04-10-2003 Long Range Planning Commission Minutes

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families cannot live in most of the existing rental buildings since they are available only to seniors or lack the space a family needs. Those same families may not be ready to commit to homeownership or even be able to afford it If they do find a place to live,it is often substandard housing on the outskirts of downtown. This is not a healthy situation for families, especially those with young children. Home ownership is difficult for people and families who have only had past experiences with renting property. Lack of education can lead to serious mistakes that may affect a family financially,resulting in the inability to ever reach the goal of home ownership. Anyone can own their own home when they are armed with proper home ownership education. Part of the Pequot Lakes HRA future service plan focuses on replacing some of the old, substandard homes that young families are now renting. Replacement would be done through either rehabilitation or razing.4 At the time this plan was written, the HRA had received a grant for one home, but they have been unable to find a landowner willing to sell his property. Because of the high demand, landowners are currently making a lot of money renting their substandard properties,despite the health and safety concerns. Philosophy The city is saturated with rental housing in large, multi-family buildings. The majority of this housing is located in the urban area,which is an appropriate place for it since can be served by utilities and it gives as many people as possible easy access to the downtown commercial district. Future high-density development should be tied to the availability of utilities and accessibility to the downtown commercial district. Pequot Lakes has a large concentration of seniors. Most of them occupy rental units near downtown. Many seniors have physical and monetary limitations that limit their potential to take advantage of downtown commercial areas. The commercial businesses in the city would benefit from having additional family- oriented housing options available near the downtown. A lack of young families leads to a diminishing labor force and an increase in workers who must travel from other areas of the region. A transient work force is less stable,which puts Pequot Lakes at an economic disadvantage. Such a work force will be disconnected from many of the things that create a sense of community. A transient work force also exasperates transportation and parking 4 March 7,2003 telephone conversation with Sharon Thurlow,Pequot Lakes HRA. PEQUOT LAKES DRAFT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 3