CC RES 96-044 RESOLUTION ASOPTING A FIVE YEAR HOUSING PLAN FOR THE CITY OF ST. ANTHONY

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• Page 3 Multi-family 16/acre 13 -15/acre 13 - 16/acre a e As a participating community in the Metropolitan Livable Communities Act, the City of St. Anthony is required to adopt housing goals and implement an action plan that turns those goals into reality. The activities described herein will be exclusively for the maintenance of affordable housing and life-cycle housing goals as shown in Table I. According to the data, St. Anthony currently has 77% of the privately owned housing stock and 45% of the rental units considered affordable by the Metropolitan Council. The definition of affordable housing is that it cost no more than 30% of a family's income. Forty-nine percent of the City's housing stock is considered life-cycle homes. Traditionally, these life cycle homes are purchased or rented by senior residents who no longer require or want single family homes. This cycling of single family homes, in turn provides home owning opportunities for families moving into our community. As the data from the table suggests, St. Anthony meets or exceeds the benchmarks established by • the Metropolitan Council. While the City meets the benchmarks for affordability, the City proposes to increase the percentage of affordable homes to 79 - 80% in the next five years. The density of the City's housing stock is another issue in which the City meets the benchmark, but where efforts by the City through flexible application of zoning and land use regulations could positively affect this figure without impacting the public health of the City or a resident's sense of privacy. Density can be addressed through flexible implementation of land use regulations and City zoning ordinances. The City recently demonstrated its willingness to be flexible when it changed the required lot coverage percentage. This action has made it possible for property owners to build homes on lots that are smaller than the residential lots heretofore considered "buildable". The last issue that the City needs to address in its action plan is to increase the ownership of life-cycle housing. As the benchmark data suggests, the City needs to adjust the owner/ rental ratio of the life-cycling housing options. Currently, sixty-one percent of those who live in non-single family detached housing own their unit as compared to thirty-nine percent who rent. The established benchmark suggests that the City needs to try to reduce the number of residents who rent life-cycle housing, thereby increasing the number of those who own their unit. The City can accomplish this in two ways: 1.) encourage developers to build only owner-occupied housing projects; and/or 2.) provide information on financial assistance programs available for those who want to purchase life-cycle • housing.