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05-14-24 HRA Work Session Agenda May 14, 2024 — 6:30 PM Golden Valley City Hall Hybrid Meeting 1.Housing and Economic Development Update and Work Plan 2.Home Ownership Program for Equity (HOPE) Update and Site Acquisition HRA WORK SESSION AGENDA Housing and Redevelopment Authority Work Sessions are being conducted in a hybrid format with in- person and remote options for attending. Remote Attendance: Members of the public may attend this meeting by streaming via Webex, or by calling 1-415-655-0001 and entering access code 2632 703 2031 and webinar password 1234. Additional information about attending electronic meetings is available on the City website . Discussion Item(s) HRA Work Session meetings have an informal, discussion-style format and are designed for the HRA to obtain background information, consider policy alternatives, and provide general directions to staff. No formal actions are taken at these meetings. The public is invited to attend HRA Work Session meetings and listen to the discussion; public participation is allowed by invitation of the HRA. City of Golden Valley HRA Work Session May 14, 2024 — 6:30 PM 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Community Development 763-512-2345 / 763-512-2344 (fax) Golden Valley Housing and Redevelopment Authority Work Session May 14, 2024 Agenda Item 1. Housing and Economic Development Update and Work Plan Prepared By Christine Costello, Housing & Economic Development Manager Summary The economy and housing are linked together in many ways, with decisions about one often impacting or influencing the other. Combining both housing and economic development will help ensure that the City of Golden Valley has a cohesive plan with complementary strategies for both topics. HOUSING In 2020, the City adopted a 5 Year Housing Strategic Plan 2020-2025 (Plan). The Plan set out priorities to meet the housing and redevelopment goals of the City over the next 5 years. The strategies were based on the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, a Housing Study dated March 2017 from Maxfield Research, stakeholder input and affordable and market-rate housing developer needs. The Plan provided three housing priorities: Preservation of Existing Housing and Tenant Protections Increase Housing Affordability to Diversify Housing Options and Opportunity in the City Increase Diversity of Voices in Decision Making Within those priorities were a number of tools and strategies to accomplish the housing priorities. Below is a breakdown of the tools and strategies accomplished to date. The accomplishments have been categorized by how they have been integrated into various areas of the City's. HOUSING MARKETING ZONING FINANCE Tenant Protection Ordinance NOAH Rehabilitation & Maintenance Program Smaller Lot Redevelopment Publicly Owned Vacant Parcels for Affordable Housing (HOPE program) 4d Affordable Housing Incentive Again in Place Programs & Access to Services Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) Mixed Income Housing Policy Affordable First-Time Buyers New Affordable Senior Housing New Affordable Rental Housing 2 There are a three housing strategies and tools that remain from the Plan that are felt that need to be completed before developing additional priorities due in part to new staff starting in mid-February and the remaining tasks plus additional daily housing workload will make for a busy 2024. The housing strategies that remain include: Housing Improvement Area (HIA) Update/Development of a Public Finance Policy Continuation/Completion of HOPE Program Housing Improvement Area (HIA) The HRA has received a request from a condominium association in Golden Valley to establish an HIA Policy, in addition the development of a HIA Policy was on the 2023 work plan but never completed. A condominium or townhouse association may ask for an HIA to provide a City-funded loan that enables them to complete needed improvements to common areas of their development that otherwise are unable to finance through the association fund balance, commercial loans or individual private owner loans. MN State Statutes 428A, governs HIA's and allows for improvements to the common area such as roofing, siding, landscaping, roadways, parking lots, water lines, painting, decks. HIA's are initiated by a condominium or townhouse association and provide a cost effective method to finance, but also improves the property appearance and home values in the community. Having an HIA Policy available will allow older common interest communities the ability to update their communities and preserve potentially naturally occurring affordable housing as well. Public Finance Policy Golden Valley currently has a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) policy that was last updated in 2014. A public finance policy would set forth specific objectives for redevelopment and development in the community that the HRA would like to see when evaluating requests by developers for business subsidies. The current policy only covers TIF funding and not other sources such as tax abatement or State grant programs. Developing a holistic public finance policy will lay out to the development community in a clear manner what the community's goals and objectives are for public finance to be considered. Then ensuring that policy is public will make it clear to development community what the HRA's expectations are for development and how we will work together to position Golden Valley for growth. HOPE Program Since 2019, the City has established and developed various affordable housing opportunities in the community. Then in June 2022 the Home Ownership Program for Equity (HOPE) was launched to make public land available for development of homes for affordable and equitable homeownership opportunities in the City. Staff will further discuss this housing priority in the next work session item. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The City of Golden Valley as a first-ring suburb to the west of Minneapolis, with a population of roughly 22,034 and an employment population of 28,473 is unique in that we have a vibrant daytime population due to employers such as General Mills and Pentair. This allows Golden Valley to be a desired location to live, work, and play. In addition, the community has great roadway access to get anywhere within the Twin Cities due to our proximity to Interstate 394, Highway 169 and 100, and within 25 minutes of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Additionally, the study of Highway 55 and improved transit opportunities further increases the viability of the community. 