Zion Affordable Housing Newsletter ​​
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Weekly Update for 5-16-25
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Things are picking up a pace again lately. Much of the progress has been incremental in nature, in other words, we're not moving forward in leaps and bounds, but in smaller measured steps. It helps with the frustrations about how long these kinds of processes take to bear fruit if one thinks of it as occurring in Divine Right Timing and Order. "You can't push the river." So we proceed in good faith, trusting that we'll be guided to the next right step in the process.
Given that, here are some of the recent occurrences that are moving things forward: a proposal was submitted that would utilize much of the land Zion has available for a much-needed facility to serve people with disabilities (the size of the Zion space may be a factor in whether or not this proposal is pursued). Zion also has been having ongoing meetings with Carrie Sanders from Hope Community Capital focused on laying the foundational pieces for whatever development(s) come to fruition.
Several meetings, Zooms, and email conversations have ensued around working with the City of Appleton to modify parking restrictions and setback allowances to make it easier for developers to utilize spaces available in Appleton. Town Makers met Wednesday and discussed how best to address these issues. We were all clear that complaining is not a useful approach, but rather we wish to offer feedback on the benefits to us and the City of making some of the desired changes to the municipal code, the City's Comprehensive Plan, and the future land use map. Jennifer Stephany, Executive Director of Appleton Downtown, Inc. is planning to set up a meeting between some of the Town Makers members, including Bonnie, with City officials to discuss some ways forward.
Bonnie had an interesting Zoom call with R. John Anderson, principal with Anderson/Kim Architecture and Urban Design who bills himself as a "builder, developer, urban designer, and recovering electrician". The discussion was around better ways to work with City government to accomplish housing development outside of the standard approaches. Many thoughtful ideas were shared and some of these will be brought to bear on the Zion Project(s).
Lastly, Zion is again preparing to send out a Request for Proposals (RFP) detailing the areas of the Zion campus that are available for development, articulating what would be desirable to have in a project(s) submission, and sharing this RFP to a much wider audience than the previous RFP reached. We'll be looking not only for those who are interested in developing the whole campus (aside from the church itself which is not on the table), but also smaller developments that might be intended for just a portion of the available space. Looking forward to seeing what we get for responses!
Weekly Update for 5-2-25
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Here's your weekly update. Feel free to pass this update along to anyone you think might be interested. If you do not wish to receive these, please feel free to opt out.
TOP PRIORITY: Please complete the survey for the City of Appleton (even if you think you already offered your opinions at a listening session) at the link below and be sure to include the following two points:
1. We are advocating for the elimination of Appleton's current parking requirements that hinder housing development projects like what's being proposed for Zion. The current level of required parking stalls is shutting down much-needed housing projects and we're requesting those requirements be eliminated, or at least greatly reduced.
2. We are advocating for greater flexibility in required set-backs as these, too, are limiting the ability of housing developments to generate the number of housing units desperately needed in Appleton.
Thank you in advance for filling out the survey which will influence the City of Appleton's Comprehensive Plan which is being updated. If we can influence the City to include these two changes above, it will go a long way toward making it easier for small and large developers alike to add more housing to Appleton's housing stock.
Bonnie had a great Zoom meeting last Friday with two smaller developers who have been working on creating sustainable housing developments in Oshkosh and other locations. The goal was to learn more about how they're doing what they're doing and establish a connection to more folks doing what we hope to do. They did share a huge list of resources, including many companies building with modular components that might suit the project being proposed for the southeast lot.
Speaking of the southeast lot, Bonnie submitted a very preliminary proposal to Zion with her thoughts for a development on that lot which would include up to 8 small "starter" homes (approximately 700-900 sq ft) in pocket neighborhood style. This idea was presented to Zion leadership and Zion suggested a timeline of 90 days for a more complete proposal. Given the number of components to this project, it is unclear how far the proposal can be advanced in 90 days, but it's certainly something to try to meet.
Bonnie also met with 5 people who are potentially interested in joining the Intentional Community project at Zion. There was much lively discussion about the plans and their level of interest in such a project. Their main concerns were related to the potential for the City to not modify their parking and set-back requirements which would delay, if not halt entirely, this development. They were also concerned about wanting to see the project further along in development even though Bonnie made it clear that an Intentional Community, by design, involves a "founders' group" of people who work TOGETHER to create the community.
