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Maintain the quality, safety, and unique character of the City's housing stock. Preserve and strengthen the community's neighborhoods to maintain a high quality of life for residents. • Encourage housing development and redevelopment that is complementary to and enhances the character of the City's established neighborhoods. Since October Staff and the Council have worked to consider information and develop defined policy documents to reflect the above. To achieve the above, some of the initiatives and information requested by the Council will benefit from additional resources to address limited staff capacity and to address the Council's desired outcomes in a reasonable amount of time. To support initiatives such as these being considered by the City of Arden Hills to address housing needs, in the 1995 session, the Minnesota Legislature enabled the Metropolitan Council Livable Communities Fund (Minn. Stat. §473.251). The Livable Communities grant program advances the regional development guide by increasing housing choice, improving safety, and helping ensure that residents can meet their needs in their community. The Livable Communities program helps local governments: • Set the conditions for development through policy development and small area planning. Support development projects that add affordable housing, create community -centered commercial spaces, or clean up contaminated land. Staff would like to apply for Livable Community Act Funds to support the current, ongoing and future housing policy work in Arden Hills (Attachment A). There are a couple of key steps the Council must consider as an eligible LCA applicant, prior to applying for the available funds. The Council must have an adopted Fair Housing Policy on file with the Metropolitan Council. Historically the City has participated in the national Fair Housing month by issuing a proclamation declaring April Fair Housing Month. A draft potential Fair Housing Policy (Attachment B) statement for consideration and discussion. Staff would like to bring a draft policy to the April 13 Regular Council meeting for consideration, along with the proclamation. The Council must also determine what of the policy initiatives underway and the projects that would support them would be appropriate for a funding request. Some of the projects requested by Council that would benefit from additional financial and staff resources include: • Evaluation of vacant and underutilized land within the primary geography of the City. • Evaluation of potential redevelopment sites for housing or other community needs. • Studying the Arden Hills specific housing needs, in terms of mix of housing type, mix of housing affordability, and what is needed to maintain and support the existing housing supply. A specific report evaluating housing need was completed in 2008 for Rice Creek Commons. A similar report for the rest of the Arden Hills geography is recommended. Council must also consider how staff will respond to the application questions. Staff would ideally use the adopted Comprehensive Plan as the basis for many of the questions. The Metropolitan Council issued a 2026 Notice of Funding Availability for Policy and Affordable Housing Program Development Projects in February. The Metropolitan Council has authorized up to $639,000 to be awarded for policy and affordable housing program development projects through the Livable Communities program in 2026. The Metropolitan Council is supplementing the Livable Communities funding with federal funding to make this grant opportunity available. Page 2 of 3