All right. Um, thank you very much
everyone for attending this meeting. Uh,
the intent of this meeting is just as a
a a communitywide workshop on the topic
of housing. We have a lot of good
information to share and um and I'm
going to be very brief with my initial
remarks. Um this is a a a town planning
department-led meeting. I will note uh
that we had an agenda posted for both
the planning commission and the town
council. Those agendas were posted for
the idea that if a quorum of that group
attended, they should call to order so
they can just join the discussion. But
really this is a a a staff level meeting
in which council members and commission
members are attending. Um I do note we
do have a quorum of the planning
commission. Uh chairman Colonian if you
don't mind just calling us to order.
July 20th for this joint workshop. This
time
here Kenny here price
>> here. Secretary Burke here, Vice
» here. Secretary Burke here, Vice
President here, and I'm here as chair
and for the record at this time
in
>> Thank you very much. And I would note we
» Thank you very much. And I would note we
have three council members present in
the room. Um not quite a quorum. Uh so
uh but everybody is free to join the
discussion to offer feedback, engage in
all the exercises that we'll have. Um so
without further ado, our first speaker
is from the state uh executive office of
housing uh secretary Deborah Goddard and
thank you very much for joining us
today.
» I thought he was going to say she's from
the state and she's here to help us. But
[laughter]
» thank you uh for inviting me here. I'm
just going to give sort of a big picture
uh perspective from the state level. Uh
the executive office of housing is a
fairly new agency for the state. We are
the lead policy agency in terms of
housing. A lot of you know Rhode Island
Housing. They are your housing finance
agency. Their focus is on lending and
they've been around forever doing an
excellent job with that. Um so we are an
agency of your state. I report to the
governor.
So, uh, quickly let's start with how did
we get here? We all hear housing crisis,
housing problem. Uh, most Rhode
Islanders acknowledge that we need more
housing that they know there's a crunch
because most of us are feeling it. Uh,
it's really, I like to say, economics
101. Uh, development cost since February
2020, cost of construction has increased
40%.
From 2012 to 22, 10 years, land values
in Rhode Island increased 81%.
Between 2018 and 2024, home sales
increased 65%, rents increased 60% and
wages increased 29%. There's the formula
uh in large part for why we are where we
are. But we also have not been building
housing. Uh Rhode Island has ranked last
for quite some years in the number of
building housing building permits issued
per person in the state. We dug a hole.
We're going to try and dig out of it.
You've certainly been a partner and are
going to be a partner in digging out,
but it's going to take us a while and
it's going to take a collective effort.
We are making progress. Um if we go back
one, sorry, we are making progress. Some
notes down there. Uh the pace of
building permits across the street has
picked up. Uh last year was the best
year since uh precoid days. So we're
starting to get where we need to be. Um
this is a chart staff put together today
and it really reflects those stats I
just gave you. in the red. That red gap
starting particularly in around 2122
is the difference between household
median income in Coventry and what you
need to buy a single family home. And
that pretty much tracks with that data
about when did what happened with land
costs, what happened with construction
costs, and there's the inevitable
outcome. And that's just Coventry.
One thing I like to touch on is what is
affordable housing. Um, it refers means
you don't pay more than 30% of your
income for housing. Um, if you pay more
than that, then you're considered
costbururdened. You have trouble filling
other needs, transportation, food,
health insurance, whatever. That's a
standard that's been a golden standard
across the nation for quite decades and
decades. As long as I've been in the
business, for sure. In Rhode Island, the
average rent for a two-bedroom apartment
is, as you can read, over $2,300 a
month. And a household would need to
earn 92 over 92, almost $93,000.
I really like to put numbers and to
these uh terms we use because affordable
housing gets a bad rap and people often
think it's for them or those others. But
when you start seeing these numbers, you
see this is, you know, this is us. This
is our neighbors. These are our kids.
These are the people who want to come
take entry- level jobs. Average single
family home costs 475,000.
Uh you need $158,000 a year income to
support that. According to Housing Works
Rhode Island, that's out of Roger
Williams University. They publish a
factbook every year. It's just loaded
with great data. It's online if you want
it at Housing Works Rhode Island. um
142,000
almost 143,000 households are rent
burdened, meaning they spend more than
30%
on uh housing. What does this look like
uh briefly for Coventry? So, our data
shows that your average rent for
two-bedroom is about 20 $2,000 a month,
meaning you need to earn again over
$83,000 to afford it. Um,
you need an annual income of 140,000
plus uh to a Oh, I'm sorry. I did not
edit that one. Well, um to afford a
starter home. Half of renters in
Coventry are costburdened and almost a
quarter of homeowners are
costbururdened. So again, statewide
issue. Um but every community is feeling
this pain including Coventry and I know
that's why you all are here.
So what is the state doing big picture?
Um, we have created um, housing 2030.
It's the first time the state has had a
plan since uh, in almost 20 years. Hard
uh, to know where you're going, what you
need to do, and talk about it when you
don't have a plan. We now have a plan.
Uh, big picture, by the end of 2030, we
want to have permitted 15,000 new homes.
And within that, there's a goal for uh,
accessory dwelling units, which may look
small. Um when you see the number it's I
think it's 525 new accessory dwelling
units that actually would triple
production uh historic production. Uh we
have a goal for middle market. We say
middle market we don't need mean
necessarily middle income. We mean town
homes that that that as opposed to
largecale rental um and single family
homeowner home ownership uh cottages,
courts, town homes. That's what that
middle market is. and a lot of it is not
cannot be built in the state under zone
current zoning. Um again a goal for
affordable rental. We also can't uh lose
what we have. So we want to make sure we
pay attention to the affordable housing
we do have and preserve it. Um so those
those are our big picture goals.
I know you're here tonight to talk about
your comprehensive plan. Um this is
really critical. You know this is your
road map. We've we've created 2030. This
is your road mapap again to explain
where you're going, what you're trying
to do. Uh it does have to be consistent
with housing 2030. We will be uh
reviewing uh all of the comp plans the
communities submit. You can look right
there to Josh Barry, our planner. He'll
be leading the way. Um [snorts] some of
you know him. He's was a local planner.
Uh we want want you to discuss the ways
you can expand overall housing
production consistent with the needs
that you have and the needs that the
state has. Where are your opportunities
to expand middle market housing and
ADUs? And what are your efforts to
preserve homes with expiring use
restrictions? So for instance, if you've
had comp permit projects that had
30-year deed restrictions, let's check
them out. Are they coming to the end of
it? You know, do we need to do something
um to extend that? And uh we we want to
be helpful. Um, I haven't gone into it.
This isn't a sales job for the
department, but really any of the issues
you have, uh, we want to be helpful.
And, uh, I just want to say you have
got, you know, great staff. Um, I ran
the list of all the grants that, uh,
Doug and his staff have achieved in the
last couple years. Um, help with
planning for TDU, a TD, transport,
transit, transit origin development. um
looking at your your comp plan um as
well as participating in our municipal
um fellows program which helped fund
well did fund um has funded uh planning
planner positions in a number of towns.
