Greater Lafayette Progressives 2019 Questionaire

GLP QUESTIONAIRE FOR WEST LAFAYETTE MUNICIPAL CANDIDATES:

1.  With the trend in development of “upscale” student accommodations in high-rise buildings, are you satisfied that enough is being done to provide affordable housing for students from lower income families.

That’s a great question for the University. https://www.housing.purdue.edu/Housing/Residences/index.html  The one lever on housing costs available to the city is to increase the supply of student housing. That we have done. Generally, the demand has been for amenities and convenience. We will be very interested to see the December 2019 Student Rental Report.  https://www.tippecanoe.in.gov/DocumentCenter/View/21641/2018-Tippecanoe-County-Student-Rental-Report 

 

2. A goal of the “West Lafayette Downtown Plan” is “To expand housing opportunities and affordable housing options in the downtown.   What is the definition of “affordable”?  How is this going to be implemented?  Where is land available for this? How many units of “affordable” housing are going to be added?  How much section 8 housing will be included? 

The affordability definitions are fixed by HUD. “Low Income” is 80% of the AMI. “Affordable” means a housing cost below 30% of income. Waterfront Apartments might be a candidate for mixed income redevelopment. Here is an overview of West Lafayette low-income housing.  https://affordablehousingonline.com/housing-search/Indiana/West-Lafayette. Here is the whole of the master plan. https://www.tippecanoe.in.gov/DocumentCenter/View/23221/WL-Downtown-Plan  The good news: Friendship House is expanding. The bad news: New Chauncey Housing, which receives federal HOME funds, now works only in Lafayette. Tax credits for larger projects are difficult to obtain, particularly in Indiana. Newest housing wrinkle: The commercialization of “Air BnB’s”.

3. Does the current and planned development specify LEED certified buildings?  Is it a requirement? If not, why not? What other plans are there to ensure that new buildings are environmentally sustainable?

No. Energy efficiency is, however, often part of the negotiation by the city with developers to approve “planned developments”.  State energy standards (ASHRAE) have not been updated since 2007. There are four LEED levels with 21 different iterations. There are no LEED Platinum buildings in the area, though the “Net Zero” house at 545 Hayes is worthy of note.  Purdue has several LEED Gold facilities. https://www.purdue.edu/sustainability/initiatives/greenbuildings/index.html Solar panels will power the new city Wellness/Recreation Center on Kalberer Rd.  Methane turbines provide power to the water reclamation plant. Any major city environmental initiatives (e.g. banning plastic bags) are subject to the state legislature’s policy of preemption.

4. A goal of the West Lafayette Downtown Plan is to protect and expand the Natural Urban Environment”.  What specific greenspace, if any, will be added?  How is the Wabash riverfront going to be enhanced and protected?

The flood plain will be expanded to the “100 year” flood in consideration of global warming.  The plan supports the work of the Wabash River Enhancement Corporation. Scroll down http://www.wabashriver.net/rural-corridor-information/ to find the WREC Master Plan. NCHS has been a generous supporter of this work. The financial hurdles are obviously high. Additional conservation/recreation areas will be added by the city, probably through Tax Increment Financing (TIF). 

5. What plans are there to enhance pedestrian and bicycle access for the downtown area?

If we can create an urban street grid, both bicycle and pedestrian safety will be enhanced. Building to “complete streets” standards will help both groups. The city recently passed Ordinance 13-19 to protect bicycle riders.  

 6. Is a public area for presentation of artistic, musical and cultural events part of the plans for the West Lafayette downtown area? Is so how will these be paid for?
                                                                               

Yes. They will be paid for incrementally, slowly, using grants and TIF funds. Examples: the South Street gathering space, our park entrance sculptures.

7. Would stronger or different building codes have prevented the spread of the fire that recently destroyed 5 homes in Lindberg Village?   Is the city looking into this?

Council discussed this at the time the Provence PD (W.State St.) was approved. The Planned Development process allows us to more closely examine building projects than perhaps is possible in county with its “by right” builds.

8. According to the Journal and Courier, 1 in 6 residents of Tippecanoe County are food insecure.  Do you think enough is being done to address the needs of West Lafayette residents living below the poverty line?  How can the city of West Lafayette help?

It already does through an annual allotment of CDBG funds. The city made a $10,000 contribution to the Food Finder capital campaign. Both contributions are noteworthy for their lack of “strings.”  90% of hunger relief is delivered through federal programs administered by the states. Remember that “poor relief” in Indiana is given over to the townships. 

9.What do you see as the role of the West Lafayette City Council and the West Lafayette City Government in addressing the questions above?  If elected how will you act to ensure that the downtown development in West Lafayette serves the needs of our community and our diverse population?

As the pioneer of land use planning (New Chauncey Neighborhood) in West Lafayette, I will continue to lead the council as its president, working with the Mayor, and the APC (I am on the Riverfront Steering Committee) to use a suite of ideas to continue thoughtful development in West Lafayette. The given behind all the changes to West Lafayette are the constitutionally imposed property tax caps. Residential properties are capped at 1%. This makes up the bulk of our non-tax exempt (another peculiar feature of this city) real estate. There is only one way to off set an inevitable decline. That is the expansion of the tax base. One way to do this is through annexation, particularly if non-residential holdings can be included; e.g. Menards, Meijer’s. Another is to increase the taxable value of current real estate. Hence the need for planned development and redevelopment. This development will of course relate to our largest industry (Purdue) with the hope that commercial/scientific interests (e.g. Saab) can be attracted to the area, and that their employees will give up their commutes from suburban Indianapolis and chose to live in West Lafayette. A larger local population means we receive a greater share of those state taxes distributed per capita.

10.  What is the process for getting continued community input and endorsement as concrete steps are proposed and taken to implement the West Lafayette Downtown Development Plan?  Do you think this process is adequate?  If not, what changes would you propose?

The process is adequate, and gains the public involvement we enjoyed for the New Chauncey Land Use Plan, the State St. Project, the #231 Corridor plan, and now the Village/Riverfront plan. We are not new to this. We can always do better. As the creator of the legislation that brought the Go Greener Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission to life, I am well aware of where we are most likely to fall short. We could use your help in both these areas. But in total, this has been a remarkable decade for West Lafayette.

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