[11:34] All right. Um, thank you very much

[11:38] everyone for attending this meeting. Uh,

[11:40] the intent of this meeting is just as a

[11:42] a a communitywide workshop on the topic

[11:45] of housing. We have a lot of good

[11:47] information to share and um and I'm

[11:50] going to be very brief with my initial

[11:52] remarks. Um this is a a a town planning

[11:55] department-led meeting. I will note uh

[11:58] that we had an agenda posted for both

[12:00] the planning commission and the town

[12:02] council. Those agendas were posted for

[12:04] the idea that if a quorum of that group

[12:07] attended, they should call to order so

[12:09] they can just join the discussion. But

[12:11] really this is a a a staff level meeting

[12:13] in which council members and commission

[12:15] members are attending. Um I do note we

[12:18] do have a quorum of the planning

[12:19] commission. Uh chairman Colonian if you

[12:21] don't mind just calling us to order.

[12:27] July 20th for this joint workshop. This

[12:32] time

[12:34] here Kenny here price

[12:37] >> here. Secretary Burke here, Vice

[12:41] » here. Secretary Burke here, Vice

[12:41] President here, and I'm here as chair

[12:44] and for the record at this time

[12:48] in

[12:49] >> Thank you very much. And I would note we

[12:51] » Thank you very much. And I would note we

[12:52] have three council members present in

[12:53] the room. Um not quite a quorum. Uh so

[12:56] uh but everybody is free to join the

[12:58] discussion to offer feedback, engage in

[13:00] all the exercises that we'll have. Um so

[13:04] without further ado, our first speaker

[13:07] is from the state uh executive office of

[13:09] housing uh secretary Deborah Goddard and

[13:12] thank you very much for joining us

[13:14] today.

[13:21] » I thought he was going to say she's from

[13:22] the state and she's here to help us. But

[13:24] [laughter]

[13:27] » thank you uh for inviting me here. I'm

[13:29] just going to give sort of a big picture

[13:31] uh perspective from the state level. Uh

[13:34] the executive office of housing is a

[13:36] fairly new agency for the state. We are

[13:38] the lead policy agency in terms of

[13:41] housing. A lot of you know Rhode Island

[13:43] Housing. They are your housing finance

[13:45] agency. Their focus is on lending and

[13:47] they've been around forever doing an

[13:49] excellent job with that. Um so we are an

[13:52] agency of your state. I report to the

[13:55] governor.

[13:56] So, uh, quickly let's start with how did

[14:00] we get here? We all hear housing crisis,

[14:02] housing problem. Uh, most Rhode

[14:04] Islanders acknowledge that we need more

[14:06] housing that they know there's a crunch

[14:07] because most of us are feeling it. Uh,

[14:10] it's really, I like to say, economics

[14:12] 101. Uh, development cost since February

[14:15] 2020, cost of construction has increased

[14:18] 40%.

[14:20] From 2012 to 22, 10 years, land values

[14:24] in Rhode Island increased 81%.

[14:28] Between 2018 and 2024, home sales

[14:32] increased 65%, rents increased 60% and

[14:36] wages increased 29%. There's the formula

[14:40] uh in large part for why we are where we

[14:42] are. But we also have not been building

[14:45] housing. Uh Rhode Island has ranked last

[14:48] for quite some years in the number of

[14:50] building housing building permits issued

[14:52] per person in the state. We dug a hole.

[14:56] We're going to try and dig out of it.

[14:58] You've certainly been a partner and are

[15:00] going to be a partner in digging out,

[15:02] but it's going to take us a while and

[15:04] it's going to take a collective effort.

[15:07] We are making progress. Um if we go back

[15:10] one, sorry, we are making progress. Some

[15:13] notes down there. Uh the pace of

[15:15] building permits across the street has

[15:17] picked up. Uh last year was the best

[15:19] year since uh precoid days. So we're

[15:23] starting to get where we need to be. Um

[15:27] this is a chart staff put together today

[15:29] and it really reflects those stats I

[15:31] just gave you. in the red. That red gap

[15:34] starting particularly in around 2122

[15:38] is the difference between household

[15:41] median income in Coventry and what you

[15:44] need to buy a single family home. And

[15:46] that pretty much tracks with that data

[15:48] about when did what happened with land

[15:50] costs, what happened with construction

[15:51] costs, and there's the inevitable

[15:54] outcome. And that's just Coventry.

[16:00] One thing I like to touch on is what is

[16:02] affordable housing. Um, it refers means

[16:06] you don't pay more than 30% of your

[16:08] income for housing. Um, if you pay more

[16:10] than that, then you're considered

[16:13] costbururdened. You have trouble filling

[16:15] other needs, transportation, food,

[16:18] health insurance, whatever. That's a

[16:20] standard that's been a golden standard

[16:22] across the nation for quite decades and

[16:24] decades. As long as I've been in the

[16:25] business, for sure. In Rhode Island, the

[16:29] average rent for a two-bedroom apartment

[16:30] is, as you can read, over $2,300 a

[16:33] month. And a household would need to

[16:35] earn 92 over 92, almost $93,000.

[16:38] I really like to put numbers and to

[16:41] these uh terms we use because affordable

[16:44] housing gets a bad rap and people often

[16:48] think it's for them or those others. But

[16:51] when you start seeing these numbers, you

[16:52] see this is, you know, this is us. This

[16:54] is our neighbors. These are our kids.

[16:56] These are the people who want to come

[16:57] take entry- level jobs. Average single

[17:00] family home costs 475,000.

[17:03] Uh you need $158,000 a year income to

[17:07] support that. According to Housing Works

[17:09] Rhode Island, that's out of Roger

[17:10] Williams University. They publish a

[17:12] factbook every year. It's just loaded

[17:14] with great data. It's online if you want

[17:16] it at Housing Works Rhode Island. um

[17:20] 142,000

[17:22] almost 143,000 households are rent

[17:25] burdened, meaning they spend more than

[17:26] 30%

[17:28] on uh housing. What does this look like

[17:32] uh briefly for Coventry? So, our data

[17:35] shows that your average rent for

[17:37] two-bedroom is about 20 $2,000 a month,

[17:40] meaning you need to earn again over

[17:42] $83,000 to afford it. Um,

[17:46] you need an annual income of 140,000

[17:48] plus uh to a Oh, I'm sorry. I did not

[17:52] edit that one. Well, um to afford a

[17:55] starter home. Half of renters in

[17:57] Coventry are costburdened and almost a

[17:59] quarter of homeowners are

[18:00] costbururdened. So again, statewide

[18:03] issue. Um but every community is feeling

[18:05] this pain including Coventry and I know

[18:07] that's why you all are here.

[18:11] So what is the state doing big picture?

[18:13] Um, we have created um, housing 2030.

[18:16] It's the first time the state has had a

[18:17] plan since uh, in almost 20 years. Hard

[18:21] uh, to know where you're going, what you

[18:23] need to do, and talk about it when you

[18:26] don't have a plan. We now have a plan.

[18:28] Uh, big picture, by the end of 2030, we

[18:32] want to have permitted 15,000 new homes.

[18:34] And within that, there's a goal for uh,

[18:37] accessory dwelling units, which may look

[18:39] small. Um when you see the number it's I

[18:41] think it's 525 new accessory dwelling

[18:44] units that actually would triple

[18:45] production uh historic production. Uh we

[18:48] have a goal for middle market. We say

[18:50] middle market we don't need mean

[18:52] necessarily middle income. We mean town

[18:54] homes that that that as opposed to

[18:57] largecale rental um and single family

[19:00] homeowner home ownership uh cottages,

[19:03] courts, town homes. That's what that

[19:05] middle market is. and a lot of it is not

[19:08] cannot be built in the state under zone

[19:10] current zoning. Um again a goal for

[19:13] affordable rental. We also can't uh lose

[19:16] what we have. So we want to make sure we

[19:18] pay attention to the affordable housing

[19:19] we do have and preserve it. Um so those

[19:23] those are our big picture goals.

[19:26] I know you're here tonight to talk about

[19:28] your comprehensive plan. Um this is

[19:32] really critical. You know this is your

[19:34] road map. We've we've created 2030. This

[19:36] is your road mapap again to explain

[19:38] where you're going, what you're trying

[19:39] to do. Uh it does have to be consistent

[19:42] with housing 2030. We will be uh

[19:45] reviewing uh all of the comp plans the

[19:47] communities submit. You can look right

[19:49] there to Josh Barry, our planner. He'll

[19:51] be leading the way. Um [snorts] some of

[19:53] you know him. He's was a local planner.

[19:56] Uh we want want you to discuss the ways

[19:59] you can expand overall housing

[20:00] production consistent with the needs

[20:02] that you have and the needs that the

[20:03] state has. Where are your opportunities

[20:06] to expand middle market housing and

[20:08] ADUs? And what are your efforts to

[20:10] preserve homes with expiring use

[20:12] restrictions? So for instance, if you've

[20:13] had comp permit projects that had

[20:15] 30-year deed restrictions, let's check

[20:17] them out. Are they coming to the end of

[20:19] it? You know, do we need to do something

[20:21] um to extend that? And uh we we want to

[20:24] be helpful. Um, I haven't gone into it.

[20:26] This isn't a sales job for the

[20:28] department, but really any of the issues

[20:30] you have, uh, we want to be helpful.

[20:32] And, uh, I just want to say you have

[20:35] got, you know, great staff. Um, I ran

[20:39] the list of all the grants that, uh,

[20:43] Doug and his staff have achieved in the

[20:44] last couple years. Um, help with

[20:46] planning for TDU, a TD, transport,

[20:49] transit, transit origin development. um

[20:52] looking at your your comp plan um as

[20:56] well as participating in our municipal

[20:59] um fellows program which helped fund

[21:01] well did fund um has funded uh planning

[21:04] planner positions in a number of towns.

[21:06] We had eight awards. You are one of

[21:09] them. I'm going to be turning this back

[21:10] to your municipal fellow in a second. Um

[21:13] and uh it's been I think it's been a

[21:16] real success. We heard from members uh

[21:18] that came to a league meeting that

[21:19] communities are often overwhelmed by

[21:21] what's coming at them. They don't have

[21:22] enough staff to address it and deal with

[21:24] it. And so we put out this grant

[21:26] program. Uh the fellows are hired by

[21:29] your the community. Um and I'm happy to

[21:32] say uh that was from federal funding

[21:34] that no longer exists, but Rhode Island

[21:36] Housing has agreed to fund another round

[21:38] out of their own proceeds. So, that's

[21:41] really what I was here to do, to set the

[21:42] stage for a more in-depth conversation

[21:45] um and introduce the executive office to

[21:47] you. We are here to help. Um and with

[21:50] that, I'm going to turn it to your

[21:51] municipal fellow.

