Civil Municipal - Feb 2024

OPENING L INES REPORT: SMART LAND USE POLICIES HAVE INCREASED HOUSING SUPPLYAND KEPT RENT LOW IN MINNEAPOLIS Source- www.americancityandcounty.com , Andy Castillo, First Published Jan 09, 2024 As communities across the United States grapple with a national housing shortage and look for solutions, administrators can take a note from Minneapolis’s playbook. Between 2017 and 2022, the Minnesota city permitted 21,000 new units of housing, about a 12% increase, according to a Jan. 4 analysis from Pew Charitable Trusts. Statewide, housing stock comparatively went up by 4%. Local rent prices, meanwhile, have remained low compared to the state average. Researchers attribute the city’s stronger than average housing growth at least in part to smart land use policy reforms made nearly a decade prior. “Starting in 2009, the city enacted a series of policy changes that reduced and then eliminated minimum parking requirements, allowed construction of accessory dwelling units, and lowered minimum lot size requirements in residential zones, all with the goal of encouraging the construction of more housing,” the report says.“These changes culminated in Minneapolis 2040, a comprehensive plan that took effect in 2020 and codified the city’s commitment to expanding its housing supply, especially near commerce and transit.” Policy changes over the last decade or so include the elimination of minimum parking requirements for new developments, encouraging the development of apartments along commercial corridors, establishing building height minimums in high-density zones, and permitting duplex and triplex construction on all residential lots. 15 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 5, ISSUE 02