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Weekly Update for 4-25-25
On Monday, Bonnie joined a large group of stakeholders for the inaugural meeting of Connect Fox Valley which will be tasked with developing a strategy guide/roadmap for fostering social connectedness among those in the tri-county region who experience barriers to connectedness. This is an opportunity to meet a broader group of folks who will certainly be looking at housing issues as they related to isolation and loneliness in our area.
Tuesday, Bonnie met with Vicar Jake to discuss where things stand with the work being done at Zion. Vicar Jake, as always, was very supportive of this work and where we're heading.
Much of the week has been writing preliminary proposals, emailing back and forth with people in various roles related to the work at Zion, and continuing to gain insight into all of the pieces involved in a project like this.
Later today Bonnie will be doing a Zoom meeting with two small developers who have been creating similar developments in Oshkosh to the one being proposed for Zion's lot. The goal is to learn more about how they're doing what they're doing and establish a connection to more folks doing what we hope to do.
Next week Bonnie is meeting with 2 or 3 people who are potentially interested in joining the Intentional Community project at Zion. Stay tuned!
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Weekly Update for 4-19-25
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On Tuesday, Bonnie met again with two Principal Planners from the City of Appleton to further discuss zoning issues relevant to the potential for cluster housing on the Zion lot zoned R3. MANY thanks to Brian Rasmussen for his assistance in creating an initial drawing in Google Earth to present to the Planners. Technology is not always Bonnie's friend...
The Planners, Lindsey and Colin, were incredibly helpful in looking at "how can we?" rather than "we can't". So the potential for a small cluster of houses in the 900 sq. ft. range looks more promising than it previously had. The biggest complications hands-down are Appleton's parking requirements. And our local Town Makers group, to which Bonnie and Kandie both belong, has been discussing the potential of our group making that our first targeted focus to address with the City since the parking requirements have hindered at least three other projects in our group.
Regarding parking, currently the rule is one parking space off-road for each dwelling unit AND one visitor space for every two dwelling units! This seems excessive given the trend of moving away from orienting cities around vehicles rather than around people and we're hoping that the updates to the Comprehensive Plan would spawn changes in the zoning requirements for parking. The Planners did say that we could explore a 20% "administrative parking adjustment" which would save quite a few stalls needed.
A couple other issues are one-story homes in Appleton must be at least 900 sq. ft. (this was a 1980's attempt to keep mobile homes from being put on lots in town) and two-story homes must be 700 sq. ft. on the first floor. Most of the homes Bonnie was considering were roughly in the 800 sq. ft. range. They did some calculating and came up with the idea of duplexes in various sizes, including single story and two story models as one option for meeting the requirements.
They asked about an ownership model and Bonnie indicated she was likely going to be proposing a co-op model where the co-op owns the homes and the people living in them are part of the co-op and buying in to shares of ownership. This model can allow people who are currently priced out of the housing market altogether to buy in. Bonnie also talked about a land trust model where Zion retains ownership of the land and structuring some kind of monthly payment from the co-op for use of the land that made it worthwhile for Zion, along with lowering the overall cost of the development.
Jason Schulist from Generative Local Community Institute shared with Bonnie the names of two people who might be interested in joining the development being considered now. This could be very advantageous as this whole Intentional Community process is predicated on the idea of a "founders group", a group of people who start these types of projects together, rather that one person having all of the responsibility and others only joining in when the project is near complete or complete.
And yesterday morning yielded another "Godincident" that reinforced all of this is unfolding in Divine Right Timing and Order. Bonnie met with Lynnsey Erickson, who is a Community Health Strategist for Winnebago County, and Tina Haffeman, who is very involved in affordable housing in the Oshkosh area to share and hear updates on what we are working on. In the course of our lively meeting, a young man approached us and asked if he could join our conversation because it was so interesting to him. We had a lovely conversation and all felt heartened that these different generations had an interest in finding solutions to the housing issues we face together.
Also out of that meeting, Lynnsey shared contact information with Bonnie for two people who are doing sustainable housing development in Oshkosh right now and Bonnie reached out to them to set up a time to connect. Their projects are likely to be very informative for the work being planned for Zion's campus.