[22:10] right here.

[22:13] >> All right. Uh thank you, Secretary

[22:15] » All right. Uh thank you, Secretary

[22:15] Goddard. Um as she alluded to, I am the

[22:17] municipal state funded uh municipal

[22:19] housing fellow for the town of Coventry.

[22:21] Um last year from July to December, we

[22:24] conducted a housing needs survey with

[22:26] Town of Coventry residents. We promoted

[22:28] in various ways. We got um a little over

[22:30] 350 responses and we got a a wealth of

[22:34] good data um to use in our comp plan.

[22:37] Um, so these survey responses indicated

[22:39] that housing availability and

[22:40] affordability is top of mind for a lot

[22:42] of Coventry residents. Um, there are

[22:44] clear concerns about the cost of

[22:45] housing, both uh, home prices and uh,

[22:48] rent. Um, and there's also a desire for

[22:51] diverse housing options. People

[22:52] expressing they want mixed use housing.

[22:54] They want uh, multif family um, ADUs.

[22:57] There's broad support for affordable

[22:59] home ownership and affordable rental

[23:00] units. um strong support for adaptive

[23:03] reuse of underutilized uh vacant

[23:05] commercial buildings and plazas. A

[23:07] number of residents brought up uh

[23:08] specific uh buildings and uh strips in

[23:12] town in our commercial corridors in our

[23:14] industrial areas. Um there is also a

[23:16] desire for walkability and connectivity

[23:18] um as important neighborhood

[23:19] characteristics. Number of residents

[23:21] comparing um Coventry to other towns

[23:23] that have more of a a town center. Um

[23:26] there's also a strong desire to preserve

[23:28] existing open space and green areas. Uh

[23:30] this is a rural town. Um and then

[23:32] general support for new housing

[23:33] development, established villages in

[23:35] major roadway corridors um mainly in our

[23:38] eastern uh section of town, center New

[23:40] England um and commercial corridors in

[23:43] Route 3.

[23:45] So this was um I'm not going to go over

[23:47] all the questions, but just a highlight

[23:48] of some of the ones we got good

[23:50] responses for. Question two asked if any

[23:52] of the following applied to you. So, we

[23:54] had um 147 people said that they know

[23:57] someone who's moved or will move due to

[23:59] housing costs. Um 89 people say they

[24:02] can't afford to buy in Coventry. 71

[24:05] people said they can't afford to rent.

[24:07] Um and people who are indicating they

[24:09] will move uh due to housing costs, 61

[24:12] people. Um and just a quote that I've

[24:14] excerpted from one of our open-ended

[24:16] responses, someone saying, "We were

[24:18] forced to move and house prices and

[24:20] interest rates in all places forced us

[24:21] to spend our life savings. We still have

[24:23] a mortgage that makes it hard to get by.

[24:25] It is $3,000 a month with 50% of our

[24:28] take-home income. Rental rates for

[24:29] family of five were no better. A number

[24:32] of sentiments like this in the survey

[24:33] expressed.

[24:36] All right. In question four, so asking

[24:38] people about what housing types they

[24:40] would like to see in the future. Um

[24:42] single family was dominant, but a number

[24:44] of people 182 people saying they want

[24:46] two family, 124 people wanting multif

[24:48] family. Um there were also people uh

[24:51] wanting um housing that is aimed at

[24:53] protected groups, people with

[24:54] disabilities, the homeless, uh the

[24:56] elderly, um that sort of thing. Uh

[24:59] people looking at mixed use, uh condos,

[25:03] um and a number of people looking at uh

[25:05] accessory dwelling units, 140 people.

[25:10] All right. And then question six was one

[25:11] of our open-ended questions. is we ask

[25:13] people to uh write an action or strategy

[25:15] they think uh could promote uh co in

[25:17] Coventry uh affordable housing uh uh and

[25:21] availability.

[25:23] Um so we kind of categorize these into

[25:25] uh different groups looking people just

[25:27] generally saying they want to build more

[25:29] homes, people wanting to increase

[25:30] affordable housing. Um you know focusing

[25:34] on infrastructure readiness, sewer and

[25:36] water in our eastern section of town. Um

[25:38] taxes is is top of mind of course here.

[25:42] uh multif family homes. Um some people

[25:45] uh posted development um reusing and uh

[25:48] reuse and revitalization of existing

[25:50] buildings. Um and then support for uh

[25:54] senior housing zoning reform.

[25:57] Um and then we had a number of

[25:58] miscellaneous categories, people just

[26:00] coming up with their own unique

[26:01] solutions that didn't fit those

[26:03] categories. Um this is a quote that I

[26:05] excerpted just one idea that we got. Um

[26:07] a key strategy to improve af housing

[26:10] affordability and availability in

[26:11] Coventry would be to support the

[26:13] development of mixeduse highdensity

[26:14] housing near transport hubs and town

[26:16] center. Uh this approach maximizes land

[26:19] use efficiency, reduces infrastructure

[26:21] costs, and encourages walkability.

[26:23] Additionally, implementing incentives

[26:24] for developers to include a percentage

[26:26] of affordable units in new projects can

[26:28] ensure a steady supply of affordable

[26:30] housing without relying uh solely on

[26:31] public funding. And this will translate

[26:33] into some of the policies you'll see

[26:35] later.

[26:37] Um, and like I said, um, you know, a

[26:40] number of people saying that, uh, they

[26:42] strongly agree that, uh, affordable home

[26:44] ownership units and affordable rental

[26:46] units are, uh, needed in Coventry.

[26:52] And the last one, we asked people where

[26:55] what areas of town or villages in

[26:56] Coventry would they like to see future

[26:58] housing development? um you know um

[27:01] people pointing to Eastern Coventry and

[27:04] um those areas near the West Warick

[27:05] border. Um a few people calling out

[27:08] Almax and Kmart um that vacant lot um

[27:11] people some people pointing to Western

[27:13] Coventry um center New England central

[27:16] Coventry um and then Rout route three

[27:19] are Neneck Hill Road and Tyog Avenue our

[27:22] commercial corridor and then a number of

[27:24] other miscellaneous responses. So that

[27:26] is just a high level overview of the

[27:28] survey results we got and it's on the

[27:30] planning department web page if you want

[27:31] to read more about it.

[27:47] » Hello everyone. Uh my name is Ashley. I

[27:50] am a team leader at Weston in Samson and

[27:52] we have been working with the town of

[27:54] Coventry to update your housing chapter.

[27:58] Um we're going to go through a brief

[28:01] presentation with you and then give you

[28:03] some instructions. We have some stations

[28:04] set up around the room. We're going to

[28:06] ask you to help us and participate in a

[28:08] in an exercise with us. Um I have a

[28:11] couple of people here with me. Elizabeth

[28:13] Haney is in the back. She's going to do

[28:14] a bulk of this presentation and go over

[28:17] key findings. Um, we've done an an a

[28:20] needs analysis and looked at housing

[28:22] data in Coventry and she's going to give

[28:26] you an overview of those key findings.

[28:29] We've used that information to draft

[28:31] along with staff's help um a set of

[28:34] goals, policies, and actions that are

[28:37] directly related to those key findings.

[28:40] Um, and so we're going to go over that

[28:41] with you and sort of ask you to keep

[28:43] these key findings in mind as you go

[28:46] through these exercises. think about the

[28:49] things that we we've highlighted here.

[28:51] Um it speaks to what is happening in

[28:53] Coventry, where people are struggling,

[28:56] where the need is for types of housing.

[28:58] Um so it's an important part of the

[29:01] process to make sure that we can

[29:03] understand and have a baseline for where

[29:05] Coventry is so that we can help you

[29:07] develop goals, policies, and actions

[29:09] that help to solve some of those

[29:11] problems and move Coventry forward in

[29:13] terms of its housing needs.

[29:15] Um we're going to go through um then

[29:19] we'll go through sort of explaining to

[29:21] you how to walk through each of the

[29:22] exercises and then we would ask you once

[29:24] you've done that to stick around. We'll

[29:26] open up for some questions and we can

[29:28] have a brief kind of dialogue and we can

[29:31] try to answer some of your your

[29:32] questions. Next slide.

[29:36] Um we have information for you here.

[29:38] There is on the town's website there is

[29:40] a page that is dedicated to the

[29:42] comprehensive plan. So, please visit

[29:44] that that website. Um, there's a lot

[29:46] more information that's posted up there

[29:48] that can help you understand the work

[29:51] that the town is doing with this. Um,

[29:53] and Doug has graciously encouraged all

[29:55] of you to please email him if you have

[29:57] questions, specific comments. Um, get in

[30:00] touch with him and the department and

[30:02] that is really the best way to get your

[30:04] questions answered and to get your kind

[30:06] of your concerns on record with the

[30:08] department as they work through this

[30:09] process.

[30:11] Doug, if you wouldn't mind talking a

[30:13] little bit about why we're here. The

[30:15] town has just recently um adopted a a

[30:19] new updated comprehensive plan that

[30:21] includes a housing chapter. We were

[30:24] hired through one of those fantastic

[30:26] grants that Doug was able to secure for

[30:27] your community to take a much deeper

[30:30] dive on your housing chapter and really

[30:32] start to dig into what's going on in the

[30:34] community so that we could help you

[30:35] refine those goals, policies, and

[30:37] actions to be really specific to what's

[30:41] actually going on on the ground to make

[30:43] sure that we can address the need as

[30:44] best we can in the community. So, if

[30:46] Doug, if you'd like to speak any more to

[30:47] that.

[30:48] >> Sure. Um, we're taking an interesting

[30:51] » Sure. Um, we're taking an interesting

[30:51] approach. Some folks might recall that

[30:53] we adopted a new comprehensive plan for

[30:56] our entire community uh just in June of

[31:00] this year. Uh so the question would be

[31:02] if we just adopted a comprehensive plan,

[31:04] what are we doing here tonight? Um we

[31:06] took this strategy because we had not

[31:09] had a comprehensive plan for uh 27

[31:12] years. So it had been a long time

[31:14] coming. We uh knew there were a lot of

[31:17] things we wanted to achieve with this

[31:18] comprehensive plan and some of them were

[31:21] time-sensitive. So, we had an important

[31:22] need to get a comprehensive plan on the

[31:24] books. However, um we didn't feel great

[31:28] about the housing chapter that we had at

[31:29] the time to be honest. Um we had a

[31:32] comprehensive plan that um when I first

[31:34] came on board the town, which was about

[31:36] three years ago, was um just being

[31:38] submitted to the state statewide

[31:39] planning. uh statewide planning was

[31:42] considering um comments on the plan. At

[31:45] that point, the town's housing chapter

[31:47] said its strategy for developing

[31:50] affordable housing was that later on we

[31:53] would develop a plan to tell us how we

[31:55] would develop affordable housing. So, we

[31:56] had no meat, no details. That doesn't

[31:59] work for the state. At the end of the

[32:01] day, we're all here to comment on

[32:03] policies. We're all here to comment on a

[32:04] comprehensive plan. Ultimately, the plan

[32:06] is guided by state level documents that

[32:09] tell us topics that we need to hit. Um,

[32:12] so we actually need to tell tell people

[32:14] in our comprehensive plan how we're

[32:16] going to achieve and make progress with

[32:17] affordable housing. And we hadn't did

[32:20] that. We didn't do that in our first

[32:21] draft. Staff spent some time um trying

[32:24] to work strategies into place. Uh it

[32:27] took a it took a while. We were working

[32:28] with stakeholders. We assembled some

[32:30] groups of stakeholders to give us

[32:32] feedback on this. Um, and then we

[32:35] realized that a period of time had

[32:37] passed. A lot of the data that we were

[32:39] relying on was getting a little stale.

