Saint Paul Planning Commission Public Hearing on 1-4 Unit Housing Phase 2 Zoning Text Amendments - April 14, 2023
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Saint Paul Planning Commission Public Hearing on 1-4 Unit Housing Phase 2 Zoning Text Amendments
The Saint Paul Planning Commission held a public hearing on April 14, 2023, to consider proposed zoning text amendments from the 1-4 Unit Housing Study Phase 2. The meeting began with approval of minutes, announcements, and a brief staff presentation on community engagement. The majority of the meeting was dedicated to public testimony, followed by commissioner discussion and a motion to close the hearing and refer the matter to the Comprehensive and Neighborhood Planning Committee. The record was kept open until April 17, 2023, at 4:30 p.m.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The commission unanimously approved the minutes from the March 3, 2023, meeting on a motion by Commissioner Holst, seconded by Commissioner Grill.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jamie Stolpelstead (475 Old Highway 8 NW, New Brighton; born and raised in St. Paul) expressed strong support for the proposal, calling it a thoughtful and balanced approach to the housing crisis, and encouraged further work on equity and fairness in zoning.
- Tom Diamond (2119 Skyway Drive, St. Paul) opposed the proposal, arguing it effectively bans single-family neighborhoods without proper public notice. He claimed residents are unaware their zoning would change and that the process is misleading, as it is called a study rather than a rezoning.
- Ray Camper (Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers, 3137 Chicago Ave, Minneapolis) supported the improvements in Phase 2 but raised concerns about cost and accessibility, noting that 71% of St. Paul renters are cost-burdened. He recommended waiving fees and providing subsidies for those below 80% AMI.
- Luke Hansen (Co-chair, Sustain St. Paul) enthusiastically supported the proposal, recommending consolidation of H1 into H2 and expanding H3 to a quarter-mile radius around transit and nodes. He also suggested density bonuses for cooperative ownership and fossil-free construction.
- Pat Thompson (1496 Raymond Ave, St. Anthony Park) supported the plan and advocated for merging H1 and H2, citing minimal neighborhood differences.
- Tom Darling (President, Summit Avenue Residential Preservation Association; 2119 Skyway Drive) expressed concern that the public is not adequately informed of the massive zoning change and questioned the lack of empirical data on affordability outcomes and the city's capacity to provide services for increased density. He suggested piloting the change in opportunity zones first.
- Nick Erickson (Housing First Minnesota, 4505 Oakond Road) commended the commission and supported the proposal as a step to address the housing crisis, noting the Twin Cities has the largest homeownership gap in the country and a shortage of up to 95,000 units. He cited studies showing modest densification increases affordability.
- Deb Alper (Sierra Club North Star Chapter, 1835 Fairmont Ave) expressed strong support but raised concerns about impervious surface coverage (up to 80% allowed) and suggested reducing it to 10% and updating paving material codes to include permeable options like gravel. She also encouraged incentives for reducing car ownership.
- Karen Allen (1315 Minnehaha Ave W; owner of a duplex at 955 Eigelheart Ave) supported the proposal, sharing her personal experience of affording a home through an owner-occupied duplex. She emphasized that the proposal covers the entire city and allows incremental additions like ADUs.
- Jeff Shermack (463 Des Noyer Ave) supported the changes, noting his neighborhood has diverse housing. He stated the proposal removes barriers for small developers and encourages incremental density but cautioned it will not unleash a tidal wave of development due to other hurdles.
- Tor Olsen (1600 Grand Ave, McAllister College student) supported the proposal on behalf of fellow students and recent graduates, recommending consolidation of H1 into H2 and expanding H3 to a quarter-mile radius around transit and nodes.
- Emily Kirkbold (Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, 1954 University Ave W) supported the changes and urged merging H1 and H2 to allow four principal units on interior and corner lots. She stressed the need for affordability gap subsidies to pair with new development.
- Michael Williams (922 N Woodbridge St, emerging developer) supported the proposal, recommending consolidation of H1 and H2. He explained that current zoning makes it difficult for small developers to compete and that modest densification would allow them access to more lots. He also advocated for technical assistance to help emerging developers.
- Isaac Russell (Center for Economic Inclusion, 1600 Grand Ave; resident of Highland Park) supported the study, citing racial disparities in homeownership (41% of middle-income Black households own homes vs. 72% of middle-income white households). He recommended eliminating H1 and consolidating into H2, and supported density bonuses.
- Zach Farrell (600 Summit Ave, #2) supported the changes, recommending consolidation of H1 into H2 and expanding H3 to a quarter-mile radius. He also suggested density bonuses for cooperative ownership and fossil-free construction.
- Gaius Nelson (206 Wheeler St S, architect) raised concerns about unintended consequences, such as demolition of affordable smaller homes replaced by market-rate units. He recommended a no-loss of affordable housing policy and that new dimensional standards should be an incentive for multi-unit development only, not as-of-right for single-family. He also noted the study lacks analysis of impacts on surrounding neighbors.
