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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Saint Paul Planning Commission Meeting - September 22, 2023

Planning Commission — Friday, September 22, 2023

BodySt Paul, Minnesota

SessionPlanning Commission

DateFriday, September 22, 2023

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:33:14

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:02

Good morning everyone.

0:07

We'll go ahead and start today's meeting with approval in the minutes from September 15.

0:10

Is there a motion?

0:13

Moved by Commissioner Folts.

0:14

Is there an effective?

0:16

Second second by Commissioner O'Choa.

0:18

All those in favor say aye.

0:20

Aye.

0:20

Aye.

0:21

Any opposed lights signed.

0:22

All right.

0:23

So the minutes for our 15 are approved.

0:28

Will we sell a turtle review for a night?

0:30

Yeah, thank you, Chair.

0:31

Good morning, everybody.

0:33

A few announcements.

0:34

So the city council considered the one to four unit housing study first read on Wednesday.

0:43

So we, as we usually do, do a presentation.

0:48

If you happen to be there, which I don't think anybody here was, uh, or watch the presentation online, you will you will note that uh about halfway through we were told to speed it up.

0:58

Um challenge given how dense it is, as you all will appreciate how long it should get through it all.

1:04

Um so we did our best.

1:06

Um and um just wanted to highlight that um this next week, the fourth is the public hearing.

1:12

So if you've been talking to anybody about it, please uh remind folks to um send us send the city council comments, uh show up for the public hearing to testify.

1:23

Um uh because council members are are going through all of this now and and it's minutiae.

1:29

Um and uh so that that's all I wanted to say.

1:32

There is a um helpful one pager uh online um that you can share with people.

1:39

It's kind of a also dense, but at least it's got kind of the nuts and bolts of of what it is.

1:45

Um another uh item is the um Minnesota APA conference is coming up uh this next week, um midweek, and so um group of us are going to go up to that and participate.

1:59

Um so I'm sure we'll have some things to share after the fact.

2:03

And um the other thing that's not on your agenda is today we have uh informational presentation uh to share with you about kind of industrial zoning studies of past and of the present.

2:16

And as I understand there's been some conversations at zoning committee recently about um about that and some kind of bigger questions, and I thought we thought as staff it would be good to uh uh share some of that again.

2:28

Um some of you may remember some of it, some of you it'll be new to you to get uh folks a little bit more on the same page.

2:33

So that's it.

2:35

Thank you, Chair.

2:37

Um announcements from me yesterday, Commissioner O'Toole let us in uh a walk through through the Julia Departments, Commissioner Grill, myself, and I think someone else from city staff over there.

2:47

It's the new building that you can see off of highway 35.

2:51

Um that was uh uh I think you were the architect or one of the architects on it.

2:56

Yeah, and so we just got to see how well for me the the main takeaway was how elevation played it a role into the entire construction.

3:05

Um there was a uh what we when we went before us, it was there was a lot of question about whether it was be too tall, uh specifically because the first two floors are parking and uh from street level on Lexington, it's at ground level, but from the back, it's two stories up.

3:28

So it really helped me visualize and understand how a project like that works.

3:33

Um so thank you, Commissioner O'Choa, for allowing us to do that.

3:36

Uh Commissioner Gold, do you want to add a minute?

3:39

No, I just appreciate the contacts.

3:41

Um the previous planning commission chair, uh, her recommendation when enjoying zoning was to go walk the sites before we had the cases.

3:48

And I did that pretty consistently before uh the pandemic.

3:52

And I picked up the practice again since then, but um even having like walked that site and I walk by it all the time with my dog.

3:59

Um, I don't think the relationship between Lexington and the back alley and 35 like that slope was really clear to me how steep it was until the property was on it.

4:09

Um so I just appreciate that context.

4:12

Um really helpful just for future zoning conversations.

4:17

Okay.

4:18

Uh so we'll move on to the next item of the agenda, which is the well, the public hearing was delayed uh for public hearing public notice recents.

4:28

Um so we're gonna delay that until October 13th.