[32:42] And around that time, we found money to

[32:44] hire a consultant really just to focus

[32:46] on this particular element, this

[32:48] chapter, which if you're asking me is

[32:50] one of the most critical chapters to

[32:53] this community. Um, we certainly are a

[32:56] community that is seeing a lot of

[32:57] interest um from the development sector.

[33:00] um a lot of available land in Coventry.

[33:03] Um not all projects are uh created

[33:06] equal. Not all projects have been uh

[33:08] well-loved by all the neighbors. That's

[33:10] fair to say. But um Coventry is a

[33:13] community that has a lot of increased

[33:16] interest in development. Uh and there

[33:18] are a lot of projects that are being

[33:20] cited in uh good locations. Um, but long

[33:24] story short is in the midst of this, we

[33:26] wanted to really nail down and make sure

[33:27] the policies of our comprehensive plan

[33:29] were were sound. We were growing the way

[33:31] that we wanted to. And that's why we're

[33:34] revisiting this element in particular.

[33:36] The goal is that as the state is right

[33:39] now reviewing our recently adopted

[33:41] comprehensive plan, by the time we're

[33:43] rounding this element into shape, it

[33:46] will actually realign and the overall

[33:48] plan will both reach uh state approval

[33:52] as well as being to able to incorporate

[33:54] the recent revised chapter that we're

[33:56] working on now. So, a bit of a unique

[33:58] approach for folks that are wondering

[34:01] what are we here for and and how does

[34:02] this correlate to the plan we adopted

[34:04] last month? That's a little That's

[34:06] probably enough for me. Thanks, Ashley.

[34:08] >> Thank you.

[34:09] » Thank you.

[34:09] Next slide.

[34:11] So, I'm going to ask Elizabeth to come

[34:13] up and speak to us about the key

[34:16] findings and the needs assessment that

[34:19] was done. And again, we're asking you to

[34:22] sort of keep this framework in mind,

[34:25] keep this information in mind as you

[34:27] walk through these stations. It's how

[34:29] the um goals and policies were generated

[34:32] and it's where the action items came

[34:34] from was all based on this needs

[34:36] assessment and the data findings that

[34:38] that came out of that.

[34:44] » Thanks everybody. Got to move this down.

[34:46] Not tall enough today. I didn't wear the

[34:47] right shoes. Um so thanks for having me.

[34:50] My name is Elizabeth. Um and so um we

[34:54] have slides with each of our I think

[34:55] it's nine key findings. And so the first

[34:57] one is around u the characteristics of

[34:59] Coventry's housing stock. And so 76% of

[35:02] Coventry's housing stock is uh single

[35:04] family detached housing. Um and that

[35:07] compares to the county which is uh 67%.

[35:10] And for the state um that's closer to

[35:12] 56%. And that that gap kind of

[35:14] historically has widened. So Coventry's

[35:16] housing stock has gone to more towards

[35:18] single family in contrast to the state

[35:21] and the county overall. um in Coventry 2

[35:25] to four unit buildings which is

[35:27] sometimes called the missing middle um

[35:29] is just 5.7% of the stock versus 22%

[35:32] statewide. Um something really unique

[35:35] about Coventry is actually that 6.5% of

[35:38] the housing units in Coventry are

[35:39] manufactured homes. Um it's over a

[35:41] thousand units in five parks. Um that's

[35:44] seven times the amount um of uh like the

[35:48] typical state rate. Um, and the

[35:50] characteristics of those parks vary in

[35:52] terms of which ones have affordability

[35:54] restrictions and which ones are resident

[35:55] owned communities versus which ones are

[35:57] privately owned. Um, which we'll get to

[35:59] more later. Um, you can go to the next

[36:01] slide, please. Or hold on, let me check.

[36:04] Okay. Um so in terms of ownership and

[36:09] renters um the median single family home

[36:11] price is uh 40 sorry 438,000 in 2025 and

[36:17] that's tripled since 2000 um which was

[36:19] around 12 24,000 in 2000 um condos as of

[36:24] last year and this can vary because of

[36:26] the sales volume but the price for

[36:28] condos has actually exceeded the median

[36:31] single family home price in Coventry um

[36:33] as of last year It's it's a smaller

[36:35] volume. So that might just be a

[36:36] characteristic of which condos were

[36:38] coming online, but is also interesting

[36:40] when you think about condos as kind of

[36:42] an entrylevel point for folks to buy in.

[36:45] Um in terms of what the median income

[36:50] needed to buy the medianric home, um you

[36:53] would need an income of around 140,000

[36:56] to buy the medianric single family home.

[36:58] Um but the median uh income in Coventry

[37:01] is 102,000.

[37:03] Um, and even if you make 120% of area

[37:06] median income, you'd still be $40,000

[37:09] short. Um, the sales volume has declined

[37:14] over the past few years. Um, so in uh

[37:18] 2025,

[37:20] we're down um 400 from 640 sales per

[37:24] year to 490 sales per year. So there's

[37:27] less homes on the market, which relates

[37:29] to those home prices going up. Um, and

[37:33] the the the

[37:36] average rent for the for a two-bedroom

[37:38] in Coventry, my numbers are slightly

[37:39] different than EOH is because uh I I

[37:42] pulled a little bit more recent data, um

[37:44] is now up to $2,281

[37:47] per month. And so you would need to make

[37:49] $91,000 a year to be able to afford um

[37:52] that rental price. And um but the median

[37:56] renter in Coventry earns $37,000 a year.

[38:00] Um, and so the the affordable rent for

[38:02] that household would be uh 9 $9344.

[38:07] Um, and so that means that uh for folks

[38:10] making below 80% of area median income,

[38:13] um, they really can't afford the rentals

[38:15] that are available on the market. Um,

[38:18] and in that survey that Dennis

[38:21] highlighted, which I'll just cherrypick

[38:22] a survey from, but of the renters who

[38:24] responded to that survey, 76 of 80

[38:27] renters who responded to that survey

[38:29] said that cost is a concern for them.

[38:32] Um, you can go to the next slide.

[38:35] And so, um, Coventry has 916 units on

[38:40] the low and moderate income housing

[38:41] inventory. And so those are the units

[38:43] that have um a an affordability

[38:46] restriction, but it also um due to

[38:49] changes in state legislation also

[38:50] includes um manufactured homes and

[38:53] vouchers. Um so you can see if you look

[38:55] at the breakdown of what are the details

[38:59] behind Coventry's low and moderate

[39:00] income housing inventory, you can see

[39:02] that um it sort of looks like there are

[39:05] more family units than elderly units,

[39:07] but that's because we're counting

[39:09] manufactured homes and vouchers as part

[39:11] of that count. But in terms of actual

[39:13] like units on the ground, there are

[39:15] actually fewer family units than elderly

[39:17] restricted units in Coventry. And that

[39:21] also somewhat differs um compared to the

[39:23] chart of who is costbururdened in

[39:25] Coventry. And so the chart on the left,

[39:27] the font might be kind of small, but it

[39:29] breaks down kind of the orange and the

[39:32] red are who is costburdened or severely

[39:34] cost burdened. Severely cost burden

[39:36] means you're paying more than 50% of

[39:38] your incur income towards housing costs.

[39:40] So you you really got to make decisions

[39:42] about where your money is going. Um and

[39:44] so you can see that among small

[39:47] families, there's something like500

[39:50] small families that are spending more

[39:52] than 30% of their income towards housing

[39:54] in Coventry. But you also have higher

[39:57] percentages of elderly non-family

[39:59] households and um other types of

[40:01] households who are also burdened. Um

[40:05] you can go to the next slide.

[40:09] Um, and so Coventry, like the state, has

[40:12] an aging population. The population

[40:14] that's 65 and over, grew um 48% between

[40:18] uh 2010 and 2020. Um, one in three

[40:20] residents are now 55 and older. Um,

[40:23] there's also sort of a wave of folks who

[40:24] are age incoming. So, uh, folks who are

[40:27] in the 55 to 64 cohort, um, that

[40:30] proportion of the population is bigger

[40:32] than the county and the state. Um, those

[40:34] are folks who may want to down downsize

[40:36] in coming years. um there's a smaller

[40:39] percentage compared to the state of

[40:40] folks who are uh 18 to 34. Um which

[40:44] means there's fewer households um moving

[40:46] to start families and start their

[40:48] careers here. Um there are also folks

[40:51] who work in Coventry but aren't able to

[40:53] live here. So um we have a table here of

[40:57] occupations in Coventry of some of the

[40:59] industries that exist here. And so you

[41:01] can see that the average annual wages

[41:03] for a lot of these professions um aren't

[41:05] able to afford the they they can't

[41:09] access an affordable rent or an

[41:10] affordable home price. So if you look at

[41:12] this chart, folks who work in the

[41:14] accommodations or food sector, retail,

[41:17] healthcare, or construction for none of

[41:20] those sectors can they afford um the

[41:23] typical Coventry rental or the median

[41:25] home price. The only folks who are able

[41:27] to afford just the rental are folks who

[41:30] work in man manufacturing or

[41:32] professional services.

[41:34] Um you can go to the next slide.

