1 Paoli, Diana
From: Jacob Patterson <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, May 9, 2025 3:47 PM
To: City Clerk
Cc: Whippy, Isaac
Subject: Public Comment - 5/12/25 CC Mtg., Item No. 8A, Hazelwood HOME Application City Council,
When I started reviewing this agenda item, I was leaning toward recommending against approving this application because I think the late timing of this request when we basically have to either approve it or deny it without a meaningful opportunity to dig into the details is not how I like to conduct the public's business. I like early, meaningful public and Council participation. You asked for more information before you wanted to make any decisions about supporting this funding and I don;t think you have received it, at least not enough of it. However, once I read this staff report, I changed my mind and encourage you to approve this HOME loan application for the following reasons:
This is the only potential project that could use these funds and I think applying for it now won't impact our ability to apply for similar funding in the future for other projects. We get the loan proceeds back as they are repaid by the developer and they go into our housing trust fund. That is huge because we have even more flexibility in how to use those funds and we might even be able to use some to support our Community Land Trust efforts.
Even if you didn't approve the permits (and I think you shouldn't have not because I am opposed to the project but because I support it and want our approval to be iron-clad and defensible and I think we need to fix a couple of planning oversights to ensure our approval stands since I expect it to be appealed and challenged just as your pre-mature approval of the Todd's Point apartment project was appealed), we should still apply for this funding because the apparent planning defects can be remedied and you can and should still approve the entitlements once that has been done.
Regards,
--Jacob