Mary Ferdon
The city of Columbus is looking for updated information on the community’s housing needs.
City officials will present a request for the Columbus Redevelopment Commission to fund an updated housing study at the group’s next meeting, said Director of Administration and Community Development Mary Ferdon. The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. July 17 in the council chambers of Columbus City Hall.
Redevelopment Director Heather Pope said at the commission’s last meeting that funding this kind of study is a standard use for tax increment financing dollars.
When asked how much the study might cost, Ferdon replied that they’re not sure yet, but they want it to be done well, so they will make sure to ask for enough funding to get “good data.”
She said that the city’s last housing study was completed about 10 years ago, and there is a need for updated information.
“The goal is really to develop kind of a meaningful understanding of the current housing market, what our key housing issues are and how they impact not only the city of Columbus but surrounding regions,” said Ferdon. “And hopefully the results of the study will kind of give us a platform for our strategy and policy decisions that the city and other entities in the community make going forward. And so our hope is that it’ll allow community leaders and stakeholders, including the city, to be able to formulate some community-specific housing priorities and policy alternatives over the next four to eight years.”
This will include elements such as land use and zoning decisions, as well as the allocation of city and other resources, she added.
The project is being led by the city’s community development and planning departments, who are working to set up an oversight team that will help write a Request for Proposals, work on the bidding process, help select a qualified firm, and work with the firm throughout the study. The team will also present findings from the project to the redevelopment commission, as well as potentially Columbus City Council and other interested entities.
“It’ll include city staff, so planning and community development will lead the team, and then we’ll have a city council member,” Ferdon said. “And then we’re inviting other entities. We’ll have a Realtor, a developer, potentially a landlord and then other interested community partners. But we’re just in the process of firming that up.”
One of the members will be Jessie Boshell from the planning department, who is currently researching what other communities in the region have done, the average cost for this kind of study and appropriate scope of work. The city expects to have this information by the July 17 commission meeting, Ferdon said.
Robin Hilber, assistant director of community development, will be her department’s leader on the team.
Ferdon emphasized the importance of finding the right firm for the work and the right scope of work to address the city’s questions and needs.
“Housing is an issue that is faced by every community, but every community’s needs are a little bit different based on the type of employees they have, where the jobs are, where the resources are,” she said. “So we felt like we needed to do a study that looked at our demographics, our employers, and, currently, what we have. Because a lot of what we hear is anecdotal, ‘People can’t find housing.’ So we need to understand what kind of housing they’re looking for and what (income) level, because housing is a spectrum. And so you need housing at every level.”
Other areas of interest include “the desire or need for homeownership versus rental” and the needs of specific demographics.
For instance, Ferdon said that they would like to learn more about possible incentives to provide housing that makes it possible for public servants to live in town. At present, the city struggles with providing homes for police officers, firefighters and teachers, she said.
At the end of the day, city officials hope that the study will show the community’s needs while also pointing to priorities and strategies for the future.
“It’ll guide, again, not only the city and potentially the county, but employers and other entities in the community on what needs to be done, and help give us a timeline too,” said Ferdon.
