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Page 11 Planning and Zoning Commission, May 16, 1979 Mr. Reinert seconded the motion. Mr. Gourley had some information to present from New Homes magazine (January 1, 1978, volume 6), which gave the background on the Metro Council advisory committee to study single family housing, which put out the study the Commission had been refering to, the standard for single family housing, which was adopted and published in August of 1977. The article indicated that the purpose of zoning regulations is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents; if you go beyond that, it may exclude people from owning housing in a community. The Metro Council is encouraging that cities go to lower minimum house requirements for single family dwellings. Mr. Gourley quoted another article from New Homes magazine (May 1979) entitled "Type -Casting Housing According to Energy Costs: A Metro Council Update." In brief, in light of rising energy cost, smaller homes were warranted; the detached house uses more energy than the multifamily housing. Another article dealt with the 1979 housing outlook in respect to senior citizens, and recommended a smaller house be an available alternative for retired persons. Mr. Gourley cited another article in Real Estate Today (February 1979), entitled "New Homes Not Beyond Reach," which pointed out median sale prices on houses were increasing, and smaller homes are needed to accomodate people of moderate income. Mr. Gourley felt the Commission should go to even lower requirements --less than 960. He felt the need was there for the retired person and the person of moderate income; it would be discriminatory to require a larger home than they can afford. There was some discussion as to whether Lakeville was comparable to Lino Lakes. Mr. Gourley presented material and statistics from a zoning ordinance book put out by the Metro Council, which contained a combination of statistics on existing zoning ordinances that are in effect now. Mr. Gourley presented the idea that the Commission should recommend 864 on a split entry, based on the report and stat- istics from the Metro Council, and also based on the fact that the requirement for a 2 -story house is already at 850, and there is little difference between a 2 -story and a split entry. Mr. Johnson brought up the low, medium and high density factors in connection with the Metro Council statistics. Mr. Gourley said that the Commission has not been dealing with density in this area. Mr. Rehbein said that you can't relate square footage to density; it has to do with lot size. Mr. Heath felt that the square footage should be lowered, but felt that Lino Lakes shouldn't try to be the lowest square footage in the Metro area. There was some feeling that this was not the case. There was some further discussion, and the vote was taken on Mr. Johnson's motion. Opposed were Vi Schwankl and Mr. Gourley. The motion was declared passed. Mr. Shearen moved to adjourn the meeting at 1:15 a.m. Mr. Reinert seconded the motion. All were in favor. The motion was declared passed.