Review Current Multifamily Housing Policies and Receive Update on Current Requests for Interest by Multifamily Housing Developers

The purpose of this case is to review current Council Policies as it relates to multifamily housing development projects. The City has received anywhere from 6-8 inquiries over the past few months. Of those initial inquiries, 4 have submitted additional detail for review. Projects are generally renter-occupied and range from general occupancy to senior housing. Most inquiries involve a request to purchase a City-Owned Parcel and/or likely to include a request for financial assistance. 

Before Staff spends any time preparing a case to bring forward to review individual projects, Staff needs Council Direction in order to do so, which is the purpose of this case. Mayor Kuzma has sponsored this case to come forward to discuss previous Council Direction and to bring newer Councilmembers up to speed on previous Council Direction. The City Council has previously directed Staff to pause on any multifamily housing projects that involve the sale of City-Owned Land or request financial assistance in order to allow our retail development goals to catch up with residential success. It should be noted that the City would generally be obligated to approve any multifamily housing project (on private land) that meets the requirements of the underlying zoning district (generally the R-3 Residential District and portions of The COR) and did not request any discretionary approvals or financial assistance. 

Since this is a discussion focused on previous Council Direction, Staff has not prepared a detailed case report at this time. If the Council does desire a more detailed review after this introductory discussion, more detail will be provided at future meetings. The Planning Commission has been invited to be part of this discussion. 

30 Minutes

This case is being handled as part of normal Staff duties. 

Deputy City Administrator

Provide direction/confirmation on multifamily housing projects as it relates to projects that request the purchase of City-Owned Land and/or financial assistance.