Title
Resolution promoting affordable housing in the City of Pittsburgh by exploring the expansion of Limited-Equity Housing Cooperatives (LECs).
Body
WHEREAS, according to the 2020 Census, The City of Pittsburgh's population has been in decline since 2000 with its population decreasing 0.89% over the last decade and 13.4% of Black residents leaving the city; and,
WHEREAS, advocates attribute this drop in population to a lack of quality, affordable housing within the City of Pittsburgh; and,
WHEREAS, The Housing Needs Assessment, provided to the City of Pittsburgh's Affordable Housing Task Force in 2016, reported that there is a citywide deficit of 14,896 units that are affordable and available to households earning 30% of the median household income or below, a figure that has undoubtedly grown since the inception of the COVID-19 Pandemic; and,
WHEREAS, the City has established housing affordability targets in its Affordable Housing Task Force Findings and Recommendations in 2016 to encourage the creation and protection of housing affordable to people from a range of ages, incomes, and family sizes; and
WHEREAS, the report included recommendations, including the creation of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Housing Opportunity Fund, the implementation of inclusionary zoning policies and interim planning overlay districts, the preservation of existing affordable housing, and the protection of existing homeowners and renters; and
WHEREAS, LECs provide a viable economic solution to combat affordable housing crises and, simultaneously, foster a host of non-economic benefits that can work to catalyze the social and economic growth of their residents; and,
WHEREAS, in 2020, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania adopted the amended Pennsylvania Real Estate Cooperative Act, further regulating the creation, alteration, management, and termination of cooperatives, along with providing protection for cooperative interest purchasers; and,
WHEREAS, The Cit...
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