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Weekly Update for 4-11-25
On Monday, Bonnie and Kandie met to discuss zoning regulations with regard to renting out spaces in the two school buildings. The Appleton Area School District is renting much of that space through the end of August, but efforts are being made to clear other spaces, make needed repairs, and address required zoning and liability issues prior to renting out additional spaces. Kandie is the point person for this work, with Brianne Connelly assisting.
On Tuesday, Bonnie and Jason Schulist from Generative Local Community Institute (GLCI) met with three of the Principal Planners from the City of Appleton to again discuss zoning issues relevant to renting church space to outside entities. In addition, toward the end of the meeting, Bonnie asked specifically about the potential for cluster housing on the Zion lot zoned R3. Lindsey Smith, Principal Planner for the City of Appleton suggested that Bonnie meet with her again to discuss that as many factors weigh into the potential for that method (cluster housing, which is not currently recognized by the City of Appleton) to work, including zoning issues, the current Comprehensive Plan, the upcoming updated Comprehensive Plan, the future land use map, building codes, and more. Bonnie will get that meeting scheduled ASAP.
On Wednesday, Bonnie, Jason and Kandie attended the monthly meeting of the Appleton Town Makers group. There were several new people present so we did a round of introductions and some problem-solving ensued with regard to the Zion project and a senior housing project Maiyoua Thau of Long Chen has been stymied with on her property. This is the incredible value of attending this group as other members had some creative ideas as to how to move these projects forward. Since building a series of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) is not allowed by the City, and City Planners were moving away from Planned Unit Development as another option that had been suggested by Marissa Downs, a local developer, another method for accomplishing the desired outcome was suggested by one of the members and Bonnie will bring that up with the City Planner as a potential option.
Several of the developers at the meeting, including Bonnie, expressed dismay over the difficulties caused by the zoning requirements despite the City's expressed goal of developing more affordable housing. One member ran into odd set-back issues when wanting to add an ADU behind his house. Typically the set-back is 10', but for some reason, in his case, he was told it needed to be 25' which put the unit too close to the back of his house. In Maiyoua's case, she had planned twice the units for development and was told by the City she had to have parking spaces in front of each unit despite the fact that most of her intended residents don't have driver's licenses and she has a huge parking lot adjacent to the spot she was going to build the senior housing. That reduced the number of units she could potentially build and made the cost per unit definitely not affordable, so her project is stalled.
We discussed the potential for petitioning the City to eliminate the parking requirements which would allow projects to move forward. A former City Council member was present and did point out some of the issues with regard to that, but it was noted that several other cities have done just that, eliminating the parking requirements, thus freeing up developers to move forward with affordable housing projects. Stay tuned for more updates on the workings of local government.
Weekly Update for 3-21-25
This week held several interesting meetings with implications for the Zion Project. On Monday, Bonnie met via Zoom with Jo Muehl, Monk Elmer, and Noel Halvorsen to discuss the Affordable Housing "lever", which is one of five levers coming out of the Faith-Based Housing Summit from last Fall. Jo had emailed information about the expectations for the leaders of each lever ahead of the meeting so Noel and I were able to ask questions about that information and get a better sense of how Housing Summit Leadership was viewing our roles moving forward. There were six areas of focus suggested, including doing the discernment/due diligence around housing, collaborating with other faith communities in creating and funding church property development and more. It was agreed that Noel and Bonnie would meet to discuss their thoughts and how best to bring together the faith communities that expressed an interest in being involved in the Affordable Housing lever from the Summit. That meeting will be next week.
Tuesday Bonnie had coffee with Debbie Blank whom she had met at a previous training on how to talk about Affordable Housing with government folks. Debbie's focus is on the responsible use of funding by local government. She talked about the explosion of housing around the perimeter of Appleton which, apparently, does not get counted in the planning efforts being put forth by Appleton since it's not within the city limits. Bonnie shared information about the Zion Project and GLCI as both seemed relevant to Debbie's work.
Plan Appleton Update Meetings were held on Tuesday, March 18th at the Appleton Public Library. This was a chance for the City to share what they've learned thus far from their previous listening sessions about desired changes to the City of Appleton Comprehensive Plan and taking a deeper dive into opportunities including affordable housing. Here were the primary themes that emerged from the previous listening sessions:
Affordable Housing and Welcoming Neighborhoods were mentioned by 65% of the people who offered feedback at the prior listening sessions!
