St. Paul Planning Commission Meeting - July 22, 2022
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St. Paul Planning Commission Meeting - July 22, 2022
The Saint Paul Planning Commission met on July 22, 2022, from 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. in City Hall Conference Center Room 40. The meeting included chair and planning director announcements, a zoning committee action, a draft presentation on the basics of zoning for public education, and reports from standing committees. Key outcomes included unanimous approval of a rezoning, cancellation of a public hearing for a withdrawn development proposal, and a call for transportation committee applicants.
Planning Director's Announcements
- Director Luis Pereira thanked staff for their service and announced the hiring of Jimmy Lloyd as the new Director of Economic Development in PED. Lloyd previously served as Senior Director of Community Development at Pillsbury United Communities.
- The public hearing scheduled for August 5, 2022, regarding the University of St. Thomas and Ryan Companies' proposal at the Ford Highland Bridge site has been canceled because the applicant withdrew the application. Ryan Companies has indicated they will resubmit, removing the hockey facility portion.
- The August 5, 2022, planning commission meeting will likely be canceled.
- Two to four upcoming vacancies on the Transportation Committee were announced, with a need for representatives from business, accessibility/disability, and transit. Appointments are made by the Planning Commission chair.
Zoning Committee Action
- Item #22-065-711: 533 & 567 Randolph Rezoning – The committee voted 5-0 to recommend approval of a rezoning from T2 (Traditional Neighborhood) to IT (Transitional Industrial) for properties at 533-567 Randolph Avenue, between Webster and Erie Streets. The full commission then voted unanimously to approve the rezoning with no additional discussion.
Basics of Zoning Workshop – Preliminary Content Feedback
- Director Pereira and staff planner Spencer Johnson presented a draft of a public-facing zoning education presentation. The draft covered the history of zoning in St. Paul (including the 100th anniversary of the first zoning code in 1922), legal concepts (due process, regulatory takings, the Euclid case), the difference between legislative and quasi-judicial decisions, and the roles of the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).
- Commissioners provided extensive feedback:
- Commissioner Underwood requested simpler examples to distinguish BZA from Planning Commission functions, and suggested starting with easy case studies before complex ones.
- Commissioner Grill recommended reducing content density, focusing on key takeaways, introducing redlining and equity issues earlier, and using simpler, single-topic slides with visuals.
- Commissioner Moore suggested adding the presentation to new employee/commissioner orientations and including an appendix with definitions (e.g., "capricious test").
- Commissioner Starling highlighted the need to explain the "why" of zoning (implementing city vision, minimizing adverse impacts, promoting health, safety, welfare) and to address spot zoning.
- Commissioner Syed recommended leading with a case study that people can relate to (e.g., the Taco Bell on Snelling or the Cooley Bank on Grand) to illustrate the quasi-judicial dilemma where a decision may be legally correct but not ideal.
- Commissioner Mitchell urged recognition of the land as Native land and inclusion of equity considerations.
- Commissioner Kantner suggested distinguishing land use topics (e.g., eminent domain, racial covenants) from zoning itself, while noting that zoning's history includes discrimination (e.g., Euclid case).
- Commissioner Risberg advised using interactive exercises (e.g., role-playing scenarios) and tying the beginning to the end, with facilitation for small groups.
- Staff indicated they would incorporate feedback and continue refining the presentation.
Committee Reports
- Comprehensive and Neighborhood Planning Committee – Did not meet.
- Transportation Committee – Commissioner Risberg reported that the committee's regular meeting was canceled. The previous meeting covered Minnesota Street reconstruction and Hillcrest development transportation planning. The committee is seeking new members.
- Communications-Nominations Committee – Commissioner Underwood noted the committee will help schedule fall meetings and assist with the zoning presentation development.
- Task Force / Liaison Reports – Commissioner Underwood reported that the Riverview Station Area Planning Task Force met last week, diving deeper into station areas around Grand Avenue, 7th Street, and Kellogg Mall, and reviewing recent community engagement. The task force will not meet in August and plans a walking tour of areas west of I-35E in September.
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous approval of the rezoning at 533 & 567 Randolph Avenue (T2 to IT).
- Cancellation of the August 5, 2022 public hearing for the University of St. Thomas/Ryan Companies proposal; the application has been withdrawn and will be resubmitted without the hockey facility.
