Continue Discussion Regarding Housing Plans and Policies

At the February 24th Work Session, direction was provided as follows.

1. Bring Back a Future Work Session Topic to continue discussion so that the City Council can have more of a conversation on this topic with less presentation by Staff.
2. Place a 'pause' on new multifamily projects, with a few exceptions, until the City's retail goals catch up.

This case satisfies Part 1 above. Staff continues to explore legal and appropriate mechanisms to satisfy Part 2 above. Additionally, it has come to Staff's attention that Aeon, owner of Greenway Terrace, has provided additional information to the City Council. Staff would like to receive any feedback from the City Council on this topic.

The original case continues below.

At the request of the City Council, the purpose of this case is to review various housing plans and policies within the City. Broadly speaking, the City has aimed to provide a variety of housing options that provide a variety of housing opportunities without leaving Ramsey. This includes a broad spectrum of entry-level housing, move-up/executive style housing, to aging in place and senior housing. 

The housing market has seen significant changes in the past 10 to 15 years. The City has achieved a number of our housing goals and provided a diverse housing stock that provides opportunities for residents but also insulates from changing market conditions by not focusing too much on any one housing type. With the recent update to our Comprehensive Plan and check in with the Comprehensive Housing Study by Maxfield, it is a good time to check in with the City Council on current policies and future direction. 

There are multiple resources and tools available to the City Council to frame this policy conversation.

• Land Use Chapter: 2040 Comprehensive Plan
• Housing Chapter: 2040 Comprehensive Plan
• The COR Development Plan
• Official Zoning Map/Zoning Code (City Code Chapter 117)
• Comprehensive Housing Study (Maxfield, 2019) 
• City-Owned Land Sale Policy

The City Council has previously indicated a desire to focus a discussion on multifamily housing plans and policies. In addition, based on recent single-family subdivision review, the changing market and lot sizes of single-family neighborhoods is also a potential discussion point. The purpose of this case is to better define the scope of the policy question for future policy discussions.

Staff will provide a brief summary overview of the City's various housing plans and policies and has intentionally kept this discussion high-level in order to better scope the question at hand. This is simply an introduction to a very broad topic. Future discussions will include more granular detail in presentations. 

30 minutes

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

Deputy City Administrator