We had eight awards. You are one of
them. I'm going to be turning this back
to your municipal fellow in a second. Um
and uh it's been I think it's been a
real success. We heard from members uh
that came to a league meeting that
communities are often overwhelmed by
what's coming at them. They don't have
enough staff to address it and deal with
it. And so we put out this grant
program. Uh the fellows are hired by
your the community. Um and I'm happy to
say uh that was from federal funding
that no longer exists, but Rhode Island
Housing has agreed to fund another round
out of their own proceeds. So, that's
really what I was here to do, to set the
stage for a more in-depth conversation
um and introduce the executive office to
you. We are here to help. Um and with
that, I'm going to turn it to your
municipal fellow.
right here.
>> All right. Uh thank you, Secretary
» All right. Uh thank you, Secretary
Goddard. Um as she alluded to, I am the
municipal state funded uh municipal
housing fellow for the town of Coventry.
Um last year from July to December, we
conducted a housing needs survey with
Town of Coventry residents. We promoted
in various ways. We got um a little over
350 responses and we got a a wealth of
good data um to use in our comp plan.
Um, so these survey responses indicated
that housing availability and
affordability is top of mind for a lot
of Coventry residents. Um, there are
clear concerns about the cost of
housing, both uh, home prices and uh,
rent. Um, and there's also a desire for
diverse housing options. People
expressing they want mixed use housing.
They want uh, multif family um, ADUs.
There's broad support for affordable
home ownership and affordable rental
units. um strong support for adaptive
reuse of underutilized uh vacant
commercial buildings and plazas. A
number of residents brought up uh
specific uh buildings and uh strips in
town in our commercial corridors in our
industrial areas. Um there is also a
desire for walkability and connectivity
um as important neighborhood
characteristics. Number of residents
comparing um Coventry to other towns
that have more of a a town center. Um
there's also a strong desire to preserve
existing open space and green areas. Uh
this is a rural town. Um and then
general support for new housing
development, established villages in
major roadway corridors um mainly in our
eastern uh section of town, center New
England um and commercial corridors in
Route 3.
So this was um I'm not going to go over
all the questions, but just a highlight
of some of the ones we got good
responses for. Question two asked if any
of the following applied to you. So, we
had um 147 people said that they know
someone who's moved or will move due to
housing costs. Um 89 people say they
can't afford to buy in Coventry. 71
people said they can't afford to rent.
Um and people who are indicating they
will move uh due to housing costs, 61
people. Um and just a quote that I've
excerpted from one of our open-ended
responses, someone saying, "We were
forced to move and house prices and
interest rates in all places forced us
to spend our life savings. We still have
a mortgage that makes it hard to get by.
It is $3,000 a month with 50% of our
take-home income. Rental rates for
family of five were no better. A number
of sentiments like this in the survey
expressed.
All right. In question four, so asking
people about what housing types they
would like to see in the future. Um
single family was dominant, but a number
of people 182 people saying they want
two family, 124 people wanting multif
family. Um there were also people uh
wanting um housing that is aimed at
protected groups, people with
disabilities, the homeless, uh the
elderly, um that sort of thing. Uh
people looking at mixed use, uh condos,
um and a number of people looking at uh
accessory dwelling units, 140 people.
All right. And then question six was one
of our open-ended questions. is we ask
people to uh write an action or strategy
they think uh could promote uh co in
Coventry uh affordable housing uh uh and
availability.
Um so we kind of categorize these into
uh different groups looking people just
generally saying they want to build more
homes, people wanting to increase
affordable housing. Um you know focusing
on infrastructure readiness, sewer and
water in our eastern section of town. Um
taxes is is top of mind of course here.
uh multif family homes. Um some people
uh posted development um reusing and uh
reuse and revitalization of existing
buildings. Um and then support for uh
senior housing zoning reform.
Um and then we had a number of
miscellaneous categories, people just
coming up with their own unique
solutions that didn't fit those
categories. Um this is a quote that I
excerpted just one idea that we got. Um
a key strategy to improve af housing
affordability and availability in
Coventry would be to support the
development of mixeduse highdensity
housing near transport hubs and town
center. Uh this approach maximizes land
use efficiency, reduces infrastructure
costs, and encourages walkability.
Additionally, implementing incentives
for developers to include a percentage
of affordable units in new projects can
ensure a steady supply of affordable
housing without relying uh solely on
public funding. And this will translate
into some of the policies you'll see
later.
Um, and like I said, um, you know, a
number of people saying that, uh, they
strongly agree that, uh, affordable home
ownership units and affordable rental
units are, uh, needed in Coventry.
And the last one, we asked people where
what areas of town or villages in
Coventry would they like to see future
housing development? um you know um
people pointing to Eastern Coventry and
um those areas near the West Warick
border. Um a few people calling out
Almax and Kmart um that vacant lot um
people some people pointing to Western
Coventry um center New England central
Coventry um and then Rout route three
are Neneck Hill Road and Tyog Avenue our
commercial corridor and then a number of
other miscellaneous responses. So that
is just a high level overview of the
survey results we got and it's on the
planning department web page if you want
to read more about it.
» Hello everyone. Uh my name is Ashley. I
am a team leader at Weston in Samson and
we have been working with the town of
Coventry to update your housing chapter.
Um we're going to go through a brief
presentation with you and then give you
some instructions. We have some stations
set up around the room. We're going to
ask you to help us and participate in a
in an exercise with us. Um I have a
couple of people here with me. Elizabeth
Haney is in the back. She's going to do
a bulk of this presentation and go over
key findings. Um, we've done an an a
needs analysis and looked at housing
data in Coventry and she's going to give
you an overview of those key findings.
We've used that information to draft
along with staff's help um a set of
goals, policies, and actions that are
directly related to those key findings.
Um, and so we're going to go over that
with you and sort of ask you to keep
these key findings in mind as you go
through these exercises. think about the
things that we we've highlighted here.
Um it speaks to what is happening in
Coventry, where people are struggling,
where the need is for types of housing.
Um so it's an important part of the
process to make sure that we can
understand and have a baseline for where
Coventry is so that we can help you
develop goals, policies, and actions
that help to solve some of those
problems and move Coventry forward in
terms of its housing needs.
Um we're going to go through um then
we'll go through sort of explaining to
you how to walk through each of the
exercises and then we would ask you once
you've done that to stick around. We'll
open up for some questions and we can
have a brief kind of dialogue and we can
try to answer some of your your
questions. Next slide.
Um we have information for you here.
There is on the town's website there is
a page that is dedicated to the
comprehensive plan. So, please visit
that that website. Um, there's a lot
more information that's posted up there
that can help you understand the work
that the town is doing with this. Um,
and Doug has graciously encouraged all
of you to please email him if you have
questions, specific comments. Um, get in
touch with him and the department and
that is really the best way to get your
questions answered and to get your kind
of your concerns on record with the
department as they work through this
process.
Doug, if you wouldn't mind talking a
little bit about why we're here. The
town has just recently um adopted a a
new updated comprehensive plan that
includes a housing chapter. We were
hired through one of those fantastic
grants that Doug was able to secure for
your community to take a much deeper
dive on your housing chapter and really
start to dig into what's going on in the
community so that we could help you
refine those goals, policies, and
actions to be really specific to what's
actually going on on the ground to make
sure that we can address the need as
best we can in the community. So, if
Doug, if you'd like to speak any more to
that.
