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Work Session - September 26, 2023 Page 4 on a determination that short-term rental is a commercial lodging use, rather than a residential use of property. In a search by staff, 3 homes were found on the most popular websites to be listed as St. Anthony locations, and 2 others listed rooms for rent (rather than the entire property). The City has not received complaints related to short term rental at this time. Roseville, on the other hand, recently acted to prohibit new applications for short-term rental units. A copy of Roseville’s “Short Term Rental Brochure” is attached to this report for information on that city’s licensing program for previously existing short term rental units. Roseville enacted its prohibition after a series of complaints about certain units being used as “party houses”, disrupting neighborhoods, and concerns over ongoing maintenance, trash, noise, and other issues. They continue to study the issue to identify ways that the City can amend its licensing and enforcement process to eliminate problems they have encountered. As a part of the decision to prohibit new licenses, Roseville agreed to continue licensing current operators, but additional regulation is expected. Housing Affordability – Housing Trusts. The Council previously indicated an interest in exploring options for affordable housing creation, including the use of a Housing Trust option. A Housing Trust is a non-profit organization that leverages its funding to create affordability in local housing through various policy approaches. Funding is generated through donations, grants, and community (usually HRA) property tax levies. A common approach is for the Housing Trust to purchase market-rate housing, then re-sell to qualified low-to-moderate income buyers, but retain the underlying land in trust. The resale price excludes the land value, and often reduces the sale price by 20% or sometimes more. Public Housing Trusts are described in the attached brochure from the Minnesota Housing Partnership. As the brochure highlights, 13 Minnesota cities and 7 counties have established these trusts as of this past spring. Hennepin County is included in this group. A related group “Homes Within Reach” – a program of the West Hennepin Affordable Housing Land Trust includes a significant amount of information on its website, including a Frequently Asked Questions page at https://homeswithinreach.org/wp/faq-2/ The Housing/Land Trust concept addresses housing affordability and home ownership, rather than rental housing per se. The intent of these programs are to create or preserve affordability of housing, dependent on the focus and policies of the communities involved, which may vary widely.