May 21, 2002 Minutes
MINUTES of the MHNA GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING 5/21/02 University Lutheran Church of hope, 601 13th Ave SE, Minneapolis.
1. Meeting called to order at 7:30 PM. The agenda was approved.
2. The minutes of the April meeting were approved.
3. First item was a holdover from the MHNA board agenda. An Islamic mosque is being proposed for 619 8th St. SE, currently Royal Products, but known to many as the old Despatch Ovens. Susan Blumentals, architect, spoke about the plans. The building will be used as a religious prayer hall once a week (mid day on Fridays); after school programs and weekend school for younger children; offices for social services that work with the Somali community. At some point a school for younger children may be added. This use is in compliance with the present zoning. There is not adequate parking on site, but they are negotiating with neighboring businesses for more parking spots.. The city requires 75. If they are successful with using neighboring lots, they will have 110. They anticipate 250 worshippers on Fridays. If they do not secure the adjacent parking, they will not go forward with the purchase of this building.
The congregation has been looking for a home for three years. They like this location for its convenience to their members. They came to MHNA as a courtesy and plan to respect the neighbors. Most of the changes to the building will be on the inside, much to make it accessible. The major building entry would at the rear, not as it is currently on 8th S.
Bill Huntzicker asked if traffic could be encouraged to enter form East Hennepin, instead of 8th St. A mosque board member, identified as Abdul, spoke about the Somali people in Minnesota. He has been here seven years. He pointed to the large Somali population in the Phillips neighborhood and noted the large recent increase in home values there. He said they are hard working, peaceful families with many business- oriented entrepreneurs. While he could not guarantee that each and every worshipper would use the designated parking, he expressed a wish to be a good neighbor and if there are problems to contact them.
Karen Melvin asked how the Somali community was able to buy this building and if the group had plans to buy the 8th St. Market and rental property in the neighborhood. Response: Muslims are not allowed to buy houses with mortgages - they buy in cash. This is an obstacle to home ownership . They raised $800,000 for the building they hope to purchase on 8th St. This is a heavily tithing group.
Philip Prowse said that he valued diversity, but was concerned that the development of a Somali presence could affect property values. Harriet Johnson said she was grateful that the Somali community is following the city’s rules on parking, as many longtime churches in the area do not have adequate parking and do inflict parking problems during services. She welcomed the congregation. Others echoed these welcoming comments.
A question was asked about other mosques in residential areas - how have they been affected? Melissa talked to staff at SE Como about the mosque there. They have not had any problems. Bill Huntzicker asked if there would be any events open to the public. They might serve a dinner and invite the neighborhood. Where does this group meet now? In a small place in Cedar Riverside. Paul White said he sees this as a big change for the neighborhood and suggested a study might be in order.
As there are no variances being applied for and this use is allowed under the zoning code, there was no vote needed. Ms Blumentals said she would update us on their progress. It will take about six months to complete construction after the purchase of the building.
4. Two other topics were brought up during the previous item. One was resident permit parking (Bjorn Johnson) and one was a suggestion to eliminate the east side parking ban. Since neither was on the agenda and we were short of time, these were not taken up.
5. Gordon Kepner reported on the Citizens Inspection Program. First, he thanked Jan Morlock, Marguerite Zauner and the 150 U students who participated in the Earth Day/Spring Jam neighborhood clean-up. Thank yous also went out to students at Pease Academy, Aveda Institute, Second Foundation and Heart of the Earth schools. The Citizen Inspections Program trains neighborhood volunteers to look for and report housing code violations that affect safety and livability. These volunteers are an extra set of eyes for the Housing Inspections Dept. They do their observations from the sidewalk, so they are not intrusive. They have photo id.s and work in pairs. This is a pilot project for ten blocks on the east side of the neighborhood. When problems are found, a letter is sent to the owner describing the situation and asking that it be remediated within a certain time. Upon later inspection, if the work has not been done, the complaint goes directly to the housing inspector. People interested in joining should contact Livability through the MHNA office.
