093_HB0625sam001 LRB093 05848 MKM 16041 a 1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 625 2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend House Bill 625 by replacing 3 everything after the enacting clause with the following: 4 "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 5 Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act. 6 Section 5. Findings. The legislature finds and declares 7 that: 8 (1) there exists a shortage of affordable, 9 accessible, safe, and sanitary housing in the State; 10 (2) it is imperative that action be taken to assure 11 the availability of workforce and retirement housing; and 12 (3) local governments in the State that do not have 13 sufficient affordable housing are encouraged to assist in 14 providing affordable housing opportunities to assure the 15 health, safety, and welfare of all citizens of the State. 16 Section 10. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to 17 encourage counties and municipalities to incorporate 18 affordable housing within their housing stock sufficient to 19 meet the needs of their county or community. Further, 20 affordable housing developers who believe that they have been 21 unfairly treated due to the fact that the development -2- LRB093 05848 MKM 16041 a 1 contains affordable housing may seek relief from local 2 ordinances and regulations that may inhibit the construction 3 of affordable housing needed to serve low-income and 4 moderate-income households in this State. 5 Section 15. Definitions. As used in this Act: 6 "Affordable housing" means housing that has a sales price 7 or rental amount that is within the means of a household that 8 may occupy moderate-income or low-income housing. In the case 9 of dwelling units for sale, housing that is affordable means 10 housing in which mortgage, amortization, taxes, insurance, 11 and condominium or association fees, if any, constitute no 12 more than 30% of the gross annual household income for a 13 household of the size that may occupy the unit. In the case 14 of dwelling units for rent, housing that is affordable means 15 housing for which the rent and utilities constitute no more 16 than 30% of the gross annual household income for a household 17 of the size that may occupy the unit. 18 "Affordable housing developer" means a nonprofit entity, 19 limited equity cooperative or public agency, or private 20 individual, firm, corporation, or other entity seeking to 21 build an affordable housing development. 22 "Affordable housing development" means (i) any housing 23 that is subsidized by the federal or State government or (ii) 24 any housing in which at least 20% of the dwelling units are 25 subject to covenants or restrictions that require that the 26 dwelling units be sold or rented at prices that preserve them 27 as affordable housing for a period of at least 15 years, in 28 the case of for-sale housing, and at least 30 years, in the 29 case of rental housing. 30 "Approving authority" means the governing body of the 31 county or municipality. 32 "Development" means any building, construction, 33 renovation, or excavation or any material change in the use -3- LRB093 05848 MKM 16041 a 1 or appearance of any structure or in the land itself; the 2 division of land into parcels; or any change in the intensity 3 or use of land, such as an increase in the number of dwelling 4 units in a structure or a change to a commercial use. 5 "Exempt local government" means any local government in 6 which at least 10% of its total year-round housing units are 7 affordable, as determined by the Illinois Housing Development 8 Authority pursuant to Section 20 of this Act; or any 9 municipality under 1,000 population. 10 "Household" means the person or persons occupying a 11 dwelling unit. 12 "Local government" means a county or municipality. 13 "Low-income housing" means housing that is affordable, 14 according to the federal Department of Housing and Urban 15 Development, for either home ownership or rental, and that is 16 occupied, reserved, or marketed for occupancy by households 17 with a gross household income that does not exceed 50% of the 18 median gross household income for households of the same size 19 within the county in which the housing is located. 20 "Moderate-income housing" means housing that is 21 affordable, according to the federal Department of Housing 22 and Urban Development, for either home ownership or rental, 23 and that is occupied, reserved, or marketed for occupancy by 24 households with a gross household income that is greater than 25 50% but does not exceed 80% of the median gross household 26 income for households of the same size within the county in 27 which the housing is located. 28 "Non-appealable local government requirements" means all 29 essential requirements that protect the public health and 30 safety, including any local building, electrical, fire, or 31 plumbing code requirements or those requirements that are 32 critical to the protection or preservation of the 33 environment. -4- LRB093 05848 MKM 16041 a 1 Section 20. Determination of exempt local governments. 