HomeMy WebLinkAboutHousing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes 10-11-2018APPROVED MINUTES
PLYMOUTH HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
October 11, 2018
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Michelle Soderberg, Commissioners Robert
Huddleston, Jeff Kulaszewicz, and Matthew Plec
MEMBERS ABSENT: Marty McCarthy
STAFF PRESENT: HRA Manager Jim Barnes, HRA Executive Director Steve Juetten,
and Office Support Representative Michelle Rumrey
OTHERS PRESENT: LaDonna Hoy, Executive Director Interfaith Outreach and
Community Partners, and Ed Goldsmith
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Soderberg called the Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting
to order at 5:34 p.m.
2. PUBLIC FORUM
No one was present to speak.
3. NEW BUSINESS
A. 5070 Holly Lane North #6. Request to remove restrictive covenants
HRA Manager Barnes summarized the background. He stated additional information was
submitted and was available for review.
Commissioner Kulaszewicz stated at the last meeting the Board chose to continue the
decision to the next board meeting. He asked if it was okay to bring it up earlier.
HRA Manager Barnes responded yes.
Chairman Soderberg added that we now have criteria under the hardship policy that we did
not have before.
MOTION by Commissioner Kulaszewicz, seconded by Commissioner Plec, to approve
the removal of restrictive covenants from the property located at 5070 Holly Lane North
#6. Vote. 4 Ayes. MOTION passed unanimously.
B. Discuss Comprehensive Plan - Housing
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Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority
October 11, 2018
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HRA Manager Barnes and Executive Director Juetten presented an overview of the
Housing Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan.
HRA Executive Director Juetten provided an overview of the staff report and the proposed
new MXD-R guiding designation.
Commissioner Plec asked if 100% of the units would be affordable housing.
HRA Executive Director Juetten answered no, you could have a mixed income project.
Commissioner Plec said this just says what could be the density.
HRA Executive Director Juetten clarified that the area could be affordable housing if
MXD-R guiding was implemented.
Chairman Soderberg inquired how the idea for MXD-R guiding came about.
HRA Executive Director Juetten replied the concept was devised while considering the
available options to meet the number of affordable housing units specified by the Met
Council.
Chairman Soderberg asked if staff could provide some examples of how dense some of the
City’s current multi-family projects are and how that might compare to the new MXD-R
guiding.
HRA Executive Director Juetten said that Cranberry Ridge development has 19 units per
acre while the Axis has over 30 units per acre.
Commissioner Kulaszewicz asked about The Waters.
HRA Executive Director Juetten said it was developed with a Planned Unit Development
(PUD) so it is not an applicable comparison.
Chairman Soderberg asked about the impact this re-guiding would have on the businesses
already on the site.
HRA Executive Director Juetten answered if the land was re-guided the business presently
onsite would operate as it currently does until such time that buildings are removed.
Chairman Soderberg stated the concept of MXD-R guiding is very creative. She asked if
the guiding would be advantageous, unfavorable or neutral for the business.
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Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority
October 11, 2018
Page 3
HRA Executive Director Juetten said having the residential component would make a
developer ’s numbers work and would allow them to come up with a plan that is market
driven.
Commissioner Kulaszewicz commented that the concept is outside the box in terms of
vision. He asked if the MXD-R guiding was adopted would the area be rezoned.
HRA Executive Director Juetten answered the land would be re-guided, not re-zoned. It
would only be re-zoned if it was sold for redevelopment.
Commissioner Kulaszewicz inquired if there are any downsides to having too many of
these re-guided parcels.
HRA Executive Director Juetten said the downside would be if all the re-guided parcels
were sold at the same time and there was not market for that much housing .
Commissioner Kulaszewicz asked if the re-guiding would help developers with financing.
HRA Executive Director Juetten replied PUD flexibility helps not hinders developers from
obtaining funding from other sources.
Commissioner Kulaszewicz stated so long as you have the appropriate amount of housing
you can also have many other uses, such as a bus stop.
Commissioner Plec asked if the re-guiding changes height.
