is the ERA Brokers Consolidated Research page. That page updates with a lot of useful data most months, with breaks for December when things are slower and a bigger mid-year report in the summer.
In this episode, I interview Jake Peart. Peart has served in the past on the planning commission for the city of Toquerville city, and talk about attainable housing, vacation rentals, economic development, market forces, and his time serving on the planning commission.
I mention a report I had read about the impact of apartments on density, and if you are interested in the details of that report, check it out here:
Impact of High Density on Surrounding Homes in Salt Lake City
With over twenty years in the lending business, Emily Magill gets really excited when it comes to attainable housing. In this episode we talk about her experience, what the market is doing right now, and how it compares with the last comparable market cycle.
Krista Longhurst is the director for Habitat for Humanity of Southwest Utah. In this interview she tells us about the work of Habitat and what they do. They are a non-profit organization building one home a year in the Washington County Utah area.
Check out what is going on with them at their website: https://habitatswu.org
This week I'm talking with Josh Aikens of Zonos. Zonos specializes in cross-border trade, which isn't necessarily tied up in affordable housing, but Josh volunteers for the local Housing Action Coalition, helping lead the Public Awareness group. The public awareness group has an exciting event coming up next week, November 3. Check out the event and RSVP if you want to hear lots of local stakeholders talking about the crucial issue of affordable housing in Washington County, Utah.
April Gates works at ERA Brokers Consolidated, and she has served the Hurricane Valley and Springdale side of Washington County for quite some time. In our interview we talk about a few aspects of attainable housing, including city policies that could help as well as the impact of vacation rentals on our market.
You can catch her on the web at her Facebook page with The April Gates Group.
Shauna Jo Larkin is the branch broker at ERA Brokers Consolidated for the Hurricane and St. George offices. She is very experienced and competent, and in this episode she shares her wisdom about affordable housing and market economics in general.
New homes are often less affordable than other homes. However, they play a crucial role in bringing inventory to the market in order for older homes to reach an affordable range. In this episode we talk with Jonathan Zundell, Dan Porter, and Sierra Storwold from the Porter Team about the new construction market and how it impacts affordable housing in Southern Utah, especially the Hurricane Valley side of Washington County.
Heather Johnson studied architectural drafting at Dixie Tech, and as part of her studies she came up with a creative idea to help with bringing more affordable housing options to market. In this episode, she and her professor, Dr. William McMurrin, share about her project and ideas.
In this opening episode, we'll be discussing the 2020 report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute from the University of Utah that recommends best practices for affordable housing. For the first season, each episode will focus on attainable housing.
If you would like to review the Best Practices report in depth, check it out here:
Best Practices in Attainable Housing for Utah