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Community Assets & Development Department MEMORANDUM DATE: February 2, 2018 TO: Manager Lotter Mayor Members of the Council FROM: Janice Gundlach, Asst. Director of Community Assets & Development/Planning Director SUBJECT: DCAD Updates on Housing & Korean Church Redevelopment Efforts Since the Council’s Team Building Retreat on January 6 and the City Council meeting on January 9, a few updates from DCAD staff on housing and the Korean Church redevelopment efforts have become necessary. This memo will provide a brief summary of each item and staff will be available to address any questions Council may have. Housing Programs Recommendation from EDC At the January 9 City Council meeting, Council adopted Resolution 2018-005 (attached) accepting the EDC’s recommendation on housing. The EDC’s involvement in housing dates back to 2015 when “housing programs” was an economic development topic jointly agreed to by EDC and Council, which required further Commission examination that took place in 2017. While the initial motivation surrounding the “housing programs” topic was to determine if we needed a housing loan program locally, the EDC’s discussion concluded this not to be needed as there was no evidence of a program or gap in services. This resolution summarized multiple meeting discussions of the EDC and their recommendations on housing in the City. In summary, their recommendation was based on the following: • There are already numerous housing loan programs available to New Brighton Residents (see attached matrix), • The City’s existing housing stock is well maintained, with the strong school district likely being a main contributor to this stability, and • The City’s existing Nuisance, Housing, and Crime-Free Multi-Family Housing Ordinances are working effectively to ensure conditions do not deteriorate. The EDC strongly recommended these existing programs be maintained into the future and no resources be taken away from compliance efforts of these programs. Numerous staff in DCAD and Public Safety work cooperatively to run these programs, including the Code Compliance Inspector (Scott Gigrich), the Fire Marshal (Kip LaMotte), and the Community Engagement Police Officer (Brad Krebsbach). The EDC also discussed affordable housing in conjunction with the “housing programs” discussion. The Commission discussed the existing naturally occurring affordable housing locally; also recognizing the best tool in achieving new affordable housing is through redevelopment efforts.