Recapping Palmisano Presents: Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan Draft

PALMISANO PRESENTS: MINNEAPOLIS 2040 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DRAFT MEETING RECAP

I admire everyone who came to provide feedback for, engage with, and learn about the Comp Plan draft. Director Worthington and I were able to address many questions and have a thoughtful discussion about this draft, and that is in no small part because of the engagement of those in attendance and those who filled out the pre-forum survey. So to everyone who attended the event, or called my office or sent emails or letters, thank you for your engagement.

The dozens of questions posed to us by participants at the forum helped me better understand the lens through which you are examining this draft plan. While it’s hard to have a conversation about generational guidance for how our neighborhoods can look and operate, it is easier when you are able to do so in a space full of robust opinions and can engage with the creator of the material. That is why I brought the owner of this draft, Director Worthington, for a conversation to help dispel some of the myths surrounding the draft and enable you all to better understand parts of this plan well enough to provide your feedback.

The discussion was segmented into four topics: Built Form and Land Use, Housing, Transportation, as well as a section for other concerns that addressed many additional aspects of the plan. The questions we didn’t have time to ask in the forum are included at the end of the recap along with answers provided to us by Long Range Planning.

BUILT FORM & LAND USE
As most of you are aware this draft of the plan calls for some big changes to the current zoning for our city. The aspect that folks are most aware of and that is getting the most attention is that the zoning code could allow for residential buildings of up to a fourplex (four dwelling units in one structure) where today only single family homes can exist per current zoning rules. This has raised many concerns among residents of historically single family neighborhoods. Some of these concerns range from whether the city will employ eminent domain, to how will this impact the footprint and setback requirements to homes? To the first question, the answer is absolutely not- the city will not employ eminent domain to build fourplexes nor claim any privately owned property. Long Range Planning’s vision for this rezoning is based on the idea that current and future owners may choose to build homes of up to four units if they so choose.

I want to say again, as I did at the forum, that I am concerned about whether this is a responsible development decision. I’m concerned that it proposes to increase density in interior corridors but doesn’t address why our transit corridors aren’t being developed when they’re already zoned for higher density. These are concerns that I have expressed and have heard from many of you.

Many residents came with an overarching inquiry surrounding the plan as a whole: how will these changes take effect? The answer to this question is: slowly, and through standard city processes. Comprehensive Plans are used to guide future growth, but would never mandate such growth. The draft plan proposes broad policy changes that would guide future zoning changes by Council. In order for those changes to be incorporated, many other ordinances and departmental policies would have to be changed to allow for them. That means reevaluations of items such as housing footprint requirements and studies to determine what those exact figures would be. This process would encompass setbacks, parking requirements, etc... These aspects of our existing policies would not be eliminated, but updated. This leads us into the first topic discussed at the forum.

HOUSING
As Director Worthington pointed out, our city is expected to grow in the next few decades. That growth is coming and we need to best prepare for that. One proposal that Long Range Planning has presented is this new zoning change to allow for up to four unit buildings on what is currently single-residential lots. They explained that parts of our city lack housing varieties and that increasing choice for homeowners would help accommodate the influx of new residents.

I have long championed creation of different types of housing across the city and in our own neighborhoods. I appreciate the need for more housing and support responsible development, but I want to make sure that we are not forgetting another aspect of the plan that I am concerned is not being considered here: affordable housing. I am concerned that fourplexes in the 13th Ward do not equal affordable housing. I am concerned that without some other inclusion to this draft plan, developers will be given a new market to operate in and charge market rate prices that will not bring socio-economic diversity or home ownership opportunities to our Ward. We are facing a housing crisis and we are facing an affordable housing crisis. We need to tackle both issues in order to both prepare for the growing population and also address the systemic issues that led to our affordable housing crisis, like racial covenants and redlining.

