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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-12-01 NAC to CA Returning File Documents MEMO From Scott Richards Date: 1 December 1997 To: Mark Vierling Re: 0ak Park Heights - Annexation 793.04 -97.19 These were originally from your files. z1 INTRODUCTION The City of Oak Park Heights, with a population of 3,486 people, is located on the St. Croix River, south of Stillwater. The City's housing is a diverse mix of old and new single family homes, medium density townhomes and high density multiple family apartments. The location of the community near Stillwater, the St. Croix River and the Twin Cities has encouraged both commercial and residential development in recent years. This trend is expected to continue, in particular with the construction of the new bridge over the St. Croix into Wisconsin. The City of Oak Park Heights has elected to participate in the Metropolitan Livable Communities Program which encourages the development and maintenance of affordable and life -cycle housing in the Twin Cities. The Metropolitan Livable Communities Act was enacted in June 1995 and will be administered by the Metropolitan Council. The act establishes a Metropolitan Livable Communities Fund which is available to participating communities to help pay for various housing related activities in the community. Implementation of this Housing Plan must take into full consideration the range of available programs and resources based upon market and economic factors. This document is intended to be utilized by the City of Oak Park Heights in organizing the pursuit of programs, initiatives and actions most applicable to the goals and needs of housing in the community. As such, it should be updated periodically as new programs and funding sources become available and existing resources terminate, and as existing housing issues are resolved and new issues arise. It must be stressed however, that it is the intention of the City to take a reactive role in housing matters. LIVABLE COMMUNITIES BENCHMARKS AND GOALS The Metropolitan Livable Communities Act requires participating communities to negotiate goals for affordable and life -cycle housing based upon current indexes and regional benchmark goals. For reference, housing is considered "affordable" if it costs not more than 30% of a family's income. For owner- occupied housing this income amount is approximately 80 percent of median, or in 1994 dollars, a home costing approximately $115,000. For rental housing, this expense equals approximately $500 per month. Life - cycle housing is housing available to accommodate the changing needs and housing preferences people throughout their lives. The City of Oak Park Heights has established future housing goals for affordable and life - cycle housing through negotiations with Metropolitan Council Staff. However, it should be mentioned that the Housing Goals Agreement must be revised to reflect the loss of housing as a result of the construction of the new St. Croix Bridge. The majority, if not all of the housing lost by the construction of the bridge would be classified as affordable. 1 The City's current Metropolitan Council indexes, regional benchmarks and negotiated housing goals are provided below for reference: TABLE 1 CITY OF OAK PARK HEIGHTS AFFORDABLE /LIFE -CYCLE INDEXES, BENCHMARKS & NEGOTIATED HOUSING GOALS CITY INDEX BENCHMARK GOAL AFFORDABILITY Ownership 90% 74 -85% 75 -80% Rental 55% 52 -68% 55% LIFE -CYCLE Type (Non - single family 50% 29 -36% 50% detached) Owner /renter mix 56/44% (68 -77) %/ (68 -77) %/ (23 -32)% (23 -32)% DENSITY Single Family Detached 2.3 /acre 2.2 -2.5 /acre 2.3 /acre Multifamily 15 /acre 13 -14 acre 15 /acre SOURCE: CITY OF OAK PARK HEIGHTS METROPOLITAN COUNCIL As illustrated by the above table, Oak Park Heights' indexes are currently within or exceed all of the Metropolitan Council's regional benchmarks for affordable and life -cycle housing. Currently 90% of the City's owner - occupied housing is considered affordable, and 55% of its rental housing is considered affordable. The City's future housing goals are to maintain the current benchmarks for affordable and life -cycle housing. The City's indexes for the measures of life -cycle housing are also illustrated above. Currently 50% of the City's life -cycle housing is non - single family detached housing. The benchmark for this type of housing is 29 -36 %. In terms of owner /renter life -cycle housing, 56% of the life -cycle housing stock is owner occupied, which is below the benchmark. Conversely, 44% of the City's life -cycle housing is renter occupied, which exceeds the benchmark of 23 -32 %. These figures are explained by the large number of multiple family structures within the City. The City should work, as market factors and resources allow, to improve the ratio of owner occupied versus renter occupied life -cycle housing in the City. The best means of accomplishing this goal is to promote increased availability of single family detached, medium density