HIBBING — Following the controversial sale of a city park in Hibbing for a public housing development and the subsequent reversal earlier this year, the city is hosting two community meetings about a different housing project.
The Highland Hills project would see the development of single-family housing on city-owned acreage behind the Highland Park neighborhood.
The meetings are set for 6 p.m. Sept. 24 and 25 in the Veteran’s Room in the Memorial Building.
Each meeting will feature a presentation of the city's Comprehensive Housing Needs Assessment completed in 2023, a summary of the site work done to date and the planning process moving forward.
Officials will gather input from Hibbing residents at these meetings, and the information gathered will go before the City Council for review and consideration in mid-October.
"We can begin to plan what the site might look like, develop the guidelines for development and then we'll seek private developers and individuals to build up there," said Betsy Olivanti, Hibbing community development director, in a news release.
"We want to do this in a way that accents the current Highland Park neighborhood."
A key finding of the needs assessment showed the city would see demand for more than 1,200 new housing units through 2035.
Since that time, the city has been actively reviewing city-owned property for residential development. Efforts have included legal reviews, environmental assessments and survey work.
Hibbing owns 65 acres across six parcels of land near the Highland Park neighborhood, just under 34 of which are buildable.
"This acreage is in the immediate center of our city — the heart of the city — instead of extending outside our urban center. That's partially why this partial is so attractive," Olivanti said.
"Also, our business community is telling us they need more employees and are struggling to find them; thus, there is a need to bring new residents to town. What better way to do that than to create new housing stock?"