Saint Paul Planning Commission Meeting - April 4, 2025
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Saint Paul Planning Commission Meeting - April 4, 2025
The Saint Paul Planning Commission met on April 4, 2025, to approve minutes from a prior meeting, hear committee reports, conduct a public hearing on minor text amendments to the zoning study, and receive informational presentations on the American Planning Association national conference and a tour of a recently completed mixed-income development at 411 Lexington Parkway.
Public Hearing: Minor Text Amendments Zoning Study
- The Commission held a public hearing on proposed minor text amendments to the zoning study. No members of the public testified. The hearing was closed, and the matter was referred back to the Comprehensive and Neighborhood Planning Committee (CNPC) with the record held open for written testimony until 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 21, 2025. The motion passed unanimously, with Commissioner Martinson abstaining on the earlier minutes approval but not on this vote (the motion was made by Commissioner Holtz, seconded by Commissioner Ortega; all in favor, no opposition, no abstentions).
- Commissioner Riley asked whether the full Commission would have a chance to deliberate before a final vote; Director Robinson confirmed that deliberation would occur after public testimony was received. Commissioners were encouraged to email questions or comments to staff.
- CNPC Chair Holtz reported that the committee met the previous Wednesday and voted to move forward significant adjustments to the T2 and T3 zoning districts, which will come to the full Planning Commission soon.
Committee Updates
- Zoning Committee: No items at the April 4 meeting. The next meeting is April 23, 2025, with three items: a conditional use permit for an impound lot on Bosch Channel Road, a conditional use permit for 841–857 Grand Avenue (height increase at Victoria and Grand), and a site plan review for 560 Randolph Avenue.
- Transportation Committee: No meeting on April 7. The April 21 meeting will include public works items on shared mobility and the downtown sidewalk plan.
New Business: Informational Items
- Summary of American Planning Association National Conference: Director Robinson presented highlights from a session titled "Can Your Zoning Hack It" attended in Denver. The session featured speakers from Greenville, Pomona, and Code Studio. They discussed Euclidean vs. form-based vs. modular zoning codes, defining zoning problems, and the importance of aligning zoning with economic and consumer trends (e.g., delivery-based consumption). The session included a hands-on "code hack" exercise where participants tried to fit different housing types onto a lot given current regulations. Robinson noted that Saint Paul’s code already addresses many issues other cities are struggling with, such as parking minimums. Commissioners discussed the need to integrate land use and transportation planning, the impact of delivery services on building design, and the potential value of conducting a similar activity for public outreach or commission education.
- Summary of 411 Lexington Parkway Tour: Director Robinson shared a virtual tour of “The Nine at Lexington Station,” a mixed-income development that had previously come before the Commission. The building includes amenities such as a lobby with real-time transit information, transit passes for all residents, an accessible mailroom, remote work pods, a gym with a dance studio, a pet spa, a swimming pool, a bike garage with a washing station, a special loading dock for moving trucks, a solar array, and a rooftop deck. Affordable units are provided through the 4D program; the building is mixed-income. The manager is a local resident, and a coffee shop will open on the ground floor. Commissioners appreciated seeing the completed project and noted the transparency of the building’s website regarding fees and utilities.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes from the April 4, 2025 Planning Commission meeting (motion by Commissioner Holtz, seconded; one abstention from Commissioner Martinson).
- Closed the public hearing for the minor text amendments zoning study, referred the matter to CNPC, and held the record open until April 21, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. (motion by Commissioner Holtz, seconded by Commissioner Ortega; unanimous vote).
- Received informational updates on the APA conference and the 411 Lexington Parkway tour, with no formal action taken.
Meeting Transcript
Yeah. All right. The April 18th meeting of the St. Paul Planning Commission will now come to order. Our first order of business is approval of minutes from the April 4th, 2025 Planning Commission meeting. Do you have a motion on the minutes? So moved. Motion by Commissioner Holtz to add a second. Okay. All right. So there's a motion for approval of the minutes from the April 4. We have a motion and a second. So motion by Commissioner Holtz, seconded by Commissioner. Is there any discussion on the minutes? All right. Seeing no discussion, we'll move forward with the vote. All those in favor? All those opposed. Any abstentions? Abstention. Commissioner Martinson abstains. All right, uh, those minutes pass. Um and then next up is chair's announcements. Um, I think we have a few announcements, and I'm gonna save them all for the director. Um, so I will uh pass my time over to her. Uh all right, uh next up, directors announcement. Thank you, Chair. Good morning, everybody. Um, just wanted to give you a heads up that the next planning commission meeting is going to be a jam-packed agenda. Um we will be in the council chambers just to make sure that we have working audio for the public hearing. Um today, I'm going to go over there and figure out how we can configure all of the chairs. Um, I think that the staff will kind of be sitting like in the front row, and I'll be sitting probably behind. Uh, but I think that this will be a better situation. Um also I'm continuing to figure out how uh figure out a new room for us as this room is not served by any form of government. Um I want to make sure that we have you know appropriate amplification and recording and space for everyone because the work that we do is important and often uh we serve a quasi judicial role. Um so wanted to let you know that I'm working on that, but there's not uh really any rooms in the city that can uh accommodate a group this large and hold the public hearing. So uh just wanted to ask you to bear with me as I sort out the logistics of this. Uh if you have any concerns, feel free to email me and I'll try to do my best. Um, but wanted to let you know that May 2nd, we're all going to be uh be squished up a little bit. Uh and um do our best. Um I'm just gonna tack onto that real quick. It also um I know a lot of our meetings tend to end before um the schedule time. This is maybe one of those meetings where uh if you can allocate for the the full chunk of time, um I would I would plan to do that. Um thank you. Uh so moving right along. Um next up is zoning committee. Um thank you, Chair. We don't have um any items at the end of this week. However, our next meeting is going to be um on April 23rd, fourth Thursday as usual. Um three items, uh CUP for an impound locked building.
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