Agenda - Council - 04/02/2024 - Special

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REAL. CLASSIC. February 20, 2024 (2:39 p.m.) Attn. Rep. Zack Stephenson(DFL) District: 3 5A 449 State Office Building St. Paul, MN 55155 Attn. Rep. Jim Abeler 5 University Avenue W. Minnesota Senate Bldg., Room 2207 St. Paul, MN 55155 RE:Proposed Bills:HF 4009 and SF 3964 Dear Representative Stephenson & Representative Ab e ler, The 2 proposed bills HF 4009 and SF 3964 being proposed and heard this afternoon addressing middle housing and many other land use elements primarily allow various types of multi-unit housing to be built by right without discretionary review processes. It would require cities to allow between 2-6 (or more if certain conditions are met) residential units on each lot regardless of size and other local factors like infrastructure capacity, public safety and emergency responder access, and other public health and safety concerns. Local authority would be limited to issuing permits that meet certain rigid descriptions with no ability for public hearings, local City Council approval, or for additional conditions addressing variable of a site to be applied. As one example from the proposed bill would allow building up to multi-family dwellings to potentially be up to up to 150' in height in large areas of a city is not a reasonable change. Buildings of that size and density of that magnitude carry a host of fire, water, sewer, emergency response, stormwater, and neighborhood impacts. These bills would not only allow those to be built by right, but would prohibit any form of public hearing or City Council decision on the matter, even for residents directly affected. Local government responsibilities for a wide range of other issues are not addressed, including fire and emergency services access, capacity and equipment, environmental review, infrastructure capacity, stormwater management, state wetland and shoreland regulations, non- conforming lots, blighted areas, potential nuisance situations, direct impact on neighboring properties through watershed and solar access, and other issues.