urbanMSP

True, you rarely hear about the average resident in these meetings....always the loonies with nothing else to do with their time and an axe to grind, to boot.

The process in general excludes (or is at least much less forgiving) to people that don't have a ton of free time on their hands. And since the people with lots of free time on their hands and enough knowledge to testify at city council meeting are generally going to be the ones doing ok with the way things are, so of course they'd oppose all change.

Appeal Denied, of course. http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/299208021.html

Was in the hood today and noticed that the parking lot still had cars on it. Is the corner project by Sebastian Joe's waiting until spring to start, or is this a bust after all that work to get it approved?

Sebastian Joe's office project 'on hold'

http://www.southwestjournal.com/news/de ... den-hills/

United Properties purchased the building that held a small few retail stores along France Ave, on the sliver triangle block shared with another building across the street from Linden Hills Co-op near 44th and France, for over $1.2 million. With a tax-assessed value under $600,000.

http://finance-commerce.com/2017/04/uni ... ce-avenue/

Linden Hills infill project (8 unit condo):
https://medium.com/neighbors-for-more-n ... 42678fef2a
Staff report:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/www/gro ... 205537.pdf

It was a supposed to be before the planning commission on Monday. Anyone know what happened?

It was granted a CUP for 3 stories, not 4 as requested. The video of the CPC meeting isn't up on YouTube yet, but I heard there was a bit of typical drama. No word on if the developer will appeal the decision, or even if neighbors will appeal it in the other direction.

https://youtu.be/8URz8VZGGxo

Won't somebody please think of the TREES?!?!?!

It was granted a CUP for 3 stories, not 4 as requested. The video of the CPC meeting isn't up on YouTube yet, but I heard there was a bit of typical drama. No word on if the developer will appeal the decision, or even if neighbors will appeal it in the other direction.

Apparently the appeal was denied by the Zoning and Planning Committee yesterday. Ridiculous.

Proposed 14 upscale apartments and 19 enclosed ground level parking spots where 3 single family homes currently reside (5048, 5052 and 5056 Ewing Avenue South) from the owner of the adjacent Arezzo Italian restaurant:

http://www.southwestjournal.com/news/de ... 1st-ewing/

From the article: Pending city approval, the project would break ground in mid-2018.

Not that I think this shouldn't happen, but spot zoning from R1A to R4 seems...not good. How much longer can we sustain this sort of thing? I'm not at all saying we should halt this but a complete overhaul of zoning codes and application is in order.

Looking at Google street view, this is pretty much the perfect place for something like this. That whole side of the block is pretty hopeless in terms of "neighborhood feel."

Not that I think this shouldn't happen, but spot zoning from R1A to R4 seems...not good.

Why?

I think David is speaking in the descriptive rather than normative.

I can think of probably 5-10 policies in the comprehensive plan that would support something like this going in a place like this, but I can also think of maybe 5-15 policies that could be interpreted to say something like this going in a place like this shouldn't be supported. And since the rezone isn't something like R3 to R4, but from our second-lowest zoning classification up to R4, which sounds like a big jump (even though it's... not? R4 is pretty tight). So I can see where staff would say this isn't appropriate per city policies, even though by all means a 3 story building backing up to a commercial district, shadowing a city-owned parking lot to its north, in a pricey neighborhood aligns with what I think most planners and elected officials would say is appropriate.

Yeah, this block seems like it should be a pretty easy sell. Even across the street might be a whole different situation.

Yes, RBY expresses what I was thinking. It *feels* like a big change even if maybe it isn't, and especially isn't given the surrounding context.

We're going to see lots more efforts to spot-zone like this and probably in places where it is a harder sell. At some point it won't be allowed anymore due to political pressure. Best we get ahead of it with a comprehensive review and overhaul. Yes, I know that's a ginormous project.

A cute, disingenuous article about a potential condo development in Linden Hills. The author clearly thinks he's being so giving and open minded about allowing new development as long as it fits his definition of what is appropriate.

http://www.southwestjournal.com/voices/ ... r-density/

Careful with the "disingenuous" label. It's pretty presumptuous to assume someone is intentionally disguising motives. Very likely the author cares about the things he says he cares about. You may disagree but he is spot on that everyone needs to have a voice.

I mean, obviously one is not going to support a development one does not like. Right? When people here oppose a one-story development on Hennepin Ave. is that any less "closed-minded?"