Agenda - Planning Commission - 04/20/2015 - Special

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April 15, 2015 Metropolitan Council Attn: Housing Policy PlanBeth Rietz, Interim Community Development Director 390 Robert Street N St. Paul, MN 55101-1805 RE: Draft Housing Policy Plan (2015 Amendment) To Whom It May Concern: Thank you for the opportunity to review the regional Housing Policy Plan 2015 Amendment. Please include our comments from our September, 2014 submitted comments as well. Some of our broader policy comments are repeated in this response, with our revised comments in the bullet list below. The City supports the Metropolitan Councils goals in promoting its housing goals. However, the City wants to ensure that it does not result in mandates that might be in conflict with our existing land use goals. General Assumption The following comments are based on the assumption that no changes to our Future Land Use Map nor our Housing Assistance Policy will be necessary in order to achieve the standards contained within the proposed amendment to the Housing Policy Plan. Comments on Amended Plan Ramsey Appreciates the flexibility granted in the Housing Performance Scores that recognizes variation in new construction levels and acknowledges policies that encourage affordable housing even if actual construction not experienced in a given year. Ramsey supports the multiple thresholds, including the threshold of up to 80% AMI, where this was previously 60% AMI. Finally, Ramsey supports points awarded for all local tools provided and acknowledgment of other county, city, non-profit, and state programs that provide tools to the City. Ramsey supports the clarification on existing statutory requirements and submittal requirements versus recommended strategies as it relates to the requirement to create a Housing Plan at the local level. Ramsey supports the goals of affordable housing identified in the amendment plan so long as it is consistent with the Cit Future Land Use Map to increase areas of higher density that what is already currently identified. Ramsey requests clarification on the definition of Affordable Housing as it relates to land use planning. It is our understanding that the current definition is six (6) units per acre, but the amended plan notes ranges from eight (8) units per acre to twelve (12) units per acre. Ramsey simply desires to better understand how our allocation of affordable housing will be impacted by these thresholds based on our current Future Land Use Map. Our current definition of Medium Density Residential is 3-7 units per acre. Our current definition of High Density Residential is 7-15 units per acre. Our concern is that Ramsey will not receive credit for areas currently shown as High Density Residential which we feel will provide the necessary housing variety and is already currently in our land use plan. Perhaps our areas of High Density Residential will quality in part two (2) of Option 2 (see page 11 of amended plan).