Committee advances bill to legalize duplexes through quadplexes on selected residential land

The House Committee on Housing and Finance Policy adopted the DE1 amendment and voted to re-refer House File 2,140 to the Elections, Finance and Government Operations Committee, moving forward a bill that would require cities to designate portions of residentially zoned districts where duplexes through quadplexes would be an allowed use.

Representative Kraft, sponsor of House File 2,140, told the committee the bill responds to what she described as a “massive housing shortage in Minnesota and really across the country,” and said the measure aims to put more housing near transit, services and existing neighborhoods while avoiding sprawl.

The bill sets a performance-based framework that gives cities choices about where to legalize additional housing types. Under the proposed language explained by Kraft, larger cities would have higher expectations (including an option tied to average density measurements),…