townhouse units, and condominiums. In regard to housing densities, the City of Oak Park Heights is within or exceeds the Metropolitan Councils regional benchmark. The density of single family homes in the community is currently 2.3 units per acre, which is within the benchmark range established 2 • i V by the Metropolitan Council. The density of multiple family housing is 15 units per acre, which the established benchmark is 13 -14 units per acre. The following table (table 2) shows a breakdown of all single family, low density, medium density, high density housing within the City of Oak Park Heights (per the 1990 Census). TABLE 2 CITY OF OAK PARK HEIGHTS 1990 HOUSING UNITS BY TYPE OF UNIT TYPE NUMBER PERCENT SINGLE FAMILY (DETACHED) 622 46.1 SINGLE FAMILY (ATTACHED) 84 6.2 LOW DENSITY (2 UNITS) 70 5.2 MEDIUM DENSITY (3 -9 UNITS) 171 12.7 HIGH DENSITY (10+ UNITS) 401 29.7 MOBILE HOME/OTHER 2 . • TOTAL 1,350 100.00 SOURCE: 1990 U.S. CENSUS TABLE 3 CITY OF OAK PARK HEIGHTS METROPOLITAN COUNCIL HOUSEHOLD AND POPULATION PROJECTIONS OAK PARK HEIGHTS 1990 2000 2010 2020 HOUSEHOLDS 1,322 1,700 2,000 2,300 POPULATION 3,486 4,000 4,700 5,350 SOURCE: METROPOLITAN COUNCIL 3 TABLE 4 CITY OF OAK PARK HEIGHTS ADDITIONAL/NEW UNIT ESTIMATES BASED ON NEGOTIATED LCA GOALS City HOUSEHOLDS FORECASTED ADDITIONAL (AFFORDABLE) ADDITIONAL 1980 HOUSEHOLDS RENTAL UNITS (AFFORDABLE ) 2010 1990 -2010 OWNER UNITS 1995 -2010 OAK PARK HEIGHTS 1,322 2,000 0 150 SOURCE: METROPOLITAN COUNCIL Based upon household projections developed by the Metropolitan Council for the year 2010, the City will need to maintain its existing renter and owner occupied housing supply and as a goal, will work to provide an additional 150 owner- occupied housing units which • are considered affordable, in order to maintain the established housing goals. The City has determined that the increase of 10 additional affordable owner units per year is reasonable, considering the supply of appropriate developable land. Despite the fact that no additional (affordable) rental units are required, based on the negotiated LCA goals, the City Council has determined that they would look favorably at the addition of affordable rental units in the community. The City Council shall make a determination on a case by case basis. The above information is based upon the Metropolitan Council's Regional Blueprint Document which predicts that the number of households in Oak Park Heights will increase by 678 households from 1990 to 2010 (see Table 3 above). RESIDENTIAL LAND USE INVENTORY The City of Oak Park Heights is in the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan, however, the following information has been taken from a draft of the Inventory from the Comprehensive Plan (this data is to be expanded): • Residential land use occupies 18% of the City's total developed land area. Low density residential and use represents 15% of that total, medium density 1% and high density 2 %. • Seventy percent (70 %) of Oak Park Heights's housing stock was constructed prior to 1980. The remaining thirty percent (30 %) has been constructed since 1980. • Seventy (70) homes are being razed as a result of the construction of the new bridge over the St. Croix River. The majority of these homes are older and considered to be affordable housing. 4 • In 1991 the City annexed 392 acres into the City. A large portion of this area is to be developed with single family residential and multiple family residential. HOUSING ISSUES Housing Condition: Observations made during the land use inventory in the Spring of 1996, as part of the City's Comprehensive Plan update, suggested that the majority of the single family homes in Oak Park Heights were in good to excellent condition. Of the homes that were in poor condition, most were located within the St. Croix River Bridge expansion area and will be torn down. The land use inventory also revealed that most of the City's multiple family structures were in good condition and well maintained. Housing Maintenance: Oak Park Heights existing housing stock represents a valuable resource and investment that must be preserved. The preservation and maintenance of existing residential housing improves the living environment, maintains the City's supply of affordable housing, and enhances the character of the City. Programs and incentives for continuing privately initiated maintenance, improvements for energy conservation, and redevelopment of existing residential areas will be created and implemented. When possible, the City may provide assistance undertaking development and redevelopment efforts. HOUSING GOALS AND POLICIES As mentioned, the City of Oak Park Heights is in the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan, therefore, specific housing goals and policies shall be revised and updated. The housing goals and policies listed below, are from the existing Comprehensive Plan, adopted in December of 1979, and additional goals and policies that will be incorporated within the Comprehensive Plan update. These goals and policies shall be used as a guide by City decision makers to identify the needs to evaluate housing related applications. Goals: • Maintain the current City of Oak Park Heights benchmarks for affordable life cycle housing. • Provide sufficient housing and sufficient housing sizes, types and styles to meet the needs of all segments of the population, notedly groups with specialized housing needs, such as the elderly. • Provide housing in cost ranges affordable to low and moderate income households (as regionally defined). 