- Call for applicants to fill 2-4 vacancies on the Transportation Committee, with emphasis on business, accessibility/disability, and transit interests.
- Staff to revise the Basics of Zoning presentation based on commissioner feedback, aiming for a more interactive, example-driven, and equity-focused format.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the July 22nd, 2022 St. Paul Planning Commission meeting. We will begin. I think we're we don't need to do anything else, but we can just move on to the agenda. All right. So I don't have any new announcements, but I'll turn it over to Director Padeda for the department. Good morning, everybody, uh staff, members of the public, um, commissioners. Um I have just a few announcements this morning. Um first, I just wanted to say thank you to um Katie Dadless and uh Anton Jervey, who's here um uh for serving as acting planning directors, uh uh Katie during the last uh the commission meeting, as well as uh Anton during my much needed vacation. So thank thanks for that. Um happy to uh report that um we have a new director of economic development in PED uh who joined this week. His name is Jimmy Lloyd. Um just a little bit about his background. Uh he um uh well Martin Schekle retired. Some of you remember Martin, who came to the commission a couple of times, I think, to talk about various different economic development initiatives. Um Jimmy comes to us from Pillsbury United Communities where he served as senior director of community development, um overseeing the justice-built communities, uh CDC focused on collaboration to co-create uh land-based solutions to the challenges facing historically underinvested communities. Um Jimmy brings a real depth depth depth of experience in real estate economic and business development and a deep commitment to racial equity. Um he also has experience at the cities of Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center, the Northside Economic Opportunity Network, and YMCA Greater Twin Cities. Um I hope to invite Jimmy um to the planning commission sometime soon to meet everybody and maybe talk a little bit about uh his thoughts coming in. Um I'm having lunch with him today, so we'll get him we'll get him uh signed up for that. Um the next thing that the chair uh informed me about, uh it slipped my mind to to mention um, and I thought it might have come up at the last meeting, but perhaps did not, is that uh there was a plan uh public hearing scheduled for uh the University of St. Thomas and Ryan related proposal at the Ford Highland Bridge uh site uh related to uh recreational facilities. That was scheduled for August 5th. Uh the uh Ryan companies as applicant has withdrawn the application for now, so that public hearing has been re-noticed that that's canceled for now. Um we do understand that Ryan will be resubmitting. Um they've at least preliminary told us, preliminarily told us that they are removing the hockey facility portion of the proposal. Um, but we expect um some related master plan amendments that are going to be needed for a future proposal. So all of that um uh is not happening. Uh in addition to that, we most likely will not have a meeting August 5th. So uh look out for that official cancellation if that's the case, but that's what it's looking like right now. Um and lastly, um just to give you a preliminary heads up because the planning commissioners can be uh y'all can be really helpful in spreading the word about opportunities to serve. Um we will have at least two upcoming vacancies on the transportation committee. Um Commissioner Said and Commissioner Underwood uh might might recognize that we have a few people that are are leaving due to moving out of the city. Um there's also something in motion at the mayor's office related to the youth on boards um positions. There's two uh in Commissioner Risberg, I apologize. Um there's two um two youth that are currently serving. They will continue to serve as in in as I understand it, but uh the idea was to um actually expand the committee to have two more spots to sort of allow for um the same level of participation uh as before. Um there may be two additional spots opening up soon. It kind of depends on whether existing commissioners want to be reappointed, and so that's still a little bit of an open question. Um a little bit more about the transportation committee, just to remind you. It advises on advises the commission and this and the city council on transportation projects and policies in St. Paul, including those of other agencies. There is no expertise needed to serve, it's just uh just interest and a willingness to serve. Um we'll be especially looking for people who can represent the following interest areas. So business representatives, accessibility and disability issues, and transit. Um appointments are made by the chair of the planning commission. So we will let you know when the official uh call for those applications is open, but I wanted you to get you to get you thinking preliminarily about uh folks you that you might know in the city that could be interested in transportation and serving on the uh committee. But I wanted you to get you to get you thinking preliminarily about folks that you might know in the city that could be interested in transportation and serving on the committee. And I'm happy to turn it over to any of the members of the transportation committee if they want to comment at all about what that is like. That's all I have though.
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