>> Sure. Um, we're taking an interesting
» Sure. Um, we're taking an interesting
approach. Some folks might recall that
we adopted a new comprehensive plan for
our entire community uh just in June of
this year. Uh so the question would be
if we just adopted a comprehensive plan,
what are we doing here tonight? Um we
took this strategy because we had not
had a comprehensive plan for uh 27
years. So it had been a long time
coming. We uh knew there were a lot of
things we wanted to achieve with this
comprehensive plan and some of them were
time-sensitive. So, we had an important
need to get a comprehensive plan on the
books. However, um we didn't feel great
about the housing chapter that we had at
the time to be honest. Um we had a
comprehensive plan that um when I first
came on board the town, which was about
three years ago, was um just being
submitted to the state statewide
planning. uh statewide planning was
considering um comments on the plan. At
that point, the town's housing chapter
said its strategy for developing
affordable housing was that later on we
would develop a plan to tell us how we
would develop affordable housing. So, we
had no meat, no details. That doesn't
work for the state. At the end of the
day, we're all here to comment on
policies. We're all here to comment on a
comprehensive plan. Ultimately, the plan
is guided by state level documents that
tell us topics that we need to hit. Um,
so we actually need to tell tell people
in our comprehensive plan how we're
going to achieve and make progress with
affordable housing. And we hadn't did
that. We didn't do that in our first
draft. Staff spent some time um trying
to work strategies into place. Uh it
took a it took a while. We were working
with stakeholders. We assembled some
groups of stakeholders to give us
feedback on this. Um, and then we
realized that a period of time had
passed. A lot of the data that we were
relying on was getting a little stale.
And around that time, we found money to
hire a consultant really just to focus
on this particular element, this
chapter, which if you're asking me is
one of the most critical chapters to
this community. Um, we certainly are a
community that is seeing a lot of
interest um from the development sector.
um a lot of available land in Coventry.
Um not all projects are uh created
equal. Not all projects have been uh
well-loved by all the neighbors. That's
fair to say. But um Coventry is a
community that has a lot of increased
interest in development. Uh and there
are a lot of projects that are being
cited in uh good locations. Um, but long
story short is in the midst of this, we
wanted to really nail down and make sure
the policies of our comprehensive plan
were were sound. We were growing the way
that we wanted to. And that's why we're
revisiting this element in particular.
The goal is that as the state is right
now reviewing our recently adopted
comprehensive plan, by the time we're
rounding this element into shape, it
will actually realign and the overall
plan will both reach uh state approval
as well as being to able to incorporate
the recent revised chapter that we're
working on now. So, a bit of a unique
approach for folks that are wondering
what are we here for and and how does
this correlate to the plan we adopted
last month? That's a little That's
probably enough for me. Thanks, Ashley.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
Next slide.
So, I'm going to ask Elizabeth to come
up and speak to us about the key
findings and the needs assessment that
was done. And again, we're asking you to
sort of keep this framework in mind,
keep this information in mind as you
walk through these stations. It's how
the um goals and policies were generated
and it's where the action items came
from was all based on this needs
assessment and the data findings that
that came out of that.
» Thanks everybody. Got to move this down.
Not tall enough today. I didn't wear the
right shoes. Um so thanks for having me.
My name is Elizabeth. Um and so um we
have slides with each of our I think
it's nine key findings. And so the first
one is around u the characteristics of
Coventry's housing stock. And so 76% of
Coventry's housing stock is uh single
family detached housing. Um and that
compares to the county which is uh 67%.
And for the state um that's closer to
56%. And that that gap kind of
historically has widened. So Coventry's
housing stock has gone to more towards
single family in contrast to the state
and the county overall. um in Coventry 2
to four unit buildings which is
sometimes called the missing middle um
is just 5.7% of the stock versus 22%
statewide. Um something really unique
about Coventry is actually that 6.5% of
the housing units in Coventry are
manufactured homes. Um it's over a
thousand units in five parks. Um that's
seven times the amount um of uh like the
typical state rate. Um, and the
characteristics of those parks vary in
terms of which ones have affordability
restrictions and which ones are resident
owned communities versus which ones are
privately owned. Um, which we'll get to
more later. Um, you can go to the next
slide, please. Or hold on, let me check.
Okay. Um so in terms of ownership and
renters um the median single family home
price is uh 40 sorry 438,000 in 2025 and
that's tripled since 2000 um which was
around 12 24,000 in 2000 um condos as of
last year and this can vary because of
the sales volume but the price for
condos has actually exceeded the median
single family home price in Coventry um
as of last year It's it's a smaller
volume. So that might just be a
characteristic of which condos were
coming online, but is also interesting
when you think about condos as kind of
an entrylevel point for folks to buy in.
Um in terms of what the median income
needed to buy the medianric home, um you
would need an income of around 140,000
to buy the medianric single family home.
Um but the median uh income in Coventry
is 102,000.
Um, and even if you make 120% of area
median income, you'd still be $40,000
short. Um, the sales volume has declined
over the past few years. Um, so in uh
2025,
we're down um 400 from 640 sales per
year to 490 sales per year. So there's
less homes on the market, which relates
to those home prices going up. Um, and
the the the
average rent for the for a two-bedroom
in Coventry, my numbers are slightly
different than EOH is because uh I I
pulled a little bit more recent data, um
is now up to $2,281
per month. And so you would need to make
$91,000 a year to be able to afford um
that rental price. And um but the median
renter in Coventry earns $37,000 a year.
Um, and so the the affordable rent for
that household would be uh 9 $9344.
Um, and so that means that uh for folks
making below 80% of area median income,
um, they really can't afford the rentals
that are available on the market. Um,
and in that survey that Dennis
highlighted, which I'll just cherrypick
a survey from, but of the renters who
responded to that survey, 76 of 80
renters who responded to that survey
said that cost is a concern for them.
Um, you can go to the next slide.
And so, um, Coventry has 916 units on
the low and moderate income housing
inventory. And so those are the units
that have um a an affordability
restriction, but it also um due to
changes in state legislation also
includes um manufactured homes and
vouchers. Um so you can see if you look
at the breakdown of what are the details
behind Coventry's low and moderate
income housing inventory, you can see
that um it sort of looks like there are
more family units than elderly units,
but that's because we're counting
manufactured homes and vouchers as part
of that count. But in terms of actual
like units on the ground, there are
actually fewer family units than elderly
restricted units in Coventry. And that
also somewhat differs um compared to the
chart of who is costbururdened in
Coventry. And so the chart on the left,
the font might be kind of small, but it
breaks down kind of the orange and the
red are who is costburdened or severely
cost burdened. Severely cost burden
means you're paying more than 50% of
your incur income towards housing costs.
So you you really got to make decisions
about where your money is going. Um and
so you can see that among small
families, there's something like500
small families that are spending more
than 30% of their income towards housing
in Coventry. But you also have higher
percentages of elderly non-family
households and um other types of
households who are also burdened. Um
you can go to the next slide.