- James Slayers (1153 Edmund Ave) supported the proposal and recommended merging H1 and H2 into a single H2-like district, expanding H3 to a quarter-mile, and using density bonuses for cooperative ownership or permanent land trusts.
Discussion Items
- Staff provided a brief presentation on community engagement for the study, including webinars, in-person events, and outreach to organizations. The record remains open until April 17.
- Commissioners discussed the public testimony, particularly the recurring recommendation to merge H1 and H2, and the need to understand who would develop housing under the new rules. Commissioner Mitchell requested data on housing built between 2010-2020 by type, developer size, and affordability. Commissioner Starling suggested looking at Minneapolis’s experience with similar zoning changes.
- The motion to close the public hearing was made by Commissioner Grill and seconded by Commissioner Holst. The hearing was closed, and the matter was referred to the Comprehensive and Neighborhood Planning Committee for further review.
Key Outcomes
- Public Hearing Closed: The commission voted unanimously to close the public hearing on the 1-4 Unit Housing Phase 2 Zoning Text Amendments.
- Record Open: Written testimony may be submitted until 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 17, 2023.
- Referral to Committee: The proposal will be reviewed by the Comprehensive and Neighborhood Planning Committee, which will evaluate public input and potential revisions before making a recommendation to the full Planning Commission and then to the City Council.
- No Final Vote: The commission did not vote on the actual zoning amendments; the public hearing was a step in the deliberative process.
Meeting Transcript
Agenda is approval of the minutes from March 3rd, 2023. Is there a motion? So moved by Commissioner Holmes, but there are a second second seconded by Commissioner Grill. All in favor say aye. Any of both slides signed? That motion does carry for approval of the minutes. I'll move on to I don't have any announcements this morning. So I'll hold out to Luis for staff. Good morning, everybody, Commission, members of the public. Just a few announcements. It's been a little bit since we met. Some of you may have seen uh recently St. Paul uh joined the Justice Coalition to facilitate the discharging of racial covenants. Uh there's more information at St. Paul.gov slash racial dash covenants. Um also you may have seen in the last day or so an announcement went out about some open houses coming up on the ANDA displacement and wealth building study. So you'll remember uh Commissioner Mitchell and uh Commissioner Moore are uh planning commissioners who are on a community advisory committee advising that study. So um what the announcement was was about two um open houses for the community to learn more and provide input. Um one is on April 19th, 530 to 7 at neighborhood house on the west side, and the second one, uh same content. Uh the second one is April 24th, 5:30 to 7 at the Arlington Community Center on the east side. So uh please spread the word about that, uh that input uh uh opportunity. Um and then last, uh just to note we're gonna be pretty busy this month and next month. Um we have obviously the one to four unit housing study public hearing today. Um next next time we're gonna have two uh two public hearings on related items, uh Highland Bridge and a um parking landscaping besides owning study, as well as consideration of the transportation committee's recommendation about the summit Avenue Regional Trail, which again is not a public hearing, so um just for your awareness. Uh and then um on in May, we're going to have uh informational presentation in the first part of the Antil Displacement uh Community Wealth Learning project um to bring you up to speed. I know that's something you've been interested in for a while. Um, so we'll uh rebring that to you on May 12th, and then on the 26th, we've penciled in um uh there's a this year. Um the city's doing a little bit different uh approach to engagement or on the budget. So um the request has been uh out to uh engage with boards and commissions of the city to do kind of a budgeting exercise. And so they'll most likely on the 26th, we're gonna be doing that for about 30 minutes. Um, and there'll be some other items for that agenda. So uh I know it's a busy time for everybody, but if you can make the planning commission meetings this month and next, that would be great. So that's all I have. Thank you, Chip. Any questions for the director? And we'll run to the next item, which is the first portion. Um today, the city of St. Paul Planning Commission is holding a public hearing on the proposed one of four unit housing study phase two resonating text amendments. Notice of the public hearing work that was published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Tuesday, April 4th, 2023, and we're sent to the citywide early notification system with the recipients and other interested parties and all property owners within the study area. Also, before we have a hearing, staff is gonna provide a brief short presentation about uh recent community engagement on this study. So that'll be said me okay. So um, I'm gonna provide a very brief overview and the engagement that's been going on since the um is released on uh March 30. All right, so during the public comment period, staff is promoting uh several different ways to engage, including all the resources available on the project website. We had a staff memo, some overview slides, FAQs, um were in translated uh languages in the interactive zoning map, uh reportings of two webinars that we hosted, uh and as well as the planning commission uh questions for the communities. Um kind of send comments and testify at public hearing last night. So we are uh we were also promoting public events um that I'll talk about on the next slide. We also reached out to a wide range of organizations, business organizations, community serving organizations, nonprofit community developers, housing resource providers, and public seniors. So we share these opportunities with them. And also offered to attend meeting with their organization and the community members that they serve.
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