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City Council Minutes <br />April 23, 2019 <br />Page 2 <br />• City can work out agreement with property owners for future development <br />rather than owning property. <br />• Small businesses hold communities together by supporting local and youth <br />events. <br />■ City should create and continue showcasing Elk River's amenities. <br />• Downtown core should be expanded. <br />Larger stores help small businesses by bringing traffic. <br />City does best to get people downtown by holding concerts, farmer's market, <br />and Elk RiverFest. <br />* Accessibility drives business and will change with Highway 169 interchange. <br />■ Can fill in gaps with increased density rather than developing outlying areas. <br />Housing/Code Enforcement/Redevelopment <br />Housing <br />Mr. Carlton presented information on housing in Elk River. He indicated Elk River <br />continues to see growth in single-family construction. He stated the price point for <br />new construction in Elk River is $300,000 or above. Mr. Carlton explained Elk River <br />is starting to see a gap in the housing lifecycle for starter homes. Builders are saying <br />cities are not allowing them to build new, affordable housing because of regulations, <br />etc. He added without affordable starter homes we risk losing young or aging <br />residents. <br />Councilmember Westgaard questioned what we are doing as a city to increase the <br />builder cost for new construction. Mr. Carlton explained he believes it may be more <br />of a cultural issue with people wanting to move in to a home with amenities <br />including granite countertops and larger garages driving the price up. He stated Elk <br />River's permit fees are less than other communities so he doesn't believe it to be a <br />hold up. He noted there are infrastructure costs associated with new construction. <br />Mr. Carlton indicated Elk River has affordable homes in this price range but they are <br />not what people are looking for as they are older homes that are starting to look <br />outdated and may not be well maintained. He noted economic development has a <br />program to assist homeowners in the urban service district with financing <br />improvements which can help with keeping these homes looking nice. He added <br />proactive code enforcement and point of sale inspections are additional ways to help <br />keep properties looking nice and maintaining housing stock. <br />Proactive Code Enforcement <br />Council and staff discussed proactive versus complaint driven. <br />Councilmember Ovall questioned if there would be an expense for additional <br />employees with proactive enforcement. He indicated he sees value in proactive <br />enforcement but questioned if it is a core value to be added to the budget. He noted <br />major sports stadiums have technology options for people to text in complaints and <br />wondered if that is something the city could implement. <br />rI <br />orISEI arATURE <br />