5 • Provide safe, healthy and attractive residential environment which offer a broad and full choice of housing types. Policies: 1. Maintain the existing renter and owner occupied housing supply, except for the units to be purchased and removed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation for the St. Croix Bridge. 2. Promote the development of an additional 150 owner occupied affordable housing units by the year 2010 to maintain the established housing goals. 3. Allow, on a case by case basis, the addition of affordable rental units within the City. 4. Ensure that all new housing, including rental housing and housing for persons of low and moderate income, adheres to the highest possible standards of planning, design and construction. 5. Concentrate higher density, apartment -type housing in proximity to areas which offer a wide range of existing supportive service, commercial and recreational facilities. 6. Plan and develop residential neighborhoods according to determined planning /development district boundaries. 7. Protect residential neighborhoods from penetration by through traffic. 8. Provide for access to major streets on the periphery of residential neighborhoods. 9. Provide high density development with reasonable, but not necessarily direct, access to major thoroughfares. 10. Preserve and maintain the existing density character of residential neighborhoods. 11. Achieve and maintain a high quality residential environment through rehabilitation or where necessary, redevelopment, of substandard units. Undertake such actions through private means or if necessary, public action. 12. Protect low density residential neighborhoods from encroachment or intrusion of incompatible higher use types and by adequate buffering and separation from other residential as well as non - residential use categories. 13. Provide sufficient housing options to meet the needs of all segments of the population, including the elderly and those of low and moderate income. 6 14. Encourage and promote adequate living space and fully utilized housing through the provision of a range of choice among housing types and options. 15. Existing undeveloped single family residential lands shall be developed in a manner responsive to determined needs and compatible with surrounding development. 16. Ensure that all new housing, including housing affordable to low and moderate income families and individuals, adheres to the highest community design, planning and construction standards. 17. Encourage design and planning innovations in both housing units and land development. 18. Encourage innovation in subdivision design and housing development through the use of devices such as the cluster and planned unit development concepts. • 19. Encourage the development of patio homes, townhouses, quadraminiums and condominiums to supplement conventional single family homes and apartments, giving due consideration to local market demands. 20. From a cost per unit perspective, planned unit development shall be promoted in order to: (a) reduce unit land costs, (b) lessen the amount of new dedicated streets (thereby reducing on -going repair and snow removal costs), (c) lower utility costs (through reduced footage and hence lower maintenance costs), and (d) reduce additional run -off resulting from development. 21. From a revenue per unit perspective, planned unit development shall be promoted based upon the higher revenue contribution to the City in comparison with conventional comparable density subdivision. 22. Density incentives shall be offered for the development of mid - density owner -type units, such as townhouses, quadraminiums, patio homes and cluster housing. 23. Mid - density development shall be encouraged on a planned unit basis and shall specifically include provisions for traffic circulation that would mitigate any adverse affects on existing single family residential neighborhoods. 24. Prohibit residential development on wetlands, floodplains and other natural features that perform important protection functions in their natural state. 25. Locate multiple family housing in areas not inferior to those generally used for conventional single family housing. 