# Metropolitan Land Planning Act *Minnesota law of 1976 listed in the Metropolitan Council's institutional history.* The **Metropolitan Land Planning Act** is a [[Minnesota]] law that the [[Metropolitan Council (Minnesota)]] dates to 1976 in its published institutional history.[^1] That history places the Act within a run of regional measures. The run begins with the Council's creation by the [[Minnesota Legislature]] in 1967.[^1] The Act also appears in the Council's description of its [[Livable Communities Act]] affordable housing goals. The Council calls those goals "an aspirational but achievable commitment." It also states that they fall expressly outside comprehensive plan requirements and the Metropolitan Land Planning Act.[^2] The sources in this record are Metropolitan Council self-publications.[^1][^2] The record does not establish the statute's text, its session-law citation, the vote on its enactment, the party alignment of its sponsors or of the governor who signed it, or any later amendment. It also contains no court filing concerning the Act.[^1] ## What - The Council's history gives a sequence of regional measures:[^1] - the Council's creation in 1967, together with the [[Metropolitan Transit Commission]]; - the Metropolitan Sewer Board in 1969; - regional parks and the Metro HRA in 1974; - the Metropolitan Land Planning Act in 1976. - The Council states that its Livable Communities Act goals reflect "what is possible, not necessarily what is needed."[^2] It also states that those goals are not part of comprehensive plan requirements or the Metropolitan Land Planning Act.[^2] - The Council publishes a 2021–30 goals methodology for its Livable Communities Act goals.[^3] This record cites that page but does not carry its text.[^3] ## When - The Council's history dates the Metropolitan Land Planning Act to 1976. That is nine years after the Legislature created the Council in 1967.[^1] - The date rests on agency self-publication. The record holds no statute or session-law page that confirms it.[^1] ## Why - The Council's history states that the Legislature directed the Council to "plan for the orderly and economical development of the seven-county metro area."[^1] - That statement is the Council's account of its own charge. The record does not carry the Act's own statement of purpose.[^1] ## In the at-issue record - **Dakota County package (AI-Dakota-061).** This entry compares two things the Council has published: - **The Council's description of its goals.** It calls its Livable Communities Act affordable housing goals "an aspirational but achievable commitment" that reflects "what is possible, not necessarily what is needed."[^2] - **The Council's statement of their legal status.** It says the goals are expressly not part of comprehensive plan requirements or the Metropolitan Land Planning Act.[^2] - From the two statements together, the entry concludes that the region's affordable housing goal is, "by the agency's own publication, unenforceable."[^2] - The entry rests on a single source, the self-published metrocouncil.org goals page.[^2] - The entry is anchored to a January 2025 presidential action, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*.[^4] The record does not carry that action's operative text. It also does not establish how the action bears on the Council's goals.[^4] ## Notes [^1]: Metropolitan Council, *History of the Metropolitan Council* (agency self-publication, undated) — the Council's creation by the Minnesota Legislature in 1967 and its stated charge; the Metropolitan Transit Commission (1967), Metropolitan Sewer Board (1969), regional parks and Metro HRA (1974), and Metropolitan Land Planning Act (1976). https://metrocouncil.org/About-Us/What-We-Do/History-of-the-Metropolitan-Council.aspx [^2]: Metropolitan Council, *Livable Communities Act Goals* (agency self-publication, undated) — describes LCA affordable housing goals as "an aspirational but achievable commitment" reflecting "what is possible, not necessarily what is needed," and states that they are expressly outside comprehensive plan requirements and the Metropolitan Land Planning Act. https://metrocouncil.org/Housing/Planning/Affordable-Housing-Measures/Livable-Communities-Act-GOALS.aspx [^3]: Metropolitan Council, *2021–30 Goals Methodology* (agency self-publication, undated) — the Council's methodology page for its 2021–30 Livable Communities Act goals; cited in the record without its text. https://metrocouncil.org/Communities/Services/Livable-Communities-Grants/LCA/2021-30-Goals-Methodology.aspx [^4]: The White House, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity* (presidential action, January 2025) — the federal anchor of at-issue entry AI-Dakota-061; operative text not carried in the record. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/