Following the footsteps of St. Louis Park and Edina, Minneapolis will consider an Inclusionary Zoning ordinance. These ordinances generally require that a fixed portion of units in a development be priced for rent or purchase at an established ‘affordable’ level. BATC has long expressed skepticism and opposition to IZ ordinances as most are drafted in a way that acts as a housing tax on the market rate homes in a development who are asked to subsidize the affordable units. St. Louis Park’s ordinance is limited to projects receiving public financing, and Edina’s is limited to policy guidance for development contracts on multi-family developments over 20 units.
It’s unclear what Minneapolis will be proposing in their IZ ordinance. At this point, Council Member Lisa Bender has stated that “We’re looking for ways to either encourage or require developers to include affordable housing units within market-rate projects”. BATC will be meeting with CM Bender to learn more about her objectives with the proposal and we will share BATCs experience and challenges with IZ ordinances.
