Survey: Affordable housing in Clovis not adequate

More than 80% of those responding to an affordable housing survey said supply is not adequate for Clovis.

That set the tone for a housing town hall meeting Tuesday at the Clovis-Carver Public Library.

The session was conducted by Jackie Fishman of Consensus Planning, an Albuquerque planning and architecture firm.

Fishman outlined the New Mexico Affordable Housing Act.

Points she noted included:

• When it comes to housing, "cost burdened" households were described as those spending 30% to 50% and more in housing costs.

• In New Mexico it is allowed for municipalities and counties to donate land for affordable housing.

Fishman said 617 people responded to the affordable housing survey Consensus Planning offered; most of those people were in the city's Commission District 1.

"We got some interesting results," Fishman said of the survey.

• 81% of those surveyed believe there is not an adequate supply of affordable housing in Clovis.

• 91% described Clovis housing as "fair to poor."

• The city's Districts 2 and 3 are the areas where most improvement is needed.

• 47% of those who responded to the survey live in three-bedroom homes.

"The housing stock (in Clovis) is old compared to the rest of the state," Fishman said.

Fishman queried the audience on how housing affordability affected them.

Some of the audience comments:

• "My husband had to take a part-time job to help pay the rent."

• "I can't find housing where the cost is less than 30% of my income."

• "It's hard to find a rental for around $300 a month."

• An individual who described themselves as a realty manager described renting out rooms in a home and in effect it is much like an apartment house.

The audience responded to Fishman's query about what type of housing is needed in Clovis.

Some of the audience comments:

• "It's impossible to find something with more than three bedrooms."

• "It's been decades since middle class housing has been available here."

• "I have cats. When I looked for a place that would allow cats those rentals started at $1,200 per month. So I live in an RV."

Fishman spoke of efforts to have affordable housing in Santa Fe.

"There are 'set asides.' New projects are required to make a percentage of their development affordable," Fishman said.

Area developer Brenner Campbell spoke at the town hall about looking into existing affordable housing in Clovis.

"There are multiple projects with low occupancy. I was speaking with a woman at one and she showed me a bullet hole in her car. Another is 30% unoccupied," Campbell said.

Campbell went on to note the salaries paid to military personnel are too high to qualify for low-income housing in New Mexico.

The cost of building housing was also discussed, how the cost to build starts at about $160 per square foot.

Fishman spoke of a desired step in setting up affordable housing is to look for land donation.

Local Realtor Brett Johnson noted what he believes to be a problem regarding housing.

"Government regulation has caused so much of this affordability problem. It needs to be addressed legislatively," Johnson said.

Fishman noted the need for state funds to help with the problem "but state money gets sucked up by the big cities."

Fishman said information from the survey and comments from those at the town hall will be noted in the affordable housing survey.