Campus boundaries hearing set Aug. 21

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Monitor In A Minute compiled by Jane McClure

Campus boundaries hearing set

1549 Minnehaha 2Anyone wishing to weigh in on more stringent property use and boundary rules for colleges, universities and seminaries, can attend a public hearing before the St. Paul Planning Commission at 8:30am, Fri., Aug. 21. The hearing, held in the City Hall basement conference room, centers on recommendations meant to discourage institutions from buying properties outside of their city-approved boundaries and tearing them down. The recommendations already face a challenge from Macalester College.

Comments made at the hearing or submitted in writing will be sent back to the Planning Commission’s Neighborhood Planning Committee for review. The committee will then make a recommendation to the full commission.

A commission recommendation then goes to the St. Paul City Council for a second public hearing, most likely this fall. If the City Council approves the study findings, those would be incorporated into city zoning regulations affecting institutions.

The main recommendation considered by the Planning Commission affects the fate of institutionally-owned properties outside of a campus boundary. The proposed zoning code change states that any property where the primary structure has been demolished within the past ten years shall not be eligible for inclusion in a college, university or seminary boundary.

Planning Director Donna Drummond said the proposed change doesn’t prohibit institutions from buying property outside of their approved boundaries. The intent is to have more discussion of how those properties are used in the future. Once a property is purchased, and a building comes down, that changes the surrounding neighborhood.

Two St. Paul institutions of higher education, Hamline University, and Macalester College, have purchased several properties outside of their boundaries. Hamline has caused controversy by tearing down houses with little or no neighborhood notice.

Midway Men’s Club makes donation

Midway Men’s Club has donated $19,500 to the St., Paul Department of Parks and Recreation. The St. Paul City Council accepted the donation July 15.

The club has raised money for youth activities in the Midway area since 1960. Its fundraising efforts include a food stand at the Minnesota State Fair.

This year’s donation will be split among several groups. Hancock Recreation Center will receive $6,000. West Minnehaha and North Dale recreation centers will receive $4,000 apiece. The Canvas Teen Arts Center will receive $1,000, with $1,000 apiece also going to Oxford Community Center and Scheffer Recreation Center. Merriam Park and Northwest Como recreation centers will each receive $500. Another $1,500 will be donated to adaptive recreation programs, for people with disabilities.

New home guidelines set

The St. Paul City Council’s adoption on July 22 of a new ordinance reducing the maximum height and size of new and remodeled homes in the Highland Park and Macalester-Groveland neighborhoods is seen by housing preservation advocates as just the starting point. Citywide, efforts will continue to discourage the teardown of homes and their replacement with houses that are out of character with the rest of surrounding neighborhoods.

District councils from Hamline-Midway, Union Park, and other area neighborhoods have expressed interest in seeing if guidelines could be developed for their specific areas. In Hamline-Midway, teardowns by Hamline University have caused consternation.

The new ordinance will take effect 30 days after its publication. The new design standards reduce the maximum height and footprint of new houses and accessory structures, as well as the size of new additions in the two neighborhoods. Some regulations, on new multi-family buildings, will take effect citywide.

While the new height and lot coverage limits may discourage housing developers from tearing down rather than remodeling existing homes, several local preservation groups believe that more needs to be done to preserve the historic character of all of St. Paul’s neighborhoods. In several neighborhoods, measures are being discussed including conservation districts and a one-year moratorium on demolition permits. Conservation districts are a tool to preserve neighborhoods without the more complex regulations of a local or national historic preservation district.

Marshall median funding

More than a year after it sparked controversy in Merriam Park neighborhood, the long-awaited Marshall Ave. median project at Wilder St. is moving ahead. On a 4-0 vote, July 15 the St. Paul City Council approved a funding shift to allow the project to go forward. No one appeared at a council public hearing to speak about the project. The council action shifts $57,500 in Neighborhood Sales Tax Revitalization (STAR) funds to the project. Council President Russ Stark, who shepherded the project through design changes, was absent.

One letter was received July 15 in opposition, from Union Park District Council (UPDC) member and bicycle advocate Benita Warns. She said the existing medians on Marshall created unsafe conditions for bicyclists and made the street less safe for public safety vehicles. UPDC is trying to get the funds redirected.

The project won City Council approval in February 2014 with design changes to accommodate vehicle access for Marshall Liquor, which is at the northwest corner of Marshall and Wilder. It was postponed in 2014 due to higher-than-anticipated bids.

Advocates clamored for the median to slow motor vehicles and aid pedestrians in an area with much foot traffic. But foes said a median will simply shift traffic problems and make conditions less safe for motorists and bicyclists, and would give pedestrians a false sense of security. Macalester College later withdrew $50,000 it allocated to build the median at Wilder St., citing objections to project changes. That money was a match to a $40,000 STAR grant awarded a few years ago and $40,000 in city funds.

Last year the project budget was $130,000, although that has risen slightly. Work will be done by the same contractor doing the Como-Chatsworth Residential Streets Vitality Program project this construction season.

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