TRANSPORTATION
Our last structured topic at the forum was transportation and I hear and understand that there are folks who are concerned about parking. As we expect growth in the city, both of population, but also development, this document allows us to reevaluate parking to make sure it works. The Comprehensive Plan does not eliminate off street parking requirements. Instead it would necessitate a reevaluation of the current parking requirements to meet the needs of the proposed policies.The proposed policy is not meant to ‘get rid of’ cars or even assume there will be fewer, but it does encourage the pursuit of creative ways to identify opportunities for use of fewer single occupancy vehicles long term. Twenty years from now, it is reasonable to think that our daily use of motor vehicles will be different. As with the rest of the draft plan, the planning team is welcoming of specific feedback on ways to best address parking concerns.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Right now we are a little over half-way into the public comment period for the draft. I ask for your engagement, the sooner the better. On July 22nd that period closes but that doesn’t mean you still can’t participate in the process. After that period closes, Long Range Planning begins the process of incorporating feedback received and I’m told they will ask each Council Member’s input where I will be able to voice my concerns and all of yours as well. By late September, we will see an updated version of the draft and it will begin to come through the city’s Planning Commission, and finally through Council where we will need to approve it’s submission. You have time to comment directly on the plan and use my office as a medium for your voice. The process will be complete by late November. Here is a link to the full timeline. I feel strongly that it would be most effective for you to comment on this first draft of the plan in the next six weeks (by July 22nd timeline).

Director Worthington made it clear to those present at the forum that comments are indeed being read and that we will see those comments reflected in the updated version come September. I am excited to see those updates because I am excited to see some of these concerns addressed.

We held this forum to dispel myths and encourage you to respond to this draft. I do not endorse this first draft of the Comprehensive Plan.

I am reaching out to help enable you all to comment and help shape or re-shape this plan. Whether that is through the 2040 website, through me directly, or my staff, or straight to the Long Range Planning office. I want to see this draft change and reflect the needs of the 13th Ward and the city as a whole, and I need all of you to help impact that process.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
1. How does the 2040 plan work with MPLS schools to ensure access to quality schools?

Under state statute, comprehensive plans in the metropolitan area address land use planning as it relates to the regional systems overseen by the Metropolitan Council – transportation, housing, wastewater, and regional parks. Education is not a regional system and not required to be addressed in comprehensive plans.

While a City’s comprehensive plan does not have any direct influence on a school district’s operations, there is certainly an important relationship between the physical development of the city and the schools. One focus of the housing policies in the draft plan is increasing housing choice, so that more people can live in more parts of the city (See Policy 1, Access to Housing). This could have an effect on school attendance. The Economic Competitiveness section conveys the importance of a quality education to our economy as a whole and to overcoming the persistent inequities across race in terms of employment rates, incomes, educational attainment, and health.

2. Will the current ordinance for residential construction be changed? (Height, setbacks, mass, footprint, etc.)The comprehensive plan is a policy document, and does not on its own change regulations. Following adoption of the plan, the City will embark on a multiyear effort to update the zoning code and map to be consistent with the policies and maps of the new comp plan. For areas shown as Interior 1 in the draft Built Form map, this would mean regulating structures in a similar manner that the zoning code does today.

3. What happens to Shoreland Overlays? They are not in the plan and they are key to our parks.The comprehensive plan is a policy document, and does not on its own change regulations such as the Shoreland Overlay District. Following adoption of the plan, the City will embark on a multiyear effort to update the zoning code and map to be consistent with the policies and maps of the new comp plan. The draft comprehensive plan does include policies that set the stage for doing more to improve stormwater management and improve surface water quality, which is the main intent of the state statute that led to the creation of the Shoreland Overlay District. The following three draft policies relate most directly to this issue: Policy 72, Policy 73, and Policy 74.

4. What empirical studies can you site that shows increased density lowers housing costs? The draft plan does not assert that increased density lowers housing costs. Rather, the plan makes that case that as the city’s population continues to increase, keeping up with housing demand is necessary to ensure that there is enough supply to avoid even steeper increases in housing costs.

5. Along a corridor, why do you take only one side of the block for high density instead of both sides (Lyndale and Aldrich) and make gradual transitions into single family dwellings? How you have it now has 6 story buildings in the backyards of single family homes! We’re assuming this is about the 5600 and 5700 block in the vicinity of Trunk Highway 121. This is a helpful comment, and we will take a closer look at this area as we make revisions to the maps.

