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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.j. Metropolitan Council’s Amendment to the 2040 Housing Policy Plan EXECUTIVE SUMMARY City Council Regular Meeting: May 5, 2015 AGENDA ITEM: Metropolitan Council’s Amendment to the 2040 Housing Policy Plan AGENDA SECTION: Consent PREPARED BY: Kim Lindquist, Community Development Director AGENDA NO. 6.j. ATTACHMENTS: Amendment to the Housing Policy Plan Comments APPROVED BY: ddj RECOMMENDED ACTION: Motion to Authorize staff to Submit Amendment to the Housing Policy Plan Comments to the Metropolitan Council SUMMARY The City is required to submit their Comprehensive Plan to the Metropolitan (Met) Council by December 31, 2018 that supports the growth of Rosemount to 36,300 residents. To provide guidance for all communities on the content of their Comprehensive Plans, the Met Council has adopted the Thrive 2040 document on May 28, 2014 including population, household and employment forecast for each community. The Metropolitan Council adopted their Housing Policy Plan and now is coming forward with some revisions to the Plan, dealing primarily with the affordable housing allocation for communities. Staff has attended one Metro Cities meeting on the topic and at the meeting there was a presentation on the Amendment. Amendment The Amendment provides some of the information staff had initially asked for during review of the Housing Policy Plan. Namely the amount of affordable housing goal is defined although the number is quite high, at 832 units representing 34.6% of all new household growth projected. Further Rosemount’s affordability number is tenth highest in the entire Metropolitan area, including Minneapolis and St. Paul. This number is greater than what would be anticipated by staff and does not appear reasonable. This affordable housing goal again raises the issue of transit improvements and other service provision in the community, should the City work to attain the housing goal. The amendment information does not provide the Housing Performance Score survey which has been requested previously. All indications are the survey will be revamped and taking on more prominence in regional decision-making. The most recent change is that it will be considered in the allocation of regional transportation dollars. These comments are included in the attached comment letter along with the concern that there are not enough tools available to communities like Rosemount to meet housing affordability goals. As we have seen in the last decade, the market has the greatest influence on housing growth and cost, not local or regional policies. The Metropolitan Council Community Development Committee with hold a public hearing on Monday May 4, 2015 on the proposed amendment. Final comments being accepted until May 15, 2015. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the City Council authorize staff to submit comments regarding the draft Amendment to the Housing Policy Plan-May 2015. A link to the Metropolitan Council page which provides the amendment information is: http://www.metrocouncil.org/News- Events/Housing/Events/Housing-Policy-Plan-Amendment-Public-Hearing.aspx 2 September 26, 2014May 5, 2015 Mr. Adam Duininck, Chair Metropolitan Council 390 Robert Street North St. Paul, MN 55101 RE: 2040 Housing Policy Plan Amendment May 2015 Dear Mr. Duininck: The purpose of this letter is to submit comments to the Metropolitan Council from the City of Rosemount on the 2040 Housing Policy Plan Amendment-May 2015. We have reviewed the draft Amendment and appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback. The City of Rosemount’s comments follow: • The previous Housing Policy Plan was released without the revised Housing Performance Score survey, the methodology for determining the local affordable housing needs, and the Comprehensive Plan review criteria. The Amendment addresses two of the three stated items, but again does not provide the revised Housing Performance Score survey. It is unclear why the Survey contents are undetermined when the Survey is considered by the Agency as an important tool for future decision making, such as for regional transportation funding. The City continues to request a draft of the Survey with the ability for future dialogue. • The amount of affordable housing for the City of Rosemount will be difficult to achieve as it represents 34.6% of all new housing projected in the community until 2030. The City is not opposed to provision of affordable housing but does not have access to enough financial tools to provide the amount projected in the Amendment. When Metropolitan Council staff was asked about the inability to adequately meet goals of the Amendment, including the provision of lands designated with higher densities, it was indicated that the City did not have to participate in the Livable Communities Program. It is assumed that the Metropolitan Council is not trying to prompt cities to drop out of the Livable Communities Program as a result of the proposed policies. This is not an adequate response to the question about setting reasonable goals. • Staff was informed that the affordable housing numbers are adjusted for existing housing stock and local employees. However, it was indicated that they were not adjusted for access to transit since the overall regional model took transit into account. While the regional model may consider transit, most of the transit continues to be centered in the central cities and inner ring suburbs where land for development is scarcer. While Rosemount does not have many transit opportunities, we have significant land available for development and therefore have the tenth-highest affordable housing allocation of all communities included in the 1 seven county metro area. The City of Rosemount does not currently have the services available to accommodate the 832 affordable housing households desired in the Plan. And the region has made it clear that there will not be significant transit investments in Rosemount in the near term. • Staff was informed that rehabilitation of affordable housing units would receive credit in the Housing Performance Score survey if the investment was made by the public sector rather than the private sector. Rosemount questions why there is a differentiation. So long as affordability is preserved, why does it matter how the unit rehabilitation was funded? • Staff was informed that Metropolitan Council staff will be flexible in some areas of implementation if previous local activities have resulted in affordable housing. The document does not appear to provide for this stated “negotiated flexibility.””. • Similar to our comment about the Housing Policy Plan, the Plan should be created to provide flexibility, recognizing that the communities in the Metropolitan area are different and one size will not fit all. Further, given the time horizon of the upcoming 2018-2040 Comprehensive Plan, the Housing Policy Plan should build in an ability to be more nimble. As we experienced in the last decade, the economic downturn raised issues that were not anticipated when the last policy plan was adopted. This inability to react adequately to change created impediments to the City’s development goals. • The City of Rosemount is indicating in this letter that we will strive to meet affordable housing targets but we question whether there are adequate resources available to provide over one-third of the City’s growth as affordable units. We thank you for the opportunity to comment on the 2040 Housing Policy Plan Amendment-May 2015. We look forward to continue working with the Metropolitan Council on revising and creating a Housing Policy Plan that will addresses the housing needs of a growing Rosemount and a growing region. Sincerely, William H. Droste Mayor cc: Steven Chavez, District 15 Metropolitan Council Representative Wendy Wulff, District 16 Metropolitan Council Representative 2