Planning Commission Meeting Date: April 17, 2025
To: Members of the Planning Commission
From: Melissa Hanson, Housing Coordinator
Risi Karim, Assistant to the City Administrator
Mike Morehouse, Building Official
Mikayla Schmidt, City Planner
Jake Reilly, Community Development Director
Title
Recommendation of Text Amendments Related to Short Term Rentals, Rental Density Limitations and the Permitted Use Table of Chapter 34 - Land Development Code.
Body
Action Requested:
The Planning Commission recommend amending Chapter 34 - Land Development Code related to rental density and short-term rental licensing and registration.
Summary Report:
The City of Northfield continues to be a growing community, and, like the rest of the country, the city is seeing an increased demand for all types of housing and a limited supply of housing of all types.
Background:
To ensure safe and healthy housing for all, the city initiated a review of the City's rental housing licensing program in 2019. This evolved to include amending other related ordinances, including strengthening of the city's nuisance codes and enforcement tools, including hiring sufficient qualified staff to implement and enforce the code requirements. Those amendments were considered by the HRA in March 2022 and adopted in April 2022 in Ordinance No. 1031. To develop the ordinance, staff worked with consultants from WSB and city attorneys from Flaherty & Hood, P.A. to:
* Assess the weaknesses and strengths of the current rental housing licensing program.
* Identify goals for the new version of the program.
* Review successful programs in other cities.
* Revise the City Code to accomplish the changes.
* Develop supporting documentation for the program.
During this assessment and revision process, the group identified a lack of flexible enforcement tools as one of the significant weaknesses of the current program. In response, the project's scope expanded to include a review of the Ci...
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