Star Tribune
Public shows strong support for St. Paul zoning changes geared toward density
In person and in writing, scores of St. Paul residents this week urged the City Council to approve a proposal allowing up to six housing units per lot in neighborhoods that long have permitted only single-family homes.
The council is considering a major overhaul of the zoning code that the city’s Planning and Economic Development Department has been working on for more than two years. Staffers say the set of changes would make it easier to build different types of housing compatible in size and appearance with single-family homes — such as duplexes, fourplexes and townhomes.
As the policy nears the finish line and the council prepares to vote on the changes, perhaps as soon as next week, all but two members of the public spoke in favor of the zoning changes during a public hearing Wednesday. Dozens more sent in letters of support.
Advocates said they believe allowing more density throughout the city would eventually lead to more housing units, in turn leading to more affordable housing options — particularly for low-income families and people of color, who were historically segregated as a result of past zoning policies.
They also said the changes would boost the tax base, promote sustainability and vibrancy and give residents housing options better suited for a variety of lifestyles.
Opponents — who also wrote into the council, though in fewer numbers — said the zoning changes would lead to a loss of neighborhood character, property values, green space and privacy, while increasing congestion and parking problems. Some said they fear the changes will encourage developers to tear down smaller, more affordable homes to build new multi-unit properties.
Under current laws, nearly half of St. Paul’s land can be used only for single-family homes. The changes would allow fourplexes throughout most of the city’s residential neighborhoods, with the exception of a portion of the Highwood area, a hilly part of the Mississippi River bluff on the East Side that isn’t consistently served by city sewer or water services.
Developers would be allowed to build six-unit properties if they meet the city’s “density bonus” requirements, which incentivize builders to convert existing residential properties or add units with three bedrooms or income restrictions.
The proposal would substantially change dimensional requirements to make it feasible to build multi-unit housing. Standards for setbacks, building height and lot size would be altered to give developers more flexibility.
Additional amendments aim to make it easier to build accessory dwelling units — smaller, secondary housing units on the same lot as a single-family home — as well as cluster developments designed around a common courtyard.
City officials noted that allowing this type of housing doesn’t mean it would be built. Financing and building code requirements can create challenges for smaller projects, which may not be able to produce a standard market-rate return.
Minneapolis may be evidence of the slow-moving nature of such reforms. The city was the first in the United States to abolish single-family zoning as part of its 2040 Comprehensive Plan passed in 2018, but it hasn’t yet seen a deluge of duplexes and triplexes.
The fate of Minneapolis’ policy is also up in the air due to a lawsuit filed by activists who argue that the city failed to adequately study the environmental impacts of its plan. Last month, the city appealed a District Court order to halt implementation of the plan.
While Minneapolis’ policymaking process was wracked with contention, a few Twin Cities suburbs — including Roseville, Richfield and Bloomington — have more quietly passed reforms allowing additional duplexes.
Of St. Paul’s seven council members, only Jane Prince expressed concerns about the proposed policy.
“There are so many good things about this,” Prince said. “But I do not feel that we have adequately investigated what I think someone referred to as the potential unintended consequences, which I think are vast.”
Councilmembers Mitra Jalali, Rebecca Noecker, Nelsie Yang and Council President Amy Brendmoen all spoke in favor of the proposal.
“I don’t often leave public hearings — especially ones about zoning code changes — feeling excited,” Noecker said. “But there was so much positivity and enthusiasm, and so much of a vision expressed here today for a more dense and vibrant city, that I just want you to know it’s left me feeling charged and really eager for the changes that are in front of us.”
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and her daughter were among the throngs Friday as President Joe Biden delivered the apology that many Indigenous Americans thought would never come.
“I think he really said the things that people have been waiting to hear for generations, acknowledged just the horror and trauma of literally having our children stolen from our communities,” said Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. “It’s a powerful first step towards healing.”
Hundreds of boarding schools operated in the 19th and 20th centuries, separating Indigenous children from their families and forcing them to assimilate to European ways. Many children were abused, and at least 973 died, according to a report from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Other Minnesotans reacted similarly to Flanagan, saying they welcomed the apology but that additional action is needed to help Indigenous people move forward.
