Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

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Anondson
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Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Anondson » February 9th, 2017, 6:37 pm

Court ruled that Burnsville's county enforcement of codes against mobile homes was tantamount to prejudice and violated rights.

http://m.startribune.com/judge-rules-ci ... 413312783/
Last edited by Anondson on February 9th, 2017, 6:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Anondson
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Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Anondson » February 10th, 2017, 9:06 pm

The town of Charlestown, IN, near Louisville, Kentucky, has begun heavy code enforcement against a very poor neighborhood in order to get the entire neighborhood of homes to sell so the city can clear it wholesale and give it to a developmer to recreate a high income neighborhood the city wants more of.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/u ... oogle.com/

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/ne ... 8816795043#_=_

Anondson
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Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Anondson » March 14th, 2017, 9:24 pm

Last fall the city of Shorewood essentially passed an ordinance forbidding AirBnB-type short term rentals of less than 30 days. There was a single violation that ended up in an administrative enforcement hearing, which the city won.

About two weeks ago the city voted to increase the fines for repeat violation of the short term rental ban.

http://sailor.mnsun.com/2017/03/10/shor ... iolations/

QuietBlue
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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby QuietBlue » March 15th, 2017, 8:41 am

I didn't realize until recently that the FHA won't give project approval to condominiums that allow Airbnb. It came up in my HOA in the process of revising the rental restrictions in the bylaws.

Anondson
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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Anondson » May 1st, 2017, 6:35 pm

Sorta related to the thread.

Supreme Court ruled, 5–3, that cities have standing to sue banks over discriminatory practices under the FHA.

http://www.startribune.com/supreme-cour ... 420896863/

The city of Miami sued banks that gave minority borrowers much worse lending terms compared to whites who had identical risk characteristics. The result during the housing crash was minority neighborhoods in Miami hit much harder.

Anondson
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Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Anondson » May 18th, 2017, 7:51 pm

Earlier, the MN House voted 108-23 to amend the law over condo building defects, today the MN senate voted 61-3 to amend the law.

https://www.minnpost.com/politics-polic ... ndo-crunch

These were the four changes:

* Condo association boards would have to notify owners and get a simple majority to proceed with lawsuits over building defects.
* Condo associations would be required to have a maintenance plan and schedule for repairs, and developers would be exempt from losses or damages caused by an association's failure to follow that plan.
* Condo associations would no longer have the opportunity to get their legal fees paid by the developer should they win a defect lawsuit against, a provision that would bring the state law in line with the statute covering single-family and apartment construction.
*Condo associations would first have to submit their claims to mediation before a suit could be filed.

Anondson
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Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Anondson » July 19th, 2017, 11:38 pm

MN Supreme Court ruled routine rental inspections do not need to show probable cause and obtain an administrative warrant (like is required for inspection of a residence owned by the resident), that being unable to inspect whenever a city would like places too high a burden on the safety interests of a city.

http://m.startribune.com/minnesota-supr ... 435447463/

Anondson
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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Anondson » September 6th, 2017, 5:46 pm

State legislature passed new eminent domain protections for property the Met Council would have acquired for transit lines.

https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... cle_search

Anondson
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Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Anondson » September 18th, 2017, 8:58 pm

Ruling came in for the major road assessment court case.
http://www.mncourts.gov/mncourtsgov/med ... 091817.pdf

Strib story.
http://www.startribune.com/court-ruling ... 445493053/

Woodbury can no longer require a road assessment for new development because there is no statutory authority like there is for sewer and water assessments. Chanhassen believes theirs will stand muster because it is voluntary.

Anondson
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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Anondson » October 21st, 2017, 6:22 pm

Administrative judge ruling: Frenz license can be revoked.

http://www.startribune.com/ruling-city- ... 452152303/

seanrichardryan
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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby seanrichardryan » October 21st, 2017, 9:40 pm

WOOT
Q. What, what? A. In da butt.

Anondson
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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Anondson » February 20th, 2018, 4:26 pm

Amazing look, by the author of McMansion Hell, at the extended attempts at enforcing noise laws in cities.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ ... ck/553385/

Great points how they keep missing environmental transportation and industrial noise but targeting low status groups mostly.

Anondson
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Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Anondson » March 7th, 2018, 9:36 pm

Minneapolis considering allowing four-plexes citywide.

http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis- ... 476192693/

Be prepared for scaremongering anger like no other. YIMBYs and pro-abundant-housing-for-all people will need to show up in numbers everywhere and contact their electeds.

