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Wednesday, November 1, 2006, 5:30 p.m.
Dunn Brothers, Sixth & University Avenues SE

Members Present: Noah Bly, Arvonne Fraser, Bill Huntzicker, Ardes Johnson, Jo Radzwill, Steve Swanson, Paul White

Guests: Kim Bartmann, Karin Bartmann and John Eckley (Restaurant at 509 First Ave NE); Richard Victor (Development Consultant for 500 Central Avenue)

1. This is the first meeting of the Land Use Committee to be held at the new meeting time. The meeting seems to be fairly well attended – different people than we sometimes have.
2. 509 First Ave NE – Kim Bartmann, owner of Bryant Lake Bowl, would like to open a restaurant at 509 First Ave NE (Nicollet Island East Bank Neighborhood). Although this is not in the M-H neighborhood, Ms Bartmann makes it her practice to present her proposals to all the surrounding neighborhoods when she undertakes a new project. The building is owned by John Eckley, owner of City Salvage. Kim proposes to use the half the building for a restaurant. Prices would range between the food prices at Bryant Lake Bowl and Barbette (her restaurant in Uptown). Food was described as New American and would be locally farmed and be healthier in nature. She plans to have a liquor license and some music (not loud) with no dancing. Atmosphere would be provided by some of John’s antiques. Although the area has quite a few restaurants, Kim feels there would be a good market for this type of restaurant because of its difference from other neighborhood restaurants. The plan is to be open by mid February.The City requires 1 parking space for each 50 sq. ft. of commercial space. There are 18 parking spaces on the property and the restaurant would be able to use Popular Front’s lot at the corner of Sixth St NE and First Ave NE after 5 p.m. (Popular Front’s workers leave at 5 p.m.) Kim is asking for a letter of support from our Neighborhood.ACTION: The Marcy-Holmes Land Use Committee supports the project and recommends the Board act on the project by adopting the following letter: The Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood supports Kim Bartmann’s proposal for a mid-priced restaurant to be located at 509 First Avenue. It is our understanding that the facility would apply for a liquor license and would have music from time to time, but would not be classed as a “night club” as it would not include dancing.

   It would be located in an area that is fast becoming an activity center and would provide a nice addition to the mix of restaurants already located in the area.

