Minneapolis leaders are pushing forward with a requirement that developers include affordable units whenever they build new housing.
The city Planning Commission Committee of the Whole will hear recommendations from an outside research firm Thursday on how to implement a housing strategy known as "inclusionary zoning." It's part of the city's multi-faceted agenda to boost the supply of affordable housing through loosening zoning restrictions, spending more city money on housing and imposing new mandates on developers.
Using similar policies in Seattle, Chicago and Washington, D.C., as a baseline, Grounded Solutions Network recommends the city require developers to set aside 10 to 20 percent of new units for low-to-moderate income tenants. The city plans to pass a temporary ordinance by the end of the year, and adopt a permanent one in 2019.
"This will result in having hundreds or thousands of units that are affordable" with no up-front cost to the city, said council President Lisa Bender.
"The majority of people we're hearing from don't want the city to develop in a way that will leave people behind," she said
Though the policy has not yet been drafted, housing industry representatives say they worry the law will backfire by slowing the construction of housing in a rental market that's in crisis.
"I get frustrated that we are spending a lot of time discussing regulatory frameworks that interfere with the existing market, rather than saying, 'How do we grow the market?' " said Cecil Smith, immediate past board president for Minnesota Multi-Housing Association.
The ordinance is separate from the hotly debated Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which proposes upzoning the entire city to allow for housing with up to three units, and denser development in more neighborhoods. Bender has identified inclusionary zoning as a necessary partner to that plan, and wants to move quickly.
