Finding the Key: Sterling City Council constructing housing needs plan

STERLING – An aging housing inventory, a population with diverse needs and housing affordability are issues the Sterling City Council is pondering as it looks toward the city’s long-term housing needs and how to plan for them.

To get started, the Sterling City Council met this week with the city’s consulting planner, Dustin Wolff, as the city hones in on how to diversify its housing offerings for all demographics – from young working professionals to seniors – while maintaining a balance between ownership and rental opportunities and housing costs.

“We’ve always supported having a diverse housing type throughout the community. It’s important because not everyone’s in the same place in life.”

—  Dustin Wolff, Sterling’s consulting planner

“Every community has different needs and expectations for housing,” Wolff said. “Our focus as of late has been on our young professionals. How can they find the housing they need? This is also true for aging people.”

Second Ward Alderman Joe Strabala-Bright said the city has never had or needed a housing department. Until now, he said, the city’s biggest issue with housing has been dealing with dilapidated buildings. But that has changed.

“It’s now become an issue as our housing stock ages, how do we go about finding new places for people to reside, especially as people try to attract people here for their workforces?” Strabala-Bright asked.

Wolff presented study data Tuesday to provide the council with snapshots of Sterling’s housing picture as it stands now:

• Number of households: Sterling currently has a total of 7,350 housing units. Sterling’s population is made up of 14,508 people, who live in 6,532 households. There is an 11% vacancy rate. Of the 6,532 household residences, 62% are owner-occupied and 38% are renter-occupied, according to 2023 data from the United States Census Bureau.
• Housing stock: Currently, 71% of all household units in Sterling are single-unit structures, 29% contain two or more units per structure, while mobile homes and all other household unit types make up the last 1%.
• The housing stock’s age: According to the study data, 78% of Sterling’s housing stock was built before 1980. These older homes typically have age-related issues that make attracting investors difficult, especially those needing costly renovations.

Affordability is key concern

One of the study’s highlights indicates that half of Sterling’s residents suffer under the weight of housing burden. According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, housing burden is when a household’s monthly housing costs exceed 30% of its monthly income.

Study data shows that Sterling has a lower housing burden rate (14.4%) for owner-occupied housing units versus the national average of 27.3%. However, the percentage of renters in Sterling who are categorized as having a housing burden (10.9%) is more than double the national average of 4.4%.

Data from the study shows a third (33.2%) of Sterling households make less than $35,000 a year, while just over a third (35.4%) make between $35,000 and $75,000 a year. The remaining 31.4% make more than $75,000 a year. Rent burden is highest for households making less than $35,000 a year, according to the study. The median cost of rent in Sterling comes in at $757 a month.

What does Sterling need?

Wolff said Sterling could benefit from developing additional middle housing types. Middle housing refers to buildings similar in scale, form and character to single-family homes and includes side-by-side and stacked duplexes, stacked fourplexes, stacked triplexes, live-work structures, cottage courts, townhouses, medium multiplexes, tiny homes and more.

“Not everyone wants to own a home,” Wolff said. “As some people get older, they don’t want to own and maintain a home. We need to have a rental product available for them, and right now we don’t have a lot of great rental products and that’s a challenge we’re going to have to overcome.”

As for potential development possibilities, Wolff presented the council with ideas and opportunities for new types of housing sites, redeveloping existing structures and infill.

Infill means to build on unused or underutilized land within an existing development boundary. Advantages can include building in areas near jobs, public transportation and community services such as hospitals or grocery stores. However, construction and increased traffic could be disruptive to homes already in the area and zoning changes could be required.

Redeveloping existing housing structures typically is more affordable than breaking ground on new development, could provide tax breaks for the city and typically is less time consuming. However, developing new structures can save time when bypassing the need to bring older buildings up to code, especially if extensive renovations are needed.

“We’ve always supported having a diverse housing type throughout the community,” Wolff said. “It’s important because not everyone’s in the same place in life.

What’s next?

Strabala-Bright pointed out the need for a dedicated task force to begin much of the legwork and suggested the council look toward cities similar to Sterling to see what has worked for them.

For now, the council has much to consider, including getting feedback from the community and area businesses, deciding what the city’s key needs are and which ones to focus on first.

“Instead of trying to grab all the flying leaves in the wind, we need to come up with a plan,” Sterling Mayor Diana Merdian said.