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Work Session - September 26, 2023 <br />Page 2 <br />The materials and research from prior analyses showed that the City’s housing stock in this low- <br />density category totals about 4 percent of that stock as rental. <br />Existing Rental Housing. Currently, rental housing in St. Anthony is licensed. The purpose of <br />the current licensing program is to ensure that residences held out for rent meet standard life- <br />safety requirements. Licenses are required for any rental property, and include an annual <br />inspection. The license fee is $150 for single family properties. <br />For the most recent year, just over 90 owners held licenses to 113 individual units (not <br />including multi-family buildings of 4 or more units, or mobile home rentals). More than 60 of <br />those own and rent just one building in the City. Only a couple dozen individuals/entities own <br />more than one unit, most of which own two, with the largest rental land holder currently <br />renting 4 individual single family homes. This is from a single family housing stock of just under <br />2,100 single family homes. <br />Specific to Single Family detached homes, the second map illustrates the single family licensees <br />on the zoning map. A total of 54 single family detached homes are being rented of the 113 <br />units totals. There are 3 instances of 2 adjoining single family homes being rented, and 1 <br />instance where 3 contiguous parcels hold rental units. The remaining 45 units are spread <br />throughout the community. <br />In looking separately at where the owners of rental properties are located, about one-third of <br />the owners are St. Anthony residents or entities, with another third of owners being located in <br />adjoining and nearby communities, including Minneapolis, New Brighton, Fridley, Columbia <br />Heights, and Roseville. The remaining third of owners are located elsewhere (mostly metro <br />Twin Cities). Just five of the approximately 90 rental property owners are located out of state. <br />Single Family Rental Regulation. In the general marketplace, there has been a trend in some <br />areas in which larger companies buy up (or develop) larger numbers of single family homes and <br />hold them for rentals. The concerns raised by this trend relate primarily to an erosion of home <br />ownership, and concerns over widespread maintenance problems or tenancy turnover. Home <br />ownership has long been a goal for many communities, as it has an extensive history of <br />improving neighborhood stability, and a series of other benefits that lead to stronger <br />citizenship and community strength. <br />As a result, some communities have adopted regulations that limit the number of rental units in <br />the community. In many of these examples, the regulations limit the number of rental units by <br />geographic area. The idea behind these limitations is to avoid an over-concentration of rental <br />housing in a particular area, with the goal being to ensure that ownership remains the <br />dominant form of occupancy in any particular neighborhood. <br />This approach to rental housing has been subject to legal challenges in a number of Minnesota <br />communities. Most significantly, the City of Winona adopted an ordinance limiting the number