10-13-25-WS - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

stay in a home longer, as they age. Those communities use a Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) levy to support those initiatives. Many of the communities with an HRA levy also have created a Local Housing Trust Fund (LHTF), sometimes called an affordable housing trust fund. This new tool authorized by the Minnesota Legislature allows communities with a designated HRA to create what is essentially a special savings account into which they may deposit money to be used purely to build more homes or create more opportunities for homes to be purchased. Communities with a LHTF are also eligible for matching dollars from Minnesota Housing. Other programs municipalities have adopted include partnering with existing housing affordable housing developers to retain what is known as "Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH)". These preservation programs seek to keep older apartment complexes up-to-date while preserving their affordability. The city could partner with both for -profit and not -for -profit multi- family property owners to invest in older apartments and in exchange, retain their affordability to people making at or below 80 percent of area median income. homelessness prevention programs, rental assistance, and emergency housing assistance. Another way to increase affordability of single-family homes is to partner with or create a land trust Community land trusts can play a role in creating long-term affordability for single family or townhome homeowners. The land trust holds the high valued land under a home, so the homeowner faces the lower cost of purchasing just the home itself. When the house is sold, the next owner also acquires the home at an affordable price since they are again just purchasing the home and not the land that the home is situated on. In this way the single-family home remains affordable to a succession of homeowners. Shoreview is partnering with the St. Paul -based Rondo Community Land Trust to do this. Cities like Hugo are also evaluating these concepts, much the way Arden Hills is. For example, Hugo is also looking at ways to incentivize smaller scale builders to come and build smaller, so- called "missing middle" homes. These homes usually fit into the existing scale of development in a neighborhood and may look more like single family homes than an apartment building but have between two and eight units. These are just a few of the mechanisms municipalities have used to address housing affordability. All of these choices are available to Arden Hills. Some will take more staff and/or consultant time than others. Budget Impact The potential budget impacts are varied. For example, staff time dedicated to crafting an ordinance for development of affordable housing and/or inclusionary policy and related community outreach would be a lower -cost option. Implementing an EDA levy or creating a local housing trust fund would require more complexity and therefore cost more. Using tax increment financing or tax abatement options would take both staff time and delay the tax benefit of new development at least 25 years into the future, in most cases. The Council may consider hiring a consultant to identify the city's housing needs and market conditions, specifically looking at the existing housing types, housing demand, and development potential in Arden Hills. This could be folded into the 2050 Comprehensive Plan. Page 8 of 9