3. Revised Developer’s Checklist – The Land Use Committee adopted the attached Developer’s Checklist document.ACTION: It was moved, seconded and approved that the attached Developer’s Checklist be used for all developers whose projects include new construction or major renovation of multiple dwellings or commercial units.
4. The previously appointed housing subcommittee gave us a report and submitted their minutes which are attached to these minutes of the Land Use committee as part of the official business. After some mundane suggestions, the subcommittee was given the task of contriving its own distinctive name.
5. 500 Central Avenue – Current plans are for Estee Lauder, the parent company of Aveda, to develop a LEED certified (green building). The architect is Jack Buxell. The first two floors of the building would be used for the Aveda School. The upper two levels would be rental spaces (possibly dormitories – not finalized at this time) for Aveda students. The development would have two levels of underground parking (85 spaces). The entrance and exit would be set back from the sidewalk as far as the garage in the adjacent town home so as not to endanger pedestrians. The committee questioned what percentage of the parking would be used for commercial parking and what percentage would be used for residents. It is unclear whether the school is increasing its enrollment or whether they are moving the students from other rental facilities to this one. In addition, it is unclear whether any of these parking spaces will free up street parking now used by the students. Other projects by the same developer include Aldridge Arena in North St. Paul and a rental building in an elevator in Northeast Minneapolis. Comments were made, again, about the elaborate design of the preliminary design. The consultant informed us the developer likes the design.
6. Tenth and University Avenues SE – University Partners, a student housing developer based in Dallas, TX is planning mixed-use student rental housing for this site. Melissa Bean and Jo Radzwill met with representatives of the firm in October and were shown the footprint of the preliminary design. The architects are ESG. The plan is to have 75 units with underground parking for the residents. There will be some surface parking for the commercial space. The residential will be primarily 1 and 2 bedroom units with a mix of 3 and 4 bedroom units as needed. They are expecting completion to be about 1 to 2 years out. They will be back before the land use committee as plans progress. There was some negative reaction to the idea of rental property.
7. Other Updates:
   1. Superior Plating – There will be a public meeting regarding redevelopment for the site (This is a four phase project and Superior Plating is looking toward the future when it will someday be relocating to a more industrial site.) The meeting will be held at the Ukrainian Event Center Hall on Main Street SE on Saturday, November 18, 2006, from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. (Doors will be open at 9:30 a.m.)
   2. Sale of certain parking ramps by the City of Minneapolis – The City has received 13 proposals to purchase one or more of eight City-owned parking ramps. The request for proposals called for proposals to either develop the site or continue to run the ramps as parking facilities. The St Anthony ramp received bids from five different companies. The City’s timetable for acting on these proposals follows: November – December 2006 there will be a period of confidential evaluation conducted by CPED, Public Works and Finance. In January – February 2007 the information will be released for the participation process / neighborhood review and in February – March 2007 there will be a recommendation to City Council and selection.ACTION: The Land Use committee recommends that the MHNA Board pass a resolution opposing the sale of the St. Anthony Parking Ramp. (NOTE – this motion did not pass at the subsequent MHNA board meeting.)
   3. Call for members of the Riverfront Policy Oversight (RPO) Task Force – The four Central Riverfront neighborhood organization chairs (Downtown Mpls NA, MHNA, NIEBNA, and the Whse District-North Loop Assoc.) have been asked to recommend one member representing the 4 neighborhoods on the Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) which is to provide input as to the optimum organizational model for Minneapolis as it seeks to continue its riverfront revitalization. The 26-member BRTF will meet for 3 workshops (daytime) of 3 – 4 hours each. The Land Use committee had no volunteers. Arvonne was already serving on this task force representing another organization.
   4. 1117 Eighth Street SE – The old building has been demolished. At the time of the Land Use meeting, all members assumed the tri-plex with 5 bedrooms in each unit would be constructed very shortly. Since the meeting Jo Radzwill has spoken to Shanna Sether, CPED planner for this project, and discovered that the building has not yet received final approval from the City (Each unit must have two methods of egress – these were not in the original plan). Construction has been stalled until the building meets all City requirements. In past meetings the committee has discussed sending a letter expressing our concerns regarding projects of this type. Because the Land Use chairman had not yet composed the letter, she is taking the liberty of doing so now.ACTION: The Land Use committee recommends that the MHNA Board submit a letter to City Planning and Economic Development expressing the following reasons for opposing facilities such as the one at 1117 Eighth Street SE:
      • Triplexes such as this are replacing single-family homes in several parts of the neighborhood.
      • The neighborhood prefers owner-occupied housing to absentee landlord management.
      • The usual leasing procedure is for the landlord to lease each of the units to one person and then that person rents out each of the five bedrooms – basically, operating as a rooming house. This is a concern to the neighborhood because the landlord has less control over behavior of the residents.
      • A big problem for the neighborhood is the lack of parking at facilities such as this. The City parking requirement is only 1 off-street parking space per unit. In this case three off-street spaces are required. This facility has the potential of the residents requiring 15 parking spaces (one for each occupant of a bedroom). Once the three off-street parking spaces are used, the residents are left to park in the street, creating problems for permanent neighborhood residents as well as congestion on the streets.
      • The Marcy-Holmes Master Plan objective is 0.5 off-street parking spaces per bedroom. In order to meet the MHNA objective a project of the scope of 1117 Eighth Street SE would need 7.5 off-street parking spaces – this particular project falls far short of the neighborhood goal.
      • The administrative site plan review is problematic to the neighborhood for several reasons:
        • The neighborhood does not get direct input into the process.
        • The requirements are insufficient to allow the construction to blend into the neighborhood – The window percentage is too low to make the structure appealing (large blank walls need to be addressed); materials often do not blend well with the existing homes in the neighborhood and often the mere addition of some well-placed exterior detailing on the building (e.g. 4″ trim around the windows) will allow the building to fit the context of the neighborhood.
        • Landscaping of the site to obscure the foundation walls as well as in the parking surface will make the facility more attractive more in context with other neighborhood surroundings. Such things as rain gardens and green roofs gain favor with the neighborhood.
        • The neighborhood favors permeable surfaces for parking and walkways.
      • The Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association asks that the City review all regulations for this type of development.

