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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-08-08 HRA Packet AGENDA MAPLEWOOD HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY WEDNESDAY, August 8, 2012 7:00 P.M. CITY HALL,CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1.Call to Order 2.Roll Call 3.Approval of Agenda 4.Approval of Minutes a.May 9, 2012 5.Unfinished Business 6.NewBusiness a.Presentation by Denise Beigbeder, Ramsey County HRA/Community and Economic DevelopmentRegarding Ramsey County’s Housing Assistance Programs(no report) b.Housing Replacement Program Discussion c.Combination ofHRA and BEDC 7.Visitor Presentations 8.Commission Presentations 9.Staff Presentations 10.Adjournment MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 1830 COUNTY ROAD B EAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012 1.CALL TO ORDER Acting Chairperson Ulrichcalled the meeting to order at 7:05p.m. 2.ROLL CALL Absent Chairperson,Gary Pearson Commissioner,Joy TkachuckPresentat 7:26 p.m. Vice-Chairperson,Beth UlrichPresent Commissioner, Dennis UngerPresent Commissioner,Tammy WildePresent Staff Present: Tom Ekstrand, Senior Planner 3.APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Wildemoved to approve the agenda as submitted. Seconded by CommissionerUnger.Ayes –All The motion passed. 4.APPROVAL OF MINUTES There were not enough members to approve the February 8, 2012 HRA Minutes during approval of the minutes. Towards the end of themeeting Commissioner Tkachuck showed upso the commission could vote on the minutes. CommissionerTkachuckmoved to approve the February 8, 2012, HRA minutes as submitted. Seconded by CommissionerUnger.Ayes –Commissioner’s Tkachuck, Unger &Wilde Abstain–Acting Chair Ulrich The motion passed. May 9, 2012 Housing andRedevelopment AuthorityMeeting Minutes 1 5.UNFINISHED BUSINESS None 6.NEW BUSINESS a.Housing Replacement Program Discussion i.Senior Planner, Tom Ekstrand discussed the Housing Replacement program. The commission would like this item brought back to the commission to discuss once all members are present for input. Thecommission also requested an update from Denise with the HRA at Ramsey County to find out what programs are being run. b.Combining HRA & BEDC i.Senior Planner, Tom Ekstrand discussed the council’s request to possibly combine the HRA & BEDC. Commissioner Wilde monthly reported of code violations should remain on the agenda for the HRA and BEDC if they are combined because we don’t want certain housing standards to get away from us in the city either. Acting Chairperson Ulrich said the makeup of members on the BEDC is very specific to business she would want to make sure you don’t lose the qualities of housing and business being on both of those commissions and combined into one. She stated housing affects business and business affects housing. Acting Chairperson Ulrich would also like to ensure the meeting time is at 7 p.m. She stated it is difficult to make the 6 p.m.meeting start time with getting off work and traffic. Commissioner Unger stated as light as the HRA agendas have been he thinks it would be a good idea to combine the HRA and BEDC as long as you can preserve what each commission stands for and their goals for the city. The city council is going to have a workshop June 4, 2012, to discuss combining the boards and commissions. 7.VISITOR PRESENTATIONS None 8.COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS None May 9, 2012 Housing andRedevelopment AuthorityMeeting Minutes 2 9.STAFF PRESENTATIONS None 10.ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:35p.m. May 9, 2012 Housing andRedevelopment AuthorityMeeting Minutes 3 MEMORANDUM TO:James Antonen, City Manager FROM:Tom Ekstrand, Senior Planner Chuck Ahl, Assistant City Manager Housing Redevelopment & Replacement Program—Procedures Plan SUBJECT: DATE:July 3, 2012 INTRODUCTION In 1999, the city council began aHousing Replacement Program. A concern of the council was that if a single dwelling deteriorates to the point of becoming a detriment or an eyesore it will have a negative affect on the surrounding neighborhood.The city council made a commitment to improve the condition of the single-family residential housing stock in scattered sites with the Maplewood Housing Replacement Program. With the adoption of the 2013-2017 Capital Improvement Programon March 26 this year, the city council again expressed their concern about housing upkeep in Maplewood and movedto begin designating money toward this goal. They moved to designate $40,000 per year into a housing replacement programwith hopes to apply these funds to neighborhood housing improvements as the balance grows. 1999Goals As established in 1999, the goals of the Maplewood Housing Replacement Programwere to: 1.Keep the Maplewood housing market viable and values increasing by constantly improving and upgrading housing. 2.Eliminate problem housing by removing housing that can only deteriorate because its basic quality is inherently low. 3.Have a program and plan that will benefit the whole city and each of its residents. BACKGROUND On August 23, 1999, the city council approved developinga Housing Replacement Program that would: 1.Use the surplus tax increment proceeds (up to about $687,000) from Districts 1-4, 1-5 and 1-6 to fund the housing program. The city must reasonably expect to spend this money within 3 years. 2.Buy vacant or dilapidated properties from willing sellers at fair market value. 3.Demolish any dilapidated houses and other structures and rough grade the lots. 1 4.Deed the vacant properties at no cost to an agency or group that will use the lots to provide new housing for low-to-moderate income persons. Such a transaction would be subject to all Maplewood zoning and building requirements. Note: Because the city was going to be using tax-exempt bonds to fund this program, the city may only do no-cost grants of property. The city cannot sell the property or provide low interest loans with the tax-exempt money. The council also adopted resolutions at this meeting that provided preliminary approval for the sale of $719,094 1999 General Obligation Tax Increment Bondsand authorized the use of excess tax increment revenues from the Carefree Cottages to finance debt service on the bonds. General Policy Guidelines The city shall follow the standards and guidelines in the Maplewood City Code of Ordinances and in the Maplewood Comprehensive Plan when administering and operating the Maplewood Housing Replacement Program.The Director of Community Development shall make the final decisions in cases or issues of uncertainty in the program. Anyone may appeal the Director’s decision to the Maplewood City Council for review and possible change. Practices and Methods of Property Purchase and Resale On January 22, 2001, the city council approved the following plan for the purchase and resale of properties. 