A program proposed last year to help property owners along the 606 park and trail system by three alders has been superseded by just two of the original alders. The “606 Bloomingdale Trail Neighborhood Area Neighborhood Improvement Program”, or NIP, is being cosponsored by Alders Moreno (1st) and Maldonado (26th) without Alder Ramirez-Rosa (35th) — the new ordinance also has the support of Mayor Emanuel.
The proposed legislation is only a minor part of what the three alders proposed last year. The “606 Pilot Act”, for short, would have raised demolition and teardown fees massively to discourage the loss of naturally occurring affordable housing due to demand pressures spurred by the 606 as a neighborhood amenity. In that ordinance, the collected fees would have been made available to pay for home repairs and renovations. It was never discussed in a committee.
The current proposed ordinance borrows the home repair grant program from the first proposed ordinance. The new ordinance has an agreement showing that it would be administered by Neighborhood Housing Services. The city would pay NHS a fee of 15 percent to administer the program.
The home repair program would be available to eligible owner-occupants who have a household income of less than 120 percent of the area median income, and live in a 1 to 4-unit building within the boundary. The program would pay for certain exterior and interior fixes and renovations to improve the property’s condition.
Specifically, the allowable expenses are:
- “exterior improvements including but not limited to roofs, windows, entryways, porches and masonry”
- “up to 30% of the total Grant amount may be used for interior life/safety improvements, but only to the extent that such improvements are designed to address a current (rather than potential) health and safety risk”
- “related permit fees and architect’s fees”
Two requirements ensure minor energy efficiency upgrades: If the owner is adding or replacing insulation in the roof cavity, it must be R-49 level insulation; new heaters must meet Energy Star standards.
Each grant to an owner would not exceed $25,000. The ordinance would dedicate $1 million to the program, paid out of the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund. If each property owner received the maximum grant, then 40 owners could be assisted. All eligible applicants will be entered into a lottery.
NHS will approve the plans and contracts between the owner and the contractor they select. It appears that grant money is given to the owner before work starts, instead of as a reimbursement.
Recipients wouldn’t be required to pay back the grant after five years if they remain living in the building. If they leave, the grant must be repaid: 100% if they leave in the first year, 80% if they leave in the second year, and so on.
This is the second ordinance with which Mayor Emanuel and the ordinance co-sponsors spurned Alder Ramirez-Rosa. Three months after the first ordinance was proposed last year, Emanuel proposed a separate ordinance that increased the affordable housing set-aside, and preventing buying out of the affordable housing requirement — without consulting community organizations or Ramirez-Rosa. The “ARO Pilot Areas” ordinance passed and has been in effect since November 1 2017.