Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/04/2014

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Last revised July 24, 2014 Integration Integration is the intentional combining of related activities to achieve more effective, greater results, leveraging multiple policy tools to address complex regional challenges and opportunities. Housing is central to this integration, but is not a statutory system (like transportation or regional parks). As a result, the Council endeavors to advance housing policy in a collaborative spirit of partnership and an environment of high aspiration. Incorporate housing policy into the full spectrum of regional issues A growing challenge faced by the region is diminishing funding. As available funding decreases even as the region continues to grow, the Council will have to be even more efficient with each dollar it invests. That efficiency increasingly lies at the intersections between different systems. The principle extends throughout Council activities. By integrating its activities, the Council can produce more benefit from each investment. The Council will pursue this approach in its activities and investments within and among its divisions to advance the five Thrive outcomes, find greater efficiencies in investments, and address problems that single approaches cannot address. There is a need for better understanding of the interdependencies among housing, water, and transportation, considering the infrastructure systems owned and operated by the Council (that is, transit and wastewater treatment) as well as investments funded through the Council (such as regional parks). Any Council policy, investments or technical assistance related to housing must be filtered through the lens of its systems and policy plans. Conversely, housing will be woven into planning and decision making as pertains to water management, transportation, and regional parks strategies and investments. Council role • Create opportunities for interaction and integration among the Council's specific policy areas. • Incorporate Housing Performance Scores as a scoring element in the Regional Solicitation for Transportation Funding (See more about the Regional Solicitation in Part III). Integrate housing into transitway planning and development Under the most recent criteria for evaluating transitway investments for federal New Starts and Small Starts funding through the Federal Transit Administration, the affordable housing, plans and policies to maintain or increase affordable housing in the corridor are among the scoring criteria used to determine the award of federal resources to fund the build -out of the regional transitway system. In its review processes, the FTA rates how a transitway corridor's share of affordable housing compares with the region's overall share of affordable housing. In addition, the FTA is looking for transit -supportive plans, policies, and tools to preserve and expand affordable housing along the transitway, including: • Evaluation of Corridor -Specific Affordable Housing Needs and Supply • Plans and Policies to Preserve and Increase Affordable Housing such as: o Inclusionary zoning and/or density bonuses for affordable housing o Employer assisted housing policies o Voluntary or mandatory inclusionary housing policies 2040 HOUSING POLICY PLAN I METROPOLITAN COUNCIL DRAFT RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT Part II: Principles (Integration) I Page 42