2 (a) Beginning January 1, 2006, the Illinois Housing 3 Development Authority shall determine which local governments 4 are exempt and not exempt from the operation of this Act 5 based on an identification of the total number of year-round 6 housing units in the most recent decennial census for each 7 local government within the State and by an inventory of 8 for-sale and rental affordable housing units, as defined in 9 this Act, for each local government from the decennial census 10 and other relevant sources. 11 (b) The Illinois Housing Development Authority shall 12 make this determination by: 13 (i) totaling the number of for-sale housing units 14 in each local government that are affordable to 15 households with a gross household income that is less 16 than 80% of the median household income within the county 17 or primary metropolitan statistical area; 18 (ii) totaling the number of rental units in each 19 local government that are affordable to households with a 20 gross household income that is less than 60% of the 21 median household income within the county or primary 22 metropolitan statistical area; 23 (iii) adding the number of for-sale and rental 24 units for each local government from items (i) and (ii); 25 and 26 (iv) dividing the sum of (iii) above by the total 27 number of year-round housing units in the local 28 government as contained in the latest decennial census 29 and multiplying the result by 100 to determine the 30 percentage of affordable housing units within the 31 jurisdiction of the local government. 32 (c) Beginning January 1, 2006, the Illinois Housing 33 Development Authority shall publish on an annual basis a list 34 of exempt and non-exempt local governments and the data that -5- LRB093 05848 MKM 16041 a 1 it used to calculate its determination. The data shall be 2 shown for each local government in the State and for the 3 State as a whole. 4 (d) A local government or developer of affordable 5 housing may appeal the determination of the Illinois Housing 6 Development Authority as to whether the local government is 7 exempt or non-exempt under this Act in connection with an 8 appeal under Section 30 of this Act. 9 Section 25. Affordable housing plan. 10 (a) Prior to July 1, 2004, all non-exempt local 11 governments must approve an affordable housing plan. 12 (b) For the purposes of this Act, the affordable housing 13 plan shall consist of at least the following: 14 (i) a statement of the total number of affordable 15 housing units that are necessary to exempt the local 16 government from the operation of this Act as defined in 17 Section 15 and Section 20; 18 (ii) an identification of lands within the 19 jurisdiction that are most appropriate for the 20 construction of affordable housing and of existing 21 structures most appropriate for conversion to, or 22 rehabilitation for, affordable housing, including a 23 consideration of lands and structures of developers who 24 have expressed a commitment to provide affordable housing 25 and lands and structures that are publicly or 26 semi-publicly owned; 27 (iii) incentives that local governments may provide 28 for the purpose of attracting affordable housing to their 29 jurisdiction; and 30 (iv) a goal of a minimum of 15% of all new 31 development or redevelopment within the local government 32 that would be defined as affordable housing in this Act; 33 or a minimum of a 3 percentage point increase in the -6- LRB093 05848 MKM 16041 a 1 overall percentage of affordable housing within its 2 jurisdiction, as defined in Section 20 of this Act; or a 3 minimum of a total of 10% of affordable housing within 4 its jurisdiction. 5 (c) Within 60 days after the adoption of an affordable 6 housing plan or revisions to its affordable housing plan, the 7 local government must submit a copy of that plan to the 8 Illinois Housing Development Authority. 9 Section 30. Appeal to State Housing Appeals Board. 10 (a) Beginning January 1, 2006, an affordable housing 11 developer whose application is either denied or approved with 12 conditions that in his or her judgment render the provision 13 of affordable housing infeasible may, within 45 days after 14 the decision, submit to the State Housing Appeals Board 15 information regarding why the developer believes he or she 16 was unfairly denied or conditions were placed upon the 17 tentative approval of the development unless the local 18 government that rendered the decision is exempt under Section 19 15 or Section 20 of this Act. The Board shall maintain all 20 information forwarded to them by developers and shall compile 21 and make available an annual report summarizing the 22 information thus received. 