Section 3-720 Affordable Housing Requirements
3-720.A. Findings and Purpose.
3-720.A.1. Findings. It is essential and necessary for the preservation and maintenance of the Telluride community to ensure the provision of affordable housing within the Town and the Telluride region, as delineated on the Telluride Region Map in the San Miguel County Comprehensive Plan (“Telluride region”), which serves both year round and seasonal employees. Recognizing that new development generates additional employment needs, and consistent with the desire to have new development mitigate impacts attributable to such development, the Town finds it necessary to require new development to provide affordable housing. Maintaining permanent and long-term housing in proximity to the source of employment generation serves to maintain the community, reduce regional traffic congestion, and minimize impacts on adjacent communities. Housing must be affordable to the local labor force in order for the local economy to remain stable.
3-720.A.2. Purpose. The purpose of this Division is to create housing which is affordable, the need of which is created by new development. This is accomplished through the establishment of the affordable housing requirements for new development that requires the production of affordable housing units, deed restricting existing housing stock to affordable housing, the conveyance of land for affordable housing, or, as a less preferred alternative, cash payments.
3-720.A.3. Applicability. The standards of this Section apply to all single-family, duplex, multi-family, commercial, accommodations and other nonresidential new development within the incorporated limits of the Town of Telluride. This Section shall also apply to a change of use that generates additional employees. For the purpose of this Division, “development” shall be defined as set forth in Article 2, Division 1, except development shall not include dredging, excavation, drilling, demolition, clearing, and deposit as defined in Article 2, Division 1.
3-720.B. Exemptions. The following development is exempt from the requirements of this Section:
3-720.B.1. Redevelopment of Pre-Existing Use and Change in Use. Redevelopment or remodeling of an existing use or the change from one use to another is exempt from the requirements of this Section, provided such activity does not create additional employment generation as determined by Table #1 in subsection C.1.a of this Section, and provided the redevelopment or remodeling does not meet the definition of Section 2-309, Demolition. Only the uses and floor areas that existed prior to the redevelopment or remodeling when demolition has not occurred shall be exempt from the requirements of this Division. Any new floor area or unit or any change in use which creates additional employee generation as determined by Table #1 in subsection C.1.a of this Section shall be subject to the provisions of this Section. When demolition has occurred, the replacement of any existing floor area or unit shall be exempt from the requirements of this Section only if those spaces have previously provided mitigation in conformance with the current affordable housing mitigation requirements of this Title.
3-720.B.2. Affordable Housing and Designated Employee Dwelling Units. Development of affordable housing and designated employee dwelling units as defined in this Title are exempt from the requirements of this Section.
3-720.C. Calculation of Minimum Affordable Housing Requirements.
3-720.C.1. Minimum Affordable Housing Requirements. The minimum affordable housing requirements shall be determined according to the following steps:
a. Step 1: Determine the Number of Employees Generated by the Development. Calculate the number of employees generated by the proposed development (as determined by using the applicable generation factor in Table #1).
|
Land Use |
Generation Rate |
|---|---|
|
Commercial/Public Facility Uses |
4.5 employees per 1,000 s.f. of net floor area |
|
Hotels and Accommodations Uses |
0.33 employees per unit |
|
Multifamily Dwelling and Mixed-Use Residential |
0.33 employees per dwelling unit |
|
One- and Two-Family Dwellings |
Generation Rate = 0.070174(e)(0.000322 X Proposed, New Gross Floor Area) + 0.11 employees per 1,000 s.f. of gross floor area |
The employee generation of any use not listed in the table shall be determined by an Independent Calculation, pursuant to Subsection 3-720.D.2. New Gross Floor Area is calculated per the definition in Article 2 plus any Basement or Cellar Space and excluding garages and other unheated, non-living space. Affordable housing requirements for dwelling units in mixed-use development consisting of two or fewer residential units may be reduced or eliminated pursuant to the PUD process.
b. Step 2: Calculate the Amount of Required Mitigation. The amount of required mitigation shall be calculated using the following formula, based on (i) the number of Employees generated by the development as determined under Step 1 above (“Employees Generated”) multiplied by (ii) the provision of four hundred (400) square feet of Gross Floor Area per employee generated by the development multiplied by (iii) the Required Percentage Mitigation that is (A) forty percent (40%) for commercial uses; (B) ninety percent (90%) for multifamily, accommodations uses (except hotels); and single-family and duplex (two-family dwelling) uses; and (C) forty percent (40%) for a hotel equals the minimum number of employees required to be provided with affordable housing.
Employees Generated X 400 sq.ft. X Required Percentage Mitigation = Gross Floor Area of affordable housing mitigation requirement.
c. Step 3: Apply Any Affordable Housing Mitigation Credit. For one and two-family development that is submitted for a HARC review on or after July 1, 2010 that is required to provide for affordable housing mitigation as required by this section, a credit for already provided mitigation will be calculated. No credit is provided for one or two-family floor area development that is submitted for HARC review prior to July 1, 2010. The credit will be calculated by first determining the total floor area for the project that was submitted for HARC review and development on or after July 1, 2010 and constructed after such (“Mitigated Floor Area”), along with the corresponding number of employees generated (“Provided Mitigation”). The Mitigated Floor Area is then added to the new proposed floor area, with this total used to determine the new mitigation requirement using the exponential formula listed in Table 1 above. (“New Mitigation Requirement”). The amount of mitigation required is then determined by applying the provided Mitigation credit to the New mitigation requirement as follows (“Required Mitigation”).
