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` <br />individua|ee.SidentwjUv8|ueopportuhitiesdifferendv?|ndhort,hovvmurhisenuuOhtosucceed?These <br />are questions Douglas County expects HUD to address as part of these revisions <br />The definitions and examples provided in the Assessment Tool are unclear and highly subjective. <br />Definitions in the Tool are written in broad expansive terms, making it impossible to identify HUD's <br />intent. In the ana!ysis section of the Tool, a Ist of 40 contributing factors is put forward, with the <br />statement that it is not an exhaustive list. Communities are expected to consider these and other factors <br />as part of the analysis, but the definitions and examples provided remain unclear. Many of these 40 <br />factors are ambiguous and potentially contradictory. Furthermore, as the Fair Housing Act is now beirig <br />interpreted to include lack of access to opportunities, our future efforts will be ineffective because local <br />input isdiminished through the prescriptive hst of contributing factors we will be obligated to address in <br />the Tool <br />Douglas County has identified several key concerns with the contributing factors provided in the Tool <br />First and foremost, we question why market driven factors are included on the list of examples of <br />contributing factors For example, the "location of employers" is an important issue driven by the free <br />market. While the connections between work and housing choice are undeniable, local governments are <br />limited in their influence over the market, and should not be held accountable through an Act that is <br />meant to provide fair and equal access to housing. Douglas County supports the business community <br />and ensures that aI land developrnent proposaFs are reviewed fairiy during the panning process <br />lncluded below are twa excerpts from the contributing factors that demonstrate the expansive t.rms <br />and subjectivity that must be resoved The tanguage used in Land Use and Zoning Laws rnplies that <br />zoning is immutable, Well -reasoned communities like Douglas County operate with a zoning ordinance <br />that provides for a variety of zone districts, uses and Iots sizes without federal interference. Rezoning <br />options available through the land developnlent process allows Planned Development (PD) zone districts <br />to inciude muIti-unit and rnixed use developments The contributing factor regarding land use b&ow <br />shoutd be removed from the Tool, and local contro restored: <br />Land Use and Zoning Law,s <br />"The term "land use and zoning lows' generally refers to regulation by local government of the use of <br />land and bui/dings, inc!uding regulation of the types of octivtties that may be conducteci, the density at <br />w6ichthoseoctk/it/es/noybeperfonned'uodd/eoze\shopeund/ocobon of of bw/dings and other <br />structures oro/hen/t/es. Zoning and land use laws affect housing choice by determining where housing is <br />built, what type of housing is built, who con live in that housing, and the cost and accessibility of the <br />housing fxonnp/esofsuch/ououndpolic/es/nc/ude6uto/enut0nx/tedtu. <br />3 <br />/z>.2_�� <br />