Item B: Opportunity Siting Update

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? locate sites directly by identifying several preliminary siting criteria, ? locate sites indirectly by identifying a range of factors that would determine the success of development on an opportunity site, ? consider who might want to live in the housing, ? consider issues of compatibility with existing neighborhoods, and ? consider whether the development on a site would be financially viable. The team then formulated this into a guiding concept that for Opportunity Siting to be successful it must achieve a balance, not unlike a three-legged stool, of three important components – compatibility, market demand, and financial feasibility. The ensuing work done by the task team, resource people, subcommittees, a volunteer neighborhood, market consultant and the project staff team is described below within the three-legged stool framework. Compatibility Financial Feasibility Market Demand Compatibility As conceived by the City Council and reflected in the motions passed, an important focus of the OS program is to protect the health and stability of existing neighborhoods and to relieve infill pressure on neighborhoods. Thus, two of the Task Team’s challenges have been to: ? identify those characteristics of a neighborhood that define its “health and stability”, ? and to determine where and how to direct development pressure. The Task Team further challenged itself to envision how development pressure can actually be a force for neighborhood enhancement. The Task Team’s working premise is that opportunity site development must be located in such a way as to contribute to neighborhood synergy rather than fragment the neighborhood. ICS Role The Infill Compatibility Standards project shares this challenge and is going forward simultaneously with OS. ICS directly confronts the question of defining compatibility of a broad range of development features within existing neighborhoods. It is tasked with proposing mitigation measures to heighten the likelihood of new development being compatible with existing neighborhood character. ICS will not necessarily be completed prior to identification of opportunity sites in neighborhoods; therefore, it is essential for OS to also address issues of existing neighborhood character and compatibility. It is essential for OS to also address issues of existing neighborhood character and compatibility because ICS and OS are on parallel tracks and timelines, rather than OS following completed infill compatibility standards.