Stephanie Hawkinson, Edina's affordable housing development manager, told the Housing and Redevelopment Authority on April 24 that the city's 2023 compliance review found most covered developments moving to full compliance but that some projects still have deficiencies.

"It's not a snapshot in time," Hawkinson said, explaining that tenants move and property managers change, which makes compliance an ongoing process. She said the city hires Affordable Housing Connections to review tenant files, confirm income documentation and ensure rents and fees meet the rent cap defined by the city's policy.

The report described three compliance categories used by staff: compliant (all required documents and rent calculations in order), open deficiencies (missing paperwork or administrative fees that must be corrected), and noncompliant (more fundamental issues preventing a building from meeting current policy expectations). Hawkinson said Aurora, Nolan Maines, Millennium, Maison Greene and Solorant moved into full compliance since the December report; Avador was described as "sufficient but imperfect," and ARIA was removed from the city's list of compliant developments under current standards.

Hawkinson told the HRA that ARIA meets the rules that existed when it was approved but does not meet how the HRA now defines affordability because rent caps must account for all living costs, including utilities and other tenant-paid fees. "They are compliant with the rules that they had at the time. They are not compliant with what we expect of them," she said, and noted the HRA previously indicated limited recourse beyond public pressure for similarly aged agreements.

Commissioners generally praised the progress while asking for clearer, more visual reporting. Commissioner Agnew said, "I do think that this is working. Right? I really think that you are making a positive impact." Commissioner Risser asked for a timeline-style chart showing how long each complex has remained compliant; Hawkinson and the compliance officer said that tracking compliance over time is complicated by turnover and staggered move-in dates but that bedroom-mix data could be added to the dashboard.

Hawkinson described steps the city has taken to strengthen compliance tools since earlier projects were approved: redevelopments now include detailed affordable-housing sections, staff record declarations of restrictive covenants more often, and the HRA has a program guide and training planned with Affordable Housing Connections. She also noted potential enforcement options, including tying compliance to TIF (tax increment financing) payments or rental licensing, while warning those approaches raise timing and legal challenges.

Hawkinson highlighted buy-in funds and other local programs that have already assisted Edina residents: 54 households from a home-rehab program, 19 households through an affordable ownership preservation program with Homes Within Reach and Habitat, 12 households through an Edina Housing Foundation grant, 10 multifamily households helped with buy-in funds, and 29 households through NOAA preservation efforts. She said those efforts continue alongside compliance work.

The HRA discussed policy approaches for handling minor versus material noncompliance. Commissioner Jackson suggested a materiality scale so the HRA could distinguish immaterial paperwork gaps from systemic failures; other commissioners discussed grace periods and checklists for property managers. Hawkinson said staff will pursue online training modules and consider adding unit-size and bedroom-mix fields to the HRA's compliance dashboard to give commissioners and the public more usable data.

The HRA did not adopt new penalties at the meeting; staff were directed to continue compliance reviews, to develop clearer public-facing dashboards (including bedroom mix), and to pursue educational tools for property managers.

The HRA will continue annual compliance reviews of developments and will monitor ARIA on an ongoing basis even though it will no longer be listed as compliant under the current standard. Hawkinson said staff remain focused on collaborative approaches to bring managers into compliance while keeping enforcement options on the table as policy and legal parameters allow.