Um, and so Coventry, like the state, has
an aging population. The population
that's 65 and over, grew um 48% between
uh 2010 and 2020. Um, one in three
residents are now 55 and older. Um,
there's also sort of a wave of folks who
are age incoming. So, uh, folks who are
in the 55 to 64 cohort, um, that
proportion of the population is bigger
than the county and the state. Um, those
are folks who may want to down downsize
in coming years. um there's a smaller
percentage compared to the state of
folks who are uh 18 to 34. Um which
means there's fewer households um moving
to start families and start their
careers here. Um there are also folks
who work in Coventry but aren't able to
live here. So um we have a table here of
occupations in Coventry of some of the
industries that exist here. And so you
can see that the average annual wages
for a lot of these professions um aren't
able to afford the they they can't
access an affordable rent or an
affordable home price. So if you look at
this chart, folks who work in the
accommodations or food sector, retail,
healthcare, or construction for none of
those sectors can they afford um the
typical Coventry rental or the median
home price. The only folks who are able
to afford just the rental are folks who
work in man manufacturing or
professional services.
Um you can go to the next slide.
and uh Coventry does have an aging
housing stock. So 58% of the units are
uh built before 1978. Um in housing
units from that era there is a risk of
uh lead paint. um those those older
households are more prevalent in eastern
Coventry. Um that has real impacts. Six
children um had elevated blood levels
according to 2025 data in Coventry and
the tenant surve the the reports for
folks from Dennis's survey in kind of
the comments if we looked at the
comments there were folks who talked
about things like mold, water intrusion,
water coming through the roof, um
failing heat and electric. um folks who
are renting in Eastern Coventry. Um
sometimes those types of units, older
multif family units are what's called
naturally a occurring affordable
housing. So those are units that don't
have an official deed restriction, but
folks are able to um able to rent
without costing too much. Um but they
are in poorer condition. You can go to
the next slide.
And um one of our other other finding is
is um that cost burden data that I
already sort of talked about. So I won't
walk you through this in great depth,
but severe housing cost burden is
concentrated among non-family households
which can be folks living alone or
living with roommates and but small
families account for the largest number
of folks who are a cost burden. So
paying more than 30% of their income for
housing. Um and then you can go to the
next slide. And so we kind of wrapped
all that up with a summary of needs for
folks in Coventry
and oh we have some dynamic graphics. Um
and so though it's not exciting to speak
about these statistics. So um folks in
Coventry there's a need for more housing
that can um meet the population changes
for folks here. um folks who are elderly
and aging, folks with disabilities,
which can sometimes come with folks who
are aging, um extremely lowincome
households, as well as manufactured home
park residents and renters
and households experiencing housing
instability. some of the official um
kind of statistics about homelessness
like don't show Coventry as having um
homeless homelessness um in the official
counts but folks in the survey reported
that folks are camping in different
locations in Coventry and if you look at
the schools data where they report on
kids who are living doubled up which
also get counted as homeless there are
40 students sorry I believe there's 40
students in Coventry public schools who
are reported as homeless
you can go to the next slide
And so um kind of going towards housing,
what that means is that we find that
there's a broad a need for a broader
range of housing types for more
attainable ownership opportunities as
well as a need among uh the workforce
and local employees. Um kind of like
that table that I went through. You can
go to the next slide. And then we had a
few additional findings that were just
worth noting. And I think I've discussed
um most of these.
Yeah.
And then this is just a chart to kind of
visualize um a statistic that's often uh
frequently talked about. Um so there's a
lot of discussion in Rhode Island about
the 10 the 10% threshold for the low and
moderate income housing act and
communities are subject to comprehensive
permits when you have less than 10% of
your housing designate designated as low
and moderate income. Um commentary today
is at um 6.23% 23% but looking at the
projects that are in the pipeline. Um we
made this graph and kind of put in what
year projects might come online for any
of the projects that are in um the
planning approval process. I just put
those for 2029. But what this shows is
that Coventry is going to come very
close to getting to 10% by 2030. Um but
then that number will be recalculated in
2030 and the target will shift up a
little bit. So there may be a gap when
you get to 2030.
Um and you can go to the next slide. And
so this is sort of uh where we are. So
we have just completed the needs
assessment. Tonight we are going over
the goals, policies and actions um
coming from that analysis. And those
those will go into the final chapter
which will be approved by town council
and then submitted to statewide planning
for approval.
All right. And then I think Are you up
next for the instructions?
>> Sure.
» Sure.
>> So, keeping all of that in mind, we're
» So, keeping all of that in mind, we're
going to ask you to engage in some
exercises with us. Um, we have three
stations that we've set up. Number one
is over here. We've labeled them the
best that we can. Number two is over
here. Number three is a map over here.
At station one, we have those key
findings. So, we've got those nine key
findings that Elizabeth went over for
you. And really, we're just interested
to know, is this something that you were
aware of in your community, or did you
were you surprised by what you heard and
the statistics and the data that was
that Elizabeth talked through? We're
interested in just understanding what
the general knowledge is out in the
public about where where people in
Coventry are in their life and in their,
you know, where they are in their
housing needs. Um, station number two is
the goals and policies that we've
developed with the staff's assistance to
um, kind of high level set the tone for
how is Coventry going to address these
key issues that we've identified. So,
when you're at and you got a pet little
packet of sticky dots, we're going to
ask you to use your red dots. And the
instructions are on the back of your
agenda, so you don't need to memorize
this. You can just flip it over and look
at it. We're going to ask you to use
your red dots at station number one and
tell us is this something you knew or
something that surprised you. You also
have some purple dots. Um we're going to
ask you to use those at station two and
we're going to ask you to prioritize
your six top when you read through
those. What are the six things that
resonate with you the the most? What are
the things that you think Coventry needs
to focus on out of those goals and
policies? Um, so we'll ask you to use
your your purple dots over there. And
then station number three is over here.
We have a large map. Um, we have the
whole town on this map. We've pointed
out some part particular location so you
can sort of orient yourself and you have
some smaller little half inch dots. Um,
each of those sort of ref represents a
different category. And we're asking you
to put those dots on a map and tell us
where these things make the most sense
to you. So you can use the post-it notes
here. You can use your smaller dots on
this board um according to kind of the
themes that we have come up with um with
staff's help in terms of where you think
housing is most appropriate. We also
have another it's kind of behind the
screen. You can't really see it, but we
have another station over here where we
just have some blank white paper for
you. And there's markers and pens and
post-it notes. And anything that you
have as a thought or an idea or a
commentary that's not captured in one of
those three stations, we ask you to just
put it down on paper for us. We will
look at all of that and we will give all
of that information to staff. So any
thoughts or ideas that you have that
somehow don't get captured in these
three stations, um there's a a we're
calling it a parking lot basically.
That's a great place to put any of your
ideas or thoughts that are not related
to one of the three stations.
>> Um, yep. Can you just go back to slides
» Um, yep. Can you just go back to slides
just for folks who are listening online
or to the one with the um the URL on it?
I think it's slide might be before one.
So, if folks are are are listening in
online, um you're able to also
participate in these activities. If you
go to tinyurl.comousing26,
that'll take you to an online survey
where you're able to drop pins on a map
and complete um parallel activities to
the activities folks are doing tonight.
So, it's tinyurl.comousing26.
Thank you for that reminder.
If you can go back. Yep. Thank you.
Um you can go one more.