7 ADMINISTRATION The housing market shall be the primary driving force behind what types of housing is constructed, rehabilitated and redeveloped within the City. The Oak Park Heights City Administrator will be the primary City Official responsible for the monitoring and overseeing the implementation of the actions and programs outlined within this document, through the completion of grant and program applications, the reporting of housing related information and acting as a resource contact for community residents, property owners and potential developers. The City Administrator shall also actively consult with the Washington County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA). Pursuit of housing programs and actions will be based upon pending applications or the request of private parties. If these requests are found by the City to be consistent with established community goals and policies, the City will grant its support and assistance to the private sector efforts. TIME FRAME As the City of Oak Park Heights is incompliance with regional housing benchmarks and the focus of housing programs and related City actions in the community being reactive to housing needs rather than proactive, no formal numerical goals for assisted housing, housing programs, etc. will be established. In order for this plan to be effective, it is anticipated that this document will need to be examined and updated from time to time. Therefore, as part of any future Comprehensive Planning process, this plan should also be reexamined. It is anticipated that this document, when updated as part of the Comprehensive Planning process, will serve as a housing element implementation plan of the Comprehensive Plan. The City of Oak Park Heights shall annually participate in the Metropolitan Livable Communities Act by passing a resolution to do so by November 15th of each year. PROGRAMS, INITIATIVES AND ACTIONS The following programs, initiatives and actions are available and may be used in the City of Oak Park Heights as housing issues present themselves and City resources allow, to increase the levels of affordable and life cycle housing in the community within established regional benchmarks, provide new housing options, and promote the maintenance, rehabilitation and redevelopment of existing residential properties. In this regard, the following list serves as a reference for continued review and consideration as a means of addressing the City's current and future housing needs. The City shall actively work with the Washington County HRA to promote ownership of single family housing options, in particular with down payment assistance. 8 New programs which become available and are applicable in Oak Park Heights should be added to the list just as programs which are no longer available or applicable should be removed. Inclusion of these programs in this plan does not commit the City to participate in them, rather the City's housing efforts will be stimulated cooperatively with private sector applications. Housing Assistance Programs Federal Government Programs • Section 8 vouchers and certificates programs • Shelter Plus Care (S +C) Minnesota Housing Finance Agency Programs • Minnesota Mortgage Program • Home ownership Assistance Fund • Urban Indian Housing Program/Tribal Indian Housing Program • Purchase Plus Program • Minnesota Urban and Rural Homesteading Program • Partnership for Affordable Housing • Minnesota City Participation Program • Entry Cost Home ownership Program (ECHO) • MHFA Rental Assistance for Family Stabilization (RAFS) Housing Development Programs Federal Government Programs • Public Units(Hollman Units) • Supportive Housing Demonstration Program - Transitional Housing Component • Federal Home Loan Bank - Affordable Housing Program • Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) • Section 202 - elderly • Section 811 - handicapped Minnesota Housing Finance Agency • Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program • New Construction Tax Credit Mortgage Builders Loans • Low and Moderate Income Rental Program • Affordable Rental Investment Fund 9 Metropolitan Council • Local Housing Incentives Account • Livable Communities Demonstration Account Local Government • Tax Increment Financing • Revenue Bonds Other • Share - Washington County HRA • Family Housing Fund • Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity • Housing maintenance, Rehabilitation and Redevelopment Programs Federal Government • Federal Home Loan Bank - Affordable Housing Program • Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) • HOPE III Minnesota Housing Finance Agency • Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program • Low and Moderate Income Rental Program • Home Rental Rehabilitation Program • Rental Rehab Loan Program • Innovative Housing Loan Program • Community Rehabilitation Fund • Deferred Loan Program • Revolving Loan Program • The Great Minnesota Fix -up Fund • Affordable Rental Investment Fund • Blighted Properties Community Rehabilitation • Community Rehabilitation Fund • Mod Rehab Metropolitan Council • Livable Communities Demonstration Account 10 Other • Family Housing Fund • Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity Local Government • Community Clean -up Days • Tax Increment Financing Local Initiatives • Community education programs • Community Clean -up Days 11