[41:40] and uh Coventry does have an aging

[41:42] housing stock. So 58% of the units are

[41:46] uh built before 1978. Um in housing

[41:49] units from that era there is a risk of

[41:51] uh lead paint. um those those older

[41:55] households are more prevalent in eastern

[41:57] Coventry. Um that has real impacts. Six

[42:00] children um had elevated blood levels

[42:03] according to 2025 data in Coventry and

[42:07] the tenant surve the the reports for

[42:10] folks from Dennis's survey in kind of

[42:13] the comments if we looked at the

[42:14] comments there were folks who talked

[42:16] about things like mold, water intrusion,

[42:18] water coming through the roof, um

[42:20] failing heat and electric. um folks who

[42:22] are renting in Eastern Coventry. Um

[42:26] sometimes those types of units, older

[42:29] multif family units are what's called

[42:31] naturally a occurring affordable

[42:33] housing. So those are units that don't

[42:35] have an official deed restriction, but

[42:36] folks are able to um able to rent

[42:40] without costing too much. Um but they

[42:43] are in poorer condition. You can go to

[42:45] the next slide.

[42:49] And um one of our other other finding is

[42:51] is um that cost burden data that I

[42:54] already sort of talked about. So I won't

[42:56] walk you through this in great depth,

[42:58] but severe housing cost burden is

[43:01] concentrated among non-family households

[43:03] which can be folks living alone or

[43:05] living with roommates and but small

[43:07] families account for the largest number

[43:09] of folks who are a cost burden. So

[43:11] paying more than 30% of their income for

[43:13] housing. Um and then you can go to the

[43:15] next slide. And so we kind of wrapped

[43:19] all that up with a summary of needs for

[43:21] folks in Coventry

[43:25] and oh we have some dynamic graphics. Um

[43:29] and so though it's not exciting to speak

[43:31] about these statistics. So um folks in

[43:34] Coventry there's a need for more housing

[43:37] that can um meet the population changes

[43:40] for folks here. um folks who are elderly

[43:43] and aging, folks with disabilities,

[43:45] which can sometimes come with folks who

[43:47] are aging, um extremely lowincome

[43:49] households, as well as manufactured home

[43:52] park residents and renters

[43:54] and households experiencing housing

[43:56] instability. some of the official um

[43:59] kind of statistics about homelessness

[44:01] like don't show Coventry as having um

[44:05] homeless homelessness um in the official

[44:07] counts but folks in the survey reported

[44:09] that folks are camping in different

[44:11] locations in Coventry and if you look at

[44:13] the schools data where they report on

[44:15] kids who are living doubled up which

[44:17] also get counted as homeless there are

[44:19] 40 students sorry I believe there's 40

[44:21] students in Coventry public schools who

[44:23] are reported as homeless

[44:26] you can go to the next slide

[44:28] And so um kind of going towards housing,

[44:32] what that means is that we find that

[44:33] there's a broad a need for a broader

[44:35] range of housing types for more

[44:37] attainable ownership opportunities as

[44:39] well as a need among uh the workforce

[44:41] and local employees. Um kind of like

[44:43] that table that I went through. You can

[44:46] go to the next slide. And then we had a

[44:48] few additional findings that were just

[44:49] worth noting. And I think I've discussed

[44:52] um most of these.

[44:54] Yeah.

[44:57] And then this is just a chart to kind of

[44:58] visualize um a statistic that's often uh

[45:02] frequently talked about. Um so there's a

[45:04] lot of discussion in Rhode Island about

[45:05] the 10 the 10% threshold for the low and

[45:08] moderate income housing act and

[45:09] communities are subject to comprehensive

[45:11] permits when you have less than 10% of

[45:14] your housing designate designated as low

[45:16] and moderate income. Um commentary today

[45:19] is at um 6.23% 23% but looking at the

[45:24] projects that are in the pipeline. Um we

[45:26] made this graph and kind of put in what

[45:29] year projects might come online for any

[45:31] of the projects that are in um the

[45:34] planning approval process. I just put

[45:36] those for 2029. But what this shows is

[45:39] that Coventry is going to come very

[45:40] close to getting to 10% by 2030. Um but

[45:44] then that number will be recalculated in

[45:46] 2030 and the target will shift up a

[45:48] little bit. So there may be a gap when

[45:50] you get to 2030.

[45:54] Um and you can go to the next slide. And

[45:58] so this is sort of uh where we are. So

[46:01] we have just completed the needs

[46:03] assessment. Tonight we are going over

[46:04] the goals, policies and actions um

[46:06] coming from that analysis. And those

[46:09] those will go into the final chapter

[46:12] which will be approved by town council

[46:13] and then submitted to statewide planning

[46:15] for approval.

[46:18] All right. And then I think Are you up

[46:21] next for the instructions?

[46:22] >> Sure.

[46:24] » Sure.

[46:24] >> So, keeping all of that in mind, we're

[46:26] » So, keeping all of that in mind, we're

[46:26] going to ask you to engage in some

[46:28] exercises with us. Um, we have three

[46:32] stations that we've set up. Number one

[46:34] is over here. We've labeled them the

[46:36] best that we can. Number two is over

[46:38] here. Number three is a map over here.

[46:41] At station one, we have those key

[46:44] findings. So, we've got those nine key

[46:46] findings that Elizabeth went over for

[46:48] you. And really, we're just interested

[46:50] to know, is this something that you were

[46:52] aware of in your community, or did you

[46:54] were you surprised by what you heard and

[46:56] the statistics and the data that was

[46:58] that Elizabeth talked through? We're

[47:01] interested in just understanding what

[47:02] the general knowledge is out in the

[47:04] public about where where people in

[47:06] Coventry are in their life and in their,

[47:08] you know, where they are in their

[47:09] housing needs. Um, station number two is

[47:13] the goals and policies that we've

[47:15] developed with the staff's assistance to

[47:19] um, kind of high level set the tone for

[47:23] how is Coventry going to address these

[47:25] key issues that we've identified. So,

[47:28] when you're at and you got a pet little

[47:30] packet of sticky dots, we're going to

[47:32] ask you to use your red dots. And the

[47:34] instructions are on the back of your

[47:35] agenda, so you don't need to memorize

[47:37] this. You can just flip it over and look

[47:38] at it. We're going to ask you to use

[47:40] your red dots at station number one and

[47:42] tell us is this something you knew or

[47:44] something that surprised you. You also

[47:46] have some purple dots. Um we're going to

[47:49] ask you to use those at station two and

[47:52] we're going to ask you to prioritize

[47:54] your six top when you read through

[47:56] those. What are the six things that

[47:58] resonate with you the the most? What are

[47:59] the things that you think Coventry needs

[48:01] to focus on out of those goals and

[48:04] policies? Um, so we'll ask you to use

[48:06] your your purple dots over there. And

[48:09] then station number three is over here.

[48:12] We have a large map. Um, we have the

[48:14] whole town on this map. We've pointed

[48:18] out some part particular location so you

[48:21] can sort of orient yourself and you have

[48:23] some smaller little half inch dots. Um,

[48:26] each of those sort of ref represents a

[48:29] different category. And we're asking you

[48:31] to put those dots on a map and tell us

[48:34] where these things make the most sense

[48:35] to you. So you can use the post-it notes

[48:39] here. You can use your smaller dots on

[48:41] this board um according to kind of the

[48:43] themes that we have come up with um with

[48:46] staff's help in terms of where you think

[48:48] housing is most appropriate. We also

[48:50] have another it's kind of behind the

[48:53] screen. You can't really see it, but we

[48:54] have another station over here where we

[48:56] just have some blank white paper for

[48:57] you. And there's markers and pens and

[48:59] post-it notes. And anything that you

[49:02] have as a thought or an idea or a

[49:04] commentary that's not captured in one of

[49:06] those three stations, we ask you to just

[49:09] put it down on paper for us. We will

[49:11] look at all of that and we will give all

[49:13] of that information to staff. So any

[49:15] thoughts or ideas that you have that

[49:17] somehow don't get captured in these

[49:18] three stations, um there's a a we're

[49:21] calling it a parking lot basically.

[49:23] That's a great place to put any of your

[49:25] ideas or thoughts that are not related

[49:27] to one of the three stations.

[49:29] >> Um, yep. Can you just go back to slides

[49:32] » Um, yep. Can you just go back to slides

[49:32] just for folks who are listening online

[49:34] or to the one with the um the URL on it?

[49:37] I think it's slide might be before one.

[49:40] So, if folks are are are listening in

[49:42] online, um you're able to also

[49:44] participate in these activities. If you

[49:45] go to tinyurl.comousing26,

[49:49] that'll take you to an online survey

[49:51] where you're able to drop pins on a map

[49:54] and complete um parallel activities to

[49:56] the activities folks are doing tonight.

[49:58] So, it's tinyurl.comousing26.

[50:03] Thank you for that reminder.

[50:06] If you can go back. Yep. Thank you.

[50:10] Um you can go one more.

[50:14] So, this is a QR code. This you can use

[50:17] to scan this on your phone. And what

[50:19] we've done on this survey that is online

[50:21] is all of the action items. I think

[50:23] there's like 36 of them. We talked about

[50:26] the idea of being able to discuss those

[50:28] here tonight, but it's just too much

[50:30] information um to ask everyone to read

[50:33] 36 action items, think about those, and

[50:35] dot vote on all of that. And so, we took

[50:37] this to a higher level and did goals and

[50:39] policies. We're doing the map so that we

[50:42] can get an idea of where people think

[50:44] specifically it's appropriate for

[50:45] certain types of housing development.

[50:47] But what we've also done online is given

[50:49] you this QR code. You can scan this with

[50:52] your phone. I believe we also had we'll

[50:55] get you the URL. I thought it was on

[50:57] this slide. Um to you can go there and

[51:00] it lists the 36 action items and it

[51:03] gives you the ability to sort of give

[51:05] your you know give your gauge your

[51:07] interest in those. Do these seem

[51:08] appropriate? to these seem like maybe

[51:10] not a great idea for commentary. This

[51:12] that survey will stay open until the

[51:15] close of business tomorrow. Um and then

[51:17] we'll close that. And anyone that's um

[51:20] online will also see that at the end of

[51:23] the link that Elizabeth just gave you,

[51:25] you'll be able to move over to this

[51:27] survey right from that one and you'll be

[51:29] able to do both of the activities from

[51:32] home. Next slide. again promoting that

[51:37] the comp plan, the website has

[51:39] comprehensive plan information and that

[51:41] Doug is offering to invite people to

[51:44] come speak to him or to email him um at

[51:48] the address there. Absolutely. Please.

[51:52] And then it's it's fair to say um as a

[51:56] as a last remark before I think we turn

[51:59] it over to the engagement exercises. Um

[52:02] this was our our first big uh public

[52:04] engagement opportunity for the housing

[52:08] chapter. That's what's in front of us.

[52:10] Uh these policies, this is very much uh

[52:12] the the document itself hasn't been

[52:14] assembled. Uh these are this is a very

[52:17] strong draft, but we're looking for that

[52:19] feedback now. But this is going to be

[52:21] moving into the local adoption process.