6. How will the plan specifically address gentrification? Please see the Affordable and Accessible Housing goal, including Policy 43 on housing displacement.

7. Why have we lost 15,000 units of affordable housing? The units still exist, but they have become unaffordable to households making less than 50% of Area Median Income as rents and sale prices have increased.

8. How many parcels will be rezoned in Ward 13? The comprehensive plan is a policy document, and does not on its own change regulations. Following adoption of the plan, the City will embark on a multiyear effort to update the zoning code and map to be consistent with the policies and maps of the new comp plan.

9. What determined only one block involved on Aldrich Ave? (5600 block) This is a helpful comment, and we will take a closer look at this area as we make revisions to the maps.

10. How can I get a full hard copy of the draft? There is now a PDF version of the draft plan available at https://minneapolis2040.com/pdf/.

11. Are there plans to put high density housing along (Hwy 55) Hiawatha where the light rail is already serving the area? Yes. The draft Built Form Map shows transit-supportive building types near METRO light rail stations.

12. How/where does the “comp plan” relate to actual zoning changes? Are not 40 acre studies required? The comprehensive plan is a policy document, and does not on its own change regulations. Following adoption of the plan, the City will embark on a multiyear effort to update the zoning code and map to be consistent with the policies and maps of the new comp plan

13. How will developers be convinced to build affordable housing? Among the draft Housing policies in the draft plan is one devoted to mixed-income housing, including an action step to explore inclusionary housing policies. This action step is actually already underway, as the City is exploring options for incentivizing and requiring affordable housing in new market-rate development.

14. Why won’t there be an influx of expensive high-rises or multi-unit dwellings as there now are in Uptown? New multifamily housing is being built today in many parts of the city, including southwest Minneapolis. This trend is expected to continue as the population of the region increases and more people choose to live in our city. Rents and sale prices of new and existing housing are determined by the marketplace.

15. On what solid information do you base assumptions about the need for parking for residents of new fourplexes? The draft plan proposes a future change to the zoning ordinance to no longer require off-street parking to be provided in new construction as a matter of regulation. The marketplace would determine the amount of off street parking to provide, rather than the City.

16. How will the plan be coordinated with and connected to adjacent communities like St. Louis Park, Edina, Richfield, Robbinsdale and etc.? City planning staff have good working relationships with our neighboring cities, and we are coordinating with one another as we all update our cities’ comprehensive plans.

17. How will you plan for parking issues – the streets around my house are full of cars on both sides of the street as it is. The draft plan proposes a future change to the zoning ordinance to no longer require off-street parking to be provided in new construction as a matter of regulation. The marketplace would determine the amount of off street parking to provide, rather than the City.

18. The built form maps show 30 story towers and 17 ten and fifteen story buildings at the north end of Bede Maka Ska. How will that area west and around the lake handle all the additional traffic? This question appears to reference an illustration that is associated with Policy 80 on Development near METRO Stations citywide. The area north of Bde Maka Ska is the future home of the West Lake station on the METRO Green Line extension. The Green Line extension runs in a freight rail right-of way for much of its extent, including in this area. This results in a unique set of weaknesses, strengths, and constraints related to the physical environment of each station. And every station area has a need for improvements in connectivity and place-making. With strategic investments, METRO station areas can become high-quality, walkable districts for living, working, shopping, and recreating for people of all ages and incomes. In this way, they have the capacity for meeting the needs of our growing city. That’s what the draft policy is intended to convey, and it happens to use an illustration of a possible future for the West Lake station area to help make this point.

For more detail on built form guidance in this area, see the draft Built Form map. For more information about vehicle traffic in this area, see the West Lake Street Multimodal Transportation report.

19. How many units of affordable housing did we lose in the past xx years?? How does this happen? The city lost 15,000 units of housing affordable to households making 50% or less of Area Median Income between 2000 and 2016. The units still exist, but they have become unaffordable as rents and sale prices have increased.