So, this is a QR code. This you can use
to scan this on your phone. And what
we've done on this survey that is online
is all of the action items. I think
there's like 36 of them. We talked about
the idea of being able to discuss those
here tonight, but it's just too much
information um to ask everyone to read
36 action items, think about those, and
dot vote on all of that. And so, we took
this to a higher level and did goals and
policies. We're doing the map so that we
can get an idea of where people think
specifically it's appropriate for
certain types of housing development.
But what we've also done online is given
you this QR code. You can scan this with
your phone. I believe we also had we'll
get you the URL. I thought it was on
this slide. Um to you can go there and
it lists the 36 action items and it
gives you the ability to sort of give
your you know give your gauge your
interest in those. Do these seem
appropriate? to these seem like maybe
not a great idea for commentary. This
that survey will stay open until the
close of business tomorrow. Um and then
we'll close that. And anyone that's um
online will also see that at the end of
the link that Elizabeth just gave you,
you'll be able to move over to this
survey right from that one and you'll be
able to do both of the activities from
home. Next slide. again promoting that
the comp plan, the website has
comprehensive plan information and that
Doug is offering to invite people to
come speak to him or to email him um at
the address there. Absolutely. Please.
And then it's it's fair to say um as a
as a last remark before I think we turn
it over to the engagement exercises. Um
this was our our first big uh public
engagement opportunity for the housing
chapter. That's what's in front of us.
Uh these policies, this is very much uh
the the document itself hasn't been
assembled. Uh these are this is a very
strong draft, but we're looking for that
feedback now. But this is going to be
moving into the local adoption process.
So there'll be important steps where
this is going to be reviewed uh by the
planning commission and a recommendation
from the planning commission will be
provided to the council. There'll be a
council hearing on this matter. Um this
is going to be the stand alone or the uh
the the the the standing website that
we're going to use throughout the whole
process. Uh, and uh, the idea is through
the entire process, we're going to have
my email address be where you can give
comments throughout it all. I'm going to
oftentimes be just passing those along
to our decision makers as we move from
one board to another. Uh, but this is
the first step. We want to hear from you
early. We want to hear from you often,
but this is the place that you should be
checking back over the course of the
next few months. We anticipate bringing
these plans in front of our boards in
the course of the next month or two. Um,
we want to get the feedback here, but
this is something that this will be
moving towards local decisions in the
next few months. So, please keep this
website handy. Keep looking for updates
and email me with any questions. Um,
>> thank you.
» thank you.
>> Yep. Thank you.
» Yep. Thank you.
>> So, you do not have to start at station
» So, you do not have to start at station
one. You can pick any one of them and
move in order or not in order. It really
doesn't matter. We just hope that you're
able to visit all three of them. Um, and
we encourage you to stick around
afterwards so that if there are
questions, we can have a bit of a an
open dialogue before we end the meeting.
>> I think that's it. So, please, you know,
» I think that's it. So, please, you know,
take your sticky dots, your
instructions, pick a station, start
anywhere, and there's going to be staff
there to help you or answer your
questions as you go.
No.
But they haven't changed the
» area.
Just want to get a sense.
You can actually do up to three.
Happy.
both.
I probably don't have
That's your John.
[laughter]
Trying to find space
over
supposed.
I hope this
[laughter]
is
your point.
probably.
Okay.
Yeah, I see.
That's what you find.
This is
not
Fore
most.
Someone wants to say something.
» Check, check, check, check.
>> So, if you guys want to sort of
» So, if you guys want to sort of
reconvene, um, we'd like to give
everyone an we, first of all, we want to
thank everyone for coming, for
participating. Um, we encourage we
encourage you to use the QR code and go
to the the small survey for the um
action items. There are Doug has passed
out um a document to everyone that's
here. This has all of the goals and
policies that you saw on the boards at
station 2 and it also has all of the
action items outlined. Um, and Doug is
asking if you have comments on these,
you know, please contact the department.
Um, if you're not able to go online and
do that survey or if you have thoughts
beyond what the survey captures, um, get
in touch with the department. Um, and we
do want to open it up and give you guys
a chance to ask any questions and I can
certainly field questions related to the
process and the project that we're
working on. And Doug is also available
if there are more specific questions.
So, I don't know if anyone has anything
specific they wanted to ask. I think
» actually it helps anyone who's watching
from they can hear you.
>> Okay.
» Okay.
>> Um so my first question is regarding the
» Um so my first question is regarding the
um housing element of the comprehensive
plan. I know Doug you said that we
adopted a new comprehensive plan in
June. Prior to that was there no housing
element at all to the comprehensive plan
or was it just totally inadequate? Was
it something that we couldn't even look
to to see if what we're doing is in line
with the plan?
>> The um the comprehensive plan that we
» The um the comprehensive plan that we
had uh representing the community prior
to what we adopted last month was dated
uh 1999. So, we did have a comprehensive
plan. It was just 27 years old. In 2005,
we did develop an uh affordable housing
production plan. And that actually
stands as the the town's prior to us
adopting what we did last month, that
stood as the town's plan for how we're
going to further affordable housing. Um,
this current uh effort basically
incorporates the needs that the state
has of us having an affordable housing
plan. It incorporates that into this
housing element. So any requests for
affordable housing that have come
between that update and 2025,
>> would those have been weighed against
» would those have been weighed against
that whatever that temporary plan was
that was in place?
>> Yeah. So we we've we've had since that
» Yeah. So we we've we've had since that
time, we've always had this 10% rule and
law from the state. Um but the idea is
as we had affordable housing projects um
come to the town if there was a
measurement of is this furthering the
town's plan for affordable housing they
were measured against the 2005
affordable housing production plan
>> and is the 2005 plan something that we
» and is the 2005 plan something that we
can see absolutely that we could what we
just
>> we have a digital doc I can certainly
» we have a digital doc I can certainly
email it to you um it's a it's a dated
doc but we yeah we certainly have a
version that we can email
>> okay yeah if you could email that that
» okay yeah if you could email that that
would be No problem.
>> Um, second is the um
» Um, second is the um
survey that the planning department did.
>> Yep.
» Yep.
>> Um,
» Um,
there were 353 responders.
>> Yep.
» Yep.
>> Which is less than 1% of Coventry.
» Which is less than 1% of Coventry.
>> Yep.
» Yep.
>> So, I just want to state that that I
» So, I just want to state that that I
don't feel is something that even should
be being shown on slides to support
where we're headed in this plan. It's
353 people out of 35,000.
So, I just wanted to state that as a
>> That's fair. Yeah. I mean, we we were we
» That's fair. Yeah. I mean, we we were we
were happy with the outcome we got. Um I
mean, you know, we
>> That's bad. It's kind of sad. 353
» That's bad. It's kind of sad. 353
people. That's
>> Yeah. And I can describe the promotional
» Yeah. And I can describe the promotional
efforts of the survey. Um I mean, we we
ran ads in the paper. We ran it on the
town Facebook multiple times. We uh we
actually had Dennis um out at multiple
community events um making people aware.
Um it's difficult to get people to and
it was it was a detailed survey. It
wasn't a answer two questions and you're
done. I mean it it it was a it estimated
about 15 minutes. Uh it's hard to get
people to take 15 minutes out of their
day no matter how well you promote it.
