04/06/2009 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • WS — Item 2a WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT Work Session Item 2a Date: April 6, 2009 To: City Council From: Mary Alice Divine Re: Affordable Housing Background During recent work session discussions, council members requested examples of ordinances that could provide ways for affordable housing to be distributed throughout residential districts within the city. As you recall, the city council discussed potentially mandating affordable housing in the Comprehensive Plan, and at the joint City Council/Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee meeting it was determined to instead use the terminology "strive to integrate affordable housing in all residential land use districts." This report addresses how to encourage affordable housing as part of new developments, however, it is important to keep in mind these details while considering options: 1. The Metropolitan Council is not mandating that affordable housing be built, but only requiring, as a minimum, that cities provide land use at a certain density that could accommodate it. 2. The draft Comprehensive Plan recommends creating a method for providing incentives such as density bonuses and fee reductions to meet a variety of public goals such as environmental preservation, affordable housing, green design, and economic development. 3. Providing incentives for integrating affordable housing into low or medium density developments does not reduce the amount of high density land use that is currently on the draft land use map. Draft Comprehensive Plan Housing Plan The Metropolitan Council requires a statement within each city's Comp Plan acknowledging its share of the region's affordable units. This statement does not mandate the construction of affordable units, but instead provides minimum standards to remove barriers and to provide opportunities for affordable housing. The city's Comprehensive Plan goes further by outlining strategies the city can use to further promote affordable housing, as well as other public goals. It may be beneficial to review portions of Chapter 4, the Housing Plan, to recall what those strategies are. 1