10-27-25-WS - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION – OCTOBER 27, 2025 13 Discussion ensued about how common it is for people to purchase a home for their college age kids and their roommates to live in. One of the best ways to manage that is by having a rental licensing program. That way you can limit the number of corporate entities who own homes. Councilmember Weber said the rental licensing discussion should happen at the same time we discuss ADUs. It’s all linked, in his mind, to minimize the number of corporate landlords. We want to keep the homes in Arden Hills owner occupied, as much as possible. Councilmember Monson asked Staff how we narrow this down into next steps. Community Development Director Reilly said if we have a list of ten things and there are options on the list that are non-starters, it would be helpful to know that now. He asked Council how they feel about factory-built vs. site-built when talking about single family homes. Council agreed they are okay with factory-built or modular homes as long as they use high quality materials and that they don’t all look the same. Councilmember Holden asked how much vacant buildable land is in Arden Hills, not including TCAAP. Being in a land trust is a lot of work. If we don’t have ten acres for someone to build on, there doesn’t seem to be enough pay back for the amount of Staff time it would take to manage a land trust. Councilmember Monson supports items 1-7 on the list. Mayor Grant said that ADUs may not find widespread adoption in Arden Hills. Councilmember Holden asked what “reduce or eliminate minimum parking” meant and for whom? There is no bus service here so to reduce parking when we know people will have to get to work doesn’t work for her. Community Development Director Reilly said eliminating minimum parking requirements allow business owners and developers to determine what is needed. The professionals building structures know their market the best. Requiring parking that is not needed inflates the cost for the builder. Discussion ensued regarding alternative modes of transportation and how a lot of younger people just don’t own cars anymore. Mayor Grant said he could support some of the things Mounds View is doing. It would behoove us to maintain the quality of the affordable units we currently have. Community Development Director Reilly said that is an example where a land trust could buy it and rehab it. City Administrator Jagoe said the next topic Community Development Director Reilly will bring forward is ADUs. She asked if Council had any specific direction on density bonus ordinance work. That won’t be included in the zoning updates being done by the consultants. She asked if they want to discuss that before starting the ADU discussion.