[52:24] So there'll be important steps where

[52:25] this is going to be reviewed uh by the

[52:28] planning commission and a recommendation

[52:29] from the planning commission will be

[52:31] provided to the council. There'll be a

[52:32] council hearing on this matter. Um this

[52:35] is going to be the stand alone or the uh

[52:38] the the the the standing website that

[52:40] we're going to use throughout the whole

[52:42] process. Uh, and uh, the idea is through

[52:44] the entire process, we're going to have

[52:46] my email address be where you can give

[52:48] comments throughout it all. I'm going to

[52:51] oftentimes be just passing those along

[52:54] to our decision makers as we move from

[52:56] one board to another. Uh, but this is

[52:59] the first step. We want to hear from you

[53:00] early. We want to hear from you often,

[53:02] but this is the place that you should be

[53:04] checking back over the course of the

[53:05] next few months. We anticipate bringing

[53:08] these plans in front of our boards in

[53:09] the course of the next month or two. Um,

[53:12] we want to get the feedback here, but

[53:14] this is something that this will be

[53:16] moving towards local decisions in the

[53:18] next few months. So, please keep this

[53:20] website handy. Keep looking for updates

[53:22] and email me with any questions. Um,

[53:24] >> thank you.

[53:25] » thank you.

[53:25] >> Yep. Thank you.

[53:25] » Yep. Thank you.

[53:25] >> So, you do not have to start at station

[53:27] » So, you do not have to start at station

[53:27] one. You can pick any one of them and

[53:29] move in order or not in order. It really

[53:32] doesn't matter. We just hope that you're

[53:34] able to visit all three of them. Um, and

[53:36] we encourage you to stick around

[53:38] afterwards so that if there are

[53:40] questions, we can have a bit of a an

[53:42] open dialogue before we end the meeting.

[53:46] >> I think that's it. So, please, you know,

[53:48] » I think that's it. So, please, you know,

[53:48] take your sticky dots, your

[53:50] instructions, pick a station, start

[53:51] anywhere, and there's going to be staff

[53:53] there to help you or answer your

[53:55] questions as you go.

[54:12] No.

[54:18] But they haven't changed the

[54:28] » area.

[54:37] Just want to get a sense.

[54:49] You can actually do up to three.

[55:33] Happy.

[55:51] both.

[56:47] I probably don't have

[57:05] That's your John.

[57:14] [laughter]

[57:27] Trying to find space

[57:30] over

[57:56] supposed.

[58:24] I hope this

[58:27] [laughter]

[58:35] is

[58:38] your point.

[58:55] probably.

[59:10] Okay.

[59:25] Yeah, I see.

[59:48] That's what you find.

[1:00:03] This is

[1:00:09] not

[1:00:31] Fore

[1:01:05] most.

[1:25:40] Someone wants to say something.

[1:25:44] » Check, check, check, check.

[1:25:46] >> So, if you guys want to sort of

[1:25:48] » So, if you guys want to sort of

[1:25:48] reconvene, um, we'd like to give

[1:25:51] everyone an we, first of all, we want to

[1:25:53] thank everyone for coming, for

[1:25:55] participating. Um, we encourage we

[1:25:58] encourage you to use the QR code and go

[1:26:01] to the the small survey for the um

[1:26:05] action items. There are Doug has passed

[1:26:08] out um a document to everyone that's

[1:26:11] here. This has all of the goals and

[1:26:13] policies that you saw on the boards at

[1:26:15] station 2 and it also has all of the

[1:26:18] action items outlined. Um, and Doug is

[1:26:21] asking if you have comments on these,

[1:26:23] you know, please contact the department.

[1:26:25] Um, if you're not able to go online and

[1:26:27] do that survey or if you have thoughts

[1:26:28] beyond what the survey captures, um, get

[1:26:31] in touch with the department. Um, and we

[1:26:34] do want to open it up and give you guys

[1:26:36] a chance to ask any questions and I can

[1:26:39] certainly field questions related to the

[1:26:41] process and the project that we're

[1:26:42] working on. And Doug is also available

[1:26:44] if there are more specific questions.

[1:26:46] So, I don't know if anyone has anything

[1:26:48] specific they wanted to ask. I think

[1:26:54] » actually it helps anyone who's watching

[1:26:56] from they can hear you.

[1:26:57] >> Okay.

[1:26:58] » Okay.

[1:26:58] >> Um so my first question is regarding the

[1:27:01] » Um so my first question is regarding the

[1:27:01] um housing element of the comprehensive

[1:27:03] plan. I know Doug you said that we

[1:27:06] adopted a new comprehensive plan in

[1:27:08] June. Prior to that was there no housing

[1:27:11] element at all to the comprehensive plan

[1:27:14] or was it just totally inadequate? Was

[1:27:17] it something that we couldn't even look

[1:27:18] to to see if what we're doing is in line

[1:27:22] with the plan?

[1:27:23] >> The um the comprehensive plan that we

[1:27:26] » The um the comprehensive plan that we

[1:27:26] had uh representing the community prior

[1:27:29] to what we adopted last month was dated

[1:27:32] uh 1999. So, we did have a comprehensive

[1:27:34] plan. It was just 27 years old. In 2005,

[1:27:37] we did develop an uh affordable housing

[1:27:40] production plan. And that actually

[1:27:43] stands as the the town's prior to us

[1:27:45] adopting what we did last month, that

[1:27:47] stood as the town's plan for how we're

[1:27:49] going to further affordable housing. Um,

[1:27:52] this current uh effort basically

[1:27:54] incorporates the needs that the state

[1:27:56] has of us having an affordable housing

[1:27:58] plan. It incorporates that into this

[1:28:00] housing element. So any requests for

[1:28:05] affordable housing that have come

[1:28:07] between that update and 2025,

[1:28:12] >> would those have been weighed against

[1:28:14] » would those have been weighed against

[1:28:14] that whatever that temporary plan was

[1:28:17] that was in place?

[1:28:18] >> Yeah. So we we've we've had since that

[1:28:20] » Yeah. So we we've we've had since that

[1:28:20] time, we've always had this 10% rule and

[1:28:22] law from the state. Um but the idea is

[1:28:26] as we had affordable housing projects um

[1:28:29] come to the town if there was a

[1:28:31] measurement of is this furthering the

[1:28:33] town's plan for affordable housing they

[1:28:35] were measured against the 2005

[1:28:38] affordable housing production plan

[1:28:40] >> and is the 2005 plan something that we

[1:28:42] » and is the 2005 plan something that we

[1:28:42] can see absolutely that we could what we

[1:28:44] just

[1:28:44] >> we have a digital doc I can certainly

[1:28:46] » we have a digital doc I can certainly

[1:28:46] email it to you um it's a it's a dated

[1:28:49] doc but we yeah we certainly have a

[1:28:51] version that we can email

[1:28:52] >> okay yeah if you could email that that

[1:28:53] » okay yeah if you could email that that

[1:28:53] would be No problem.

[1:28:54] >> Um, second is the um

[1:29:00] » Um, second is the um

[1:29:00] survey that the planning department did.

[1:29:03] >> Yep.

[1:29:03] » Yep.

[1:29:03] >> Um,

[1:29:05] » Um,

[1:29:05] there were 353 responders.

[1:29:08] >> Yep.

[1:29:08] » Yep.

[1:29:08] >> Which is less than 1% of Coventry.

[1:29:11] » Which is less than 1% of Coventry.

[1:29:11] >> Yep.

[1:29:11] » Yep.

[1:29:11] >> So, I just want to state that that I

[1:29:14] » So, I just want to state that that I

[1:29:14] don't feel is something that even should

[1:29:16] be being shown on slides to support

[1:29:19] where we're headed in this plan. It's

[1:29:21] 353 people out of 35,000.

[1:29:24] So, I just wanted to state that as a

[1:29:27] >> That's fair. Yeah. I mean, we we were we

[1:29:28] » That's fair. Yeah. I mean, we we were we

[1:29:28] were happy with the outcome we got. Um I

[1:29:31] mean, you know, we

[1:29:33] >> That's bad. It's kind of sad. 353

[1:29:35] » That's bad. It's kind of sad. 353

[1:29:35] people. That's

[1:29:37] >> Yeah. And I can describe the promotional

[1:29:39] » Yeah. And I can describe the promotional

[1:29:39] efforts of the survey. Um I mean, we we

[1:29:41] ran ads in the paper. We ran it on the

[1:29:44] town Facebook multiple times. We uh we

[1:29:46] actually had Dennis um out at multiple

[1:29:49] community events um making people aware.

[1:29:52] Um it's difficult to get people to and

[1:29:54] it was it was a detailed survey. It

[1:29:56] wasn't a answer two questions and you're

[1:29:58] done. I mean it it it was a it estimated

[1:30:00] about 15 minutes. Uh it's hard to get

[1:30:03] people to take 15 minutes out of their

[1:30:04] day no matter how well you promote it.

[1:30:06] >> Um

[1:30:07] » Um

[1:30:07] >> and I read everything about how you

[1:30:08] » and I read everything about how you

[1:30:08] promoted it, you know, while we were

[1:30:10] going through this which is great. I'm

[1:30:13] an involved person. I never saw it.

[1:30:18] >> Never saw it because I would have

[1:30:19] » Never saw it because I would have

[1:30:19] participated if I ever saw it. I never

[1:30:21] saw it. And I believe you did all those

[1:30:23] things. But

[1:30:24] >> I guess that's just

[1:30:27] » I guess that's just

[1:30:28] >> just an encouragement to figure out how

[1:30:30] » just an encouragement to figure out how

[1:30:30] to get the word out on these things

[1:30:31] better. Maybe it's you have

[1:30:34] maybe it's the um

[1:30:37] the the the people who are over here

[1:30:40] that committee, you know, they're in

[1:30:43] touch with the day-to-day people a lot.

[1:30:45] Maybe they need to be going out to their

[1:30:47] constituents and saying, "Hey, you need

[1:30:48] to fill this out. You know, you you have

[1:30:50] everything to say about everything, but

[1:30:52] if you want something on the record,

[1:30:54] then fill these out."

[1:30:55] >> No. And we definitely did we did ask the

[1:30:57] » No. And we definitely did we did ask the

[1:30:57] council to share with as they saw fit,

[1:30:59] but again it's it's difficult to reach

[1:31:01] everybody. We did we didn't um mail

[1:31:03] something to every resident in town.

[1:31:05] That would have been a sticker price. I

[1:31:07] don't think we want to delay.

[1:31:07] >> Yeah, I totally get that.

[1:31:09] » Yeah, I totally get that.