6. NRP - Gordon reported that a new coordinator has been hired. She is Elissa Cottle, who formerly worked for the Lowry Hill East neighborhood. She is familiar with NRP, handled Lowry Hill East’s 3.8 million dollars in funding, and replaces Joe Fusco, who did a fine job. Elissa was introduced to the group. She lives in Linden Hills with her husband and two children.
7. Council Member Paul Zerby made some brief comments. Concerning the parking ban brought up earlier, he said the required petition process was followed. He spoke about the mosque presentation. Since there is no city money involved and it is an allowed use under zoning, it will go forward if they get their parking lined up. This needs to be treated like any other mosque or church wanting to locate here. He spoke about a past personal experience, where a drug rehab center wanted to open in Marcy-Holmes, many years ago. This caused some controversy until he hooked up with Joan Leigh, who convinced the neighborhood that this group (called “Pharm House”) would be a great community benefit and in the end people were very supportive. He expects that we will act the same way and welcome the new mosque.
Stone Arch Apts - now has their land assembled and public financing in place. Council Member Zerby has made some objections, but to no avail. The only thing holding up the process is the Metalmatic lawsuit.
Re-Districting- Marcy-Holmes is going to be in the third ward. This was a dirty, lowdown political process. Although he emerged well protected, he still hates to lose Marcy-Holmes. He thinks it’s absurd to separateMarcy-Holmes from the other SE neighborhoods. Lisa Goodman now controls 40%of the city’s tax base because of the changed wards downtown. The fifth ward is now 82% minority. The Green Party is suing the city over the new boundaries. Current representation will stay in effect until a new election, which could come as early as next year.
8. Justin Eibenholzl, SE Como Environmental Coordinator, works to educate residents about air pollution and works with industries to reduce emissions.. He has a new environmental inventory of SE Minneapolis that can be found as a link on the MHNA website (www.marcy-holmes.org) He welcomes our comments and questions A Clean Energy Now campaign against coal burning plants is now underway. It urges closure of loopholes in the current laws and seeks to bring older facilities up to date with environmental standards. Bjorn Johnson, 83, commented that coal burning here has not hurt him.
9. Marguerite Zauner, of U of MN Health Services, talked about substance abuse prevention in 18-24 year olds. In cooperation with University Relations and Boynton Health Services, they have developed a welcoming packet to be distributed to 500 students in Sept. This “off- campus survival guide” will contain information on local laws, parking regulations, responsible hosting of parties, recycling and trash, and also coupons for goods and services. Anyone with suggestions as to what else to include or anyone wishing to help distribute should contact the MHNA office. Summaries are available there, too.
10. Susan Overson, National Park Services, talked about the native plantings about to go in the 6th Ave boulevards from Main St. to University. We got a $15,000 grant to fund this - a visual link from the neighborhood to the river that greens up the corridor to the Stone Arch Bridge. She showed examples of some of the prairie flowers going in (shade species for under trees, some grasses). The gardens will look different every year. We can contract to have the gardens weeded and watered the first year, but she asked us to be stewards of this public garden and look to see if it needs additional watering or weeding. The plants should go in by June 15. The Mpls Park Board is providing dirt and mulch. There will be some signage at either end to inform visitors of the project’s intent and sponsors. She said she was pleased to work with us on this project. A copy of the planting plan will be on file at the office.
11. A few last announcements - The Joan Leigh Memorial Bench will be dedicated on Sat. June 15 at 11 am. The bench is next to the Father Hennepin boulder between the steam plant and the Stone Arch Bridge.
Meeting adjourned at 9 PM with Boulevard Garden info session following. Melissa Bean, staff
NEWS of the MAY 2002 Board MeetingParty Task Force report- Gordon informed us that there was an increase in the number of citations written over Spring Jam, but that not one was from any of the 20 Party Houses that CCP/SAFE door-knocked beforehand, attesting to the effectiveness of that proactive measure.