New Mitigation Requirement – Provided Mitigation = Required Mitigation
Example: A 2,000 sq. ft. one family dwelling that submits for HARC review on or after July 1, 2010 that subsequently builds such floor area will provide a payment in-lieu for 0.13 employee according to the formula set forth in Table 1 above and mitigation is provided in the form of a payment in-lieu (This is the Provided Mitigation). Two years later, the owner is proposing an addition of 1,000 sq. ft. that results in a new total floor area of 3,000 sq. ft. Using the exponential formula listed in Table 1 above, a 3,000 sq. ft. one-family home generates a total of 0.18 employees (“New Mitigation Requirement”). The amount of new mitigation required is then calculated based determining the difference between the New Mitigation and the Provided Mitigation as follows: 0.18 employee – 0.13 employees = 0.05 employees that must be mitigated by a payment in-lieu.
Example: An existing one family dwelling built prior to 2009 is proposed to have an addition of 1,000 sq. ft. that generates 0.09 employees, with mitigation provided by a payment in-lieu (This is the Provided Mitigation). There is no credit for the existing home since no mitigation was provided when originally built. Five years later, the owner wants to add an additional 2,000 sq. ft. of floor area bringing the total floor area developed since 2009 to 3,000 sq. ft. that results in a mitigation of 0.18 employees per the exponential formula listed in Table 1 above (This is the new Mitigation Requirement). The amount of Required Mitigation is calculated as follows: 0.18 – 0.09 = 0.09.
3-720.C.2. Independent Calculation. An applicant may submit an independent calculation of the number of employees to be generated by a proposed development, to be used in place of the employee generation requirements Table #1.
a. Approval Authority and Review Criteria. Approval of the results of the independent calculation shall be at the sole discretion of the Planning and Zoning Commission. (“P&Z”) Prior to approval of any Independent Calculation, the Telluride Housing Authority Subcommittee (“THA”) shall review the Independent Calculation and forward a recommendation to the P&Z. In determining whether approval of an independent calculation should be granted, the Commission shall consider the following criteria:
(1) Data and records, including but not limited an independent pay roll audit, supporting employment generation for the proposed use. The Commission may employee, at the applicant’s expense, a professional of the Commission’s choosing to evaluate the independent calculation.
(2) Future changes in use for the property permitted by the underlying zoning and provisions of this Division.
(3) Actual employment rates of similar businesses and activities within the Telluride Region and other resort communities.
(4) Whether approval would be consistent with the intents and purposes of this Division and the Telluride Master Plan.
Any acceptance of an Independent Calculation shall be site and use specific, non transferable and be memorialized in a Development Agreement between the property owner and the Town. Such Agreement shall be executed prior to issuance of any building permit.
Should the independent calculation not be accepted, then the applicable employee generation factor from Table #1 shall be applied to the proposed development.
b. Independent Payroll Audit. The P&Z may require the applicant to have an independent payroll audit performed two (2) years following the project’s occupancy to determine if the number of employees in the project corresponds with the applicant’s calculation. The P&Z shall adjust the applicant’s housing requirement in accord with the results of the audit, and the Development Agreement shall be so amended. The P&Z may waive the Independent Payroll Audit.
c. Appeal. Upon final approval or denial of the Independent Calculation by the P&Z an appeal to Town Council may be filed pursuant to Section 5 207.A.
d. Public Notice. No public notice of an independent calculation shall be required other than listing such applications on the P&Z’s and the THA’s agendas.
3-720.D. Housing Mitigation Plan.
3-720.D.1. Housing Mitigation Plan Required. An applicant for any new development or change in use shall submit a Housing Mitigation Plan to the Planning Director, unless exempted pursuant to Section 3-720.B, “Exemptions”.
a. Content. The Housing Mitigation Plan shall include the following:
(1) Calculation and Method. The calculation of, and method by which housing is to be provided, in compliance with section 3-720.C, “Calculation of Minimum Affordable Housing Requirement” and Section 3-740.A.2, “Method for Providing Housing”.
(2) Unit Descriptions. If affordable housing units are to be developed, a site plan and building floor plans (if applicable), illustrating the number of units proposed, their location, the number of bedrooms in and Gross Floor Area of each unit, the rental/sale mix of the development, and the eligibility categories and price restrictions consistent with the Guidelines.
(b) Timing of Review/Amendments. The Housing Mitigation Plan shall be submitted to and approved by the Planning Director prior to, or concurrent with, application to the Town for the free market portion of the initial development plan. Review and approval of plans by the Town for construction of affordable housing shall be prior to, or concurrent with, the free market portion of the development plan. Any amendment to the Housing Mitigation Plan shall require Planning Department approval.
3-720.D.2. Certification of Action. The Planning Director, or its designee, shall certify the Planning Department’s approval, approval with conditions, or denial of the Housing Mitigation Plan, or of an amendment thereto. Such approval, approval with conditions, or denial shall be based on compliance with the provisions of this Division and the Telluride Affordable Housing Guidelines (“Guidelines”), unless an exception is granted by the THA.
3-720.D.3. Appeal. Upon final approval or denial of the Housing Mitigation Plan by the Planning Director an appeal to Town Council may be filed pursuant to Section 5-207.A.