Anton Treuer, a professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University, wrote in a newsletter that the apology was “a welcome first step on the journey to healing.”
“There is no way to truly right historical injustices for the children buried at Carlisle, Haskell, and other schools, but these words set a new tone for the country and will help heal the anguish so many Natives have carried for so long,” Treuer wrote. “It gives me hope that we can come together to reconcile and heal our troubled nation.”
Sen. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, the first Indigenous woman to serve in the state Senate, called Biden’s apology encouraging.
“This recognition of past wrongdoings is an important step towards healing relationships between the United States and the sovereign nations affected by these past systems,” Kunesh said in a statement. “This dark period of American history must be remembered and taught.”
“I have done everything in my power to remedy this situation, and it continues to get more and more violent by the day,” Moturi wrote. “There have been numerous times when I’ve seen Sawchak outside and contacted law enforcement, and there was no response. I am not confident in the pursuit of Sawchak given that Sawchak attacked me, MPD officers had John detained, and despite an HRO and multiple warrants — they still let him go.”
On Friday, five City Council members sent a letter to Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara expressing their “utter horror at MPD’s failure to protect a Minneapolis resident from a clear, persistent and amply reported threat posed by his neighbor.”
Council Members Andrea Jenkins, Elliott Payne, Aisha Chughtai, Jason Chavez and Robin Wonsley went on to allege that police had failed to submit reports to the County Attorney’s Office despite threats being made with weapons, and at times while Sawchak screamed racial slurs. Sawchak is white and Moturi is Black.
The council members also contend in their letter that the MPD told the County Attorney’s Office that police did not intend to execute the warrant for “reasons of officer safety.”
At a Friday afternoon news conference at MPD’s Fifth Precinct, O’Hara said police had been working to arrest Sawchak since at least April, but “no Minneapolis police officers have had in-person contact with that suspect since the victim in this case has been calling us.” The chief pointed out that Sawchak is mentally ill, has guns and refuses to cooperate “in the dozens of times that police officers have responded to the residence.”
O’Hara put aside the option to carry out “a high-risk warrant based on these factors [and] the likelihood of an armed, violent confrontation where we may have to use deadly force with the suspect.” The preference, he said, was to arrest Sawchak outside his home, but “in this case, this suspect is a recluse and does not come out of the house.”
ROCHESTER – The Federal Transit Administration has green-lighted an $85 million grant supporting the development of the city’s planned Link Bus Rapid Transit system.
The FTA formally announced the grant on Friday during a ceremonial check presentation outside of the Mayo Civic Center, one of the seven stops planned for the bus line. The federal grant will cover about 60% of the project’s estimated $143.4 million price tag, with the remaining funds coming from Destination Medical Center, the largest public-private development project in state history.
Set to go live in 2026, the 2.8-mile Link system will connect downtown Rochester, including Mayo Clinic’s campuses, with a proposed “transit village” that will include parking, hundreds of housing units and a public plaza. The bus line will be the first of its kind outside the Twin Cities — with service running every five minutes during peak hours.
“That means you may not even need to look at a schedule,” said Veronica Vanterpool, deputy administrator for the FTA. “You can just show up at your transit stop and expect the next bus to come in a short time. That is a game changer and a life-transformational experience in transit for those people who are using it and relying on it.”
The planned Second Street corridor is already one of the busiest roads in Rochester, carrying more than 21,800 vehicles a day, and city planners have talked for years about ways to reduce traffic congestion in the city’s downtown. Local officials estimate that the transit line, which will rely on a fleet of all-electric buses, will handle 11,000 riders on its first day of operation and save eight city blocks of parking.
Speaking to a crowd of about 100 people gathered on Friday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar said the project shows Rochester is thinking strategically about how it handles growth.
“If you just plan the business expansion, and you don’t have the workforce, you don’t have the child care, the housing or the transit, it’s not going to work very well as a lot of communities across the nation have found,” Klobuchar said.
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