As one of the final acts of St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman’s 12-year tenure at City Hall, the mayor joined incoming City Council President Amy Brendmoen in calling for a strategic plan around affordable housing.

By March 28, the Fair Housing Workgroup will make policy and budget recommendations to the mayor’s office and the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority, which was previously chaired by Brendmoen. The HRA will now be chaired by Council Member Chris Tolbert.

“The housing market has been tough in cities across America, and we need a plan so that all St. Paulites have access to a safe, affordable place to live and a foundation from which to build happy, productive lives,” said Brendmoen, in a statement.

The wide-ranging housing plan is expected to include an inventory of the city’s existing affordable housing and input from renters, landlords and housing advocates. It will also include a review of the Department of Safety and Inspections’ fire certificate of occupancy program, and an expansion of the Department of Human Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity (HREEO)’s fair housing training program for landlords, property managers, realtors, home-buyers and tenants.

Other goals including monitoring the effectiveness of the city’s Rental Rehabilitation Loan Program and suggesting adjustments to the program, as well as exploring alternative affordable housing options such as limited equity cooperatives, Land Trusts, cluster housing, manufactured housing and tiny-home communities.

According to a resolution approved by the city council earlier this month, the stated goal is to eliminate housing disparities, better coordinate housing investments and lower barriers to affordable housing.

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St. Paul City Council relaxes housing density restrictions near transit corridors The work group is expected to build upon existing efforts, including the city’s Comprehensive Plan’s Housing Chapter, which calls for preserving existing affordable housing and developing new affordable units.

The city, which participates in the Metropolitan Council’s Livable Communities Program, has agreed to provide 2,625 units of affordable housing between 2011 and 2020 for households earning less than 60 percent of area median income.

Since 2014, the city of St. Paul has invested in completing more than 1,700 units of affordable housing. The HRA approved another $77 million in bond financing earlier this month to finance four more projects, with 496 additional units of affordable housing.

“I am proud of the progress we have made and confident that the leadership of Council President-elect Brendmoen and Mayor-elect Carter will continue to serve all of St. Paul’s residents,” said Coleman, in a statement.