KYLE — Kyle City Council approved a resolution March 4 for an agreement with Housing Works Austin to conduct a housing study following staff direction in November 2024.
“On Nov. 19, council directed staff to develop a housing strategy to diversify the city’s housing options. Housing Works helped the city provide data and an assessment of affordable housing project in summer of 2024. So, this planned housing assessment will build off previous data … and analyze current housing needs and inventory to better fulfill and develop a housing strategy and to avoid the patchwork approach of housing diversity,” said Rosie Truelove, director of administrative services.
According to the presentation, the assessment will consist of: data regarding current housing availability and housing needs at different income levels; data on family and household income, household make-up and housing tenure; qualitative data through policymaker and city staff interviews; information on existing housing and affordability support programs; and an assessment and analysis of existing plans and reports.
Tabling at community events, a survey, three open community meetings and opportunities for two focus groups will be held in an effort to receive community feedback, explained Truelove.
“A report will be read with recommendations regarding strategies that can be implemented to address housing needs and diversify housing types based on available resources,” said Truelove.
As of now, the timeline for the project is approximately seven months, with preliminary findings shared in early fall, for a cost of $65,000 — $45,000 from the city and $20,000 through “external philanthropic grant funding” for Housing Works.
Council member Miguel Zuniga asked what the goal of this project is, since council recently had a housing analysis, to which council member Bear Heiser stated that this will give the city information on what future development patterns should look like, as the previous one focused solely on if Kyle needed more affordable housing.
“I’m not going to argue there’s not a need for housing because it provides security for people. The more affordable your house is, the more you can invest in education, which gets you moving into a better financial situation,” said Zuniga. “But if it’s to concentrate in … social vulnerability areas, I don’t know that the city needs to be doing that.”
According to Heiser, this study would also aid council in decisions when developers approach them since they would understand the city’s housing inventory.
Initially agreeing with Zuniga, council member Marc McKinney noted that this is a “no-brainer” if it helps with planning future developments.
“I just want to get a sense of some other places who have experienced similar similarities and looking at what their percentage breakdown is of housing inventory based on income and how income rose or shrunk based on the development patterns,” said Heiser.
Council expressed concerns with finding cities that match the median income, as if staff looks at cities near Dallas, they will be 30-50% higher, said Mayor Travis Mitchell. So, city manager Bryan Langley noted that staff will work to find cities that are similar and try to “identify strategies to identify ways to provide more housing that will meet some of the gaps that we have.”
“I think it would also be good to see what our median income is over time because when I first got here it was, like, $88,000. I think now it’s like $80-81,000. So, I’d be curious to know what factors have led to lower median income in the city,” said Mitchell.
“I don’t think we’re voting on a feel-good program. I think this is all about data and making sure that we’re moving forward in the city,” concluded council member Robert Rizo.
The item passed unanimously.
Kyle City Council will meet next March 18.
