01-24-2000 Council Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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CIIAPTER -5 PART 3(C) HOUSING fiVlPRQVEMENT PLAN I I INTRODUCTION An increasing priority of national, regional and local concern is for the provision of an adequate supply of safe, affordable housing for all citizens. Housing is basic to the quality of life of all people yet many persons, particularly those of low and moderate income level and those on fi.xed incomes, are living in substandard housing or are denied adequate choice in housing type or lifestyle. The rapid increase in prices and the inadequate supply of newly built affordable and lifecvcle housing have meant that middle as well as low income persons are increasingly unable to afford housing that meets their needs and desires. At the same time, much of the area’s housing is aging, and there is an increasing need for neighborhood preservation and housing rehabilitation. The Metropolitan Land Planning Act requires that local comprehensive plans include "official controls and land use planning to promote the availability of land for the development of low and moderate income housine" (Minn. Stat. Sec. 473.859. Subd. 2). To flirther address housing needs, the Minnesota Legislature in 1995 enacted th»" Metropolitan Livable Communities Act, establishing a fund for communities to invest in local economic revitalization and affordable housing initiatives. The Act provided for funding in three specific areas: cleaning up polluted land: revitalizing communities and promotimi efficient development: andproviding housing affordable to people with moderate incomes. The Metropolitan Council has identified (and the Citv Council has acknowledged) three major housing problems that e.xist in the Metropolitan Area that affect Orono : 1.There is an inadequate supply of lower cost housing in good condition and large numbers of people arc inadequately housed. Much of Orono's housing stock consists of winterized summer cottages or farmhouses dating to the early 1900's, although these are steadily being converted to. or replaced with, more substantial housing of significantly higher valuation. l.ow and moderate income housing is largely concentrated within the two center core cities. W'hile this is true for the Metropolitan Area as a whole, it is also true for Orono and other lake area communities on a smaller scale that have where substantial neighborhoods of older homes built 50-100 years ago are in need of repair or upgrading. CMP 3C - 1