[1:31:09] >> I mean, we we did we did give it a lot

[1:31:10] » I mean, we we did we did give it a lot

[1:31:10] of effort. Um and to be honest, I know

[1:31:13] that that 1% of the community doesn't

[1:31:15] seem like much. I I think it it it was

[1:31:18] great in my eyes to still see 350 people

[1:31:21] uh give us responses when we've run

[1:31:23] similar surveys in this community. it

[1:31:25] was before my time. I can't speak to the

[1:31:26] effort. We didn't get anywhere near

[1:31:28] those responses. So, we

[1:31:29] >> I just don't think it's something you

[1:31:30] » I just don't think it's something you

[1:31:30] can hang your hat on less than 1%.

[1:31:33] >> I mean, I do think that the issues we

[1:31:35] » I mean, I do think that the issues we

[1:31:35] learned um it it does tend the the

[1:31:39] opinions and attitudes because really

[1:31:41] that's what it was. It was an opinion

[1:31:42] and attitude survey asking our

[1:31:44] residents, "What do you think?" It does

[1:31:46] turn out the opinions and attitudes were

[1:31:48] kind of aligned with a lot of the data

[1:31:51] on, you know, where is there the biggest

[1:31:53] crunch? who is at a disadvantage, who's

[1:31:55] struggling with these issues, and then

[1:31:57] then the survey actually turned out

[1:31:58] similarly, people reporting those issues

[1:32:01] from their own perspective.

[1:32:03] >> So, kind of in line with that, so you

[1:32:05] » So, kind of in line with that, so you

[1:32:05] gave us that tiny URL, which I think is

[1:32:08] where people who weren't here tonight

[1:32:10] can participate in these exercises,

[1:32:12] right? That's where that tiny URL is.

[1:32:14] >> And then you gave us this QR code.

[1:32:17] » And then you gave us this QR code.

[1:32:17] >> The tiny URL one is going to close, I

[1:32:19] » The tiny URL one is going to close, I

[1:32:19] think you said, end of business

[1:32:21] tomorrow. that no the the URL was for

[1:32:24] anyone that was just online and wanted

[1:32:26] to engage in these exercises. Um that

[1:32:28] was that was for that uh the other QR

[1:32:31] code that is there on the screen. So

[1:32:34] anyone that's on Zoom uh it's it's the

[1:32:36] QR code that's on the screen. Um this is

[1:32:39] uh reflecting this document. So, what we

[1:32:43] didn't have time to do tonight is to

[1:32:45] look at the the 30 plus detailed action

[1:32:48] items that are the details behind some

[1:32:50] of the broad goals and policies. Uh,

[1:32:52] we're very happy to keep getting

[1:32:54] comments on this. I do encourage people

[1:32:56] if you want to go on, you can give your

[1:32:58] comments on this um uh tomorrow.

[1:33:00] However, nothing stops anybody from

[1:33:03] taking your time digesting this, getting

[1:33:06] uh, you know, your own reactions to it

[1:33:07] and email me any level of detailed

[1:33:10] comments you have. We will incorporate

[1:33:12] it in the process. Uh, some folks will

[1:33:14] give me comments now, and I'd love them

[1:33:16] now, and we actually will reflect on

[1:33:18] them and incorporate them in the plan.

[1:33:19] Some folks might want their comments to

[1:33:21] go to the council or the planning

[1:33:22] commission who are ultimately going to

[1:33:23] vote on these things. Any comments we

[1:33:25] get, we're going to share with our

[1:33:27] decision makers as well. So, that that

[1:33:29] puts it on the record. So, I suggest

[1:33:31] absolutely

[1:33:33] um spend time if you can tomorrow, but

[1:33:36] don't be afraid to email anytime to me

[1:33:38] and and this my email and the website

[1:33:41] are going to kind of stand throughout

[1:33:43] the whole process. We're probably

[1:33:44] another two months from going through

[1:33:47] public hearings and we want to be

[1:33:49] focused on hearing from people in one

[1:33:51] place so you don't have to keep

[1:33:52] switching your your your input to

[1:33:54] different um receivers.

[1:33:56] >> Well, and it's a lot easier if you as a

[1:33:57] » Well, and it's a lot easier if you as a

[1:33:57] survey monkey, right? all the answers

[1:33:59] are going to come in and Survey Monkey

[1:34:00] is going to do all the work for you. Why

[1:34:02] wouldn't you leave it open more than

[1:34:03] just 24 hours from now so that people

[1:34:06] who were here can get the word out and

[1:34:08] say, "Hey, you know, go online and fill

[1:34:09] out the survey. It's going to take you

[1:34:11] 10 minutes. It's multiple choice."

[1:34:13] >> Yeah.

[1:34:13] » Yeah.

[1:34:13] >> And get like more than 353 pe more than

[1:34:17] » And get like more than 353 pe more than

[1:34:17] 1% like

[1:34:19] >> one day is not a long time. Can't you

[1:34:21] » one day is not a long time. Can't you

[1:34:21] leave it open for like

[1:34:23] two days and let people get the word

[1:34:24] out? For this, I think our goal was uh

[1:34:27] to kind of tie it to the event and then

[1:34:30] the consultant's going to want to take

[1:34:31] the feedback we got from this event and

[1:34:33] consider how that addresses it and draft

[1:34:36] it. My my thought is

[1:34:39] let us hear from you. I think we can

[1:34:41] happily leave it open longer than today.

[1:34:44] Um happy to leave it open um another 3

[1:34:47] days. Uh my thought is after we get that

[1:34:51] feedback, we're going to try to rework

[1:34:52] it in a consolidated fashion and then it

[1:34:55] goes to the decision makers. Once it

[1:34:56] goes to the decision makers, the

[1:34:57] planning commission, the town council,

[1:34:59] we still want to get your feedback,

[1:35:01] >> but it's hard for us to take a

[1:35:02] » but it's hard for us to take a

[1:35:02] consolidated rewrite of a lot of things.

[1:35:04] At that point, we're editing through

[1:35:06] board meetings. Uh we're editing, you

[1:35:08] know, in a different way. That's why we

[1:35:10] wanted to get feedback soon as opposed

[1:35:12] to leave it open for so long. we knew we

[1:35:14] wanted to use this meeting to hear from

[1:35:16] folks and see what the reactions were. I

[1:35:18] mean, I'd love I would have hoped to see

[1:35:21] um you know twice as many people here,

[1:35:23] but as much as you try and you reach out

[1:35:25] and you you seek people's guidance on

[1:35:27] these, my my my takeaway is that it's

[1:35:30] hard to get people to take their time

[1:35:31] and engage. I appreciate you guys are

[1:35:33] here. It's hard to get people to engage

[1:35:35] on these things.

[1:35:36] >> Yeah. Um, that's why no matter if we

[1:35:37] » Yeah. Um, that's why no matter if we

[1:35:37] could leave that up for longer. We may

[1:35:39] not get the engagement we would hope to

[1:35:41] get, but we want to get what we can.

[1:35:44] This meeting was a great start. We'll

[1:35:46] leave that open for three more days.

[1:35:48] >> Yeah. And I really appreciate everything

[1:35:50] » Yeah. And I really appreciate everything

[1:35:50] that you guys put before us tonight.

[1:35:52] It's it's really great. And I wish that

[1:35:54] more people were actively involved, but

[1:35:56] I feel like those of us

[1:35:57] >> who were were here just from the

[1:35:59] » who were were here just from the

[1:35:59] community

[1:36:00] >> that at least we can get word out, you

[1:36:03] » that at least we can get word out, you

[1:36:03] know, I have two a sister, two nieces

[1:36:06] who live in Coventry and, you know,

[1:36:09] they're not here.

[1:36:10] >> Yeah.

[1:36:11] » Yeah.

[1:36:11] >> You know, but I just feel like you're

[1:36:12] » You know, but I just feel like you're

[1:36:12] going to get the same thing. You're

[1:36:14] going to get there was what maybe 10

[1:36:16] people here who are not on one of the

[1:36:17] councils. Yeah.

[1:36:18] >> And then four people on Zoom. You're

[1:36:20] » And then four people on Zoom. You're

[1:36:20] going to get feedback from 14 people.

[1:36:23] Yeah.

[1:36:23] >> What good is that really?

[1:36:25] » What good is that really?

[1:36:25] >> No, I mean that that's why we

[1:36:27] » No, I mean that that's why we

[1:36:27] continuously have on our website, which

[1:36:30] is a document that you'll see, you know,

[1:36:32] we have promoted that, you might have

[1:36:33] seen it pop up on Facebook. Uh you you

[1:36:36] might have read the ad in the paper.

[1:36:39] That's where the website's still going

[1:36:40] to live on. A month from now when we

[1:36:42] feel like we've taken this input, we've

[1:36:43] done what we can. I want to keep

[1:36:45] pointing people back to that because

[1:36:46] that will point you to here's the latest

[1:36:48] documents. Please review them. If you

[1:36:50] have comments, please email Doug. That

[1:36:52] doesn't stop that communication and I

[1:36:54] don't mind if I get 50 emails the week

[1:36:56] of the planning commission or the

[1:36:57] council meeting.

[1:36:58] >> No, I totally get that and that's great.

[1:37:00] » No, I totally get that and that's great.

[1:37:00] I just think getting more feedback on

[1:37:04] leaving it open for a few days and

[1:37:06] trying to get more people to participate

[1:37:09] is a much easier way for you to gather

[1:37:11] data. I mean, it's survey monkey. Yeah.

[1:37:13] It's going to come together and you're

[1:37:14] going to have all your answers, you

[1:37:16] know, versus 20 emails from people after

[1:37:18] the fact who say, "Oh, I should email

[1:37:20] Doug about this, you know,

[1:37:22] >> is that or that Survey Monkey thing that

[1:37:25] » is that or that Survey Monkey thing that

[1:37:26] you're talking about?"

[1:37:26] >> Yeah. If you if you uh take your phone,

[1:37:28] » Yeah. If you if you uh take your phone,

[1:37:28] go to that QR code that's on the screen,

[1:37:31] it'll take you to this document. I know

[1:37:33] we were handing this out. I know you

[1:37:35] guys were just at the stations and I'll

[1:37:36] give this I'll give a copy of this. Yep.

[1:37:38] Take take two of Yeah. Take one of those

[1:37:40] each. It's it's imagine that the

[1:37:43] policies and and uh goals that you were

[1:37:45] reviewing this provides a little bit

[1:37:47] more meat on terms of the smaller steps

[1:37:49] we'll we'll need to take to accomplish

[1:37:50] them. We want to hear from you on that.

