Laserfiche WebLink
ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION – OCTOBER 27, 2025 11 <br /> <br />Councilmember Weber said this is a well written report. The most important aspect is creating <br />policy that can effectively get the affordable housing we want. North Heights was an excellent <br />opportunity to get some affordable units. We missed that chance. <br /> <br />Council recessed the Work Session at 6:58 pm. <br /> <br />Council reconvened the Work Session at 7:33 pm. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant asked if there is any further Council discussion on the Affordable Housing topic. <br /> <br />Councilmember Weber asked if Community Development Director Reilly needed any specific <br />discussion from Council before moving forward. <br /> <br />Community Development Director Reilly wanted to speak to Councilmember Holden’s point. <br />He said research shows that mixed income communities are the most successful. Concentrations <br />of poverty or lower income aren’t inherently bad but if there is a way to solve for that, he <br />wondered what that would look like. His other question is “What’s a neighborhood?”. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden said the first TCAAP plan, had high value homes, medium value homes <br />and lower income homes. We didn’t want the same kids playing together. In the ideal model, all <br />of the neighbors would interact and so we made sure that all of the areas were different and would <br />have a variety of people. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant echoed that. He said we had The Hill, The Creek and The Town Center for a <br />reason. <br /> <br />Councilmember Monson said Rice Creek Commons continues to have these discussions. The <br />JDA is aligned with having those mixed income communities. We are facing constrictions of <br />financing affordable housing and the best way to finance is LIHTC (Low-Income Housing Tax <br />Credits). She said this is a reality which we must live with which means there may be buildings <br />that are all just low income and affordable. She said however, affordable housing isn’t <br />necessarily low income. We just talked through affordable housing and it is 30% of your <br />household income. Affordable housing depends on what you make and do you have housing for <br />that. She said she hasn’t heard anything indicating that all affordable housing we would ever want <br />to do will be 30% and below. She doesn’t want that vibe and finds everyone is using the term <br />affordable housing differently. She said having life cycle housing available can fill the gaps for <br />that missing middle. LIHTC is a tool that could be used. She said we are tackling a lot of the <br />options through the Zoning changes. We’re still too far away to be talking about the HRA and <br />levy impacts. If the goal is to allow for a mix of incomes, then our Zoning Code needs to allow <br />for these mixes of uses. <br /> <br />Councilmember Weber said it is important to recognize the level of affordability doesn’t <br />necessarily mean deeply affordable or low income. He thinks Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) <br />will go a long way in addressing the mix of housing affordability in different areas with different <br />income levels. We need to free up some of the single-family housing so younger families can <br />move into them. The seniors in our City want to stay here but don’t have anywhere to go that <br />doesn’t cost $5,000 a month. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant asked about LIGTC. He thought that was a 50% or 60% for fifteen or thirty years.