Posted by Peggy Strom on Mar 24, 2022
Our speaker today was City of Shoreview Councilwoman Sue Denkinger.  The subject of her presentation was the City Planning Commission's goal of maintaining and growing the stock of affordable housing in Shoreview.  A recent housing survey has showed that Shoreview has many existing households that are "housing cost burdened or extremely housing cost burdened".  The definition of this term is owners who are spending more than 30% of their household income on housing.  Shoreview’s legacy apartment buildings, mostly from the 1970s, are an important asset for lower and middle income households because their rent levels are relatively affordable.  The City therefore has an objective to preserve the condition and affordability of these assets. Strategies to support this objective include providing access to home improvement loans and working with non-profit agencies to help with upkeep for some residents.   Additionally the City is pursuing the following strategies to increase affordable housing stock:  1) Increase affordable units in market rate developments, 2) Pursue new affordable apartment development, and 3) Pursue zoning changes to diversify new housing.