05-10-2017 Workshop 2 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MAY 10, 2017 rezoning solution. Keis asked what the future is across the nation for mobile home parks. He noted that he drove through each of the three parks in Little Canada and did not see many newer homes, most were very old, although many were well maintained. The City Planner stated that the mobile home parks represent a piece of the City's affordable housing stock, but does the Council want to preserve the parks, be neutral, or plan for a land use change in the future. Torkelson stated that he had brought this up during the goal session, and noted that affordable housing is hard to find in the metro area. He reported that Little Canada has a high percentage of rental housing, and he sees a real need for affordable housing here. He stated that he could see the mobile home parks being gone in 10 to 15 years, and the Rice Street reconstruction could affect them. He thinks the two on Rice Street are at higher risk for being sold for redevelopment, and with the current zoning designations, it could easily happen. His concern is the loss of units in general of affordable housing, and would like to see some sort of City policy or direction for the future of the parks. He asked why would the residents put a new trailer, or even put any money into improving their trailer, when the parks' futures are questionable. McGraw stated the other side is that the parks are privately owned, and who is the City to change the zoning and then the property owner cannot do what they thought they could with the land. Torkelson suggested having the discussion about rethinking the City's past attitude of there is enough multi -family housing and we do not want more here, except for senior buildings. He stated that there is a movement now for smaller houses on smaller lots, which are more affordable than the large lots that the City now requires. He explained that younger adults in particular, cannot afford the houses that are here now. The City Planner stated there are some development areas left, and how does the City want to plan for that. The Comprehensive Plan currently has land use designations for these parcels, so the Council should discuss if any of these designations should change with the update. The City Administrator explained that some developments had to build expensive homes because the land assembly costs were high. McGraw stated that the City owes it to the surrounding neighborhood to preserve their property values when considering a new development. The City Administrator reported that The Lincoln Group is waiting to hear if the Council is willing to give them any kind of financial assistance to help their residential development move forward on the Sculley property. Keis stated he does not know that it is the City's job to ensure everyone makes the amount of money they want during a development project. The City Administrator stated that there have been other developments that would not have happened if the City did not step in to some extent. He sees this situation as the same. He stated 2