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<br />. <br /> <br />ST~TE o~ MIN~!ESOTA <br />CJl!Nl-Y OF RAMSEY <br />CJTY (If ARDEN H[L!~S <br /> <br />~ESOLlQ)ON NO. 76,,62 <br /> <br />COMMENTS ON METROPOLITAN COUNCfL'S MODEST <br />COST PRiVATE fWUSjNG W'IJSORY COMiOTTEE <br />REPORT <br /> <br />WHEREAS. the Arden Hi l!s Council desires to comment on <br />the Metropolitan Counci I '5 Mocest Cost Private Housing Advisory <br />Committee Repol^+ of Oci'ober, 1976 and, <br /> <br />, WHEREAS, the Council consists 0'1 elecTed officials, generalists, <br />wfiu are cognizant of public needs, wants and the art of pragmatism; <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that tho Arden Hills Council does <br />hereby adopt the following comments: <br /> <br />A. We find serious fault with the initial tenor of the <br />document, which tends to prove an assum~d point - that <br />housing is now unavallabl,e beciluse of cost, and considers <br />seriously only those figures which agree with the assump- <br />tion. To do this: <br /> <br />1. Emotional words are used, such as "alarmlrlg", "dramatic" <br />and "only., when used to Indicate a low or attractive <br />dollar amount. <br /> <br />2. Much of the daTa indicates that housing cost to fam! Iy <br />Income ratios are stable, (p. 15, P. 17), contradlct- <br />jng other information and the conclusions. <br /> <br />3. The projection of needed new housing starts isexces- <br />sively high and the extrapolation at present hou~lng <br />costs to the future produces a ludicrous result. <br /> <br />4. No data is presented to show that housing starts per <br />tarni Iy has shown a significant declir-ing tendency in <br />the last 10 or so years. ' <br /> <br />8. Cities ore unfairly damned as a major cause of increased <br />housing costs, and we believe that Arden Hi lis is similar <br />'ro many other communities tha'r are in mid-development; <br />therefore, the following comments must apply widely: <br /> <br />I. The housing costs that have increased most (p.18) are <br />taxBs, Ihsurance and maintenance. Note that beyond <br />Cl sma II proportion of the taxes' less than 10%), the <br />City has nothing to do with these Increases. <br /> <br />2. G8r~gas (p. 291 are not required by most communities, <br />Including Arden HiiJs; thers'iore, this would not be <br />an important genaral factor in costs. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />3. Arden HI I Is, permit fees (p. 331 have Increased - we <br />now conform to the State of Minnesota approved U.B.C. <br />Therefore, we do not feel culpabJ8 on this point. <br /> <br />4. On p. 35, It is stated that gove,nmell1' shou I d absorb <br />certain housing costs and that some assessments should <br />be vlljage-wlde. Government never absorbs costs - it <br />just passes them on. ,'rden Hill s. and most v 111 ages <br />we know, aSS6SS the benefited property; therefore, <br />this suggested requirement is being carried out. <br /> <br />5. .In i'llls community, at least, iett"r. of credit (p. 36) <br />have b9sn used in lieu of performance bonas. <br /> <br />6, A dBve~oper In Arden HI i Is usual Iy has the choice of <br />imp;-0v:ng i"he lt3nd himself or' having the Vi ~ lage <br /> <br />-1- <br />