[1:37:52] Um we knew tonight was probably a bit

[1:37:54] much to go through 30 plus of them, but

[1:37:56] we want to hear from you. We kind of

[1:37:58] used tonight as like a hook and asking

[1:38:00] people I don't mind. Uh share with your

[1:38:02] neighbors, share with your friends. You

[1:38:04] guys are passionate about it and I think

[1:38:06] that'd be helpful to hear from the folks

[1:38:08] that you guys think want to weigh in on

[1:38:10] this. Feel free to share that link,

[1:38:13] share this document, and if anybody has

[1:38:16] feedback and they're thinking they want

[1:38:18] to wait another few weeks, then we want

[1:38:20] to hear from you still. But at that

[1:38:22] point, we're we're taking the feedback

[1:38:23] from tonight, creating a document,

[1:38:26] making that a formal doc out there, and

[1:38:28] then that doc can still be edited

[1:38:29] through the process.

[1:38:35] » Well, you got Zoom and you have all your

[1:38:37] >> Yes. Yes.

[1:38:38] » Yes. Yes.

[1:38:38] >> Yeah. anyone that's on Zoom has actually

[1:38:40] » Yeah. anyone that's on Zoom has actually

[1:38:40] got access to this. And you want to try

[1:38:42] to distribute it to people all over

[1:38:44] commentary. Like not just the people who

[1:38:46] live right around you or the people you

[1:38:47] know have the same ideas as you, but

[1:38:51] really just spread it out to anybody

[1:38:53] that you know or put it on your own

[1:38:54] Facebook page and say, "Hey, if you live

[1:38:55] in Coventry,

[1:38:57] >> you know, I encourage you to fill this

[1:38:58] » you know, I encourage you to fill this

[1:38:58] out so that you are getting a a fair

[1:39:01] representation from different areas, you

[1:39:03] know, different people,

[1:39:07] » embedded bugs or whatever in there."

[1:39:09] >> Yeah.

[1:39:10] » Yeah.

[1:39:10] So, if I were to go to some random

[1:39:12] person and say, "Hey, Skins QR, take

[1:39:14] this survey." They'd be like, "No,

[1:39:17] >> I can show you after.

[1:39:19] » I can show you after.

[1:39:19] >> Go to the QR code." There's also a

[1:39:20] » Go to the QR code." There's also a

[1:39:20] website address that you can go to. So,

[1:39:22] I can show you that after if you'd like.

[1:39:24] >> Yeah. No, this one's not bugged unless

[1:39:25] » Yeah. No, this one's not bugged unless

[1:39:25] you get bugged by uh 30 housing

[1:39:28] questions. This one, this one's clean.

[1:39:31] >> So, if we send it out, what's the

[1:39:34] » So, if we send it out, what's the

[1:39:34] deadline? Uh I know that um I'm uh yeah,

[1:39:39] I'm okay with Friday. I'm I'm only in

[1:39:41] the office for part of this week and I

[1:39:42] did want to be part of the you know when

[1:39:44] we closed it, see what kind of feedback

[1:39:46] we got. Uh but we can leave it open till

[1:39:48] Friday. I'm fine with that

[1:39:49] >> vacation. Don't worry about it.

[1:39:52] » vacation. Don't worry about it.

[1:39:52] >> Yeah. No, but I think part of it is the

[1:39:54] » Yeah. No, but I think part of it is the

[1:39:54] consultant team wants to be able to take

[1:39:55] feedback and

[1:39:56] >> but I want them to have valuable

[1:39:58] » but I want them to have valuable

[1:39:58] feedback.

[1:39:58] >> No, no, no. Valuable feedback if you

[1:40:01] » No, no, no. Valuable feedback if you

[1:40:01] leave it open for a while longer. I

[1:40:03] might be wrong.

[1:40:05] Give it a whirl.

[1:40:16] » Founding action. If you type that in

[1:40:18] like it'll take you the same.

[1:40:20] >> Is that is that's the link we've got

[1:40:21] » Is that is that's the link we've got

[1:40:22] right up there on the top right.

[1:40:24] It's the same link except it's a

[1:40:25] different.

[1:40:28] All right. Never mind. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[1:40:30] Okay.

[1:40:31] >> Right. So, so pe people only the people

[1:40:33] » Right. So, so pe people only the people

[1:40:33] who were on the phone could participate

[1:40:35] in this exercise.

[1:40:37] >> Yeah. Yeah. Because it's hard to leave

[1:40:38] » Yeah. Yeah. Because it's hard to leave

[1:40:38] an exercise like this open-ended for

[1:40:40] weeks. Okay. And I mean part of it is

[1:40:42] our goal is to move forward with the

[1:40:44] feedback and then draft the plan the

[1:40:46] best we can. That doesn't mean that the

[1:40:48] feedback doesn't end, but it means that

[1:40:49] we want to get a plan in front of our

[1:40:51] decision makers. The only other question

[1:40:52] I had is you um I I forget your name,

[1:40:55] but you mentioned that I think it was

[1:40:57] and I might get my numbers wrong because

[1:40:59] there was so many numbers and so many

[1:41:00] slides so fast, but you mentioned I

[1:41:03] think that the average renter like to

[1:41:06] rent a home in Coventry is about $2,000

[1:41:10] a month, which means you have to make

[1:41:13] 91,000 a year, but the average renter in

[1:41:17] Coventry makes 37.

[1:41:20] How is that possible?

[1:41:21] How are they living here if they make 37

[1:41:24] and you need to make 91? It just those

[1:41:27] numbers don't make sense to me. So, I

[1:41:29] need it in context.

[1:41:30] >> I can I can speak to that. So, it's

[1:41:32] » I can I can speak to that. So, it's

[1:41:32] partly what the nature of the data

[1:41:34] that's available for renting. Um, and so

[1:41:37] the data that we have about the average

[1:41:38] two-bedroom rent comes from Rhode Island

[1:41:40] Housing, and they use a database called

[1:41:42] Co-Star, which is like a corporate

[1:41:44] database of rental data. So, that rental

[1:41:47] data is is more about larger properties.

[1:41:50] So, it probably includes some of the

[1:41:52] renovated mills, but it may not reflect

[1:41:54] the smaller scale um like old mill

[1:41:59] housing that may also be rented. It kind

[1:42:01] of is skewed towards larger buildings.

[1:42:03] Um, and so that is that's the reason for

[1:42:07] the the kind of disjuncture is that that

[1:42:09] data set only looks at buildings that

[1:42:11] kind of corporate interests are

[1:42:13] interested in knowing the information

[1:42:15] about and it doesn't they don't

[1:42:16] necessarily survey all of the small

[1:42:18] landlords to know what the small

[1:42:20] landlords are renting for.

[1:42:23] >> So I'm sorry, but that's misleading.

[1:42:27] » So I'm sorry, but that's misleading.

[1:42:27] That's misleading.

[1:42:29] You know, that's misleading information.

[1:42:32] You need to be fully transparent in the

[1:42:34] information that you're sharing and not

[1:42:37] sharing information that supports what

[1:42:39] you want to do. And that's how it comes

[1:42:42] across to me is that you're giving me

[1:42:44] information that supports where you want

[1:42:45] to go with this plan. I want real

[1:42:49] information that's totally transparent.

[1:42:51] That's not transparent. And it doesn't

[1:42:54] make anybody who looks at that says it

[1:42:56] doesn't make sense. If it costs 91 and

[1:42:58] they're making 37, how are they living

[1:43:00] here? they'd be on the streets.

[1:43:03] >> Part of it also is that Coventry does

[1:43:04] » Part of it also is that Coventry does

[1:43:04] have affordable rental housing. And so

[1:43:07] when you look at census data, which

[1:43:08] looks at the full population, that's

[1:43:10] partially capturing the fact that some

[1:43:12] of the people who do rent here are able

[1:43:14] to access housing at Coventry Housing

[1:43:16] Authority. So, but I I totally hear you

[1:43:18] and I do recognize that that data is has

[1:43:22] that disjuncture, but I do want to

[1:43:23] explain kind of the background behind it

[1:43:25] and part of it is a data source issue in

[1:43:27] that there is no comprehensive resource

[1:43:30] to capture what small landlords are

[1:43:33] renting for.

[1:43:34] >> I totally understand that, but you don't

[1:43:35] » I totally understand that, but you don't

[1:43:35] tell us that when you give us those

[1:43:37] numbers. I

[1:43:38] >> mean, one thing to be clear is I you

[1:43:41] » mean, one thing to be clear is I you

[1:43:41] guys are seeing highlights tonight. When

[1:43:43] you see the full document, the document

[1:43:45] is going to have its sources. So, we can

[1:43:47] only work with the sources of data we

[1:43:48] have and we'll be transparent about the

[1:43:50] sources of data. Um, at the end of the

[1:43:53] day, no one's trying to hide where we're

[1:43:56] ga gathering our data from and we can't

[1:43:58] gather data from sources that don't

[1:44:00] exist. But it's also critical for us to

[1:44:02] gather the data that does exist. And so,

[1:44:04] we will be transparent about the

[1:44:06] sources. You guys maybe didn't see all

[1:44:08] like you wouldn't see the full document

[1:44:10] with the data and the citations on where

[1:44:12] the data is coming from. So that's maybe

[1:44:15] helps you in terms of your question on

[1:44:16] the transparency

[1:44:19] >> and I would just say that the text

[1:44:20] » and I would just say that the text

[1:44:20] responses to the survey indicate that

[1:44:22] folks are experiencing what's consistent

[1:44:24] with that data like multi multiple

[1:44:27] respondents who are saying that I am

[1:44:28] stuck in the unit where I am living it

[1:44:30] is in poor condition but I have nowhere

[1:44:32] to go. Um, so you know, we we try to

[1:44:36] triangulate as best we can from commonly

[1:44:38] available data sources as well as

[1:44:40] hearing from folks at public meetings as

[1:44:42] well as looking at kind of the details

[1:44:43] behind the survey data. Um, but we can

[1:44:46] definitely reflect that nuance better in

[1:44:48] the final report.

[1:44:50] >> So, I just had a thought. I'm not sure

[1:44:52] » So, I just had a thought. I'm not sure

[1:44:52] if this is even possible, but if you

[1:44:55] really want to know what the residents

[1:44:57] of Coventry feel possibly when the next

[1:45:02] election, is it possible to have some

[1:45:04] type of survey, not on the election

[1:45:06] ballot, but at that facility and have

[1:45:09] somebody available? So, as people are

[1:45:13] going in to vote, say, "Hey, you know,

[1:45:16] would you mind filling out a quick

[1:45:17] survey?" And would that

[1:45:22] No.

[1:45:23] >> No. Is that something you can check

[1:45:25] » No. Is that something you can check

[1:45:25] into?

