The Hood River City Council, in its role as the Urban Renewal Agency board, approved changes to the URA’s Middle Housing Incentive Program after not receiving any applications in its first year of existence.  Urban Renewal Administrator Will Norris presented three revisions.  One was to detach the program from middle housing standards and moving to simply size-based standards, another would provide the funding incentives earlier in the development process, and a third move from a sliding scale of development fee equalization to a flat $12,500 per unit.  Norris noted there was a need to make the program simpler and more predictable for developers to able to attract funding for projects.  Norris said the Urban Renewal Advisory Committee recommended the program be looked at again in six months to see if the changes make a difference.