>> Um
» Um
>> and I read everything about how you
» and I read everything about how you
promoted it, you know, while we were
going through this which is great. I'm
an involved person. I never saw it.
>> Never saw it because I would have
» Never saw it because I would have
participated if I ever saw it. I never
saw it. And I believe you did all those
things. But
>> I guess that's just
» I guess that's just
>> just an encouragement to figure out how
» just an encouragement to figure out how
to get the word out on these things
better. Maybe it's you have
maybe it's the um
the the the people who are over here
that committee, you know, they're in
touch with the day-to-day people a lot.
Maybe they need to be going out to their
constituents and saying, "Hey, you need
to fill this out. You know, you you have
everything to say about everything, but
if you want something on the record,
then fill these out."
>> No. And we definitely did we did ask the
» No. And we definitely did we did ask the
council to share with as they saw fit,
but again it's it's difficult to reach
everybody. We did we didn't um mail
something to every resident in town.
That would have been a sticker price. I
don't think we want to delay.
>> Yeah, I totally get that.
» Yeah, I totally get that.
>> I mean, we we did we did give it a lot
» I mean, we we did we did give it a lot
of effort. Um and to be honest, I know
that that 1% of the community doesn't
seem like much. I I think it it it was
great in my eyes to still see 350 people
uh give us responses when we've run
similar surveys in this community. it
was before my time. I can't speak to the
effort. We didn't get anywhere near
those responses. So, we
>> I just don't think it's something you
» I just don't think it's something you
can hang your hat on less than 1%.
>> I mean, I do think that the issues we
» I mean, I do think that the issues we
learned um it it does tend the the
opinions and attitudes because really
that's what it was. It was an opinion
and attitude survey asking our
residents, "What do you think?" It does
turn out the opinions and attitudes were
kind of aligned with a lot of the data
on, you know, where is there the biggest
crunch? who is at a disadvantage, who's
struggling with these issues, and then
then the survey actually turned out
similarly, people reporting those issues
from their own perspective.
>> So, kind of in line with that, so you
» So, kind of in line with that, so you
gave us that tiny URL, which I think is
where people who weren't here tonight
can participate in these exercises,
right? That's where that tiny URL is.
>> And then you gave us this QR code.
» And then you gave us this QR code.
>> The tiny URL one is going to close, I
» The tiny URL one is going to close, I
think you said, end of business
tomorrow. that no the the URL was for
anyone that was just online and wanted
to engage in these exercises. Um that
was that was for that uh the other QR
code that is there on the screen. So
anyone that's on Zoom uh it's it's the
QR code that's on the screen. Um this is
uh reflecting this document. So, what we
didn't have time to do tonight is to
look at the the 30 plus detailed action
items that are the details behind some
of the broad goals and policies. Uh,
we're very happy to keep getting
comments on this. I do encourage people
if you want to go on, you can give your
comments on this um uh tomorrow.
However, nothing stops anybody from
taking your time digesting this, getting
uh, you know, your own reactions to it
and email me any level of detailed
comments you have. We will incorporate
it in the process. Uh, some folks will
give me comments now, and I'd love them
now, and we actually will reflect on
them and incorporate them in the plan.
Some folks might want their comments to
go to the council or the planning
commission who are ultimately going to
vote on these things. Any comments we
get, we're going to share with our
decision makers as well. So, that that
puts it on the record. So, I suggest
absolutely
um spend time if you can tomorrow, but
don't be afraid to email anytime to me
and and this my email and the website
are going to kind of stand throughout
the whole process. We're probably
another two months from going through
public hearings and we want to be
focused on hearing from people in one
place so you don't have to keep
switching your your your input to
different um receivers.
>> Well, and it's a lot easier if you as a
» Well, and it's a lot easier if you as a
survey monkey, right? all the answers
are going to come in and Survey Monkey
is going to do all the work for you. Why
wouldn't you leave it open more than
just 24 hours from now so that people
who were here can get the word out and
say, "Hey, you know, go online and fill
out the survey. It's going to take you
10 minutes. It's multiple choice."
>> Yeah.
» Yeah.
>> And get like more than 353 pe more than
» And get like more than 353 pe more than
1% like
>> one day is not a long time. Can't you
» one day is not a long time. Can't you
leave it open for like
two days and let people get the word
out? For this, I think our goal was uh
to kind of tie it to the event and then
the consultant's going to want to take
the feedback we got from this event and
consider how that addresses it and draft
it. My my thought is
let us hear from you. I think we can
happily leave it open longer than today.
Um happy to leave it open um another 3
days. Uh my thought is after we get that
feedback, we're going to try to rework
it in a consolidated fashion and then it
goes to the decision makers. Once it
goes to the decision makers, the
planning commission, the town council,
we still want to get your feedback,
>> but it's hard for us to take a
» but it's hard for us to take a
consolidated rewrite of a lot of things.
At that point, we're editing through
board meetings. Uh we're editing, you
know, in a different way. That's why we
wanted to get feedback soon as opposed
to leave it open for so long. we knew we
wanted to use this meeting to hear from
folks and see what the reactions were. I
mean, I'd love I would have hoped to see
um you know twice as many people here,
but as much as you try and you reach out
and you you seek people's guidance on
these, my my my takeaway is that it's
hard to get people to take their time
and engage. I appreciate you guys are
here. It's hard to get people to engage
on these things.
>> Yeah. Um, that's why no matter if we
» Yeah. Um, that's why no matter if we
could leave that up for longer. We may
not get the engagement we would hope to
get, but we want to get what we can.
This meeting was a great start. We'll
leave that open for three more days.
>> Yeah. And I really appreciate everything
» Yeah. And I really appreciate everything
that you guys put before us tonight.
It's it's really great. And I wish that
more people were actively involved, but
I feel like those of us
>> who were were here just from the
» who were were here just from the
community
>> that at least we can get word out, you
» that at least we can get word out, you
know, I have two a sister, two nieces
who live in Coventry and, you know,
they're not here.
>> Yeah.
» Yeah.
>> You know, but I just feel like you're
» You know, but I just feel like you're
going to get the same thing. You're
going to get there was what maybe 10
people here who are not on one of the
councils. Yeah.
>> And then four people on Zoom. You're
» And then four people on Zoom. You're
going to get feedback from 14 people.
Yeah.
>> What good is that really?
» What good is that really?
>> No, I mean that that's why we
» No, I mean that that's why we
continuously have on our website, which
is a document that you'll see, you know,
we have promoted that, you might have
seen it pop up on Facebook. Uh you you
might have read the ad in the paper.
That's where the website's still going
to live on. A month from now when we
feel like we've taken this input, we've
done what we can. I want to keep
pointing people back to that because
that will point you to here's the latest
documents. Please review them. If you
have comments, please email Doug. That
doesn't stop that communication and I
don't mind if I get 50 emails the week
of the planning commission or the
council meeting.
>> No, I totally get that and that's great.
» No, I totally get that and that's great.
I just think getting more feedback on
leaving it open for a few days and
trying to get more people to participate
is a much easier way for you to gather
data. I mean, it's survey monkey. Yeah.
