Agenda - Council - 12/14/2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CC Regular Session Date: 12/14/2010 By: Amber Miller Community Development Title: Adopt Housing Action Plan for the Local Housing Incentives Account Program Under the Metropolitan Livable Communities Act Background: The Minnesota Legislature created the Livable Communities Act (LCA) in 1995. The LCA is a voluntary, incentive -based approach to help the Twin Cities metropolitan area address affordable and lifecycle housing needs while providing funds to communities to assist them in carrying out their development plans. LCA funds have leveraged millions of additional dollars in private and public investment that has provided new jobs, housing choices, and business growth. The original LCA program was funded through 2010. Initially ninety seven (97) communities, including Ramsey, signed on to participate in the program. The Metropolitan Council is now in the process of renewing the program for 2011 -2020 for those communities interested in participating. The Council will negotiate with each municipality to establish affordable and life -cycle housing goals that are consistent with, and promote the policies of the Council. This program was brought forward to City Council at the June 8, 2010 Work Session and the consensus was to continue on with the program. At the July 27th City Council meeting the City Council adopted the attached resolution to continue with the LCA program and to adopt the established affordable housing and life -cycle goals which were part of the City's 2030 Comprehensive Plan. Notification: None required Information Item #: 5. 14. Observations: Funds are distributed by the Metropolitan Council through three LCA accounts: Tax Base Revitalization Account (TBRA), Livable Communities Demonstration Account (LCDA), and Local Housing Incentive Account (LHIA). In the past the City has received $295,342 for the former St. Paul Terminals site, $135,000 for Ramsey Townhomes (1999, ACCAP) to assist in building affordable housing, and Sunwood Drive ($800,000), the Amphitheatre ($373,756) and the Parking Ramp ($2,210,000). In total, the City has received $3,814,098 through the LCA program. The next step in the process is to submit an Action Plan by the end of the year for meeting the goals. The Action Plan can be as simple as copying the Residential portion of the Comprehensive Plan in and submitting it. That is what Staff has chosen to do. Staff copied the housing chapter and the land use chapter of the Comprehensive Plan and combined those to provide for an action plan for City. This simply reiterates what the City already adopted as part of the Comprehensive Plan. The only changes Staff has made is updating that the City no longer requires rental licenses for any property but multi - family and some formatting changes. Affordable housing is defined as additional /new housing opportunities created in a community that are affordable to households with an income at 60% or less of the area median income. The proposed LCA Affordable Housing Goals for 2011 -2020 for the City is 434 to 669. Six hundred sixty nine is what we have shown in the Comprehensive Plan. Life -cycle housing is defined as varied housing options that meet people's preferences and circumstances at all of