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■ Expediting review processes; <br />■ Working to reduce locally imposed development costs; and <br />■ Using available regulatory mechanisms to shape housing communities. <br />III -C Inclusionary Housing <br />Metro Cities supports the location of affordable housing in residential and mixed -use <br />neighborhoods throughout a city. However, Metro Cities does not support passage of a <br />mandatory inclusionary housing law that would require a certain percentage of units in all <br />new housing developments to be affordable to households at a particular income level <br />because these units can't be produced without a deep developer subsidy or cross- <br />subsidization from the other houses in the development. <br />While Metro Cities believes there are cost savings to be achieved through regulatory <br />reform, density bonuses, and fee waivers, Metro Cities does not believe a mandatory <br />inclusionary housing approach can achieve the desired levels of affordability solely through <br />these steps. The Metropolitan Council, in creating its affordable housing targets, must <br />recognize both the opportunities and financial limitations of cities. The Council should <br />partner with cities to facilitate the creation of affordable housing through direct financial <br />assistance and/or advocating for additional resources through the Minnesota Housing <br />Finance Agency. <br />III- D Metropolitan Council Housing Targets <br />In advance of the 2008 Comprehensive Plan deadline and in response to projected growth <br />in the Metro Area, the Metropolitan Council created a methodology to determine how many <br />affordable housing units would be needed and where those units should go. From that <br />process, each metro area city was assigned an affordable housing "target'. Further, Met <br />Council Comprehensive Plan guidance instructs cities to guide sufficient land to <br />accommodate the "targets ". <br />Metro Cities supports the creation of a variety of housing opportunities for people. <br />However, providing affordable and lifecycle housing is a shared responsibility between the <br />private sector and government at all levels, including the federal government, state <br />government and Metropolitan Council. Land economics, construction costs and <br />infrastructure needs create barriers to the creation of affordable housing that cities cannot <br />overcome without assistance. <br />Therefore, Metro Cities supports a Metropolitan Council affordable housing policy that <br />recognizes the following tenets: <br />■ The Council's housing policies characterize individual city housing numbers as targets <br />or a range of needs in the community. <br />14 Metro Cities <br />