Momentum West creates a Housing Toolkit for Dunn County

'This article is from a press release today from Dunn County

Toolkits' to help individuals and developers build needed housing

Dunn County residents and homebuilders can now use a unique “housing toolkit” designed to make it easier to buy and build homes in the county.

Momentum West, the regional economic development organization, recently published the Dunn County Housing Toolkit on its website. A similar toolkit was published for Pierce County.

“People who wanted to buy property or wanted to build a home were running into hurdles with permits and understanding that process,” said Anne Wodarczyk, Dunn County Zoning Administrator. “The toolkit is intended to help buyers and developers have a better understanding of everything that goes into housing development.”

The county established a housing work group a year ago after a 2023 study showed what types of housing were lacking in the county and the hurdles housing developers believe they face. The study concluded that more rental stock was necessary since more than a third of renters said they lived where they did because of a lack of desired housing elsewhere. Also, half of the renters said a lack of quality rental housing was one of the key issues facing their community.

Top housing concerns for homeowners were the cost of buying a home (54 percent) and property taxes (36 percent). Some 65 percent of respondents said there is a need for smaller single family starter homes, and 29 percent said there is a need for housing for senior citizens.

Developers cited the time it takes to complete a development, neighborhood opposition, regulatory challenges, infrastructure costs and workforce challenges

“We took a look at, how do we simplify this?” said Steve Jahn, Momentum West Executive Director, and a housing workgroup member. The intent, Jahn said, “was to make Dunn County easier to navigate in terms of housing development” for individuals and developers.

“We mapped out information that a developer and information that a private party would need if they wanted to create a development or build a house in this county,” Jahn added.

The Dunn County toolkit is available at https://www.momentumwest.org/.../county-toolkits/dunn-county The site includes a Dunn County Home and Building Construction Guide; permitting information from city, towns and villages in the county; information on utilities; and county zoning information. Local financial lenders are listed as well.

Jahn said Pierce County also has an active toolkit on the Momentum West website at https://www.momentumwest.org/.../county.../pierce-county Jahn said toolkits from the other eight counties in the Momentum West region will be added when they are available.

“I would like to roll this out for all 10 counties in the Momentum West region,” he said. It made sense for Momentum West to host the toolkits for Dunn and Pierce counties because of the importance that adequate housing plays in economic development, Jahn said.

The home and building guide discusses how to obtain an address for a new property, obtain driveway and sanitary permits, contact utilities and get the home inspected.

Wodarczyk said she is aware of a perception that it wasn’t always easy working with Dunn County on housing development.

“We hope the toolkit and other changes that we made will make developers more comfortable working with Dunn County,” she said.