It's going to come together and you're
going to have all your answers, you
know, versus 20 emails from people after
the fact who say, "Oh, I should email
Doug about this, you know,
>> is that or that Survey Monkey thing that
» is that or that Survey Monkey thing that
you're talking about?"
>> Yeah. If you if you uh take your phone,
» Yeah. If you if you uh take your phone,
go to that QR code that's on the screen,
it'll take you to this document. I know
we were handing this out. I know you
guys were just at the stations and I'll
give this I'll give a copy of this. Yep.
Take take two of Yeah. Take one of those
each. It's it's imagine that the
policies and and uh goals that you were
reviewing this provides a little bit
more meat on terms of the smaller steps
we'll we'll need to take to accomplish
them. We want to hear from you on that.
Um we knew tonight was probably a bit
much to go through 30 plus of them, but
we want to hear from you. We kind of
used tonight as like a hook and asking
people I don't mind. Uh share with your
neighbors, share with your friends. You
guys are passionate about it and I think
that'd be helpful to hear from the folks
that you guys think want to weigh in on
this. Feel free to share that link,
share this document, and if anybody has
feedback and they're thinking they want
to wait another few weeks, then we want
to hear from you still. But at that
point, we're we're taking the feedback
from tonight, creating a document,
making that a formal doc out there, and
then that doc can still be edited
through the process.
» Well, you got Zoom and you have all your
>> Yes. Yes.
» Yes. Yes.
>> Yeah. anyone that's on Zoom has actually
» Yeah. anyone that's on Zoom has actually
got access to this. And you want to try
to distribute it to people all over
commentary. Like not just the people who
live right around you or the people you
know have the same ideas as you, but
really just spread it out to anybody
that you know or put it on your own
Facebook page and say, "Hey, if you live
in Coventry,
>> you know, I encourage you to fill this
» you know, I encourage you to fill this
out so that you are getting a a fair
representation from different areas, you
know, different people,
» embedded bugs or whatever in there."
>> Yeah.
» Yeah.
So, if I were to go to some random
person and say, "Hey, Skins QR, take
this survey." They'd be like, "No,
>> I can show you after.
» I can show you after.
>> Go to the QR code." There's also a
» Go to the QR code." There's also a
website address that you can go to. So,
I can show you that after if you'd like.
>> Yeah. No, this one's not bugged unless
» Yeah. No, this one's not bugged unless
you get bugged by uh 30 housing
questions. This one, this one's clean.
>> So, if we send it out, what's the
» So, if we send it out, what's the
deadline? Uh I know that um I'm uh yeah,
I'm okay with Friday. I'm I'm only in
the office for part of this week and I
did want to be part of the you know when
we closed it, see what kind of feedback
we got. Uh but we can leave it open till
Friday. I'm fine with that
>> vacation. Don't worry about it.
» vacation. Don't worry about it.
>> Yeah. No, but I think part of it is the
» Yeah. No, but I think part of it is the
consultant team wants to be able to take
feedback and
>> but I want them to have valuable
» but I want them to have valuable
feedback.
>> No, no, no. Valuable feedback if you
» No, no, no. Valuable feedback if you
leave it open for a while longer. I
might be wrong.
Give it a whirl.
» Founding action. If you type that in
like it'll take you the same.
>> Is that is that's the link we've got
» Is that is that's the link we've got
right up there on the top right.
It's the same link except it's a
different.
All right. Never mind. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay.
>> Right. So, so pe people only the people
» Right. So, so pe people only the people
who were on the phone could participate
in this exercise.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Because it's hard to leave
» Yeah. Yeah. Because it's hard to leave
an exercise like this open-ended for
weeks. Okay. And I mean part of it is
our goal is to move forward with the
feedback and then draft the plan the
best we can. That doesn't mean that the
feedback doesn't end, but it means that
we want to get a plan in front of our
decision makers. The only other question
I had is you um I I forget your name,
but you mentioned that I think it was
and I might get my numbers wrong because
there was so many numbers and so many
slides so fast, but you mentioned I
think that the average renter like to
rent a home in Coventry is about $2,000
a month, which means you have to make
91,000 a year, but the average renter in
Coventry makes 37.
How is that possible?
How are they living here if they make 37
and you need to make 91? It just those
numbers don't make sense to me. So, I
need it in context.
>> I can I can speak to that. So, it's
» I can I can speak to that. So, it's
partly what the nature of the data
that's available for renting. Um, and so
the data that we have about the average
two-bedroom rent comes from Rhode Island
Housing, and they use a database called
Co-Star, which is like a corporate
database of rental data. So, that rental
data is is more about larger properties.
So, it probably includes some of the
renovated mills, but it may not reflect
the smaller scale um like old mill
housing that may also be rented. It kind
of is skewed towards larger buildings.
Um, and so that is that's the reason for
the the kind of disjuncture is that that
data set only looks at buildings that
kind of corporate interests are
interested in knowing the information
about and it doesn't they don't
necessarily survey all of the small
landlords to know what the small
landlords are renting for.
>> So I'm sorry, but that's misleading.
» So I'm sorry, but that's misleading.
That's misleading.
You know, that's misleading information.
You need to be fully transparent in the
information that you're sharing and not
sharing information that supports what
you want to do. And that's how it comes
across to me is that you're giving me
information that supports where you want
to go with this plan. I want real
information that's totally transparent.
That's not transparent. And it doesn't
make anybody who looks at that says it
doesn't make sense. If it costs 91 and
they're making 37, how are they living
here? they'd be on the streets.
>> Part of it also is that Coventry does
» Part of it also is that Coventry does
have affordable rental housing. And so
when you look at census data, which
looks at the full population, that's
partially capturing the fact that some
of the people who do rent here are able
to access housing at Coventry Housing
Authority. So, but I I totally hear you
and I do recognize that that data is has
that disjuncture, but I do want to
explain kind of the background behind it
and part of it is a data source issue in
that there is no comprehensive resource
to capture what small landlords are
renting for.
>> I totally understand that, but you don't
» I totally understand that, but you don't
tell us that when you give us those
numbers. I
>> mean, one thing to be clear is I you
» mean, one thing to be clear is I you
guys are seeing highlights tonight. When
you see the full document, the document
is going to have its sources. So, we can
only work with the sources of data we
have and we'll be transparent about the
sources of data. Um, at the end of the
day, no one's trying to hide where we're
ga gathering our data from and we can't
gather data from sources that don't
exist. But it's also critical for us to
gather the data that does exist. And so,
we will be transparent about the
sources. You guys maybe didn't see all
like you wouldn't see the full document
with the data and the citations on where
the data is coming from. So that's maybe
helps you in terms of your question on
the transparency
>> and I would just say that the text
» and I would just say that the text
responses to the survey indicate that
folks are experiencing what's consistent
with that data like multi multiple
respondents who are saying that I am
stuck in the unit where I am living it
is in poor condition but I have nowhere
to go. Um, so you know, we we try to
triangulate as best we can from commonly
available data sources as well as
hearing from folks at public meetings as
well as looking at kind of the details
behind the survey data. Um, but we can
definitely reflect that nuance better in
the final report.
