MN cities lobby against restrictions aimed at lowering cost of homes
Zoning restrictions contested by cities
Leaders in some Minnesota cities are lobbying against any changes that take away their control when it comes to reducing zoning restrictions in an effort to increase affordable housing. FOX 9’s Corin Hoggard explains.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota has a bad housing shortage, but if the road to fixing it starts in St. Paul is a matter of some serious disagreement.
Legislators vs. Cities
Left alone:
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing several housing bills, but cities are lobbying to be left alone.
They succeeded last year, but since then the state’s housing shortage has gotten worse and more legislators are eager to take action, even though the cities in their districts may not like what they’re seeing.
If you ask the leaders of cities across Minnesota, they’ll acknowledge the state is in the thralls of a housing crisis.
But almost all of them say they’re already fixing it.
And they don’t need St. Paul to send solutions.
"These changes came about because local decision makers were diligent in collecting data, making educated decisions, listening to the community and providing local solutions to local problems," said Evan Vogel of the City of Cambridge.
Not working
Status report:
Whatever cities are doing hasn’t worked very well statewide.
The state’s housing shortage is now more than 100,000 and it’s doubled in just a few years, which means prices are going up and it’s harder to buy.
Developers say cities are part of the problem.
"Our biggest problem is that instead of readily providing the required density and market rate realities of our housing market, planning and zoning must be purchased from cities through the form of a variance to the planned unit development," said Nick Erickson of Housing First Minnesota.
What could change
Cities don't like it:
The "Yes to Homes" package of bills includes limits on city zoning, so multifamily homes can go up more easily and smaller single-family homes can be built on smaller lots.
They’d also keep cities from requiring a certain number of parking spaces for new construction.
Meanwhile, Democrats also want the state to borrow $400 million for housing infrastructure.
"By investing in this tool now, we can help address our massive housing shortage that we've talked about all session long," said Rep. Michael Howard, (DFL-Richfield).
But Republicans are skeptical of more borrowing.
"Certainly it’s a serious issue, but it’s a very large number that I’m struggling to wrap my arms around," said Rep. Jim Nash, (R-Waconia).
There is bipartisan support for a lot of the housing bills, so they could pass in some form, even with cities generally opposed.