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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,July 7,2014 <br /> Page 14 <br /> business model of motels such as Motel 6 in meeting needs of the market place; <br /> while also addressing broader problems as well. <br /> Councilmember Laliberte suggested part of the HRA study include identifying <br /> whether or not people were using those hotels as temporary housing beyond 1-2 <br /> nights. <br /> Mayor Roe concurred also noting that they may be used as temporary housing un- <br /> til the residents could find shelter elsewhere. <br /> Single-Family Home Conversion to Rentals <br /> Chair Maschka noted that this was a personal concern in his neighborhood; and <br /> referenced the Attachment(s) E comparing those conversions to rental, from 210 <br /> in 2010 and currently 295. Chair Maschka suggested the proposed study of this <br /> increase could include discussions with the University of Northwestern to deter- <br /> mine what portion was specific to student housing and what was due the function <br /> of home pricing and interest rates. Chair Maschka noted that it is of concern to <br /> neighbors of those properties indicating a problem; and further noted the obvious <br /> trend shown in Attachment E; and noted that this data may not be all-inclusive of <br /> the actual situation. <br /> Mayor Roe noted that when interest rates were low, it was attractive to turn sin- <br /> gle-family homes into rentals, whether for college students or as invest- <br /> ment/income opportunities; and was obvious throughout the City. Mayor Roe <br /> noted that the flip side of that situation was that every dot on the map didn't rep- <br /> resent a problem, much the same as the SE Roseville discussion, all rental homes <br /> were not automatically bad. Mayor Roe clarified that part of the HRA study <br /> needed to determine what the problems were and where they were; as well as how <br /> those rental homes registered with the City compared to owned homes for code <br /> enforcement, and how to verify and compare that information. <br /> HRA Member Quam noted that, those rental opportunities provided an important <br /> component to the City's housing units, and without them, many young families <br /> would be shut out of the community. <br /> Chair Maschka agreed that this was a valid point. <br /> In his specific neighborhood, Councilmember Etten noted that changes occurred, <br /> and of eight new rental housingunits shown in <br /> theast four were no longer p g used <br /> as rentals; and from his perspective, he could see that changeover happening con- <br /> sistently now and in the future as well. <br /> Councilmember Laliberte noted that some of the rentals may be due to situations <br /> where elderly owners had to move out of their homes and their families were left <br /> with dealing with the immediate situation and economic issues in when to sell the <br />