Earlier this year, Housing First MN, a Minnesota trade group that advocates for the interests of the housing industry and homeowners, issued a powerful report entitled Priced Out: The True Cost of Minnesota’s Broken Housing Market (full disclosure: the author represents this organization). The report confirms what others have speculated about in recent years
City Response to Affordable Housing Problem: Tax Housing Developers
News publications across the country have affirmed the existence of a near-crisis in providing affordable housing options for first-time homebuyers and low-income housing consumers. Mayoral elections in Minneapolis and St. Paul emphasized the need to address this problem. There are numerous private for-profit and nonprofit housing developers who would love to serve this market; indeed
Will Property Owners Finally Be Allowed Immediate Entry Into Federal Court on Regulatory Taking Claims?
For more than 30 years, a property owner who claimed that a regulatory action by the government amounted to a compensable taking under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been required to litigate the issue in state court first, before being allowed to gain entry to federal court. The 1985 case of Williamson
New Local Leaders Emphasize Importance of Housing Affordability Problem
In cities and towns across Minnesota, newly elected mayors and city council members assumed their positions Jan. 1. While each official typically has a list of policy objectives to be pursued during his or her term, an increase of affordable housing to meet growing demand is frequently on the top of the list. This year
Can You Avoid the Development Contract Trap?
Virtually all local government jurisdictions in the United States follow a development code when evaluating a proposed development application (Houston, Texas is a notable exception, along with rural townships dominated by traditional agricultural uses). Rather than follow the dictates of their respective development codes, however, a growing number of jurisdictions compel that some types of
The Promise and the Pain of Transit Oriented Development
It may not occur to you, when you walk from the bus stop to your office, that you are taking part in a form of “multimodal” transportation. Again, if you get off the train in Minneapolis and pick up a Nice Ride (bicycle) for a tour of Nicollet Island with visiting friends, you are taking
Participating in a City’s Comprehensive Plan
Cities throughout Minnesota are busy updating their comprehensive plans, a process that typically occurs every 10 years or so. As a reminder, comprehensive plans serve as the visionary roadmap for a city’s intended long-term growth; the implementing tools are the zoning ordinance, subdivision ordinance and similar policies. Of course, cities have the discretion to amend
Cities Cannot Require Payment of Fees for Future Road Improvements
Forgive developer Martin Harstad if he thought he was in Potterville and not Woodbury when the city told him he had to pay nearly $1.4 million in “road assessments” as a condition of approval for his “Bailey Park” residential development. Harstad sued Woodbury to challenge its authority to demand the road assessments and won
Are you Prepared for the Public Development Application Process?
Many of us are familiar with the scenario of presenting a development application before a public body, such as a city council, that appears to be going well until the wheels come off for some unexpected reason. This happens most frequently when one or more residents who have “only just heard” about the project being