>> So, I just had a thought. I'm not sure
» So, I just had a thought. I'm not sure
if this is even possible, but if you
really want to know what the residents
of Coventry feel possibly when the next
election, is it possible to have some
type of survey, not on the election
ballot, but at that facility and have
somebody available? So, as people are
going in to vote, say, "Hey, you know,
would you mind filling out a quick
survey?" And would that
No.
>> No. Is that something you can check
» No. Is that something you can check
into?
>> You can't
» You can't
polling place is
>> what you're there for. Anything else can
» what you're there for. Anything else can
be construed as misleading or courage
courage. That's just a simple
» right. I'm just thinking an idea how how
to get more people.
>> The idea, Mike, I mean,
» The idea, Mike, I mean,
>> there you go.
» there you go.
>> We we we want to hear from people and we
» We we we want to hear from people and we
want to get engagement. Um,
unfortunately, it can be difficult to
engage with people on a complex subject.
Takes a lot of time. I appreciate you
guys are here. It takes time to come out
of your day and do this. Um, I mean, I
hear you.
Yeah. And I'm glad you came. I mean, we
we we want to engage with folks. It's an
important topic. it can be difficult to
keep people um to get as much feedback
as we'd like. We get the best we can.
Typically, uh the feedback can sometimes
come in spades when it's in front of our
decision makers. And that's why I keep
relying upon the idea of when it's in
front of us and our decision makers and
folks are still thinking there's
something with this plan they're not
sure about. That's why we want to hear
from you. All the gailed comments will
be considered by staff, they'll all be
also passed to the decision makers. It
can be difficult to get people in front
of us when there's not a decision made
tonight, right? This is an academic
discussion and it's hard to get people
to come out. But this is where we start
to gather the underpinnings of the plan.
» I can't hear you.
>> I'm sorry.
» I'm sorry.
>> Many people can understand me from yards
» Many people can understand me from yards
away without a microphone. Sorry. Um,
can I ask a question about the data that
you do have from the survey results that
you gathered? Is there a way I know that
you made a comment about someone said
about their rent.
Is there a way that you are determining
whether they're a homeowner or a renter?
Let's say something about that, Doug.
So, something we do when we do get
survey results is we try to at least
gauge kind of does this represent the
community or not. And like typically it
doesn't. I was actually quite surprised
when I looked at the survey data from
Coventry that it kind of lined up like
almost exactly at least with the age
data that I can remember off the top of
my head because typically excuse older.
Um but the percentages of participation
on this survey were fairly reflective of
the demographics of Coventry. Um which I
was pleasantly surprised about um get
like with the survey results I typically
see.
>> Yeah. And um the [clears throat] survey
» Yeah. And um the [clears throat] survey
uh the survey results are public. You
can find them on the planning department
web page. We did ask not just your
attitudes and opinions about housing. We
asked a series of demographic questions.
Um we tried not to get too detailed, but
we did ask, for example, what's your
range of income? And we have the ability
to even do further studies and
cross-correlate. The people who make
this income, how did they answer that
question? The people who rent, how did
they answer that question? So, we can do
that kind of crossorrelation study. We
did a bit of that and the the document
that's on the web now gives a sense of
some of the like the the findings that
jumped out to us about the survey and
>> I'm sorry. Okay.
» I'm sorry. Okay.
>> So, keep in mind that's just the
» So, keep in mind that's just the
attitudes opinion survey from our town
residents which is somewhat different
than a lot of the work they're doing
pulling data from different sources.
>> Someone take this please.
» Someone take this please.
>> Yeah.
» Yeah.
>> I drop it. [laughter] Thank you.
» I drop it. [laughter] Thank you.
Any other questions? We're open to any
feedback. This isn't the end of the
conversation, but we want to hear from
you if you have any questions, something
to say. Doug,
>> I was gonna make a suggestion.
» I was gonna make a suggestion.
>> Please maybe make a good push on
» Please maybe make a good push on
Facebook for the next three days.
>> No, I appreciate it.
» No, I appreciate it.
>> The cheapest and best option available.
» The cheapest and best option available.
>> I Everybody loves Facebook these days.
» I Everybody loves Facebook these days.
Thanks, J.
That's
hand.
>> Oh, we got someone's hand up. Uh
» Oh, we got someone's hand up. Uh
Samantha Sergeant, we see your hand up
in the Zoom. We're going to uh bring you
in. Uh feel free to unmute yourself and
and uh go ahead and speak.
» We don't hear you yet, Sam. Oh,
>> go ahead, Samantha.
» go ahead, Samantha.
>> Did that come through? Hi. I um I I just
» Did that come through? Hi. I um I I just
want to say um great job on the
presentation. Um Ashley, I believe that
was your name, right?
Um, and then yeah, and then I just I
missed um the tiny URL URL, excuse me.
Um, what that was. I was trying to um to
to switch from my phone to a laptop for
the meeting so I could use my phone to
get on the tiny URL. But um
>> I I couldn't find I was like looking
» I I couldn't find I was like looking
everywhere for it.
>> Yeah, the one the one for the activities
» Yeah, the one the one for the activities
for tonight for follow.
>> Yeah. So that's um at covousousing26
or tinyurl.comousing26.
That should work and take you to an
arcgis URL.
>> Oh, okay. Is it too late to do it or
» Oh, okay. Is it too late to do it or
>> I think it's open till 9. So you have 10
» I think it's open till 9. So you have 10
minutes.
>> Okay.
» Okay.
>> Is there a way to boost that?
» Is there a way to boost that?
>> Oh, sorry. I I can't read the
» Oh, sorry. I I can't read the
>> I can't read the clock. So you have some
» I can't read the clock. So you have some
time.
>> Yeah. And then um we'll we'll put that
» Yeah. And then um we'll we'll put that
uh just so you have it, Samantha, the
URL uh will be back on the web screen in
just a bit. I think I'll ask Cody to
screen share that particular page of the
presentation just so you can see it.
>> Awesome. Thank you.
» Awesome. Thank you.
>> Yep. It's in the top right corner of
» Yep. It's in the top right corner of
>> and this is this is the URL for the
» and this is this is the URL for the
activities that occurred just here
tonight. It's the mapping activities.
It's the prioritization of the goals and
policies. when you get into the end of
that um you'll get to a link to take you
to the action items which is that's the
more detailed work that we've basically
didn't tackle tonight but I'm very happy
to hear from people uh who are
interested
>> okay great thank you so much
» okay great thank you so much
>> thank you
» all right if there's any other questions
folks on Zoom uh feel free to raise your
hand if you want to have a question
anything to contribute uh and anybody
else in the room happy to take any Last
questions.
» I don't see anybody. Thank you very
much. It's not the end of the
conversation. Feel free again there's
ways to engage with us. Uh we'll be
promoting uh some of the you know as
these events evolve towards meetings as
these events uh come into our decision
makers. Uh these will be opportunities
for you to engage again. Uh the
documents on the web will be updated as
we take this feedback. we consider how
we would draft a final housing chapter
draft. Um, keep your eyes open for us
and uh, uh, use that website to see
when's the next meeting, when can you
engage uh, and what are the best
materials to be reflecting on. Thank you
very much for all those that came and
uh, and I'll just ask at the very end
uh, Mr. Clooney, if you don't mind just
adjourning the the board.
» All right. So the planning commission
meeting's adjourned and then we also are
done here.