Minneapolis Area REALTORS® is pleased to share our official public comment letter regarding the Draft Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan. “I am particularly proud of our committee’s foresight and our organization’s due diligence with respect to our process in arriving at our prepared response,” said Eric Myers, Director of Government Affairs, Minneapolis Areas Association of REALTORS®. “A big thank you to our Chair, Subcommittee Chair, those who attended the city’s presentation and all the members who have been so attentive to this issue throughout this process. Thank you,” said Shae Hanson, 2018 Government Affairs Chair, Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®.

The Draft Minneapolis 2040 Plan was immediately shared with members. MAAR hosted Heather Worthington, Director of Long Range Planning-Minneapolis CPED, on June 8^th. MAAR submitted the draft version to the National Association of REALTORS® for detailed policy analysis by Robinson & Cole (“R&C”) a Boston, MA based law firm, who returned expert recommendations. The analysis was shared with the members of the MAAR Government Affairs Committee. What results, is our 4 page comment letter which was officially submitted to the city on Friday, July 20^th.

Our focus was on (4) main areas: 1) Lack of Meaningful “Action-Steps” Implementation Detail; 2) Three Legally Required Elements are Missing; 3) Further Study on Density Needed 4) More Carefully Examine Benefits and Potential Negative Impacts of Rezoning. Each of these topics are expounded upon in great detail in the letter. The density (“four-plex”) issue has thus far been the most contentious in the press and the public sphere. Please note MAAR’s GA committee comments on density is “Further Study on Density is Needed.” This does not suggest REALTORS® are FOR or AGAINST the concepts of density, upzoning, or ‘four-plexes,’ but simply suggests the city study the issue further.  

If you have any questions regarding our process or the content of the comments, please reach out to Eric Myers, Government Affairs Director at [email protected] or Fran Davis, Minneapolis Area REALTORS® Subcommittee Chair.

Please refer any press requests regarding the REALTORS® comments to Erin Milburn, Senior Director of Communications.