The Albuquerque City Council successfully passed legislation Monday night that seeks to shore up the city’s lack of affordable housing and also reduce homelessness, through a more effective housing voucher program.
Councilors approved a bill that reforms the city’s integrated development ordinance to make it easier to build multifamily housing in residential zones located along main streets and near mass transit — such as Central Avenue and its Albuquerque Rapid Transit stations. The measure also encourages developers to build more duplexes and townhomes, which has considerable support — particularly among the city’s young professionals.
“As a millennial and a husband and a father of a young family, it is crucial that Albuquerque supports affordable housing and economic development if we want to keep young people here and grow our city,” Joshua Martinez, president of the Tres Volcanes Neighborhood Association, said during public comment.
The bill’s passage comes weeks after a new city housing needs assessment estimated the metro needs 55,000 new housing units by 2045 just to catch up.
The measure also requires broader support by those who oppose such projects through the appeals process. Neighborhood associations, for example, would be required to submit petitions signed by a majority of property owners or tenants in certain cases. Administrative appeals for projects on city property would be eliminated altogether.
“We have a housing crisis in our community, whether it’s families hoping to purchase a home [or] people who just want to be able to get fair rent,” Councilor Joaquín Baca, cosponsor of the bill with Councilor Dan Lewis, said. “We have a growing unhoused community. Housing of all types is something that we need here in our city.”
Patricia Wilson, president of the Victory Hills Neighborhood Association, said the city’s lack of housing had little to do with restrictive zoning codes.
“Lack of construction starts has more to do with financing, the price of lumber and the availability of labor than anything in the zoning code,” she said during public comment. “Rather than changing the law to exempt itself from its own rules, the city should address the real reasons folks can’t afford rentals, or live on the streets with addiction and/or mental health issues — the decimation of our behavioral health system by a previous administration and the incursion of private equity investment into residential real estate.”
The bill passed on a 7-2 vote.
Yes: Joaquín Baca, Brook Bassan, Dan Champine, Tammy Fiebelkorn, Renée Grout, Dan Lewis, Nichole Rogers
No: Klarissa Peña, Louie Sanchez
Housing voucher resolution passes, too
Meanwhile, Councilors unanimously passed, on a 9-0 vote, a resolution sponsored by Councilor Renée Grout that requires the city’s housing voucher program to be more effective and transparent. The measure directs the Health, Housing & Homelessness Department (HHH) to create a centralized referral system to better track housing voucher outcomes.
HHH now has 90 days to submit a plan to the City Council that would reduce what is often-cited as a confusing process, riddled with delays for those experiencing homelessness and seeking housing assistance. HHH is also required to issue quarterly progress reports.
For more: New year brings new action on old ABQ problems
In addition, two related social services contracts were unanimously approved that transfer permanent supportive housing voucher recipients once managed by the Supportive Housing Coalition of New Mexico to Albuquerque Heading Home and the Good Shepherd Center.
The shift was needed after the city ended its contract with the Supportive Housing Coalition, alleging the organization misused housing voucher funds and put some voucher recipients at risk of being evicted by landlords who were not being paid.
City officials applauded the Council’s approval of the contracts.
“The timely response to approving these contracts ensures there is no gap in receiving these critical services that could have put people at risk of being back on the streets,” Associate Chief Administrative Officer Carla Martinez, said in a statement.
For more: City ends contracts with housing voucher provider citing fund misuse