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Committee advances Minnesota Starter Homes Act to allow duplexes, ADUs and townhomes statewide
Summary
A Senate committee recommended passage of Senate File 2229, the “Minnesota Starter Homes Act,” after hours of testimony for and against statewide land‑use changes that would legalize duplexes, accessory dwelling units and townhomes and restrict certain local mandates such as parking and mandatory HOAs.
Senator Port, sponsor of the bill, introduced Senate File 2229 — the Minnesota Starter Homes Act — and the committee adopted an author’s amendment before taking testimony and recommending the bill to the next committee. The measure would require local governments to allow smaller lot sizes, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and duplexes in residential zones, and it would limit aesthetic and parking mandates for housing types covered by the bill.
The bill’s authors said the measure aims to address a statewide shortage of housing. “We have a housing crisis in Minnesota,” Senator Port told the committee, noting testimony and stakeholder work over the prior year. Senator Rasmussen, co‑author, said the median price of a single‑family home in the state is “over $540,000,” putting homeownership out of reach for many families and leaving Minnesota short “over a hundred thousand homes.”
Supporters told the committee the bill would lower regulatory costs and expand options for starter homes. Brittney Hennessy, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Serving Winona County, said Winona County faces limited land availability and very low rental vacancies (1.7% overall, 0.6% for affordable rentals), and that duplexes and ADUs could help expand supply. Nick Erickson of Housing First Minnesota said the state’s steep decline in permits and rapidly rising prices make land‑use reform a necessary starting point.
Opponents, including city officials and municipal coalitions, said the bill would remove essential local controls and could create unintended harms. Susan Arntz, city manager of Mankato, said roughly half of Mankato’s housing is already multifamily and described a local 25% rental‑density rule around the university designed to prevent large conversions; she said the bill “does not yet effectively support new housing development in our community” and warned that eliminating parking minimums could create problems for guests, caregivers and services such as Meals on Wheels. Mike Maguire, mayor of Eagan representing the Municipal Legislative Commission, warned of infrastructure strain, stormwater concerns and a loss of resident input if large projects are shifted to administrative approvals.
The authors said the bill preserves local protections for public health and safety and requires developers to pay for infrastructure needs. Senator Port said the bill moves smaller housing approvals to a city administrative process already used for single‑family homes, allows each city to design its own administrative review procedures, and preserves a city’s right to deny builds for public health, safety or lack of infrastructure. The bill also includes a 60‑day statutory timeline for approvals under existing law.
Several legislators voiced support for further refinements while urging passage. Senator Drayheim, who said he had long worked on housing issues, described the measure as part of a set of market‑oriented tools to expand supply and decried the high per‑unit cost of subsidized apartments in some projects.
Senate File 2229 was moved by Senator Port, and, following a voice vote, the committee recommended the bill to the Committee on State and Local Government. The motion passed by voice vote; a rollcall tally was not recorded in the transcript.
