Neighbors discuss concerns over stadium project

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By JANE MCCLURE

As Minnesota United FC stadium plans and a master plan for Midway Center redevelopment move ahead, project neighbors continue to weigh in with concerns and support. More than 100 people filled a MidPointe Event Center room Apr. 19 for a meeting sponsored by Neighbors Against Corporate Subsidies and Neighborhoods First!

The meeting was organized so that advocacy groups and neighbors could raise questions including the use of tax increment financing, infrastructure, tax-base impacts, noise, traffic, parking, and other issues. Organizer Tom Goldstein said the forum should have been held months ago, before a March City Council vote on stadium infrastructure and pollution cleanup financing and property lease agreements.

Superblock site planBut the greatest concern may be parking. When asked for a show of hands, more than half of those present indicated they are worried about spillover parking in the adjacent neighborhoods. When one speaker asked, “Where is parking going to be?” Someone else in the audience replied, “In front of your house.”

St. Paul Director of Planning and Economic Development (PED) Director Jonathan Sage-Martinson repeatedly said that the stadium project isn’t a done deal. Key steps must be taken before the two projects can move ahead. Master plans for the $150 million stadium and the shopping center must be reviewed and approved by the St. Paul Planning Commission and City Council.

“Nothing can be built before the master planning process is completed,” Sage-Martinson said. That is expected to conclude in August.

In the meantime city officials are studying potential traffic and environmental impacts, including the use of an Alternative Urban Area-wide Review (AUAR) to identify potential redevelopment impacts and how those can be mitigated. That also has to be completed before the project moves ahead.

He said city officials were very much aware of the spillover parking concerns. “We’ve heard that throughout the process, and it’s very much on our radar,” he said. City officials hope an ongoing transportation study provides answers.

The property will have about 4,500 parking spaces, most in ramps built into the proposed retail and office structures. There’s also a plan for a lot near Pascal and St. Anthony, which would have about 300 spots. That is for stadium personnel and what have been described as “select” guests. City officials are pushing transit options and remote parking.

Another key step is getting property tax relief and a liquor license passed for Minnesota United. Those issues have gotten through the 2016 Minnesota Legislature House and Senate committee process but haven’t been approved yet.

Several people said they appreciated the chance to ask questions and meet with city officials. Other than a 15- minute period at a community open house earlier this spring, the meeting was the first chance for discussion between city leaders and neighbors. Minnesota United FC and Midway Center owner RK Midway didn’t send representatives.

But there was frustration that not all of the development-related questions could be answered, given the fast pace of the ongoing planning process. “The city does not have it figured out,” said Goldstein. “The city does not have the answers tonight.” Sage-Martinson and Deputy Mayor Kristin Beckmann said they would take the groups’ questions and provide answers. Answers were recently posted on the group’s Facebook page.

Ward Seven Council Member Jane Prince and Rep. Dave Pinto joined Sage-Martinson and Beckmann on a panel that fielded questions. Prince was one of two council members voting against the stadium agreements. She objected to a lack of time given to review the documents before approval and the project coming forward before community review was complete. “I think this is a project that deserves much more public process,” she said. She criticized the notion of a stadium as a catalyst for economic development, calling it “magical thinking.”

Sage-Martinson said the success of CHS Field in Lowertown was proof that a stadium can spark development in a surrounding neighborhood. But several audience members objected, saying much of that redevelopment was happening well before the ball field opened.

Several people asked about shopping center redevelopment and the potential displacement of tenants. The plans call for replacing about 330,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space with two million feet of office and retail space, as well as housing and hotels. One man questioned whether development would happen at all, given the number of plans developed and then shelved. But because the stadium development would require the removal of Rainbow Foods and businesses to the east, there is an incentive for RK Midway to relocate tenants and start the redevelopment process.

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