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public use. All of those eight properties are vacant single-family lots and are appropriate for affordable <br />housing (Appendix A of the attached resolution). <br />Of the eight properties on the list, one may not be buildable, since there is an encroachment by a <br />neighboring church. The best use of that property would be for it to be sold to the neighboring church. <br />Three of the other properties on the list were donated to Every Dream Has a Price as part of the 2007 <br />inventory, and then they were returned to the county as not being buildable. One of the properties is <br />being used by a neighbor for access to his house. The other lots appear to be buildable. <br />Alternatives <br />With respect to the referenced surplus properties, the Board of County Commissioners has the <br />following choices: <br />1. To keep them for future use, or <br />2. To surplus them for the provision of affordable housing. <br />Staff supports alternative number 2. Because each of the properties is a lot in a residential <br />subdivision, those properties are not conducive for any standard public use. Consequently, the <br />county does not have any reason to retain those properties. On the other hand, there is a great <br />demand for affordable housing. If the Board decides to surplus the subject properties for the <br />provision of affordable housing, then there are three options available. Those options are: <br />1. Sell the properties and contribute the proceeds to the county's affordable housing trust fund <br />(SHIP Trust Fund), or <br />2. Sell the properties with a deed restriction that requires that the properties be developed as <br />permanent affordable housing, or <br />3. Donate the properties to non-profit housing organizations to construct affordable housing <br />units with deed restrictions to ensure that the properties are maintained as permanent <br />affordable housing. <br />Staff supports option number 1. <br />■ Option 1 <br />Option one is the easiest to implement because it does not require long term monitoring. <br />With that option, funds derived from selling the properties would be deposited in the county's <br />affordable housing trust fund and used for affordable housing program activities such as downpayment <br />and closing cost assistance or rehabilitation assistance. Over the last twenty years, the county's <br />affordable housing program has been extremely successful, providing assistance to 1,568 very low, <br />low, and moderate income households. Most of that assistance has been provided in the form of <br />downpayment and closing cost loans and rehabilitation loans. With that program, the process for <br />providing assistance is already established and only limited monitoring is required. <br />3 55 <br />