Agenda - Council Work Session - 02/27/2018

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Housing & Economic Development neighborhoods throughout a city. Metro Cities supports a city's authority to enact its own inclusionary housing policy. However, Metro Cities does not support passage of a mandatory inclusionary housing state law imposed on local governments that would require a certain percentage of units in all new housing developments to be affordable to households at specific income levels. 3-D Metropolitan Council Role in Housing The Metropolitan Council is statutorily required to assist cities with meeting the provisions of the Land Use Planning Act (LUPA). The LUPA requires cities to adopt sufficient standards, plans and programs to meet their local share of the region's overall projected need for low and moderate -income housing. The Council's responsibilities include the preparation and adoption of guidelines and procedures to assist local government units with accomplishing the requirements of the LUPA. The Metropolitan Council also offers programs and initiatives to create affordable housing opportunities, including the Livable Communities Program and operation of a metropolitan housing and redevelopment authority. Unlike parks, transit and wastewater, housing is not a statutory regional system. The Metropolitan Council's role, responsibilities and authority are more limited in scope, centered on assisting local governments by identifying the allocation of need for affordable housing, projecting regional growth and identifying available tools, resources, technical assistance and methods that cities can use to create and promote affordable housing opportunities in their communities. The Metropolitan Council should work in partnership with local governments to ensure that the range of housing needs for people at various life -cycle and incomes can be met. • Metro Cities opposes the elevation of housing to "Regional System" status. • Metro Cities supports removing the Metropolitan Council's review and comment authority connected to housing revenue bonds under M.S. 462C.04. In 2014, the Metropolitan Council released a housing policy plan, the first of its kind in nearly 30 years. A housing policy plan should include defined local, regional and state roles for the provision of housing in all sectors, identify the availability of and need for tools and resources for affordable and lifecycle housing, be explicit in supporting partnerships for the advocacy for state and federal resources for housing, and encompass policies, best practices and technical guidance for all types of housing. The plan should also recognize the diversity in local needs, characteristics and resources. Metro Cities supports strategies such as regional and sub -regional cooperation and the sharing of best practices among local governments and other entities and partners to address the region's affordable housing needs. 2018 Legislative Policies 21