[1:45:28] >> You can't

[1:45:31] » You can't

[1:45:31] polling place is

[1:45:33] >> what you're there for. Anything else can

[1:45:36] » what you're there for. Anything else can

[1:45:36] be construed as misleading or courage

[1:45:39] courage. That's just a simple

[1:45:46] » right. I'm just thinking an idea how how

[1:45:49] to get more people.

[1:45:50] >> The idea, Mike, I mean,

[1:45:51] » The idea, Mike, I mean,

[1:45:51] >> there you go.

[1:45:52] » there you go.

[1:45:52] >> We we we want to hear from people and we

[1:45:55] » We we we want to hear from people and we

[1:45:55] want to get engagement. Um,

[1:45:57] unfortunately, it can be difficult to

[1:45:59] engage with people on a complex subject.

[1:46:01] Takes a lot of time. I appreciate you

[1:46:03] guys are here. It takes time to come out

[1:46:04] of your day and do this. Um, I mean, I

[1:46:07] hear you.

[1:46:10] Yeah. And I'm glad you came. I mean, we

[1:46:13] we we want to engage with folks. It's an

[1:46:15] important topic. it can be difficult to

[1:46:17] keep people um to get as much feedback

[1:46:20] as we'd like. We get the best we can.

[1:46:23] Typically, uh the feedback can sometimes

[1:46:24] come in spades when it's in front of our

[1:46:26] decision makers. And that's why I keep

[1:46:28] relying upon the idea of when it's in

[1:46:30] front of us and our decision makers and

[1:46:32] folks are still thinking there's

[1:46:33] something with this plan they're not

[1:46:34] sure about. That's why we want to hear

[1:46:36] from you. All the gailed comments will

[1:46:38] be considered by staff, they'll all be

[1:46:40] also passed to the decision makers. It

[1:46:42] can be difficult to get people in front

[1:46:44] of us when there's not a decision made

[1:46:46] tonight, right? This is an academic

[1:46:48] discussion and it's hard to get people

[1:46:50] to come out. But this is where we start

[1:46:51] to gather the underpinnings of the plan.

[1:46:58] » I can't hear you.

[1:46:59] >> I'm sorry.

[1:47:02] » I'm sorry.

[1:47:02] >> Many people can understand me from yards

[1:47:05] » Many people can understand me from yards

[1:47:05] away without a microphone. Sorry. Um,

[1:47:08] can I ask a question about the data that

[1:47:11] you do have from the survey results that

[1:47:13] you gathered? Is there a way I know that

[1:47:16] you made a comment about someone said

[1:47:18] about their rent.

[1:47:20] Is there a way that you are determining

[1:47:23] whether they're a homeowner or a renter?

[1:47:27] Let's say something about that, Doug.

[1:47:28] So, something we do when we do get

[1:47:30] survey results is we try to at least

[1:47:31] gauge kind of does this represent the

[1:47:33] community or not. And like typically it

[1:47:35] doesn't. I was actually quite surprised

[1:47:37] when I looked at the survey data from

[1:47:38] Coventry that it kind of lined up like

[1:47:40] almost exactly at least with the age

[1:47:42] data that I can remember off the top of

[1:47:44] my head because typically excuse older.

[1:47:46] Um but the percentages of participation

[1:47:48] on this survey were fairly reflective of

[1:47:50] the demographics of Coventry. Um which I

[1:47:53] was pleasantly surprised about um get

[1:47:56] like with the survey results I typically

[1:47:58] see.

[1:47:59] >> Yeah. And um the [clears throat] survey

[1:48:01] » Yeah. And um the [clears throat] survey

[1:48:01] uh the survey results are public. You

[1:48:03] can find them on the planning department

[1:48:04] web page. We did ask not just your

[1:48:07] attitudes and opinions about housing. We

[1:48:08] asked a series of demographic questions.

[1:48:10] Um we tried not to get too detailed, but

[1:48:12] we did ask, for example, what's your

[1:48:14] range of income? And we have the ability

[1:48:16] to even do further studies and

[1:48:18] cross-correlate. The people who make

[1:48:19] this income, how did they answer that

[1:48:21] question? The people who rent, how did

[1:48:22] they answer that question? So, we can do

[1:48:24] that kind of crossorrelation study. We

[1:48:26] did a bit of that and the the document

[1:48:29] that's on the web now gives a sense of

[1:48:31] some of the like the the findings that

[1:48:33] jumped out to us about the survey and

[1:48:36] >> I'm sorry. Okay.

[1:48:37] » I'm sorry. Okay.

[1:48:37] >> So, keep in mind that's just the

[1:48:39] » So, keep in mind that's just the

[1:48:39] attitudes opinion survey from our town

[1:48:41] residents which is somewhat different

[1:48:43] than a lot of the work they're doing

[1:48:45] pulling data from different sources.

[1:48:48] >> Someone take this please.

[1:48:49] » Someone take this please.

[1:48:49] >> Yeah.

[1:48:50] » Yeah.

[1:48:50] >> I drop it. [laughter] Thank you.

[1:48:56] » I drop it. [laughter] Thank you.

[1:48:56] Any other questions? We're open to any

[1:48:58] feedback. This isn't the end of the

[1:49:00] conversation, but we want to hear from

[1:49:01] you if you have any questions, something

[1:49:03] to say. Doug,

[1:49:04] >> I was gonna make a suggestion.

[1:49:05] » I was gonna make a suggestion.

[1:49:05] >> Please maybe make a good push on

[1:49:08] » Please maybe make a good push on

[1:49:08] Facebook for the next three days.

[1:49:10] >> No, I appreciate it.

[1:49:13] » No, I appreciate it.

[1:49:13] >> The cheapest and best option available.

[1:49:16] » The cheapest and best option available.

[1:49:16] >> I Everybody loves Facebook these days.

[1:49:19] » I Everybody loves Facebook these days.

[1:49:19] Thanks, J.

[1:49:21] That's

[1:49:24] hand.

[1:49:25] >> Oh, we got someone's hand up. Uh

[1:49:27] » Oh, we got someone's hand up. Uh

[1:49:27] Samantha Sergeant, we see your hand up

[1:49:29] in the Zoom. We're going to uh bring you

[1:49:31] in. Uh feel free to unmute yourself and

[1:49:34] and uh go ahead and speak.

[1:49:39] » We don't hear you yet, Sam. Oh,

[1:49:41] >> go ahead, Samantha.

[1:49:42] » go ahead, Samantha.

[1:49:42] >> Did that come through? Hi. I um I I just

[1:49:45] » Did that come through? Hi. I um I I just

[1:49:45] want to say um great job on the

[1:49:47] presentation. Um Ashley, I believe that

[1:49:49] was your name, right?

[1:49:51] Um, and then yeah, and then I just I

[1:49:54] missed um the tiny URL URL, excuse me.

[1:49:58] Um, what that was. I was trying to um to

[1:50:02] to switch from my phone to a laptop for

[1:50:04] the meeting so I could use my phone to

[1:50:05] get on the tiny URL. But um

[1:50:08] >> I I couldn't find I was like looking

[1:50:09] » I I couldn't find I was like looking

[1:50:09] everywhere for it.

[1:50:10] >> Yeah, the one the one for the activities

[1:50:12] » Yeah, the one the one for the activities

[1:50:12] for tonight for follow.

[1:50:14] >> Yeah. So that's um at covousousing26

[1:50:18] or tinyurl.comousing26.

[1:50:22] That should work and take you to an

[1:50:24] arcgis URL.

[1:50:26] >> Oh, okay. Is it too late to do it or

[1:50:28] » Oh, okay. Is it too late to do it or

[1:50:28] >> I think it's open till 9. So you have 10

[1:50:31] » I think it's open till 9. So you have 10

[1:50:31] minutes.

[1:50:32] >> Okay.

[1:50:33] » Okay.

[1:50:33] >> Is there a way to boost that?

[1:50:35] » Is there a way to boost that?

[1:50:35] >> Oh, sorry. I I can't read the

[1:50:37] » Oh, sorry. I I can't read the

[1:50:37] >> I can't read the clock. So you have some

[1:50:39] » I can't read the clock. So you have some

[1:50:39] time.

[1:50:40] >> Yeah. And then um we'll we'll put that

[1:50:43] » Yeah. And then um we'll we'll put that

[1:50:43] uh just so you have it, Samantha, the

[1:50:44] URL uh will be back on the web screen in

[1:50:48] just a bit. I think I'll ask Cody to

[1:50:49] screen share that particular page of the

[1:50:52] presentation just so you can see it.

[1:50:54] >> Awesome. Thank you.

[1:50:55] » Awesome. Thank you.

[1:50:55] >> Yep. It's in the top right corner of

[1:50:59] » Yep. It's in the top right corner of

[1:50:59] >> and this is this is the URL for the

[1:51:01] » and this is this is the URL for the

[1:51:01] activities that occurred just here

[1:51:02] tonight. It's the mapping activities.

[1:51:04] It's the prioritization of the goals and

[1:51:06] policies. when you get into the end of

[1:51:08] that um you'll get to a link to take you

[1:51:11] to the action items which is that's the

[1:51:14] more detailed work that we've basically

[1:51:15] didn't tackle tonight but I'm very happy

[1:51:17] to hear from people uh who are

[1:51:19] interested

[1:51:20] >> okay great thank you so much

[1:51:22] » okay great thank you so much

[1:51:22] >> thank you

[1:51:26] » all right if there's any other questions

[1:51:28] folks on Zoom uh feel free to raise your

[1:51:30] hand if you want to have a question

[1:51:32] anything to contribute uh and anybody

[1:51:34] else in the room happy to take any Last

[1:51:36] questions.

[1:51:41] » I don't see anybody. Thank you very

[1:51:42] much. It's not the end of the

[1:51:44] conversation. Feel free again there's

[1:51:46] ways to engage with us. Uh we'll be

[1:51:48] promoting uh some of the you know as

[1:51:50] these events evolve towards meetings as

[1:51:52] these events uh come into our decision

[1:51:54] makers. Uh these will be opportunities

[1:51:58] for you to engage again. Uh the

[1:52:00] documents on the web will be updated as

[1:52:02] we take this feedback. we consider how

[1:52:04] we would draft a final housing chapter

[1:52:07] draft. Um, keep your eyes open for us

[1:52:10] and uh, uh, use that website to see

[1:52:13] when's the next meeting, when can you

[1:52:14] engage uh, and what are the best

[1:52:16] materials to be reflecting on. Thank you

[1:52:18] very much for all those that came and

[1:52:20] uh, and I'll just ask at the very end

[1:52:22] uh, Mr. Clooney, if you don't mind just

[1:52:24] adjourning the the board.

[1:52:32] » All right. So the planning commission

[1:52:34] meeting's adjourned and then we also are

[1:52:36] done here.

Planning Commission - 20 Jul 2026

Transcript