Overview
Project Overview
The Albany City Council adopted the Housing Implementation Plan (HIP) in June of 2023. The HIP evaluated policies and strategies that the City can employ to address Albany’s current and future housing needs, as identified in the City’s 2020 Housing Needs Analysis (HNA). The HIP built upon community conversations and support around the Expanding Housing Options project that updated the City’s development code and comprehensive plan to allow middle housing types where single dwelling units were allowed.
The HIP outlines priority implementation steps the City can take to encourage the production of needed housing. Further, it provided the foundation for updating the housing element of the Albany Comprehensive Plan.
The project goals and objectives were to:
Identify and assess policies and strategies to increase housing options and opportunities that meet the needs of Albany residents as projected in the 2020 HNA and raised by the public, and to evaluate incentives in House Bill 2001 to increase the affordability of middle housing.
Evaluate housing resources and constraints, including evaluation of existing strategies and recommendations for new actions to increase housing supply or provide regulatory streamlining.
Engage a broad spectrum of the community in conversations and input around housing needs and strategies using a variety of engagement strategies.
Adopt policies and tools that promote fair and equitable housing choices for all residents, especially residents of protected classes and those experiencing housing insecurity.
Key elements of the project included identifying an initial “menu” of potential housing strategies; analyzing current data and trends related to housing needs and the local housing market; evaluating potential strategies based on their impact on the development of needed housing; prioritizing the most effective or viable strategies for achieving housing goals, with input from community members and stakeholders; identifying necessary implementation steps; and drafting a final Housing Implementation Plan and amendments to the Albany Comprehensive Plan.
Project Schedule
The project was scheduled to be completed by April 2023. This project was funded by a grant from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). A consulting team that included Angelo Planning Group | MIG (APG/MIG) and Johnson Economics assisted the City with this effort.
Participate
Opportunities to Participate
There were a range of opportunities for stakeholders and community members to participate in developing the Housing Implementation Plan:
Public Hearings Information
Albany Planning Commission hearing:
Monday, May 15, 2023, at 5:15 p.m.,
Albany City Council Chambers,
333 Broadalbin St SW
Albany City Council hearing:
Wednesday, June 14, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.,
Albany City Council Chambers,
333 Broadalbin St SW
Housing Affordability Task Force
Albany’s Housing Affordability Task Force (HATF) provided strategic direction on the project, reviewing and providing feedback on the housing strategies. The HATF represents a wide range of interests, including residents (elderly, young, owners, renters), local builders, affordable housing providers, disability rights advocates, and the Albany Planning Commission and City Council. Visit the Housing Affordability Task Force page for more information.
Focus Groups
Seven focus group meetings were conducted between March 14-18, 2022. Participants represented a range of stakeholder groups, including local residents, builders, affordable housing developers, affordable housing providers, those facing housing insecurity, low-income residents, young adults, seniors, families with children, and a range of agencies and organizations. The Focus Groups Summary is on the documents tab.
Community Survey
The city conducted an online survey in November 2022 to gather input from the broader Albany community on potential housing strategies. View the Survey Results on the documents tab.
Website and Social Media
This website will be periodically updated when new materials are available and when opportunities to participate are announced. The City will also post announcements to its social media pages.
Email the City’s project manager to comment, ask questions, or to join the project email list to stay engaged and informed about the project’s progress, or to sign up for a stakeholder or community group meeting. Please contact:
Anne Catlin, Planner III
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
City of Albany Community Development
333 Broadalbin Street SW
Albany, Oregon 97321
Documents
Documents
Housing Implementation Plan Documents
The City of Albany prepared the Housing Implementation Plan (HIP) to identify actions the City can take to help increase housing options that create more housing for more people. The HIP prioritizes current and future housing needs and outlines equitable and actionable policies, strategies, and implementation steps needed to encourage the production of housing that is needed in the Albany community. The HIP summarizes recommendations for adoption of a range of housing strategies or tools to study further—these include regulatory changes, incentives, funding sources, programs, and partnerships.
- Housing Implementation Plan
- Appendix A - Part 1 Background Report
- Appendix A - Part 2 Background Report
- Appendix B Focus Groups Summary
- Appendix C Survey Summary
- Appendix D Housing Strategies Menu
Background Materials
- 2020 Housing and Residential Lands Needs Analysis
- 2020 Albany Housing Strategies Report – This 2020 document pre-dates the middle housing code updates and this project.
- Accessibility Requirements and Data
- Albany Data and Stats
Other Documents
Project memos, reports, and other work products will be posted here throughout the process.
Links to meeting materials will be posted here as they are available.
FAQs
FAQs
Albany’s Housing Implementation Plan (HIP) will identify a set of policies and tools that the City can implement to facilitate housing development that meets the needs of the community. The HIP will prioritize strategies that promote fair and equitable housing choices for all residents, especially residents especially residents of protected classes and those experiencing housing insecurity.
The 2020 HNA found that there is significant need for new medium- and high-density housing to meet the City’s 20-year housing needs. This includes multi-family housing and “missing middle housing” such as duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, and townhomes. The analysis also found both existing and future needs for housing affordable to low-income households (defined as households earning 80% or less of area median income). In particular, the HNA identified a shortage of rental units at the lowest pricing levels that would be affordable to the lowest-income households. Residents, realtors, the housing authority, and developers have also indicated a need for one-bedroom dwellings, accessible housing of all shapes and sizes, smaller one-story housing for residents wishing to downsize or buy their first home, and narrow lot housing. These gaps will be a focus of the City’s Housing Implementation Plan.
No, the City is voluntarily electing to create a Housing Implementation Plan to help meet the community’s housing needs. However, in the future, the City will be required to adopt a “Housing Production Strategy” in conjunction with a future update to its Housing Needs Analysis. House Bill 2003, adopted in 2019, requires Oregon cities with populations over 10,000 to develop Housing Production Strategies (HPS), which include a list of specific actions that the city will undertake to address housing needs identified in their HNA. The City of Albany will not be required to adopt an HPS until the year 2028. However, the City intends to incorporate ideas and resources provided by the state of Oregon for HPS’s into its voluntary Housing Implementation Plan.
The HIP may include strategies in the following categories:
- Zoning and development code changes
- Reducing regulatory or process barriers to housing
- Financial incentives (such as tax abatements or system development charge reductions)
- Funding sources (such as a Construction Excise Tax)
- Land, acquisition, lease, and partnerships with housing providers and other community organizations
An exhaustive list of potential tools, actions, and policies that cities can implement to promote housing development was assembled by DLCD and can be found here.
The HIP is expected to be completed by April 2023.
The HIP will guide a work program that will be implemented over many years. The HIP will identify priority actions and potential funding sources (where needed), necessary partnerships to carry out strategies, and an expected timeline for when actions will be complete.
Community Development home
