Saint Paul Planning Commission Meeting - November 4, 2022
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Saint Paul Planning Commission Meeting - November 4, 2022
Note: The agenda provided for this meeting is dated November 18, 2022, but the user specified the meeting date as November 4, 2022. This summary uses the specified date, with the discrepancy noted.
The meeting was primarily informational, featuring a presentation from Joe Spencer of the Downtown Alliance on the Downtown Development Strategy. No formal votes or decisions were taken.
Planning Director’s Announcements
- Luis Pereira announced that Metro Transit is assembling work groups for the Purple Line (formerly Rush Line) station area planning. Six station group areas in Saint Paul were identified: 10th Street, 14th Street, Mount Erie; Olive, Cayuga, Payne, and Arcade; Cook and Maryland (Phalen Village area); and Larpenteur. The groups will help guide station platform locations and connections. An online application is open for interested residents and business owners. NAO Partners, involved in the anti-displacement project, will handle engagement for Metro Transit.
- December Planning Commission meetings are scheduled for December 9th and possibly December 23rd, contingent on zoning committee applications.
- The 2022 annual report outline will be brought to the Communications-Nominations Committee in December for review.
Presentation: Downtown Development Strategy (Project Update)
Joe Spencer (Downtown Alliance) presented an informational update on the downtown development strategy. Key points:
- Vision: A downtown that is "alive with people" at all hours, with a mix of uses (residential, commercial, entertainment) rather than distinct districts.
- Data: Using Placer AI anonymized cell phone data, evening visitors (4 p.m. to midnight) have consistently outnumbered daytime visitors (7 a.m. to 4 p.m.) since 2018. As of October 2022, evening visitors are at 80% of pre-pandemic levels, while daytime visitors are at 52%.
- Goals: Increase downtown population from 10,000 to 30,000 (200% growth) and jobs from 55,000 to 75,000 (36% growth) over 15–20 years. These targets exceed the citywide forecast of 30,000 new residents and 20,000 new jobs by 2040, as noted by Planning Director Luis Pereira.
- Steering Committee: Co-chaired by CEOs of Securian and Ecolab, including the mayor, council members, Ramsey County Board chair, Port Authority, Chamber of Commerce, and Capital River Council.
- Development Sites: Identified key public and private sites: River Center parking ramp (convention center hotel), River’s Edge site (county-owned), Central Station Metro Transit site, St. Joseph’s Hospital campus, and parking lots under Kellogg Mall Park and near the depot.
- Next Steps: A consultant RFP has been issued for market, viability, economic impact, and prioritization analysis to align partners on a sequence of projects. The goal is to move from agreement on individual projects to a unified, prioritized strategy.
Discussion Items on Downtown Strategy
Commissioners and staff engaged in a wide-ranging discussion:
- Commissioner Presley envisioned an active downtown after 5 p.m. and vibrant, connected spaces.
- Commissioner Underwood emphasized connectivity, parking challenges, and the need for a downtown mobility plan. She noted the dated downtown plan (last updated 2005) and the importance of integrating transit projects like the Riverview Corridor (potential streetcar alignment on 7th Street, Kellogg, or 5th/6th).
- Commissioner Mitchell raised concerns about streetscape quality: many ground-level facades are parking ramp walls or opaque glass, lacking pedestrian-friendly storefronts. She cited the need for clear glass and variety.
- Commissioner Kantner asked why arts and cultural sites were not highlighted as development opportunities. Spencer responded that visitor destinations are already a strong asset, attracting about 7 million visitors annually, but acknowledged the need to continue championing the arts.
- Commissioner Reilly supported riverfront development and connectivity from the Xcel Energy Center to CHS Field. He favored a pedestrianized mall or enhanced streetscape between districts.
- Commissioner Hood suggested that the Riverview Corridor could include a downtown loop to improve circulation, and noted that the city needs a downtown mobility plan.
- Commissioner Syed questioned the lack of alignment among the city, county, and businesses historically. Spencer attributed it to a concern about "getting in one another's lane" rather than disagreement.
- Commissioner Rangel Morales noted the importance of gradually increasing density in neighborhoods adjacent to downtown (e.g., West Side Flats, Sears site) to support downtown vitality.
- Commissioner Taghioff advocated for a single east-west pedestrian-friendly corridor rather than upgrading all streets, and suggested converting 5th and 6th Streets to two-way to reduce traffic speed.
- Spencer responded that on-street parking can act as a barrier for pedestrians and stimulate storefronts. He also discussed signage regulations: Saint Paul’s restrictive sign code may hinder vibrancy, and he showed historical photos comparing 1926 and today to illustrate the difference. He noted that 26% of downtown housing units are affordable or public housing, a strength compared to other downtowns.
Committee Reports
- Zoning Committee: No business.
- Comprehensive and Neighborhood Planning Committee: No meeting held. Commissioner Underwood recognized Commissioner Seanne Thomas for receiving the Alice O’Brien Award from the city council, and Commissioner Nieeta Presley for authoring a cover article in the Ramsey County Historical Society journal on "Green Book Locations in the Historic Rondo Community, 1940 to 1956."
