(KNOX) – The Grand Forks Housing Committee had a meeting at the HIVE on Monday and says it has developed a housing action plan. The committee came up with several goals; which includes evaluating housing incentive policies, as well as organizing development and inspection codes, and undergoing a residential lot inventory.
Mark Schill of Praxis Strategy Group says the community is facing several challenges. He says those challenges are high construction costs that make it hard for there to be housing, as well as there being land that is not readily available at reasonable prices or conditions. There is also current housing that needs to be repaired and reinvested in and a future housing demand has not been defined clearly. Plus, there are concerns of there being an unaffordable amount of rental supplies that don’t meet household needs.
The committee’s housing action plan has set goals where accomplishments will be reached within the next 100, 500 and 1,000 days.
Some of the 100 day goals have already been reached. The Grand Forks City Council gave preliminary approval to continuing special assessment deferrals for three years after there has been certification for specific housing projects. The council also gave preliminary approval to engage the city’s engineering department by project design.
For its 500 day goals, The committee plans to look at housing financing options with the Bank of North Dakota and review UND’s master plan and campus area housing policies. Its 1,000 day goals include pursuing a public/private housing investment entity, as well as establishing land development, building and fire codes.
Developers are also required to dedicate 8 percent of their property to the Grand Forks Park District in order to create a neighborhood park.
Some of the committee members want to get rid of this requirement, but others were concerned about completely removing it. Those who want to get rid of it say it is a burden on both developers and the Park District. They believe it takes up space that could be used for housing instead, especially in locations where other neighborhood parks are nearby.
Other members were concerned about totally removing the ordinance because there would be no mechanism for creating new parks.
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