'Sacred communities' would face new local oversight under House bill

Two Twin Cities churches have opened tiny homes on their properties to house chronically homeless residents since the Legislature passed a law allowing them in 2023.

A third church is now working to create a sacred community, this time in Maple Grove, and it has divided the community. To address some of the concerns that have been raised, Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) sponsors HF1051 to add more guardrails to the existing law. 

Robbins fully supports the mission of sacred communities and is committed to religious liberty. Churches should be able to live out their missions, but they also need to be subject to health and safety regulations, she said. 

Maple Grove City Administrator Heidi Nelson testifies for HF1051 March 17 before the House elections committee. Rep. Kristin Robbins, right, sponsors the bill to, in part, authorize municipal regulation of sacred communities. (Photo by Michele Jokinen)

The bill would, in part, allow cities to regulate the units similar to a rental residence, but the regulations can’t be more restrictive than for a rental.

The House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee laid the bill over Monday, as amended, for possible omnibus bill inclusion. Robbins said she’ll continue to work on the bill’s language with the stakeholders.

Rental properties in Maple Grove are inspected every three years, and the city can intervene if there are problems with a unit’s condition, said City Administrator Heidi Nelson. But the state law creating sacred communities doesn’t provide recourse for a person living in a sacred community if there’s a problem.

“The goal here is just to ensure that all settlements, regardless of where they’re created, regardless of which faith community creates them, are set up for success and tenants have recourse to work with cities to ensure that their units and the settlement itself maintain the requirements under statute,” said Daniel Lightfoot, senior intergovernmental relations representative and federal relations manager with the League of Minnesota Cities.

Michael Stetzler, former president of the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Roseville, supports the bill, but takes issue with the view of a sacred community’s residents as tenants. His church has a sacred community of three tiny homes and challenged lawmakers to think about it as a way to love the world, not a housing program.

“These people are part of our family,” he said.