4:34

Yeah, chair.

4:35

So uh a little more explanation.

4:36

Um this is a zoning study, and so it has notification requirements as anyone, any study would.

4:44

Uh, and that consists of um a 30-day notice um that we do per our early notification system policy of the city.

4:54

Um and we did do that.

4:56

Uh so we we actually did that ahead of time.

5:00

Um uh but uh we did not do the um uh legal, not sorry, not legal ledger, uh official newspaper notice, which in our case is the pioneer press, and that's 10 days.

5:11

By the time we realized that um it was within the 10 days.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Land Use Regulation█████████████████████████████████████████████68%

Economic Development█████████13%

Housing████6%

Environmental Protection██3%

Procedural█2%

Taxation█2%

Public Health█2%

Affordable Housing█1%

Public Transportation█1%

Summary of Proceedings

Saint Paul Planning Commission Meeting - September 22, 2023

The Saint Paul Planning Commission met on September 22, 2023 (note: the agenda is dated September 29, 2023; the meeting date provided for this summary is September 22, 2023). The commission approved the September 15 minutes, laid over a public hearing, approved two zoning items, received committee reports, and held an extended informational discussion on industrial zoning studies.

Consent Calendar

Approval of minutes from September 15, 2023: Motion made by a commissioner (transcript names "Commissioner Folts," who is not on the appointed membership list; seconded by Commissioner Ochoa). Approved by voice vote.

Announcements

Chair's announcement: Commissioner Grill reported on a site walkthrough of a new building visible from Highway 35, designed with involvement from Commissioner Ochoa, which helped contextualize the relationship between elevation and building height.
Planning Director's announcement: The City Council considered the one-to-four unit housing study first read on Wednesday; the public hearing is scheduled for next week. Staff encouraged public testimony and noted a one-pager is available online.
Planning Director also mentioned the upcoming Minnesota APA conference and that an informational presentation on industrial zoning studies would be given today.

Public Comments & Testimony

No public comments were heard. A public hearing on the Micro-unit Dwelling Accessory Use to a Religious Institution Land Use and Standards was laid over to the October 13, 2023 Planning Commission meeting because adequate official notice (a 10-day Pioneer Press notice) was not provided. Planning staff took responsibility for the oversight and confirmed the city attorney's office approved moving the hearing to the next meeting.

Discussion Items

Zoning Committee recommendations:
- 2285 Hampden Avenue Variances: Request to reduce front yard setback from 25 feet to 9 feet and to allow 15.4% of first floor for non-residential uses (50% required) and 84.6% for residential uses (50% maximum). The Zoning Committee recommended approval with conditions by a 3-to-1 vote (one abstention noted; the reporting commissioner voted against due to the non-residential percentage requirement). After commission discussion, the motion to approve carried, with Commissioners Ortega, Taghioff, and Ochoa voting in opposition.
- 597-605 Front Avenue Rezoning: Rezone from B3 general business to T2 traditional neighborhood. The Zoning Committee recommended approval unanimously; the commission approved unanimously.
Committee Reports:
- Comprehensive and Neighborhood Planning Committee: Did not meet; no report.
- Transportation Committee: Met September 18; received an update on the Safe Streets for All plan (presented by David Peterson) and noted upcoming presentations on Sam Morgan Trail segments 1 and 4 reconstruction, Metro G Line (Metro Transit), and Rice Street reconstruction (Ramsey County).
- Communications-Nominations Committee: Beginning the annual report process; Nellie Jerome and Stefan Hegerson will lead, with an outline being developed.
- Task Force/Liaison Reports: Anti-displacement Community Advisory Committee update - the internal work group process concluded; recommendations will be brought to the administration next week, and a CAC meeting is planned for late October/early November.
Industrial Zoning Studies Informational Presentation and Discussion:
- Staff (Planning Director and Anton Jerve) reviewed past industrial zoning studies, including the 2013 Industrial Zoning Study (which reduced first-floor residential uses in I-1, did not restrict institutional uses, added design standards to IT, and made certain uses conditional in I2), the West Midway Industrial Area Comprehensive Plan amendments, the Comp Plan 2040 policies protecting industrial land, and the 2021 Industrial Zoning Study (which was put on hold).
- Discussion covered the balance between preserving industrial land and addressing housing needs, equity and social determinants of health, first-floor commercial requirements, the need for buffers and site-appropriate transitions, and whether to add a new industrial zoning study to the 2024 work program. Some commissioners cited staff capacity and suggested waiting until 2025; others argued for urgency given housing and equity concerns. No formal action was taken.

