Grand Island residents participated in a discussion July 17 at the Grand Island Public Library concerning a housing study that is being completed for the city of Grand Island, (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
GRAND ISLAND – Approximately 20 people attended a meeting Wednesday night, July 17, at the Grand Island Public Library to give their input for a City of Grand Island Housing study.
Two staff members from RDG Planning and Design in Omaha led the discussion. The City of Grand Island and Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp. are paying for the housing study. Participants sat at three tables, discussed a set of questions that RDG provided, then reported their answers back to the larger group.
The input will be incorporated into a housing study that will be completed in December 2024, said Amy Haase with RDG Planning and Design in Omaha.
Grand Island/Hall County Regional Planning Director Chad Nabity and Grand Island City Council Doug Lanfear attended the meeting. Nabity said a housing study is completed every five years.
Lanfear said, “We’re going to have to find higher-paying jobs” to keep the population increasing.
Haase said it was important to have housing available for every stage of life. Lanfear said he was concerned about “zombie houses,” houses that sit empty.
Participants discussed three questions:
- What are Grand Island’s housing challenges and opportunities?
- Why is this important?
- What are the top three priorities for housing in Grand Island?
Housing opportunities included prefabricated housing, multi-family/larger rentals, the need for more housing for low-income residents, enough housing for Grand Island’s population, and affordable housing, lower-priced rental housing.
Housing opportunities are important to attract young, professional families, to attract corporations and companies that pay higher wages, to keep rent affordable so people so people don’t leave, and to keep costs of rent and housing sale prices down.
Housing challenges are creating apprenticeships for trade workers, getting new developments, and identifying housing that can be renovated.
Those factors are important because people are being “taxed out” of their homes, parents are often working multiple jobs which leaves less family time, the workforce is aging, baby boomers are coming, and there are opportunities for safe, clean, 55-plus housing opportunities that people on fixed incomes can afford.
Housing priorities for Grand Island are controlling taxes, creating more naturally occurring affordable housing, building new housing developments that are not for low-income people, rehabilitating current homes, and creating apprenticeship programs.
One challenge that was mentioned was whether the city was picking housing “winners” through its awarding of TIFF money for housing. Another challenge was keeping building at a steady pace. It was noted that Grand Island doesn’t have enough high-income jobs to support the number of high-income houses on the market.
Haase said an online survey is available concerning the housing study. The 10-minute survey for resident who could not attend the meeting is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Y563JVD