NRP - There have been some technical problems with our master plan rfp, which appear to be the fault of the planning department. When this was discovered, a group from NRP Implementation went down to City hall to plead for a waiver to the process, so we would not have to start all over. We were granted the waiver, but this put the process about a month behind. DSU, the contractor, has acknowledged the delay and they will still have the job.
OSAA - Brian reported on the latest at OSAA. Sept 15 is the tentative date for a festival on East Hennepin. They want it to be more of a neighborhood -scaled event, and have turned down a request from a rock band. Nye’s is booking the music with the stage expected to be near Surdyk’s. More news as it develops.
Zoning & Planning-
Gary Ellis, Executive Director of Riverton Community Housing, explained his organization’s mission and accomplishments. Riverton is a nonprofit that provides affordable student housing, currently at four locations. (Chateau, Marcy Park are in Marcy-Holmes.) Riverton’s annual report was passed around.. They are now negotiating with Art Mueller to purchase and manage the Mueller Apartment, at 6th St& 14th Ave SE. They hope to close in August. Not much change is anticipated in the way it looks, but it will be run as a coop, with residents making governing decisions. The purchase will be done via nonprofit bonds. Mr. Ellis asked for our support in securing these bonds.
Gordon asked whom to contact at Riverton if there is a problem with a property. Each building has a board of directors, or you can contact the office in the Chateau. Tom asked if there were plans to improve the rather bleak façade and lack of improve the curb appeal at Mueller. . There are none at this time. Are they looking for other buildings? Not now, but eventually want to expand. What is the co-op model? Resident involvement in building decisions; develops a greater sense of community. It’s a leasehold co-op, not an equity co-op; investors are not the determining parties in the way the buildings operate. Mr. Ellis was complimented on the quality of his buildings so far. No objections to his request for support were made.
Update on the Brett Naylor project - MHNA’s Zoning & Planning committee met with him since the last MHNA meeting. He was very open to working with us; talked about an eight -story building, using materials found nearby like brick and stone. He was open to our suggestion of mixed use, but all agreed that it needs to be something that will enhance, not hurt, Dinkytown. It is still early in the process. There will be underground parking coming off 13th Ave and the alley would be cut off.
Pat Duffy, restauranteur, presented information on a pizza shop he plans to open at 1308 5th St SE (now the Hemporium). His wife owns the building and they have been unhappy with the present tenant, whose lease will be up in July. Mr. Duffy has owned and operated the Lowertown Grill in St Paul for six years. He is proposing 4-5 tables in the space, some sidewalk seating and a carry out business. He plans to paint, put up a new awning and a trash enclosure. He is not planning to have any beer or liquor. He will be bringing the building up to fire code. This will be mainly a pizza place, with some juice, pop, maybe soup and sandwiches. His other restaurant is closing so this will be his main operation and he expects to be on premises most of the time.
Stone Arch Apts - Dave P. spoke to John Wall who said site clean up is expected to start after Memorial Day. Construction is scheduled for July, after the lawsuit is resolved. Owners would like to speak to Susan Overson about the native plantings.
Lupient - Steve Swanson attended a task force meeting. The commercial spaces and apartments are basically leased. Although some of the merchants had requested additional parking. they were disappointed to learn that this is not possible - the footings are not strong enough to add more.
Ralph & Jerry’s - Windows are going up, plastic coming down. They plan a market with deli, same owners as Santana. Next door (former Know Name) will be a tobacco shop. Santana will stay put.
Gopher Motel - The owner has decided to put in an additional $850,000 in improvements. There have been problems with contractors.
The Delta Gamma front entryway, shown at last meeting, was not approved at Planning Dept. They thanked us for our support and are heading back to the drawing board.
Evans Scholars project is adding an iron fence. Nothing is being solicited from MHNA, just a FYI, and a drawing was passed around.
