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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Council Worksession <br />September 26, 2023 <br />5:00 pm <br /> <br /> <br />Present: Mayor Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas <br /> Councilmember Abdullahi Abdulle <br />Councilmember Graeme Allen <br /> Councilmember Pam Axberg <br />Councilmember Emily Dunsworth (arrived at 5:45 p.m.) <br />Absent: <br /> <br />Staff in Attendance: Devin Massopust, Ben Gozola <br /> <br />Guests in Attendance: Jenny Faulkner and Harry Davis, Bolton & Menk <br /> <br />ADU Ordinance Process <br /> <br />Massopust explained the City recently received grant funding ($36,000) from the Met Council which allowed <br />the City to go through the process to develop an ADU Ordinance. He stated representatives from Bolton & <br />Menk were in attendance to review the ADU ordinance process in further detail with the Council. <br /> <br />Gozola thanked Jenny and Harry for their assistance with the grant writing process. <br /> <br />Jenny Faulkner, Bolton & Menk, introduced herself to the City Council and thanked staff for bringing her on <br />for this project. She stated she understood the City of New Brighton wants to create standards (zoning and <br />licensing) for accessory dwelling units to further affordable housing and diversity of housing stock in the city. <br /> <br />Harry Davis, Bolton & Menk, introduced himself to the Council and explained he has worked for Bolton & <br />Menk for the past three years. He noted he previously worked for a community that allowed ADUs and stated <br />he was very excited to be working with the City on this project. <br /> <br />Ms. Faulkner discussed the goal of the ADU Ordinance and reported it would take approximately four to six <br />months to draft the Ordinance. She explained a recent housing study included five (5) production strategies, <br />five (5) preservation strategies, and one (1) capacity building strategy. Amongst the eleven strategies to <br />implement, the one that was selected as a good first candidate to explore was adoption of new regulations to <br />govern and allow Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) within the City. Adoption of new ADU regulations would <br />immediately allow development of new affordable housing units throughout the fully developed City of New <br />Brighton. Well over half of the City’s total land area and 70% of the City’s parcels are guided and zoned for <br />single family housing. Currently, the only pathway to create a second unit on these lots is to build a “servant’s <br />quarters,” and only a handful of parcels in the City are able to meet the minimum standards to qualify for this <br />option. <br /> <br />Mr. Davis explained certain ADU options can provide low-income families a pathway to ownership and <br />wealth-building. Many low-income families are completely priced out of the housing market given today’s <br />land prices. Having the ability to offset the cost of ownership with monthly ADU rental income can overcome