Thriving Economic and Cultural Scene were mentioned by 36% of people at the prior listening sessions.
Improved Walking, Biking, and Riding Throughout the City were mentioned by 25% of the people at prior listening sessions.
Sustainable Development and Accessible Green Spaces were mentioned by 13% of the people surveyed.
Responsible, Collaborative, and Transparent Leadership were mentioned by 26% of the people surveyed.
This clearly placed Affordable Housing front and center as the top issue needing to be addressed in the updated City Plan. An updated housing assessment conducted in 2025 showed that Appleton will need an additional 3200 rental units AND 3600 owner-occupied units in the next 20 years to keep up with demand with an emphasis on "starter" homes.
The City's next steps will be to generate the report itself and then begin implementing the action items associated with those previously mentioned focal points, including Affordable Housing.
Bonnie wants to profusely thank all of the Zion folks, Historic Central Neighborhood folks, and Zion Project Supportive folks for turning out in DROVES for this meeting! It was so exciting to watch people who've attended our Roundtable meetings, followed along with Zion's process, and who receive these emails show up and talk to those who have the power to make this City Plan something that supports us getting our project (and many other similar projects) funded and D.O.N.E!
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Weekly Update for 3-14-25
This week we held the rescheduled Roundtable meeting for updating anyone who wished to attend about the Zion Project. Updates since the previous meeting last October were provided along with opportunities to ask questions and share information. There were 16 people present, with a good turnout from Zion leadership and congregation members. Main topics were the change in focus from WHEDA funding and a "big box" developer to other funding options and focus on smaller projects, including Bonnie's pursuit of required changes to the City of Appleton's Comprehensive Plan, future land use map, zoning regulations, and more such that a "pocket neighborhood" could be an option for one of the vacant lots on Zion's property. We also discussed Kandie Wilz taking over some of the Project Manager duties to free Bonnie up to do this other work. Everyone was brought up to date on the current status of Carrie Sanders' work with the Zion community. It was also noted that Zion is now seeking a full-time pastor rather than a part-time one which may help in bringing some candidates to the fore. Also, Bonnie encouraged anyone who can attend the upcoming meetings at the library on Tuesday, the 18th, at 4, 5, or 6 to hear what the City learned from their previous listening sessions regarding their comprehensive plan and offer suggestions that we want more R-3 zoned areas in town, along with increased density allowances, that would be great!
Wednesday night both Bonnie and Kandie attended the monthly Town Makers meeting which included Q & A with Monte Anderson, a developer from Dallas, TX who had some great ideas for funding projects such as Zion's. Bonnie plans to work up a proposal based on the information shared by Monte and seek some input from area leaders on how best to implement that proposal.
There are many more things going on behind the scenes at this juncture and will be reported here as they unfold, but suffice it to say the time is ripe for some things to fall into place and some significant progress to be made with regard to this project. To that end, the next paragraph is our current Call to Action.
Plan Appleton Update Meeting on Tuesday, March 18th at the newly reopened Appleton Public Library beginning at 4 pm. This will be a chance for the City to share what they've learned thus far from their previous listening sessions about desired changes to the City of Appleton Comprehensive Plan and taking a deeper dive into opportunities including affordable housing. Presentations will be given at 4, 5, and 6 pm followed by activities designed to learn more from us as to what's wanted and needed in Appleton. You can learn more about the Plan and this event at www.planappleton.org. Please support our project by speaking out on the need for more flexible zoning and building codes and our desire for "cluster housing" on the Zion campus.
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Weekly Update for 3-7-25
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You are invited to Zion's rescheduled Roundtable meeting on Tuesday, March 11th, from 4:30-6 pm in the Fellowship Hall at Zion. All are welcome to learn about the current status of potential development at Zion Lutheran and efforts that continue with regard to affordable housing.
This week Bonnie attended the Introduction to Advocacy for Affordable Housing training offered by the Fox Cities Housing Coalition and the Wisconsin Council of Churches. Rev. Brianna Ile'ne' from Wisconsin Council of Churches, Susan Garcia-Franz from Winnebago County Public Health, and Richard Dodge from First United Methodist Church presented on ways to advocate for affordable housing with various governmental entities. This included an overview of federal, state, and local government and the entities within each that impact housing in our state. We also learned how a bill becomes a law. Takeaways for Bonnie were the "Enabling Better Places" report, subtitled "A User's Guide to Wisconsin Neighborhood Affordability" which contained a lot of useful information, especially about needed code reform which is likely to be discussed at the upcoming Listening Session at the Appleton Library on Tuesday, March 18th (see below). The speakers were also advocating for support for the Wisconsin Opportunity Act which fights against poverty and creates renewed investment in housing, transportation, employment, and business development among other things.