Key Outcomes

Approved the September 15, 2023 minutes.
Laid over the public hearing on Micro-unit Dwelling Accessory Use to October 13, 2023.
Approved the 2285 Hampden Avenue variances (with opposition from Commissioners Ortega, Taghioff, and Ochoa).
Approved the 597-605 Front Avenue rezoning (unanimous).
No formal decision was made regarding a future industrial zoning study; the presentation and discussion were informational.
Meeting adjourned after the discussion.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning everyone. We'll go ahead and start today's meeting with approval in the minutes from September 15. Is there a motion? Moved by Commissioner Folts. Is there an effective? Second second by Commissioner O'Choa. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed lights signed. All right. So the minutes for our 15 are approved. Will we sell a turtle review for a night? Yeah, thank you, Chair. Good morning, everybody. A few announcements. So the city council considered the one to four unit housing study first read on Wednesday. So we, as we usually do, do a presentation. If you happen to be there, which I don't think anybody here was, uh, or watch the presentation online, you will you will note that uh about halfway through we were told to speed it up. Um challenge given how dense it is, as you all will appreciate how long it should get through it all. Um so we did our best. Um and um just wanted to highlight that um this next week, the fourth is the public hearing. So if you've been talking to anybody about it, please uh remind folks to um send us send the city council comments, uh show up for the public hearing to testify. Um uh because council members are are going through all of this now and and it's minutiae. Um and uh so that that's all I wanted to say. There is a um helpful one pager uh online um that you can share with people. It's kind of a also dense, but at least it's got kind of the nuts and bolts of of what it is. Um another uh item is the um Minnesota APA conference is coming up uh this next week, um midweek, and so um group of us are going to go up to that and participate. Um so I'm sure we'll have some things to share after the fact. And um the other thing that's not on your agenda is today we have uh informational presentation uh to share with you about kind of industrial zoning studies of past and of the present. And as I understand there's been some conversations at zoning committee recently about um about that and some kind of bigger questions, and I thought we thought as staff it would be good to uh uh share some of that again. Um some of you may remember some of it, some of you it'll be new to you to get uh folks a little bit more on the same page. So that's it. Thank you, Chair. Um announcements from me yesterday, Commissioner O'Toole let us in uh a walk through through the Julia Departments, Commissioner Grill, myself, and I think someone else from city staff over there. It's the new building that you can see off of highway 35. Um that was uh uh I think you were the architect or one of the architects on it. Yeah, and so we just got to see how well for me the the main takeaway was how elevation played it a role into the entire construction. Um there was a uh what we when we went before us, it was there was a lot of question about whether it was be too tall, uh specifically because the first two floors are parking and uh from street level on Lexington, it's at ground level, but from the back, it's two stories up. So it really helped me visualize and understand how a project like that works. Um so thank you, Commissioner O'Choa, for allowing us to do that. Uh Commissioner Gold, do you want to add a minute? No, I just appreciate the contacts. Um the previous planning commission chair, uh, her recommendation when enjoying zoning was to go walk the sites before we had the cases. And I did that pretty consistently before uh the pandemic. And I picked up the practice again since then, but um even having like walked that site and I walk by it all the time with my dog. Um, I don't think the relationship between Lexington and the back alley and 35 like that slope was really clear to me how steep it was until the property was on it. Um so I just appreciate that context. Um really helpful just for future zoning conversations. Okay.

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