- Transportation Committee: Commissioner Hood reported that two new citizen members were welcomed (Barbara Flornoy from Frogtown and Shelby Gannon from the West Side). The committee discussed the design of the Fish Hatchery Trail reconstruction, expected completion in July 2024. The next meeting has not been scheduled.
- Communications-Nominations Committee: Chair Underwood reported that the committee met earlier that morning. There are vacancies for Wards 2, 4, and 6 starting January 1, 2023. Multiple applicants were received and ranked; a slate of recommendations will be sent to the mayor for interviews. The committee also collected applications from other wards for future turnover.
- Task Force/Liaison Reports: Underwood provided an update on the Riverview Area Station Area Planning Task Force. The group reviewed the segment from Davern to Montreal, focusing on opportunities for economic development and housing. The next meeting will address specific station locations. Connectivity to the Ford site and the Spur Line bike trail were noted as consistent themes.
Key Outcomes
- No votes or formal decisions were taken. The meeting was informational.
- The Downtown Alliance will proceed with the consultant RFP to prioritize development projects and align partners.
- The Planning Commission will continue to provide input on downtown strategy, zoning, and planning updates.
- The Communications-Nominations Committee will finalize its recommendations for mayoral interviews regarding vacant Planning Commission seats.
- The 2022 annual report will be prepared for the January 2023 meeting.
- The next Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for December 9, 2022, with a possible December 23 meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning everyone. As you may have seen, our agenda item today is more about education, education components, so we don't need a quorum to uh to begin. Um I'll pass it over to Luis who has updates for us. Morning, uh commissioners and staff and members of the public. Um just a few announcements this morning. Um have seen uh Metro Transit is uh assembling some work groups for the Purple Line, which is the former rush line stationary planning now. Um they are convening the work groups this fall and winter um to work on stationary planning for for the Purple Line. Um and of course that includes stations in St. Paul as well as other communities. Um the areas that they're they've sort of come up with six groupings in St. Paul for station areas, and I'll I'll read those out loud. 10th Street, 14th Street, um Mount Erie, and then they've grouped uh kind of the Phalan corridor ones here at Olive, Cayuga, Payne, and Arcade as a uh a group. Uh and then they've grouped Cook and Maryland in the um Phelan Village area as another group, and finally Larpender uh on the border with um a suburb there. Um and so um what are they looking for? Uh I just wanted to share this because I think it'd be a good opportunity to spread the word about this uh engagement opportunity. Um looking for interested residents and business owners to be part of our station area work groups. As part of the groups, their role will be to help guide the planning and engagement process around station areas, uh such as refining station platform locations and improving connections to and from station areas. There's an online application you can fill out uh if you're interested in becoming a working group member for any of those areas, any of those station areas. Um they're looking to obviously reflect the diversity of interests and stakeholders along the Purple Line uh project area. Um and actually it looks like uh NAO partners who we're working with on the anti-anti-displacement project is also doing the engagement piece for Metro Transit on the Purple Line. So uh we can share with you uh the application materials, and if you wouldn't mind helping to spread the word for that, especially those uh those those east siders out there that uh where in downtown where the project would be uh serving. Um just the kind of a programming note. So December uh planning commission meetings. I at the moment I believe we are gonna have both of those meetings. So December 9th, um and certainly and possibly December 23rd as well. Um if we get zoning committee applications by next Wednesday. Um I believe we we may have one already, but I'm I have to double check that. So just to um just remind you that we have we still have meetings in December to finish out the year. Um also on the 9th, uh and possibly uh before or after the meeting. I didn't get to this at the previous meeting today. Um, we'd like to bring the outline for the annual report um to the communications nominations committee um around that time or or a different date if that works better for committee members because that'll be coming to you in in January, so for the 2022 annual report. Um and um I guess I will let uh Chair Underwood give give the report on communications nominations uh committee meeting when we get to that item um on the agenda. That's all I had unless people have uh questions for me. No questions, we'll move on to zoning committee. I think there's no business on that much more than that here, and I don't think we had a meeting last week or two weeks ago. Um we'll move on to the presentation for today for the downtown development strategy project update. Oh yeah, go ahead. That's fine. And that's um Mr. Spencer from downtown life. Chair, if you if you don't mind, maybe while we're getting set up here. Um a little more context. Um so uh Joe uh Spencer, some of you may know, he um will talk, he'll introduce himself, but um works with the downtown alliance, and uh we've been in some staff level conversations this year uh about the work that Joe is doing and team um at the downtown alliance. Um and I thought it'd be important for you all to hear about this work. Um it's there's no action items today on this, but it's a informational item. We thought that it would be good to engage with you all, uh get your questions, your thoughts, your comments as we begin this process. So certainly staff, we've been talking a lot recently, and we have our downtown planner Katie Dadless here as well. And so at the end, you know, if you all want you want to have some conversation discussion, that sort of thing, we thought it'd be a good space for that. So thank you. Thank you for the invitation.
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