Agenda 07-06-1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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EXHIBIT D • , . • TUESDAY.MAY 23. 1995 SAINT PAUL PIONEER PRESS SUBURBAN EDITOR: Les Suzukamo FAX: 228-5475 SUBURBS FAX: (612)228-5500 WOODBURY V ;.. c Cityofficials have lots to worry about ■ Proposal would permit feet.* for less than $500 per month and owner- smaller residential lotsI But the Planning Commission has rec- occupied homes valued at less than mmended allowing up to 20 percent of $60,000. for affordable housinghe lots in planned unit developments to Hargis said he favors mixing the e 7,500 square feet, or the equivalent of smaller lots into planned unit develop- JIM BROEDE STAFF WRITER 0 by 107 feet. ments, rather than clustering them. The commission also has called for "I'd rather see low-income households Areducing some performance standards scattered throughout neighborhoods and lot less lot may mean a lot more for apartment buildings. Those include the city as a whole," he said. "That way low-income housing in Woodbury, city of- eliminating the requirement for brick ex- the neighborhood and those households ficials say. terrors, garbage disposals and outdoor on't become labeled as `low-income.'" A proposal to allow for a 25 percent covers on air conditioners. Administrator Barry Johnson eduction in the minimum size require- Hargis said his city of 28,000 residents{' City uestioned whether smaller lots will ment for some residential lots in planned especially needs more housing affordableuarantee cheaper housing. unit developments will go to the City to single parents, young people wanting `Housing costs are really as much the Council on Wednesday night. to buy their first homes and low-payunction of the marketplace and people's Mayor Bill Hargis expects it to be workers in service-related businesses. esire as anything," he said. "But there's approved. Woodbury ranks 146th among the 187 perception out there, mainly on the Twin Cities area communities in provid- art of the Metropolitan Council, that it's "We have a responsibility in this city ing housing for low-income households, he zoning and the performance stan- to do more at providing housing afford- according to the Metropolitan Council. ards that prevent developers from able to low- and moderate-income house- The 1990 census showed that 7 percentuilding lower-cost housing." holds," Hargis said. "Smaller lots will be of Woodbury's housing stock was afford- Still, Johnson is supporting the pro- ,a step in the right direction by creating able to households with annual incomes posed rule changes. more opportunity for lower-priced hous- of $20,000 or less. That compares with an "The changes," he said, "will answer ing." average of 27 percent for the seven-coun- those critics who feel Woodbury is using At present, residential lots in Wood- ty metropolitan area. the standards to exclude affordable hous E ury have to be at least 10,000 square Affordable means apartments renting ing."