OPAL and Homes for Islanders air their missions

The Eastsound Planning Review Committee (EPRC) met on Aug. 7 to hold an initial discussion on the committee’s role in the affordable housing debate and at what level that involvement should be.

To begin, in what Chair Mindy Kayl described as an open brainstorming discussion of the housing element, she asked Of People and the Land (OPAL) Land Trust Executive Director Lisa Byers and John Campbell, member of the Board of Directors of Homes for Islanders (HFI) to speak about their nonprofit organizations.

“OPAL acquires land through purchase or donation and then leases that land without passing the land cost on to the leaseholder. OPAL retains ownership in perpetuity — the land is never resold. Leaseholders own houses, buildings or other improvements on the land, with their rights secured by a renewable 99-year lease,” Byers said.

“When leaseholders sell their home or improvement, the sales price is determined by a formula calculation tied to the consumer price index that provides some equity gain for the seller, while also assuring the home is affordable for the purchaser. OPAL facilitates all resale transactions—funded by a transaction fee of one percent charged to the seller and to the purchaser. OPAL requires that each house be brought up to a defined standard before it is sold. Anyone whose income and assets do not enable them to purchase a home in the traditional market on Orcas is eligible to purchase an OPAL home.

OPAL is developing a long range plan that will include an analysis of the scope of need for community land trust housing on Orcas by the year 2020,” Byers said.

John Campbell explained, “HFI uses a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) rural development self-help model that has been around for more than 30 years. The nonprofit helps people build homes themselves. We find sites and develop them. We secure local agency or county approvals, clear the site and then build the infrastructure. We then recruit home owners”

“Recruiting home owners is the difficult thing. It’s a chance of a lifetime but very few people step forward. Those that do are often not bankable. Their credit is not good enough. Some are fixable. We spend a lot of time trying to fix those who we can. We then manage the homebuilders, provide the building plans and keep track of what is spent on every home. Teams build the homes. Each family must commit 35 hours per week to the construction over an approximate 12-month period and are allowed 16 hours a week of donated help,” Campbell said.

Colin Maycock, San Juan County Senior Planner, reviewed the process for updating of the Housing and Land Use Elements, noting that the process would be near completion by the end of September. Angela Lousch, the Affordable Housing Coordinator, explained that she is currently researching what other counties are doing and looking at existing government models for affordable housing. She is charged with determining what resources from outside could be brought to San Juan County and researching the formation of a housing authority.

The EPRC decided to form a short-term task force that would review the existing information and look at how the sub area plan and county plan could developed simultaneously.

Earlier in the meeting, the EPRC noted that they had been given an expansion plan for Kaleidoscope Day Care to review. The Design and Review Committee reported they had met with the developers for the lot north of Roses Cafe, who propose a single-story building to house the liquor store and two offices. The developers had altered their design based on EPRC recommendations.

At the conclusion of the meeting, they talked about filling the vacant EPRC and minute taker position. The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 4 when the committee will discuss the Storm Water Programs.