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• Flexible Use of Local Land Use Plan and Zoning Regulations. Several of the Page 5 residential lots in St. Anthony are considered substandard because they are less than the required lot width, square footage or require soil corrections of some sort. The City through its HRA, flexible application by the City Council and Planning Commission of the City's zoning requirements and the creative abilities of some contractors, has been able to coordinate the construction of affordable homes on many of these "less than perfect" lots. Being flexible in land use and zoning regulations has allowed St. Anthony to provide housing opportunities which in the past may may not have existed. Most of the housing projects requiring assistance from the City's HRA also require rezoning, replatting and/or variances in order to take the concepts from paper to reality. Construction of multi-family housing, single-family dwelling construction on smaller lots or residential construction on poor soils will help the City maintain its density goals as established by the City in conjunction with Metropolitan Council's benchmarks and provide housing that is affordable. The Metropolitan Council suggests that a community's most important and most effective tool that can be used to attain its LCA housing goals is its official controls and approval mechanisms. This year the City will have the opportunity to re-examine its land use and zoning regulations as the result of updating the Comprehensive Plan. The City will consider the effectiveness of including and/or continuing the following • Metropolitan Council suggestions: Minimum and maximum densities; amounts of land planned or zoned for multifamily housing; environmental protection regulations; public dedication requirements; cluster-design site planning; planned unit developments; zero-lot-line approaches; and "accessory housing" ordinances that allow single-family homes to have apartment units in basements or converted space in a separate structure. In addition to considering the above suggestions, the Planning Commission and the City Council can also effect the realization of the City's housing goals through a more flexible approval process for projects that demonstrate housing activities that coincide • with City's action plan to implement its LCA goals.