HRA Executive Director Juetten said the re-guiding in the Comp Plan does not address
height; height requirements are contained in the zoning code. The PUD would allow
flexibility to modify the heig ht depending on the location.
Commissioner Plec stated he can see this helping with purchase offers.
HRA Manager Barnes said the flexibility of the PUD allows the Council to have more
control over what uses will be developed on the site.
Commissioner Plec asked if the amount of affordable units the Met Council wants to see
have to be implemented now or if it just has to be shown the housing can be available.
HRA Executive Director Juetten explained that State law says cities have to show how they
can accommodate a certain number of affordable units through guiding enough land at high
densities.
Chairman Soderberg asked if property owners have been contacted about the potential re-
guiding.
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Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority
October 11, 2018
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HRA Executive Director Juetten responded that they have not been contacted yet .
Commissioner Kulaszewicz asked how frequently the Met Council changes the numbers.
HRA Executive Director Juetten said every ten years per state statute.
HRA Manager Barnes asked the commissioners about their thoughts on the parcels
presented and for suggestions on other parcels in the city for this new re-guiding
classification.
Commissioner Kulaszewicz answered he likes the concept and would defer to staff to
determine the parcels to implement the re-guiding.
HRA Executive Director Juetten asked if 25 units is too high of a density.
Commissioner Plec commented he envisions what is in Minnetonka with housing on the
upper levels of the building and business es on the lower level.
Commissioner Huddleston asked for clarification on how much housing could be on the
site.
HRA Executive Director Juetten stated only half of the site could be developed with
residential housing.
Chairman Soderberg asked for opinions on the 20-25 units per acre.
Commissioner Plec responded from between 20-25 units per acre would benefit certain
sites with higher density and provide a greater variety of housing options.
Commissioner Kulaszewicz asked when the city received the current numbers from the
Met Council.
HRA Executive Director Juetten responded in 2015. He believed if the numbers were
recalculated the City’s total would be lower due to less land being available now. .
Commissioner Plec asked if we have to choose either 20 or 25 now.
HRA Executive Director Juetten said no, they are looking for advice.
Commissioner Huddleston expounded on how the height of the building changes the
density.
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Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority
October 11, 2018
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HRA Manager Barnes provided an overview of the matrix summarizing the suggestions
and information received in the letters from Interfaith Outreach, PRISM, Jewish
Community Action, and Housing Justice Center. He asked the commissioners to
recommend which ideas they would like to present to the City Council for consideration.
HRA Manager Barnes reviewed the first question regarding Naturally Occurring
Affordable Housing (NOAH).
Commissioner Huddleston asked if the Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing units can
be homesteaded properties.
HRA Executive Director Juetten responded yes.
Commissioner Huddleston said he was thinking about if an apartment complex needed help
and was sold that then could be changed to affordable housing.
HRA Manager Barnes stated it would most likely be cost prohibitive to turn a market rate
apartment complex to affordable housing.
Mr. Goldsmith added a comment suggesting to develop an implementation plan to acquire
market rate properties and convert them to affordable housing.
HRA Executive Director Juetten said that is another way to look at it, but the possibility of
us converting 679 affordable units is going to be difficult.
Mr. Goldsmith commented that during the next 10 years the Met Council is going to ask
the city what has been produced and any extra units would help.
HRA Executive Director Juetten and Manager Barnes concurred.
Chairman Soderberg said that NOAH is a n obvious choice. She is interested in pursuing
the line of credit.
Commissioner Huddleston said the line of credit was recommended by the Justice Housing
Center.
HRA Manager Barnes explained the process to create a tax increment district can take 60
days or longer. If we had dedicated source of fund then we have the ability to take quick
action.
Mr Goldsmith commented the City of Plymouth has done a lot for affordable housing.
Plymouth has been intentionally quiet about their contributions and projects get done.
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Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority
October 11, 2018
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HRA Manager Barnes discussed the second idea and indicated this item will be added to
the Comp Plan. He then went on to the third idea of amending the City’s Rental Licensing
code to provide notification prior to the sale of certain properties and add some tenant
protections.
Commissioner Kulaszewicz said he has a problem with rent control.