3 Economic development is an important goal for the City Council and HRA but in order to truly understand where we are in terms of what assets we have and where we need to go to further develop and build upon our economic growth, we need to define the community's mission and goals for economic development. This would include identification of metrics for tracking success, as well as how should the community be retaining, attracting and expanding business development in the community that will support business development from small to large. As a community we also want to establish equitable economic development integration practices and policies. The only way to do this accurately and thoughtfully is to develop a Five-Year Economic Development Strategic Plan for Golden Valley. This plan would be done through a request for proposal (RFP) process that would include input from the community and various business stakeholders. Financial or Budget Considerations The proposed work plan for 2024 would include achievable goals that would complete the goals and objectives from previous works plans as well as set the foundation for economic development success in the community. Limiting the number of goals to a more manageable number along with the workload that comes day-to-day will allow for these items to be accomplished and new goals to be established the following year. The goals for 2024 would include: Creating Housing Improvement Area (HIA) policy Creating a comprehensive public finance policy HOPE program Five-Year Economic Development Strategic Plan Creation of the HIA policy would be done in house and require staff and legal review. No outside consultant would need to be hired. The comprehensive public finance policy would include three meetings with our financial consultant Ehlers, Inc. The first would be a workshop with Ehlers, Inc. and the HRA to discuss the use of public financing to assist with private development projects. The second work session would be for the HRA to review the proposed draft and provide comments, and then the final meeting would be adoption of the policy at an HRA meeting. Lastly, a Five- Year Economic Development Strategic Plan has been budgeted for in 2024. Legal Considerations N/A Equity Considerations N/A Recommended Action Listen to staff update the council on actions and work plan items. 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Community Development 763-512-2345 / 763-512-2344 (fax) Golden Valley Housing and Redevelopment Authority Work Session May 14, 2024 Agenda Item 2. Home Ownership Program for Equity (HOPE) Update and Site Acquisition Prepared By Christine Costello, Housing & Economic Development Manager Summary In June 2022, the Homeownership Program for Equity (HOPE) was launched to make public land available for development (new construction) of homes for affordable and equitable homeownership opportunities in Golden Valley. HOPE is focused on creating new homeownership opportunities for households making 60-80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) who would normally be priced out of Golden Valley. Current Site Status Currently, the Habitat for Humanity is constructing a house located at 1605 Douglas Avenue and it is near completion with plans to obtain a certificate of occupancy by the end of May. The interested buyers in the home are currently moving to their lending review, then once that is completed the home would hopefully be occupied soon after. The two other properties for the first round of the HOPE program are 208 Meander and 4707 Circle Down and will be constructed by the Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation (GMHC). They are hoping to start construction late Summer 2024 and be completed by Spring 2025. Next Steps The next set of properties to be purchased from MnDOT are 1611 Lilac, 504 Lilac, and 0 Greenview Lane. Staff is currently working through title and survey completion with plans to come before the HRA at a special meeting on June 4th to acquire the properties from MnDOT, and at the June 18th HRA meeting the approval of purchase agreements for the following three parcels. 1611 Lilac - Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation (GMHC) would consider construction in 2025. 504 Lilac - Habitat for Humanities would be the builder and they would be looking to start construction any time between Fall 2024 and early Spring 2025, so that framing of the house with volunteer groups could take place in early Summer 2025. 0 Greenview Lane - At this time there is no proposed builder for the parcel. The HRA would land bank the site and then market to a potential developer for the construction of a single-family home. 5 Staff is looking for additional input from the HRA on the direction for two parcels that are proposed to be future HOPE sites. The two parcels are on the the west side of Highway 100 and would be addressed off of Lilac Drive North; they are 1611 and 1131. The sites also have developers lined up to build two twin homes at 1611 Lilac by GMHC and a duplex at 1131 Lilac by Magnolia Homes. As current staff was conducting due diligence on these parcels it was noted that they had been marketed for housing uses that are not an allowed as permitted or a conditional use in the current R-1 Zoning District. The only use housing type permitted in the R-1 district is single-family dwellings. Both parcels are surrounded by parcels that are zoned R-1, Single-Family Residential. The 2040 Comprehensive Plan also guides these parcels as Low Density Residential. The Comprehensive Plan states that Low Density Residential primarily includes single-family detached units but may include single-family and two-family attached units in scattered locations as appropriate but be surrounded by other land uses with minimal impacts, such as institutional and open space. There are options that staff would like to discuss with the HRA and receive feedback on how staff should proceed. Option A Zone two parcels to R-1, Single-Family Residential. Zoning Code amendment to add duplex and twin homes as permitted and/or conditional use in the R-1 zoning district. Potential Zoning Code amendment to allow lot areas smaller than 10,000 square feet. Potential Zoning Code amendment to allow for one-car garage instead of the required two-car garage. Option B Rezone to R-2, Moderate Density Residential. Rezoning to R-2 would create spot zoning, which is illegal unless surrounding lots were also rezoned from R-1 to R-2. Rezoning classification would need to have public engagement with property owners if additional parcels were rezoned. Additional Zoning Code amendments may be necessary and will need to be reviewed such as lot size, setbacks, and garage requirements. Option C Request the developers to building single family homes instead of a duplex and two twin homes. Consideration of the potential reduction in funding from State and County partners if a duplex and two twin homes could not be built. Staff has reached out to funding partners at MN Housing, Met Council and Hennepin County to inquire about changes in housing type and impact on it would potentially have on the grants received. It is hoped that details will be received to share with the HRA at the work session. Financial or Budget Considerations N/A Legal Considerations N/A 6 Equity Considerations N/A Recommended Action Listen to the updates and help guide staff on the zoning issues related to 1131 and 1611 Lilac Drive North. Supporting Documents HOPE Site Discussion Maps 7 1611 1131 LocaƟon & Zoning Map 8 1611 1131 Rezone area from R-1 to R-2 Rezone area from R-1 to R-2 PotenƟal Rezoning Area 9