1996 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

dwellings, and these are only two-family homes: There does not appear to be a great. demand for housing, Although. there area great. number of employment opportunities. within. Gem Lake, few residents are. -also employed in Gern Lake.. Of the.69 responses to. a 1995 residential community survey, oniy seven stated that. they or someone in their family were employed. in Gem. Lake. Overcrowding is not a problem. The average number of ..persons in: a household I just over three, with a majority of the household units: being two to four persons. A -majority .of households have three or more bedroocris, thus overcroWdi ig world not be a problem. Cost of housing also is riott excessive in Gem Lake as a. percentage of household income. The 1990 census shows that the median monthly owner cost is $878 with a mortgage. and $264 without a mortgage. Sixty-eight percent (681/9) of the households spend less than 30 percent of their income on housing costs. Twen". even percent (27%) spent more than 35 percent. on housing costs. Median rent for non -owner occupled.househoids is $575. All renters spent less than 25 percent of their. iricome on rent:. There is not a lot of diversity in housing. Most of the housing units are single-family: There are no multiple -family buildings (other than a duplex), no low income housing, and no elderly housing within .the City. There would be more diverse.)housiitg options within the neighboring communities *of Vadnais: Heights, White Bear Lake, and White Bear Township.. The 1995 residential community survey results indicated that 97 percent of the respondents did not wantio see -a change in the City's existing4ow density residential. development. A majority of the City is zoned R :1 which requires a minimum. lot area of three acres. Multiple -family dwelling is not allowed.in this zone. district. The R 2 zone district also allows only single-family dwellings and requites .a minimum lot area of one acre. Both the R-3 and. R-4 zone districts require a minimum lot area of .36000 square feet. and allow two- family dwelling units as °only with a special use :permit. Multiple - family dwellings are not:aRawed in any of the zoning districts. The existing housing in the R-1 zone district. in the southwest corner of the City has a density slighfil4y. higher than the required one dwelling unit per three acres. Some of the dwelling units. iin the central portion of the R-1 zone district around. Gem Lake (water body) have densities less than the required one dwelling unit per three acres. There is a substantial amount of undeveloped land in ihe',R-1 zone district. However, ownership of the land may.limit its availability. Comprehensive Plan A-GEMLK9501.00 Gem Lake, Minnesota Page 30