02-27-2003 Housing Workshop - Laserfiche WebLink

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niclro area. Currently, the cities of Minnetonka. Chaska and Woodbury are the only metro area cities using l and Tru.sts to maintain housing affordability. Locally, the West Hennepin Affordable Mousing I.and Trust (WIIAIILT) has been in e.xistenee for appro.ximately a year and a half and has been responsible for assi.sting both Minnetonka and Chaska to provide more affordable units within their communities. Jan Callison. a City of Minnetonka Council member, is the lixeeutive Director of this non-profit organi^ation. Land Trusts ensure long term affordability by splitting the ownership of the home and land. Ilie Land Trust purchases a home on the open market and then sells it by removing the price of the land. Therefore, the buyer ow ns the house and the Land Trust owns the land beneath it. leasing the land back to the home owner for their u.se. Since the Land Trust is a non-profit, operating solely on donations from fund raising, the City is expected to assi.st financially by providing or purchasing the land initially. W'hen the home owner decides to sell the property, the Land Trust completes an appraisal and provides the seller with 25% of the appreciation. This allows the property to stay affordable over time. The I.and Trust is responsible fi>r screening prospective buyers and approving the next home owner. It is anticipated that cities would pay the Land Trust for this .service. The Metropolitan Council is fimily behind using Land Trusts to maintain aifordable housing, providing participating cities l.ivable C'ommunities Act (LCA) points. I’urther explanation about C'ommunity Land Tru.sts is attached, as Hxhibii A. Hcnncnin Countv C’ilics In I lennepin County, the cities of Minnetonka. Plymouth. Chaska and Chanhassen have used a variety of metlnuls tt> provide and sustain affordable housing in new developments. The following is a brief overview of how each C'ity chooses to provide affordable housing: 1. City of Minnetonka (former C’ommunity Development Specialist. Bob Streetar) Within the last decade, the C'ity of Minnetonka developed Ju.st over one hundred alTordable housing units through deed restrictions. The process required a great deal of work for City .stall', .significant funding from the City and resulted in units that were only alTordable for three to f»>ur years following construction. 'The C'ity used the av erage annual increa.se in the metro area (through the MLS listings) to determine the resale value of each property annually . Dae to rising costs and a tight housing market over the past few years, tlie housing was unable to maintain its atldrdabilitv. The C'ity prefers .ind is committed to the u.se of a Land Trust (s|vcitlcaily WILAI. T) to maintain affordability. The C'ity determined that an affordable housing price is