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Chapter 4: Housing Frequently Asked Questions What is the purpose of a Housing Plan? As a growing community, Lino Lakes has the opportunity to plan for a variety of housing choices to meet the needs of existing and future residents. The plan inventories the existing housing stock in the community, provides a study of the future housing market, identifies future housing needs, and develops implementation strategies to address these needs. Key discussions in the chapter also include desired housing types, growth forecasts, and density for each residential land use category. What is "Affordable Housing" and how does the plan address this? The Metropolitan Council defines affordable housing as housing that is affordable to households earning 60% of the region's median income, with no more than 30% of that income spent on housing costs. This currently translates to a price point of $152,000. The City is required by law to acknowledge its share of the region's need for affordable housing. Based on an analysis of affordable housing needs in the region, the Metropolitan Council's new affordable housing goal for Lino Lakes is to create 1,275 to 1,328 new affordable housing units between 2011 and 2020. The City's role is to identify areas on the Land Use Plan map that can accommodate higher density housing to meet this goal. Accommodating affordable and life -cycle housing was a goal identified in the 2030 Vision Plan. How many households is Lino Lakes planning to accommodate by 2030? As of 2006, the City of Lino Lakes contained approximately 6,000 households. The 2030 Future Land Use and Staging Plan have the capacity to accommodate an additional 6,600 households, for a total of 12,600 households in 2030. Will the City's housing stock in 2030 be different from the current housing stock? Lino Lakes' 2030 housing stock is planned to include a much greater variety of housing styles and prices to accommodate residents' changing needs and lifestyles. The City's Land Use Plan provides for housing opportunities ranging from large lot single family homes to high density residential, which could accommodate condos, apartments, or senior housing. However, low density residential (single family homes) will remain the City's predominant land use. City and county maintenance and rehabilitation programs will ensure that the existing housing stock is maintained as the City grows. What will the City do to make sure that new housing development is compatible with existing neighborhoods? The Comprehensive Plan identifies numerous strategies the City will pursue to ensure that the character of existing neighborhoods is preserved when new housing development occurs. This includes encouraging low impact development to preserve open space or natural features, and creating design guidelines to ensure that new housing adheres to the highest possible standards of planning, design and construction.