St. Paul Planning Commission Meeting - July 3, 2025
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St. Paul Planning Commission Meeting - July 3, 2025
Note: The agenda and transcript reference July 11, 2025, but the provided timestamp dictates the meeting date as July 3, 2025.
The St. Paul Planning Commission met on July 3, 2025, to approve minutes, consider three conditional use permits, receive committee reports, hold a public hearing on the Traditional Neighborhood District (T District) Zoning Study, and discuss new business. All votes were unanimous.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Public Hearing on T District Zoning Study: Six speakers testified, all expressing strong support for the proposed zoning text amendments and calling for further expansion of T districts.
- Luke (Sustained St. Paul, 1423 Elinor Avenue) supported the technical changes (height limits, dimensional standards, simplified design standards) and urged a subsequent study to expand T districts, consolidate business districts, rezone arterial streets, and legalize small-scale commercial uses in residential districts.
- Gail Hansen (2023 Portland) requested that density bonuses in T zones be tied to affordability and that the same rules apply to RL1, H1, and H2 districts, and that the student housing overlay be updated.
- Jacob Hooper (renter, 1020 Cobio Avenue) echoed support for the changes and wanted T districts expanded citywide.
- Michelle Molstead (Ward 1 renter, Sustained St. Paul, 702 Holly Avenue) supported the study and amendments.
- Cody Fisher (1017 Ashland Avenue) supported the proposals and called for a broader study to promote housing abundance and climate resilience.
Discussion Items
- Approval of Minutes: Minutes from the May 30, 2025 meeting were approved unanimously.
- Zoning Committee Items: Three conditional use permits were presented and approved unanimously:
- Venue 1944 Rental Hall CUP (839 University Ave W): Reception/rental hall; no controversy; recommended approval.
- 2284 7th Street W CUP (2284 7th St W): Conversion of ground-floor commercial to more than 50% residential; approved with conditions.
- 1190 James CUP (1190 James Ave): Reuse of a large structure for a wellness club (main floor and side lot) with owner-occupied residence above; capacity limited to 16 people; concerns about parking addressed; approved unanimously.
- Comprehensive and Neighborhood Planning Committee:
- Energy Park Commercial Development District Expansion: The committee reviewed the proposed expansion for comprehensive plan compliance and found it conforms; the full commission voted to recommend approval.
- Public Hearing on T District Zoning Study: Held as described above; public hearing closed.
- Transportation Committee: Report given; next meeting scheduled for July 21, 2025 at 4:30 p.m.
- New Business: The 2026 Budget Process and Engagement presentation from the Mayor’s Office was deferred to a future meeting due to efficiency.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes approved: Unanimous.
- All three conditional use permits approved: Unanimous (no abstentions).
- Energy Park expansion: Recommended for approval as conforming to the comprehensive plan.
- Public hearing closed: Record remains open for written testimony until 4:30 p.m. on Monday, July 14, 2025.
- Future study suggested: Commissioner Riley proposed a motion to support an additional study on expanding T districts, but it was deferred to the Comprehensive and Neighborhood Planning Committee for further discussion.
- Budget presentation deferred: The 2026 budget item will appear on a future agenda.
Meeting Transcript
The July 11th meeting of the St. Paul Planning Commission will now come to order. Our first order of business is approval of the minutes from the May 30th planning commission meeting. Do I have a motion on those minutes? So moved. Okay, motion by Commissioner Hackney. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded by Commissioner Risberg. So we have a motion in a second. Do we have any discussion on the minutes? All right. Seeing none, we'll now move to a vote. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. All those opposed. Any abstentions? All right. The minutes passed. Next up is chair's announcements. Just welcome back everybody. I know we had a series of meetings that were canceled and then holidays. So we had a little break. Just excited to see everybody now that we're into July. Next up is the director. And no notes from the director this morning. I'm gonna talk very slowly as we get into this next one, because the next one is the zoning committee. And Commissioner Tagia is getting settled in. And he's ready to go. So we have three items for zoning committee for this last week. The first of these was the venue 1944 rental hall C UP, uh file number 250387998 University Avenue. Um and that was a C UP. That's because um they wanted to use sorry, it's not a C UP. Um that's it's it's for a uh reception hall rental hall on um on that property. So that was relatively uncontroversial. Um is for approval and um we recommended approval um you know so all right. Uh so the motion coming out of committee is approval. Um just as a reminder for all of us and for me, since it's coming out of the zoning committee, we don't need uh a second on this item. Um we would just move into discussion and then a vote. Um is there any discussion on the item? So 1944 rental venue 1944 rental hall CUP. All right, seeing no discussion, we'll move forward with a vote. Uh all those in favor? All those opposed. Any abstentions? All right, 1944 passes. Next up, Mr. Tedia. Okay, next up, 2284 7th Street West C and P.
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