23 (b) Beginning January 1, 2009, an affordable housing 24 developer whose application is either denied or approved with 25 conditions that in his or her judgment render the provision 26 of affordable housing infeasible may, within 45 days after 27 the decision, appeal to the State Housing Appeals Board 28 challenging that decision unless the municipality or county 29 that rendered the decision is exempt under Section 15 of this 30 Act. The developer must submit information regarding why the 31 developer believes he or she was unfairly denied or 32 unreasonable conditions were placed upon the tentative 33 approval of the development. -7- LRB093 05848 MKM 16041 a 1 (c) Beginning January 1, 2009, the Board shall render a 2 decision on the appeal within 120 days after the appeal is 3 filed. In its determination of an appeal, the Board shall 4 conduct a de novo review of the matter. In rendering its 5 decision, the Board shall consider the facts and whether the 6 developer was treated in a manner that places an undue burden 7 on the development due to the fact that the development 8 contains affordable housing as defined in this Act. The Board 9 shall further consider any action taken by the unit of local 10 government in regards to granting waivers or variances that 11 would have the effect of creating or prohibiting the economic 12 viability of the development. In any proceeding before the 13 Board, the developer bears the burden of demonstrating that 14 he or she has been unfairly denied or unreasonable conditions 15 have been placed upon the tentative approval for the 16 application for an affordable housing development. 17 (d) The Board shall dismiss any appeal if: 18 (i) the local government has adopted an affordable 19 housing plan as defined in Section 25 of this Act and 20 submitted that plan to the Illinois Housing Development 21 Authority within the time frame required by this Act; and 22 (ii) the local government has implemented its 23 affordable housing plan and has met its goal as 24 established in its affordable housing plan as defined in 25 Section 25 of this Act. 26 (e) The Board shall dismiss any appeal if the reason for 27 denying the application or placing conditions upon the 28 approval is a non-appealable local government requirement 29 under Section 15 of this Act. 30 (f) The Board may affirm, reverse, or modify the 31 conditions of, or add conditions to, a decision made by the 32 approving authority. The decision of the Board constitutes an 33 order directed to the approving authority and is binding on 34 the local government. -8- LRB093 05848 MKM 16041 a 1 (g) The appellate court has the exclusive jurisdiction 2 to review decisions of the Board. 3 Section 40. Nonresidential development as part of an 4 affordable housing development. 5 (a) An affordable housing developer who applies to 6 develop property that contains nonresidential uses in a 7 nonresidential zoning district must designate either at least 8 50% of the area or at least 50% of the square footage of the 9 development for residential use. Unless adjacent to a 10 residential development, the nonresidential zoning district 11 shall not include property zoned industrial. The applicant 12 bears the burden of proof of demonstrating that the purposes 13 of a nonresidential zoning district will not be impaired by 14 the construction of housing in the zoning district and that 15 the public health and safety of the residents of the 16 affordable housing will not be adversely affected by 17 nonresidential uses either in existence or permitted in that 18 zoning district. The development should be completed 19 simultaneously to the extent possible and shall be unified in 20 design. 21 (b) For purposes of subsection (a), the square footage 22 of the residential portion of the development shall be 23 measured by the interior floor area of dwelling units, 24 excluding that portion that is unheated. Square footage of 25 the nonresidential portion shall be calculated according to 26 the gross leasable area. 27 Section 50. Housing Appeals Board. 28 (a) Prior to July 1, 2006, a Housing Appeals Board shall 29 be created consisting of 7 members appointed by the Governor 30 as follows: 31 (1) a retired circuit judge or retired appellate 32 judge, who shall act as chairperson; -9- LRB093 05848 MKM 16041 a 1 (2) a zoning board of appeals member; 2 (3) a planning board member; 3 (4) a mayor or municipal council or board member; 4 (5) a county board member; 5 (6) an affordable housing developer; and 6 (7) an affordable housing advocate. 7 In addition, the Chairman of the Illinois Housing 8 Development Authority, ex officio, shall serve as a 9 non-voting member. No more than 4 of the appointed members 10 may be from the same political party. Appointments under 11 items (2), (3), and (4) shall be from local governments that 12 are not exempt under this Act. 13 (b) Initial terms of 4 members designated by the 14 Governor shall be for 2 years. Initial terms of 3 members 15 designated by the Governor shall be for one year. Thereafter, 16 members shall be appointed for terms of 2 years. A member 17 shall receive no compensation for his or her services, but 18 shall be reimbursed by the State for all reasonable expenses 19 actually and necessarily incurred in the performance of his 20 or her official duties. The board shall hear all petitions 21 for review filed under this Act and shall conduct all 22 hearings in accordance with the rules and regulations 23 established by the chairperson. The Illinois Housing 24 Development Authority shall provide space and clerical and 25 other assistance that the Board may require. 26 (c) The Illinois Housing Development Authority may adopt 27 such other rules and regulations as it deems necessary and 28 appropriate to carry out the Board's responsibilities under 29 this Act and to provide direction to local governments and 30 affordable housing developers.".