Here's what community members are saying about affordable housing in Boone County

Charles Dunlap, Columbia Daily Tribune

What conversations are happening around affordable housing in Boone County? Roughly a dozen community members worked to answer questions on this topic at one of multiple public meetings this week.

Boone County and the City of Columbia have partnered on a housing study as part of continuing work related to the county's Upward Mobility Action Plan.

The housing study coincides with concurrent county and city studies to update a countywide master plan and urban conservation regulations, respectively.

Roughly one dozen community members gathered Tuesday afternoon at the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri to discuss a joint city and county affordable housing study.
Roughly one dozen community members gathered Tuesday afternoon at the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri to discuss a joint city and county affordable housing study.

The housing study is focused on affordable housing; work on updating the master plan will explore housing, but also land use, zoning and other countywide impacts; while the city is working to update its urban conservation regulations with aims of finding housing density solutions that also remain in line with aesthetic considerations of the central city.

A draft version of the county master plan is expected this summer with possible adoption of the final master plan update in the fall. Listening session on the master plan are scheduled April 23 and 24, previous Tribune reporting notes.

David Boston, owner of Amarach Planning Services, expects to give his report on the housing study to the city and county by the fall. He is taking all the public input from meetings held this week, along with other field study data for the report.

"I will summarize all the input we got from the community meetings, surveys and interviews with builders, lenders, policy makers related to housing. I'll combine that with more in-depth data analysis, (such as) housing supply and demand, where those demands are, zoning regulations and comparing that with what we heard to come up with solutions."

David Boston, owner of Amarach Planning Services, moderates a public meeting Tuesday regarding a city and county partnership on an affordable housing study he is conducting.
David Boston, owner of Amarach Planning Services, moderates a public meeting Tuesday regarding a city and county partnership on an affordable housing study he is conducting.

Participants at meetings this week were asked to comment on six questions after reviewing data posters on topics including housing indicators and tenure (owner-occupied); housing stock growth; cost burdens and homelessness; rental costs; median income; education level; population growth and more. One notable data point is housing stock increased between 2010 and 2020 at the eastern and western fringes of Columbia, which correlated with much higher median incomes in those areas. Where there wasn't housing stock growth was in the central city, particularly in lower-income areas, or areas where rental costs were below $800 per month.

Questions community members and other stakeholders, including Columbia Housing Authority CEO Randy Cole and John Trapp of 4-A-Change and Room at the Inn, sought to answer at one of this week's public input meetings were:

  • What stood out to you during the data walk? What data points need expansion and what was missing from the data points?

  • What are the biggest challenges with building affordable housing in Boone County and how can they be addressed?

  • What are things you like and dislike about housing options in Boone County?

  • What are housing issues are unique to urban, suburban and rural areas of Boone County and how can they be addressed?

  • Are there creative solutions local governments can implement to address housing issues in Boone County?

  • Do you think affordable housing options are spread evenly throughout the county? Why or why not?

Tuesday's meeting included comments from community members on rentals by the room than as a whole (student housing); land and construction costs; disconnects between supply and demand (what is needed is not being built); lack of diversity of housing options; thresholds to meet rental requirements (high credit score); lack of rental and other communication infrastructure in rural areas; updating infrastructure in urban areas; a push to expedite permitting and zoning on affordable housing; more financial support for organizations focused on getting people into housing; and addressing "not in my back yard" attitudes, among others.

All of these will impact Boston's final report.

More: Want to provide feedback on Boone County's master plan? Listening sessions scheduled

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Boone County and Columbia are studying affordable housing situation

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