HRA Manager Barnes said last year a property in Richfield only gave 30 days for a
household currently living in affordable housing to find new housing. This simply is not
an adequate amount of time particularly in a low vacancy period.
HRA Manager Barnes discussed the fourth item and told the Board that staff was already
looking into using excess TIF as a result of the Ehlers report.
HRA Manager Barnes discussed the fifth item relating to the Sun Valley mobile home park.
Chairman Soderberg recalled the bus tour to Sun Valley Mobile Home Park and asked if
this land cannot be redeveloped.
HRA Executive Director Juetten responded the land can be redeveloped but it would be
complicated because of the notification period of 12 months and other laws that come into
play when a mobile home park is closed.
Commissioner Kulaszewicz asked if a mobile home is affordable housing.
HRA Manager Barnes replied yes, it is the most affordable housing there is. These units
are already counted as NOAH properties in the city.
Chairman Soderberg stated if we lose them then we want to make sure they could get
replaced wit h other affordable units.
Commissioner Kulaszewicz suggested a program could be developed for residents in the
mobile home park similar to the emergency repair grant programs in place for homeowners.
HRA Manager Barnes acknowledged we could look into t hat type of program. It would
have to be locally funded.
HRA Manager Barnes discussed the sixth idea regarding what the City of Minneapolis is
doing in requiring properties to accept Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV).
Chairman Soderberg said she would like to see what happens with the Section 8 HCV
litigation in the Minneapolis courts.
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Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority
October 11, 2018
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HRA Manager Barnes clarified we will keep this out of the Comp Plan for now as we wait
for the court decision.
HRA Manager Barnes co ntinued with details on items number seven and nine on the matrix
related to mixed income and inclusionary housing policies.
HRA Executive Director Juetten stated the four most recent apartment buildings
constructed in the city have included between ten percent and 100 percent of their units as
affordable housing. This has occurred without such a policy in place. There is a possibility
if the city puts money into the development and through the negotiation process we get
affordable housing without having a policy in place.
Commissioner Huddleston commented the Met Council would say it should be policy.
HRA Manager Barnes agreed adding that was suggested in the letters also.
Commissioner Kulaszewicz suggest ed that rather than a policy, perhaps a positive
affirmation could be done in such a way saying if you provide affordable housing we will
give you this.
Commissioner Huddleston said conversely, if it was a policy, then developers would not
consider Plymout h.
Chairman Soderberg stated even if we do not put this idea into the Comp Plan we can still
continue to look at it , which does warrant monitoring other communities to see how their
policies are working.
HRA Executive Director Juetten asked if the commissioners are supportive of mixed
income housing.
Chairman Soderberg replied we would like a statement expressing our interest that does
not tie our hands.
Commissioner Huddleston said he would like to monitor how effective these types of
policies are in other cities before considering a formal policy.
HRA Manager Barnes stated staff will add a statement the city is interested in mixed
income and inclusionary polices and will be following the development of this in ot her
cities.
HRA Manager Barnes informed the commissioners their limited resources would be used
to consider developments offering affordable housing. He said they will recommend staff’s
comments on number eight and number ten listed on the matrix to the council. He stated
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Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority
October 11, 2018
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when criteria is specific and rigid you can be limit ed in how flexible you can be. He stated
it is better to be able to react to each individual project as each is unique.
HRA Manager Barnes continued with item number eleven on the mat rix and said this idea
depends on what you foresee the need to be. The downside is you can possibly be sitting
on land and have to pay the holding costs. Therefore, we would need to decide what the
forward thinking plan is. He reminded the commissioners that Plymouth has at times
bought land. He does not think this needs to be formalized, but perhaps when opportunities
arise we can evaluate the benefits of each project.
HRA Manager Barnes discussed the twelfth item in the matrix related to a Fair Housing
Policy. He stated we need to have a Fair Housing Policy by January 1 in order to receive
any future funding from the Metropolitan Council. He indicated a draft is being prepared
and will come before the Board in November.
4. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION by Chairman Soderberg, with no objection, to adjourn at 7:34 P.M.