Housing advocates are questioning if a proposed voluntary incentive program will solve Naperville’s lack of affordable housing.
Consultant SB Friedman briefed the city’s Human Rights and Fair Housing Commission this week on a proposed three-tier system through which regulatory “carrots” can be used to encourage developers to build housing for low- to moderate-income households.
Those inducements could include density bonuses and breaks on requirements for yards and setbacks, floor area ratios, parking, building height, exterior wall construction materials, open space and park impact fees.
Fran Lefor Rood, SB Friedman senior vice president, said developers who target lower income households and set aside more affordable units are offered more incentives.
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“The idea is that there’s no one size fits all. This (program) is really to be tailored to an individual project,” Rood said.
One way to qualify for incentives would be for a developer to rent a portion of the units for $1,300, based on Illinois Housing Development Authority standards for a family of three in the Chicago region with an average median income of $50,300, said Elena Caminer, associate project manager for SB Friedman.
In the next tier, which is based on Naperville’s median household income for a family of three of $63,000 to $65,600, a portion of the local rentals would need to be $1,600 to 1,900, Caminer said.
The third tier focuses on affordable workforce housing, where household of three earning $100,700 to $125,900 would be able to purchase a home for $352,000 to $440,000.
The remainder of units in each category could rented or sold at market value, and affordability would have to be maintained for 30 years.
Affordability advocate Mary Beth Nagai, of the DuPage Housing Alliance, raised concerns that the incentive program does not create enough affordable housing.
Nagai cited the city’s 2022 Affordable Housing Plan, which says Naperville needs 1,263 more affordable units to meet the 10% minimum required by the state.
In 2018, IHDA notified Naperville that 7.5% its housing stock qualifies as affordable, less than the 10% required.
“While we support this voluntary program,” Nagai said, “we feel a mandatory affordable housing program will bring us more quickly to the state mandated 10% affordable housing stock and help more Naperville residents who are on the lower end of the income scale.”
Besides incentives, Rood said the opt-in program streamlines the process, making it easier for developers to get approval.
Rather than going through a typical process where a developer appears before various committees and the council to receive a density bonus or other regulatory break, the incentive is granted by right so there is no further negotiation, Rood said.
Developers still would have to go through the review process for anything outside the program, such as a zoning change, she said.
The program was discussed with representatives from Pulte Development Corp. and Lincoln Properties to gain feedback. City officials said each was receptive and found components of the program to be beneficial.
Commissioner Brian Palm questioned how the city would maintain the affordability for 30 years.
Rood said deed restrictions would transfer from one property owner to the next.
The incentives program will go before the Planning and Zoning Commission for review April 20 and then presented to the Naperville City Council for review and a final vote in either May or June.