1.Maplewood will only buy vacant, substandard or dilapidated properties from willing sellers. 2.The city will have an appraisal done and will only pay fair market value for a property. 3.The seller of the property is responsible for properly sealing or capping any wells on the property. 4.After the city closes on the purchase, the city will hire a contractor to remove the structures on the property and rough grade the site. The city also may have a survey of the property done. 5.For a buildable site, the city may do one of two things with the property. First, the city may choose to deed the property at no cost to an agency or group that will use the lot to provide new housing for low-to-moderate income persons after the contractor has graded the site. The other option the city has would be to put the property up for sale by sealed bid.In either case, the new construction would be subject to city staff review and approval as outlined below and all Maplewood zoning and building requirements.The city council shallapprove any property ownership transfer. 6.The Community Design Review Board (CDRB) will review and approve all new house design and site plans. The construction shall include a garage at least big enough to hold two motor vehicles. The design of the new construction shall be compatible with adjacent and nearby houses. Staff shall consider the following when reviewing these house plans: a.The height, bulk and area of the existing and proposed buildings. b.The color and materials of the proposed buildings. c.The physical and architectural relationship of the proposed structure with the existing buildings (including the architectural elements). d.The site, layout, orientation and location of the proposed and existing buildings and their relationship with existing topography, landscaping and vegetation. City staff or the CDRB may require changes to the plans or may add conditions they deem necessary to ensure that the proposed design is compatible with the existing neighborhood. The city must make the following findings to approve the proposed plans: a.The design and location of the proposed construction and its relationship to neighboring, existing or proposed developments are such that it will not impair the desirability of the existing neighborhood. b.The proposed design and location of the construction are in keeping with the character of the existing neighborhood. c.The proposed design would be aesthetically pleasing in composition, materials, textures and colors. The developer or builder may appeal the staff decisions about design issues to the city council. 7.If the property the city has bought is substandard in width or area for the neighborhood or area and it is next to publicly owned property, the city may choose to keep the property for open space rather than transfer the property to another owner.The city council shall approve any property transfer or decision to keep a property. 8.If the property the city has bought does not meet the city’s zoning standards for lot size or lot width, the city may choose to: a. Grant variances to allow the construction of a new house. b.Keep the property for open space rather than transfer the property to another owner. c.Divide the property and sell the pieces to the adjacent property owners. The city council shall approve any property transfer, variance or decision to keep a property. RECOMMENDATION Comment on the above process previously approved by the city council. Staff will forward any suggested revisions to the council. P:HRA\housing redevelopment & replacement program 712 te MEMORANDUM TO:James Antonen, City Manager FROM:Tom Ekstrand, Senior Planner ChuckAhl,Assistant City Manager Combining HRA/BEDC SUBJECT: DATE:July 3, 2012 INTRODUCTION On June 4, 2012, the city council directed staff to proceed with developing a plan/process for combining the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) and the Business and Economic Development Commission (BEDC) into one commission. The purpose of combining these commissions would be to: Reduce the number of advisory commission reviews to simplify and shorten the review process. Improve the efficiency of time spent by commission volunteers and that of staff in attending meetings. Reduce the number of persons needed to serve onvarious commissions. Lately, there has been a lack of interest and difficultyin finding enough qualified candidates for all the commissions. The HRA and BEDC have similar pursuits and goals as well as overlap in their membership. There is not enough work for the HRA to hold regular meetings. A combined commission with the BEDC would alleviatehaving a seldom needed commission. DISCUSSION Membership Impact Currently, the number of seats on each commission is: HRA5 BEDC7 The BEDC presently has one vacancy. The members of both commissions said that they would not want their groups to grow in numbers too large to become unwieldy.A reasonable goal would be for a seven member combined commission. Staff would like to see representation of both the BEDCand HRA on this combined commission. Of those onthe HRA, the membership terms are to expire as follows: Gary PearsonSeptember 30, 2015 Beth UlrichSeptember 30, 2014 Joy TkachuckSeptember 30, 2013 Tammy WildeSeptember 30, 2016 Dennis UngerSeptember 30, 2012 Commissioner Unger’s term will expire soon and the city manager’s office will notify him to ask if he would like to be reappointed. Staff would like all members, however, to state whether they would wish to serve a combined BEDC/HRA commission to help us plan for this changeover. BEDC Responsibilities To inform the HRA as to what the BEDC does, I have printed the following from the BEDC ordinance: Sec. 2-337. -Purpose. It shall be the role andresponsibility of the commission to discuss and make recommendations to the Maplewood Economic Development Authority regarding economic and industrial development and redevelopment within the City of Maplewood pursuant to bylaws as may be adopted by the commission. It shall confer with other city departments, the Maplewood Economic Development Authority, the local chamber of commerce, the Maplewood Parks Commission, and other public and private groups on matters relating to business and industrial development and periodically survey the area's industrial and commercial climate and report regularly to the Maplewood Economic Development Authority, the Maplewood City Council, or both as directed. (Ord. No. 892, § 3, 7-27-2009) When Would the Combination Take Place? Staff’s goal is to have the combination of the BEDC and HRA take place in January 2013. 2 RECOMMENDATION Inform staff whether you would wish to serve a combined BEDC/HRA commission to help us plan for this changeover to a combined commission. p:HRA\Combining Commissions HRA & BEDC July HRA Meeting2012 te 3