Regarding the "Enabling Better Places" document, Bonnie is passing along the following examples of code changes that would benefit affordable housing development:
1. Allowing multi-unit housing as permitted uses in single-family zoned districts which have historically included two-family and multi-family buildings.
2. Realigning lot widths and areas to match historic patterns which favored narrower lots.
3. Reducing setbacks to historic distances to allow greater use of existing lots.
4. Allowing accessory dwelling units (ADU's) by right for all single-family zoning districts.
5. Permitting residential uses within downtown and main street zoning districts.
6. Permitting residential uses, including multi-family, in commercial districts.
7. Managing residential density with building types not units per acre in each district.
8. Reducing or eliminating parking minimums.
9. Assessing and streamlining the subdivision and workforce housing application process, including standards that direct development outcomes and a time limit on municipal response.
Some of these changes have already been implemented by the City of Appleton, but others warrant modification yet. To learn more about these changes, click here.
Today, Bonnie met with Wendy Harris from NEW Mental Health Connection to learn more about a new initiative on social connectedness across the tri-county region of Calumet, Outagamie, and Winnebago counties. This initiative, which Bonnie has been invited to join, is bringing together a diverse group of community leaders who work with communities disproportionately impacted by disconnection and isolation, including older people, LGBTQ, BIPOC, immigrant, people with disabilities, and others to hear from these communities on what is needed to improve social connectedness at individual, community, and systemic levels. The result will be a report detailing recommended actions to improve social connectedness, which will include housing initiatives, to be disseminated to local nonprofits, health systems, schools, funding organizations, and other stakeholders, providing a map for future projects and sustaining and expanding existing efforts.
Plan Appleton Update Meeting on Tuesday, March 18th at the newly reopened Appleton Public Library beginning at 4 pm. This will be a chance for the City to share what they've learned thus far from their previous listening sessions about desired changes to the City of Appleton Comprehensive Plan and taking a deeper dive into opportunities including affordable housing. Presentations will be given at 4, 5, and 6 pm followed by activities designed to learn more from us as to what's wanted and needed in Appleton. You can learn more about the Plan and this event at www.planappleton.org.
You are invited to Zion's rescheduled Roundtable meeting on Tuesday, March 11th, from 4:30-6 pm in the Fellowship Hall at Zion. All are welcome to learn about the current status of potential development at Zion Lutheran and efforts that continue with regard to affordable housing.
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Weekly Update for 2-21-25
This was a pretty quiet week in terms of activities in the housing realm. Bonnie did attend the Fox Cities Housing Coalition's meeting on Wednesday and learned about HeadsUp, presented by their program director, Jennie Micke. HeadsUp is a program to support youth aged 16-24 as they age out of the fostercare system. Just a few stats to give you a sense of the dire circumstances these kids face: 20% end up homeless when they age out of the fostercare system, 70% of former fostercare females are pregnant before age 21 (clearly a highly vulnerable population), and housing remains one of the toughest needs to fill for this group of humans. Pillars has collaborated with HeadsUp on a program which can provide housing for up to 12 people aging out of fostercare, which is awesome, but there's still much need.
Bonnie has accepted an invitation to partner with Noel Halvorsen from NeighborWorks Green Bay to launch the Affordable Housing lever for the Faith-Based Housing Summit's ongoing work post-Summit . The gist of this work would be to bring together the faith communities that expressed an interest in housing issues at the Summit and begin work on creating next steps and a collective action plan regarding housing in our area.
ACTION STEP: Bonnie is pursuing more information about this upcoming meeting, but please plan to attend the March 18th meeting at the library to request the city add "cluster housing development" as an option to their Plan as well as other "missing middle" housing options. Thanks in advance!
Also, please tentatively save the date for Zion's rescheduled Roundtable meeting on Tuesday, March 11th, from 4:30-6 pm in the Fellowship Hall at Zion.
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