HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

To create a curriculum, East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR) is using some of its $7,500 NAR grant to hire local land-use lawyers and a planning consultant.

They want to ensure that it complies with continuing education standards, so REALTORS^® can benefit from the course.

As she builds a course for a growing region, Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for ETNR, emphasizes that the key is offering technical assistance.

She advises other REALTOR^® boards and associations to take a non-intrusive approach to informing elected and appointed officials on best practices.

The goal is to finalize ETNR's course this fall and roll it out in early 2026.

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^®, said ETNR aims to explain policy best practices to local governments.

 "We can help them explore payment in lieu of taxes.

If a developer needs a stoplight for the development, the developer can fund that up front in a payment in lieu of taxes agreement.

Our legal and land-use experts can provide assistance in creating the proper framework."

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

The East Tennessee REALTORS^®, proactive toolkit will include advice for smaller municipalities.

ETNR governmental affairs and policy director McHale is quick to point out that some small jurisdictions are not populated enough to have large planning and economic development staffs.

This program could be as simple as presenting ideas to a city planner, mayor or commission member.

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR), said housing is no longer solely a private-market issue.

"Making sure housing is accessible is a shared opportunity between local government, economic development and planning agencies, and industry groups — everyone should care about housing and do everything we can to support it from a policy standpoint.

Housing affects jobs, the workforce and the shared economic health and success of the entire region."

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR), said like many regions in the United States, the East Tennessee area was not building enough homes for years.

Then the post-pandemic boom created more stresses.

"It is not my job to help a county set its budget," she said. "It is my job to help REALTORS® be more proactive in creating housing and infrastructure to support it."

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

"There are some really fantastic [approaches] that help pay for things," said Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR).

Focusing on solutions that do not artificially raise home prices, hurting potential homebuyers, the way impact fees do.

"Rather than focusing on one policy that we are trying to propose or defeat, we are looking at this holistically."

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR), said the goal is also to create a proactive toolkit to help municipalities solve immediate financial and land-use decisions, while also helping them grow in a way that is sustainable.

The course she is developing is aimed at best practices.

"There are tools such as a development agreement. A developer might be willing to pay for infrastructure immediately, in exchange for some benefits.

There are special assessment districts — they are called different things in different areas.

But the basic idea is when new taxes collected within a development area go toward funding [infrastructure] improvements, that benefits homes and facilities there," McHale said.

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

"They might enact a policy that seems like a short-term solution like impact fees.

That is a long-term solution.

It is regressive, because it impacts homebuyers, especially those who can least afford to pay for that passed on cost," said Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR)

noting that virtually every governmental body in the country is trying to create housing that people can afford, so it is counter to that effort to add high-impact fees to the cost of producing dwelling units.

 

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR) frequently advocates for smart growth decisions at the city and county level — where land-use decisions make a strong impact on the quality of life and future livability of communities where real people reside.

As an advocate for the residents of a 12-county region, ETNR aims to educate decision-makers.

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

"Following the pandemic, we've seen explosive growth. Local governments were not prepared for that, as anyone would not be, due to an unprecedented event — Covid and the way it changed where people wanted to live," said Maria McHale, governmental affairs and policy director for East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR).

"ETNR covers 12 counties — some urban, some rural, some in between," she said.

"We are approaching municipalities with ideas for smart growth."

Founded in 1912, ETNR serves Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Cumberland, Fentress, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Roane, Scott and Union Counties.

The Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area is home to about one million people.

 

HELPING WITH SMART GROWTH AND FINANCIAL STRATEGIES

REALTORS® TAKE ACTION

East Tennessee REALTORS^® (ETNR) is using an NAR grant to plan a proactive course in good government and sustainable financial solutions to keep up with rapid regional growth

Count the greater Knoxville area among the regions that have experienced explosive post-pandemic growth.

To help steer elected officials toward good decisions that foster smart growth and sound financing to serve it, ETNR is working to create a course that will educate municipal officials.

THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT - 39

A GUIDE TO UNIVERSAL DESIGN

To receive the "Universal Accessibility" point, the builder includes, in at least 20% of the single-family homes, the features required by federal law in apartment buildings:

a zero step entrance on an accessible route
wide interior doors, maneuvering space in bathrooms and kitchens
blocking in bathroom walls to allow future grab bars
reachable electrical controls, and
a step-free path of travel through the first floor of the home.

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A GUIDE TO UNIVERSAL DESIGN

LEED-ND awards a point for developments that build single-family homes with basic access.

Visitability is connected to green building practices. Basic access at the time of construction decreases the waste of energy and materials necessitated by retrofits, and makes neighborhoods more sustainable by enabling social interaction, "aging in place," and disability inclusion.

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A GUIDE TO UNIVERSAL DESIGN

The LEED-ND application document reads, in part,: "Enable the widest spectrum of people, regardless of age or ability, to more easily participate in their community life by increasing the proportion of areas that are usable by people of diverse abilities."

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A GUIDE TO UNIVERSAL DESIGN

The LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national system for neighborhood design.

LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a development's location and design meet accepted high levels of environmentally responsible, sustainable development.

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A GUIDE TO UNIVERSAL DESIGN

Features also provide a basic shell of access to permit formerly non-disabled people to remain in homes if they develop a disability, rather than:
forcing them to do expensive renovations
relocate to a different house
live in an inaccessible home which endangers their health and safety, or
move from the community into a nursing home.

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A GUIDE TO UNIVERSAL DESIGN

Although visitability allows for people with disabilities to access the homes of their nondisabled peers, it’s not the only way for people with disabilities to integrate into the built environment.

People with disabilities frequently share common ground with those who advocate the dense, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use developments that are the hallmark of New Urbanism. Auto-dependant urban sprawl creates a struggle for those with mobility and other disabilities.

However, when many New Urbanist developments are built, their housing is inaccessible as well. This is seemingly contradictory to the diverse intergenerational community that is the hallmark of the New Urbanism.

To its credit, the Congress for the New Urbanism has agreed to endorse a visitability agenda to make New Urbanist housing accessible.

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Visitability features make homes easier for people who develop a mobility impairment to visit friends and extended family rather than having to turn down invitations, or not be invited at all.

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A GUIDE TO UNIVERSAL DESIGN

Visitability does not ensure complete residence accessibility but access to principal spaces in a building — the entrance, entry-level floor, and washroom facilities to people with mobility issues. Other accessible features, such as a roll-in shower or accessible kitchen features, are typically not requirements contained in visitability laws.

People undergoing physical rehabilitation from injury or illness can return home earlier, continuing their rehabilitation on an outpatient basis.

Designing for visitability is also convenient to people without disabilities who are using strollers or carriages, or moving furniture in and out of a home. Smaller people and children benefit from accessible light switches and climate controls.

Housing units with visitability features are usually indistinguishable from those without such features.

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A GUIDE TO UNIVERSAL DESIGN

Legislation that calls for designing and constructing built environments sensitive to people with disabilities:

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires "accessibility to places of public accommodation and commercial facilities by individuals with disabilities.”
The Fair Housing Act Amendments passed in 1988 require all new or substantially rehabilitated multifamily housing (i.e., housing with four or more units) to be built with accessible features (i.e., accessible entrances, doors, corridors, reinforced bathroom walls, usable kitchens and bathroom, and accessible climate controls).

These laws require accessible features in public places and multifamily housing units, but not the single-family home. Sixty-nine percent of all housing units in the United States are single-family homes.

These means that many Americans are living in homes not designed for people with disabilities. The increasing number of people with disabilities brought on by the increase in the number of seniors will only serve to exacerbate this situation.