MINNETONKA, Minn. — Mills Church and Habitat for Humanity are pushing for more affordable housing in Minnetonka, but the City Council doesn’t appear to be on board.
The units would be built on church property in the Minnetonka Mills neighborhood. Built in the late 1800s, the historic church sits on prime real estate near the intersection of Minnetonka Boulevard and Plymouth Road.
Officials from the church and the nonprofit were present at the Minnetonka Planning Commission’s Thursday evening meeting to discuss the proposed construction.
Their original plan, first unveiled in 2022, called for more than a dozen townhomes. They recently filed an updated plan that would instead include five duplexes on more than 20 acres of church land.
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But a report from city services already shows that the city council, which has proposed keeping residential buildings in residential areas, will abandon the plan.
Residents who oppose the plan say they are against rezoning, not Habitat for Humanity.
“We are actually for affordable housing, in exactly the right place,” says resident Carrie Michels. “In the Minnetonka Mills area, that’s not the right place.”
Chris Coleman is president and CEO of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.
“We need to be able to speed up these processes. You can’t spend five years building 10 homes,” Coleman said. “If you do that, you’ll never get out of the housing crisis we have in Minnesota.”
