How Minnehaha County is looking to meet future housing needs

Megan Raposa -

Simplified: An option to add an apartment to your home – and other forms of "middle housing" – might be part of the solution for meeting increasing housing demand and density in the region, according to a presentation the Minnehaha County Commission heard Tuesday.

Why it matters

  • The county is working on the next iteration of its long-range comprehensive plan called "Envision 2045." Part of the work behind that plan involved a work group focused specifically on increasing density as more people move to the area.
  • One option to both increase density and create more housing options is something called an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). This could look like a tiny home on the same lot, a basement apartment, a garage converted into housing, etc.
  • Those ADUs also fill the need for "middle housing," which is something between a single-family home and a large apartment building – e.g. a duplex, fourplex, etc. – according to Samur Jha, government affairs director for the AARP, who presented to commissioners Tuesday morning.
"There are multiple solutions you need to address in terms of the housing crisis, but this (ADUs) can be an excellent start," Jha said.

What is an accessory dwelling unit?

Essentially it's just a second housing unit on the same property. The AARP had a nice little graphic showing some examples – shared above.

Some of the uses might include housing for a caretaker, a place for adult children to have their own apartment, a short-term rental property, and more.

The county will ultimatley have to decide what kind of requirements might apply to these ADUs. Jha warned that some restrictions may make it challenging for the ADUs to be successful.

  • Those so-called "poison pills" of ADUs, as Jha said, include:
    • owner-occupancy requirements,
    • parking requirements,
    • the need to get conditional use permits for an ADU,
    • and blanket bans on short-term rentals.

What happens next?

County ordinances technically do not allow this type of dwelling, so if this is a strategy for building density in the future, it's likely zoning ordinances will need updating.