QuietBlue
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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby QuietBlue » March 8th, 2018, 9:33 am

Johnson and Gordon's comments didn't make sense to me. How many true starter homes are even left in those areas that don't require a lot of work anyway? Those areas were cheap to buy in once upon a time because the demand was a lot lower. The high demand is going to take care of that regardless of what happens with the zoning (if anything, it will happen faster without more density).

xandrex
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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby xandrex » March 8th, 2018, 10:19 am

Yeah, Johnson's comments were pretty disappointing (but given who he represents, I suppose it's not totally unsurprising). I'm not in a position to buy at this point, but I sometimes look at property just to see what my rent dollars could buy (result: pretty much nothing, but I admittedly have a pretty sweetheart deal).

I suppose it depends on how you define starter home, but if you're looking at stuff under $200,000, pickings are pretty slim. It's pretty much the stuff that needs to be completely gutted and/or in fairly unappealing neighborhoods. Johnson's ward has just two properties that are at least 2BR/2BA for under $200K. It jumps up to around a half dozen if you change that to 2BR/1BA.

Of course, all the focus is on SFH getting snapped up and turned into fourplex rentals. That's really too bad, because there's no reason these fourplexes couldn't also be owner-occupied "starter" condos/townhomes that make buying into desirable neighborhoods easier. The way housing prices are going right now in the city, I'll really be limited to multifamily properties when I decide to finally buy. It would be great to have more options.

Scottie
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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Scottie » March 8th, 2018, 10:29 am

I was also disappointed with Johnson's comments but not surprised. Living in his ward I can confirm that the old guard in the neighborhood fights change pretty hard. I already emailed him with my search results. I found 5 homes/condos in Longfellow that were $200,000 and had at least 2 bedrooms. I also pointed out that 8 years ago as a young family I moved to the neighborhood and bought one of those mythical affordable family start homes. Today despite making minimal improvements it is worth way more and if I were trying to move today I would be priced out of the neighborhood. It is going to be important for those of us who support this change to keep up the communication. The NIMBY crowd is going to go nuts.

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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby Bob Stinson's Ghost » March 8th, 2018, 11:26 am

It's going to be ugly visually. You'll have a lot of blocks with a mix of small hundred year old stucco bungalows and cheap looking boxy modern buildings with small setbacks and lots of corrugated metal and wood-look composite panels.

I'm not trying to pick a fight here. I recognize that probably the majority of people here on this forum think every housing unit added is a beautiful thing, no matter what it looks like. I respect that opinion and we can agree to disagree.

One thing which is certain is that the economic forces are irresistible. It's going to be a gold rush.

amiller92
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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby amiller92 » March 8th, 2018, 11:39 am

It's going to be ugly visually. You'll have a lot of blocks with a mix of small hundred year old stucco bungalows and cheap looking boxy modern buildings with small setbacks and lots of corrugated metal and wood-look composite panels.
Let's leave aside that you're making assumptions based on very little, why is that ugly? Is it ugly in all the places where there's already a mix of small hundred year old stucco bungalows and cheap, boxy 50-60 year old small multi-unit buildings? You just prefer old-fashioned siding or something?
One thing which is certain is that the economic forces are irresistible. It's going to be a gold rush.
Nah. That's what's so ridiculous about the coming fight. Some houses are going to get torn down and replaced, but it's not going to be that many, and it's not necessarily going to be that many more than would be torn down and replaced with a bigger house anyway. It's going to be way more gradual than the freak out assumes.

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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby MNdible » March 8th, 2018, 12:02 pm

Are they proposing fourplex zoning so that the duplex zoning we might end up with seems like a great compromise?

If not, the politicians will quickly find that what they're proposing is not very well aligned with the views of their electorate.

LakeCharles
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Re: Zoning, building codes, enforcement in the courts

Postby LakeCharles » March 8th, 2018, 12:07 pm

Are they proposing fourplex zoning so that the duplex zoning we might end up with seems like a great compromise?

If not, the politicians will quickly find that what they're proposing is not very well aligned with the views of their electorate.
It doesn't really matter too much though. If this passes, people will be up in arms for a short period of time. Then, they will realize that despite initial fears, the sky will not fall, and there will be only a handful of fourplexes built in a close proximity to any individual in the city. I can't see that carrying through to the next election, with people saying, "You enacted a policy I thought would be bad, but actually is not bad. Despite that, I will vote against you because I disagreed with you once."


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