Agenda - Council - 04/14/2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Projected affordable housing needs The Council provides the projected affordable housing needs for each community through the Allocation of Affordable Housing Need, described earlier in Part III. Allocating future need within the three bands of affordability allows communities to focus on the kinds of affordable housing that are most needed in their community. These future needs must be considered as communities guide future land uses in their comprehensive plan updates. The Metropolitan Land Planning Act specifically states that housing elements contain "land use planning to promote the availability of land for the development of low and moderate income housing." (Minn. Stat. 473.859, subd. 2(c) ) Land availability is measured in comprehensive plans by having enough land guided at high enough densities to support the creation of affordable housing sufficient to meet a community's Need. Higher density promotes the availability of land for affordable housing in several ways: • Increased density correlates with reduced costs of developing new housing by reducing the per- unit cost of land and fixed infrastructure. With limited resources for developing affordable housing, mechanisms that reduce development costs promote new affordable housing. • Increased density creates more housing units overall. New market -rate or luxury units can still promote the availability of affordable housing by increasing the supply of all housing units. • Sites with higher density signal to affordable housing developers where communities are more likely to support affordable housing proposals. For context, of the multifamily affordable units built between 2003 and 2013 in developments with at least four units affordable at 60% AMI or less, the average project density was more than 49 units per acre. Communities should guide an adequate supply of land at appropriate densities to meet their Allocation of Affordable Housing Need. Communities have two ways to address the need for the 2021-2030 decade: • Option 1: Guide sufficient land at a minimum density of 8 units/acre to meet the community's total Need. OR • Option 2: Guide sufficient land at a minimum density of 12 units/acre to meet Need at 50% or less of AMI (that is, the two lower affordability bands) and a minimum density of 6 units/acre to meet need at 51%-80% AMI. Communities that do not guide an adequate supply of land at appropriate densities to meet their Allocation of Affordable Housing Need will be inconsistent with Council policy and will not be eligible to participate in, and receive funding from, the Livable Communities Act programs. These options allow communities flexibility in how they guide land use to meet statutory requirements within the range of community characteristics. Additionally, communities that choose Option 2 and have a demonstrated history of creating affordable units at densities lower than 6 units/acre may guide land at lower minimum densities (as low as 3-6 units/acre) when promoting land availability at the 51 %-80% band of affordability. In addition to meeting the requirements of the Metropolitan Land Planning Act, these minimum densities help create opportunities across the region for new affordable housing rather than only in the older parts of the region that have higher densities. Page - 11 1 METROPOLITAN COUNCIL