20. The transit corridors such as 50th street are already busy with traffic, but are narrow. With the plan to add so many more apartments/condos along those streets, where would all the new traffic go? In order to meet the City’s goal of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a substantial reduction in the number of car trips will be necessary, even as new development continues to happen. The draft policies under the Climate Change and Complete Neighborhoods goals lay out a strategy for how changes to land use and transportation can work together to help achieve this goal.

21. Will a fourplex be allowed on a 40ft lot? The proposal for areas shown as Interior 1 in the draft Built Form map is as follows: “New buildings in the Interior 1 district should be primarily small-scale residential structures on traditional size city lots with up to four dwelling units, including single-family, duplex, 3-unit, 4-unit, and accessory dwelling unit building types. Building heights should be 1 to 2.5 stories.” The reference to “traditional size city lots” in this text is referring to typical lots, which are 40 or 50 feet wide.

22. As we increase density how do we ensure to maintain the quality of the lakes and neighborhoods? We need to add details to zoning for setbacks, green space, drainage, sun space. Can we add these details to keep the high quality of these neighborhoods? Yes! We do need to get these details right in the multi-year zoning code update that will take place following adoption of the comp plan. The overarching framework provided by the comp plan will serve as the guide for developing those detailed ordinances, so we encourage people to read and provide comment on specific draft policies in the comprehensive plan that relate to the issues cited in the question. For example, there is a draft policy about integrating water management into development (Policy 74), and a draft policy about open spaces in new development (Policy 9)

23. How many planning meetings were in SW MPLS of the 60+ meeting held? Did you engage our residents and gain knowledge on what we see for the future? Full documentation of the engagement process, which has been taking place in all parts of the city, is available on the webs site: https://minneapolis2040.com/planning-process/

24. How does the plan address “new” infrastructure required to address growth in population? Like how our schools already have funding issues. Under state statute, comprehensive plans in the metropolitan area address land use planning as it relates to the regional systems overseen by the Metropolitan Council – transportation, housing, wastewater, and regional parks. Education is not a regional system and not required to be addressed in comprehensive plans, but the draft plan does highlight the importance of education in achieving the Minneapolis 2040 goals.

25. Why has the planning department taken so long to engage the SW community in seeking input? Why weren’t “talk-back” events held in SW when they were held in other communities/neighborhoods? Your data collection efforts didn’t include all communities. How is that fair? Full documentation of the engagement process, which has been taking place in all parts of the city, is available on the webs site: https://minneapolis2040.com/planning-process/

26. What obligates this neighborhood/any neighborhood in the city to increase the population? Can a city be full? Isn’t that why we build mass transit? Population and employment growth are happening with or without a plan. The City is required by state law to conduct land use planning, and Minneapolis has chosen to plan with a purpose beyond the requirements of state statute, in order to implement the 14 Minneapolis 2040 Goals adopted by the City Council.

27. To what degree and where in the Ward 13 will current housing be impacted? i.e. purchases by developers and torn down for multi-family housing. The draft Land Use and Built Form maps show the type of development that would be allowed. It is important to note that not every property in the city will be redeveloped between now and 2040. Rather, these maps provide guidance in the event that a change is proposed by a property owner.

28. What is the timeline for this plan? Is it meant to be completed in 2040 or sooner? The plan will guide City decision-making for the next ten years, with an eye toward the year 2040. After ten years, the City will update the plan again in accordance with state statute.

29. Why not change the existing system to require developers to show that the proposed apartments are indeed going to be affordable? The draft Mixed Income Housing policy in the draft comprehensive plan includes an action step to expand the City’s inclusionary housing policies and tools. This is actually already underway, including discussion about the possibility of requiring affordable housing to be built in conjunction with market rate development.

30. How are you going to change the plan to address airplane noise at the source? Airport noise is a noticeable gap in the current draft. City staff will include language about this topic in the updated draft, consistent with established City policy positions related to the airport.

31. How is this plan going to impact landing tracks? Too much noise. Airport noise is a noticeable gap in the current draft. City staff will include language about this topic in the updated draft, consistent with established City policy positions related to the airport.