      (The letter should be sent to Director of CPED, Shanna Sether, the developer, and Council Member Hofstede.)

   5. Save the SE Library building – A request from Phillip Koski, Chair of the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission was received asking persons who are interested in saving the SE Library building, one Ralph Rapson’s few remaining public buildings, to contact members of the Library Board or City Council. No formal action was taken.
   6. Neighborhood Impact Report — There will be a meeting for those who completed the survey on the U of MN Neighborhood Impact to review the findings of this survey – This is what we found – Is this what you said? The meeting will be held Thursday, November 9, 5:30 p.m. at the Radisson University, Nolte Room. Please attend, particularly if you participated in the survey.

Please fill out and return this form to MHNA or a Land Use Committee representative at least 5 business days prior to your scheduled appearance. Simply type your responses to items 1 through 6 into this document and email it to MHNA Land Use at: mhna@pro-ns.net. Please submit as much of the requested information as you can electronically; bring any other materials to the meeting with copies for 10 people.

The following information will help us review your project before making a recommendation to the City of Minneapolis.

1. Information about PRESENTER(S):
   1. Individual name(s), title(s), company name(s), complete contact information (NOTE: this may be different from the owners of the proposed project if presenter is a contractor for owners).
   2. Addresses and brief description of other properties PRESENTERS own, operate, developed, worked on, or are affiliated with in MHNA or the Twin Cities area.
2. Information about project PRINCIPAL(S):
   1. Individual name(s), company name(s), contact information for PRINCIPALS of the proposed project
   2. Addresses and descriptions of other properties the PRINCIPALS of the proposed project have owned and/or operated in Twin Cities area during the last 5 years.
3. Information about the project:
   1. A general description of the project including the uses, target market, construction type, and architecture. List the number of dwelling units, commercial square feet and parking provided (both enclosed and surface).
   2. An aerial photo showing the site or sites in the context of the surrounding streets (available free on the web from Google Earth or from Hennepin County).
   3. Site plan that includes adjoining buildings.
   4. Preliminary building drawings – (bring 10 half size or 11×17 to the meeting).
   5. Any other information you can provide to help us understand your project including renderings or photos of similar projects.
4. List all actions you are requesting from us, i.e. support for government approvals required for the project. For public approvals, please list each request such as rezoning, conditional uses, variances, etc.
5. Discuss how your project complies with the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Master Plan. How? (You can review the Plan at: http://www.marcy-holmes.org/)
6. How will this project benefit our neighborhood? The City?
7. What negative impacts might this project have for our community?

Please be ready to discuss the project in its context – surroundings, etc. Depict the project in relationship within the entire block.

1. There was discussion that in 20 years MH could become sought after real estate by virtue of proximity to downtown and housing stock.
2. General sense that we take a more proactive posture with regard to the direction of development in MH.

Goals:

1. Stop demolition of original housing stock
2. Accelerate sales in MH to owner occupants
3. Reposition apartment/rental properties

Strategies:

1. Establish a CDC for following purposes:
   1. Market neighborhood to appropriate target markets with separate campaigns for home buyers and renters
   2. Purchase, renovate, reposition and market rental apartment buildings (approximately 200 units)
   3. Facilitate the renovation of high quality home in the core through redevelopment or construction subsidy
2. Lean on the U of M for funding
   1. Foundation investment in a CDC
   2. U of M underwrite a CDC
   3. Stadium process – grant
   4. U of M replicate Macalester College’s High Winds Fund
3. Market MH to home buyers likely/capable to renovate
   1. Target types with money for renovation (professionals looking for homes)
   2. We must improve availability/visibility of homes-for-sale
4. Request NRP funds to hire project support for this effort
5. Increase regulatory pressure on badly managed rental properties
6. Eliminate “relative homesteading”

Other/Tools:

1. People at CURA are performing GIS analysis of housing trends in MH that could be useful
2. MHNA Livability Map