CC WORKSESSION PACKET 01302018 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

St. Anthony 2040 Comprehensive Plan Chapter 5: Housing 57 and to pursue opportunities to preserve this housing and improve its safety and livability while maintaining its affordability. Housing need goal: Anticipate the need for preservation of naturally- occurring affordable housing within all affordability bands. Planning for Affordable Housing Affordable housing implementation toolbox Simply guiding land at higher densities is not a guarantee that affordable housing will be produced. To increase the likelihood of affordable housing development, St. Anthony has identified implementation tools that it is willing and able to use to advance its housing goals. St. Anthony does already provide a variety of affordable rental housing options in comparison to many of its surrounding communities. Nonetheless, maintenance and production of affordable housing is a priority for St. Anthony through 2040 and beyond. The City recognizes that the regional demand for affordable housing is great, and can only be met through proactive policies and strategies by cities across the region working in partnership with affordable housing developers and agencies. Strong partnerships are essential, as the city has limited tools at its disposal to produce and maintain affordable housing on its own. However, there are areas in which cities have flexibility to enact financial and regulatory discretion. The provision of Tax Increment Financing (or TIF) is one of the most effective tools that cities have at their discretion to aid the production of affordable housing projects, and St. Anthony has financially assisted affordable rental projects through TIF and other available means if and when they come forward and will continue to evaluate TIF as an appropriate tool for affordable housing development. Cities also have control over their zoning, regulatory and land use policies. St. Anthony must systematically review its zoning and city code to ensure that the regulatory environment is favorable to affordable housing development, and consider amending policies that present barriers to affordable housing development. Many affordable housing tools and strategies require partnerships with outside entities, counties, HRAs, funding and granting agencies, and non- profits that offer programs, funding and policies on a wider scale that support affordable housing. Tools that can be used to generate or maintain housing affordability can generally be grouped into the following categories: • Local funding (city or county) • Local policy or strategy