04-08-2026 PC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 3 of 10 • Employer and institutional partnerships: Work with large local employers to support workforce housing development. • NOAH preservation and land trusts: Partner with existing property owners to maintain affordability in older buildings and explore community land trusts to keep homes permanently affordable across successive owners. • Use of/creation of EDA/HRA levy and Local Housing Trust Fund: Enable down- payment assistance, low-cost rehabilitation loans, and a dedicated funding pool eligible for state matching dollars. Arden Hills has a long history of being very effective and efficient with taxpayer dollars, represented in the lower impact of municipality-specific property taxes when compared with surrounding municipalities and municipalities of the same size. Recognizing the importance of this factor on residents and taxpayers, staff offered clarification about the impact of affordable housing on property taxes. Specifically, that affordable homes do not generate fewer property taxes than market-rate homes – valuations are based on construction quality, not resident income. Most affordability tools are cost-neutral or tax-base-positive. Some mechanisms like Tax Increment Financing and Tax Abatement may temporarily defer general fund revenue but do not reduce the city's overall net tax capacity. Grant funding from the Metropolitan Council, Minnesota Housing, Ramsey County and other partners is also available to offset costs. At the December 8, 2025, and January 12, 2026, work sessions, the City Council received additional information about local housing market dynamics and discussed various approaches to increasing the supply of affordable places to live in Arden Hills. That information focused on three market-driven, largely no-cost approaches to increasing Arden Hills' housing supply, set in the context of the affordable housing need the Metropolitan Council estimates Arden Hills must accommodate by 2050. The Metropolitan Council estimates Arden Hills needs to accommodate 221 households at or below 60% of Area Median Income by 2040, with Rice Creek Commons (~1,900 units) designated as the primary location. However, a 2022 Ramsey County study suggests that estimate understates the true need – Ramsey County is the most cost-burdened county in the seven-county metro area. Importantly, there is no legal mandate requiring cities to hit specific affordability targets; all figures are projections. Housing supply ultimately comes when land costs plus construction costs make development financially viable for builders. Three primary tools were discussed in December, along with a reminder that staff are continuing to respond to this discussion with an incremental approach to housing needs in Arden Hills that began with updates to the zoning code and includes this conversation specific to affordable housing, the future conversation expected this spring about Accessory Dwelling Units, and conversations that are ongoing related to the overall citywide Strategic Plan, adopted in November 2025. Eliminate and/or refine parking minimums: Government-mandated minimum parking requirements drive up development costs, reduce density, and force developers to overbuild parking that often sits empty. Eliminating minimums allows developers to right-size parking based on actual market demand – reducing per-unit costs and unlocking land for more homes. This applies to residential, retail, and office uses alike and is considered one of the highest-impact, lowest-cost zoning reforms available. There have also been related conversations about evaluating overnight parking regulations.