Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/04/2014

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Last revised July 24, 2014 Stewardship Stewardship advances the Metropolitan Council's longstanding mission of orderly and economical development by preserving the region's existing housing stock and leveraging housing investments with our existing infrastructure and emerging transit investments. Because housing and residential land use patterns are durable, often lasting generations, it is critical that residential development advances the broader Council policy of orderly and efficient land use across our region. Manage, maintain and preserve the region's existing housing stock and housing choices Key takeaway: Maximizing the use of the region's existing housing stock and leveraging existing and planned infrastructure investments provides the most cost effective approach to meeting the housing needs of today and tomorrow. The most affordable housing is generally the existing housing stock. As a result, efforts to preserve the existing housing stock are critical. Addressing housing needs is not limited to new development and redevelopment. Maintenance and preservation of existing housing stock can meet many local housing needs, can offer housing choices closer to many job locations, and is generally less expensive than construction of new units. Selective infill housing (built on empty lots within otherwise developed neighborhoods), historic preservation, live/work units, appropriately designed accessory dwellings, and adaptive reuse are also strategies to protect and expand the region's housing stock. Overall, the regional housing stock is in good condition compared to many of our peers, yet pockets of disinvestment and prolonged deferred maintenance still exist in parts of the region. A careful and appropriate strategy supports preservation, improvement, and modernization of structurally sound and functionally relevant structures while also providing new opportunities that help individuals and families to move in or up to housing appropriate to their needs and preferences. There are several distinct types of housing preservation. For example, preservation can mean: • The physical upgrading of housing, which could range from moderate to substantial rehabilitation, and involve rehabilitation, renovation, or modernization; this is the physical preservation of housing. • Securing or extending long-term commitments from property owners to continue to participate in a program such as project -based Section 8; this is preservation of a federal subsidy that creates affordability. • Finally, preservation can mean establishing or continuing rent and income restrictions making units affordable over the long-term; this is preservation of housing affordability. Key priorities for preservation include the region's chronically underfunded Public Housing stock and the region's large stock of "project -based" Section 8 properties, many of which are nearing the end of the useful life of major building systems or contractual obligations for affordability. (See Appendix B for definitions of each.) In practice, particularly for existing publicly subsidized housing, failing to take action on a property in one or more of these "preservation dimensions" could have a harmful effect. For example, an owner of a multifamily property with existing project -based Section 8 assistance may have deferred maintenance requirements that must be addressed to pass the inspection required to participate in the Section 8 program. If the housing fails to pass inspection and is unable to continue in 2040 HOUSING POLICY PLAN I METROPOLITAN COUNCIL DRAFT RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT Part II: Outcomes (Stewardship) I Page 17