PROMOTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

VIA ZONING REFORM

Tom Larson, executive vice president of the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association

Washington County invested $7.5 million to lower the cost of homes in the pilot project. Another $2.5 million is in a downpayment assistance program. 

To get $20,000 of forgivable downpayment funds, a person has to commit to volunteering at a nonprofit to serve the community for five years. 

If the person does not volunteer, they must pay back the loan five years after receiving it, but at zero-percent interest.

Josh Schoemann, county executive of Washington County, Wis., said the county has a “fair amount of rentals” so it is not funding affordable apartments. 

The goal is to create 1,000 units of owner-occupied Next Generation Housing over a decade.

Tom Larson, executive vice president of the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association,  said another provision in Wisconsin, aimed at streamlining workforce housing, places limits on what neighbors have standing to file a court appeal on a zoning decision.

“It limits appeals to those who suffer actual damages.

If you’re a neighbor with stormwater put onto your property. that’s actual damage,” he said. 

“If you are down the road a mile or two and you worry about a few more cars on the road, (due to the development) you do not have standing.

“Under prior law, if you were within a quarter mile of a rezoning, you could file a protest and that triggered a super majority vote. 

Now that does not happen — only a simple majority is required,” he said.