‘No shortage in opposition’: Woodford emphasizes importance of new housing at taskforce meeting
APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – Appleton’s taskforce on housing development policy, just created last fall, held its first public meeting on Wednesday afternoon in which it shared its findings from a study conducted over six months in the fall and winter.
The report involved a plan to make it easier and more streamlined for housing developers to apply for and receive permitting and approval for projects, among other initiatives to improve the housing situation in Appleton.
“We would like to see housing development as much as possible as rapidly as possible,” Mayor Jake Woodford said. “We have demonstrated need in this community and we have demonstrated challenges in this community at all price points.”
According to Kara Homan, Appleton director of community and economic development, the housing cost to income ratio in Appleton increased by more than 50% over the last decade. She said usually that ratio is 2:1, and currently it is nearing 3.5:1.
“If we can build 10,000 new homes in the next five years, we’re going to see that ratio come down,” she said.
While that might seem like a lofty goal, city officials say they want to remove barriers standing in the way of developers. Long processes that involved going through multiple agencies within Appleton made it hard enough, they said, not to mention the state and federal regulations.
So, the taskforce on housing development policy is hoping to streamline the municipal process into one, and that all local agencies will be able to approve of projects faster.
Officials also say that housing is needed across the board at every income level, not just low income housing, and in having more balance that way with less supply, the market will become more affordable overall.
Woodford stressed that ownership is a priority, saying that that is what allows people to grow their assets, rather than paying rent and losing a larger portion of their income that way as opposed to a mortgage.
There is also an emphasis on subdivisions to be developed, though a highlight shared by officials was the $1.8 million transit headquarters building that will also have affordable housing.
Even with all the backing from the city officials at the meeting, the projects will still need public support, and Woodford says that it is up to everyone who cares about affordable and available housing to speak up about it at common council meetings.
“It’s incumbent upon all of us who care about housing in our communities to show up and to speak out about the importance of housing development if we care about it,” Woodford said. “There will be no shortage of opposition when housing projects that would make a meaningful difference in this community come before the common council.”
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