The Clarkdale Town Council received a presentation regarding the town’s housing need assessment at the regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 9.
The housing need assessment is the first part of the Local Jurisdiction Housing Strategy Grant the town received through the Arizona Department of Housing. Following the housing needs assessment, the town’s housing plan under the grant requires initiatives to reduce barriers and increase production, an action plan, an education plan communicating the importance of affordable housing and an adoption by council and a commitment to implement it.
This “sets the stage for where we are and how we can work together to make housing more attainable for more families and households,” said Ruth Mayday, Clarkdale Community Development director.
Martina Kuehl of Kuehl Enterprises spoke to the council addressing the drivers of the recent housing demand, current housing needs, workforce housing availability and projected housing demand.
An employee survey had 64 members of Clarkdale’s workforce respond: Of these responses, 60% work and live in Clarkdale, 21 of which are seeking a first home or to upsize and consider anything under $250,000 to be affordable. Four live in RVs and another said they will rent anything they can find.
Kuehl shared some of the driving factors for the increase in price and demand over the last four years, such as lots
of in-migration, primarily from older households already retired or nearing retirement. The average income of these households is over $90,000 a year, which Kuehl said is $20,000 higher than the people who are leaving and $10,000 higher than the people who are staying. In addition, about one-third of Clarkdale properties transferred over the past four years, with about 20% of those as investment and second homes.
In order to buy a mid-priced home at $460,000 if in a working household, that requires about $175,000 a year in income, which Kuehl said is not necessarily congruent with the area’s wages. To afford the mid median rent for a two-bedroom unit, the income needed is about $64,000 a year.
As part of the town’s General Plan, an assessment determined how 969 housing units could be built in Clarkdale given the current zoning. Kuehl said if Clarkdale sees a continued trend in growth, the town will see between 322 to 753 new households between now and 2035, with more of a demand for rental units.
She stated households over the average age of 65 will increase to almost six out of 10 households over the next 10 years and is at about five out of 10 right now, which is a trend seen across Yavapai County and other desirable retiree communities.
The need for low- to moderate-income rental housing is 141 units, and the vast majority are single working people between 35 to 65 years old. There’s also a need for 61 rental units for the middle- to high- income bracket. For home owners, 111 homes are needed for low to moderate income and 241 needed for medium to high income. In neighborhoods without homeowners associations, 32 homes were identified that would benefit from some kind of repair and 27 would benefit from major repairs or replacement.
If the town looked at meeting 50% of the need among single-person, low- to moderate-income households, that would require having 70 one-bedroom homes at $600 a month.
“We have to think about the breadth of the possibilities when we look at either rental or ownership homes,” said Kuehl, mentioning accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and RV parks.
To meet 50% of the need of medium- to high-rental or ownership homes, Clarkdale would need to be 29 family homes available to rent at less than $1,500 a month or a purchase price of $210,000.
Kuehl proposed three categories of action, including assistance to households in the form of downpayment assistance, utility assistance and financial and homeownership education. The second is innovating financing and ownership models through a community land trust, a local loan pool or employer-owned models. Lastly, support for development, such as having mixed housing types, waiving or reducing development fees and extending town infrastructure to reduce costs to developers.
As part of the community outreach plan, the town is sharing a survey wherein residents can provide feedback on the kinds of housing they think are suitable for the community and what’s important to them. Kuehl will be delivering strategic initiatives within the next couple of months, which will be turned into an action plan based on more input from residents. Discussion on the zoning code will be coming before the public from October through December.
