Since I attended the meeting of the Zoning and Planning Board that denied the appeal on the Boulevard Project at 53rd and Lyndale (which means that its a go!) I thought I would update the list members in more detail as to how it all turned out. Earlier this month, the City Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the Boulevard Project, and this approval was appealed by two sets of business owners in the immediate area. The appeal was heard by the Commitee on Zoning and Planning, which is a sub-group of the city council. The business owner's concerns centered on a variance needed for a non-alley access loading dock, and other issues relating to density and traffic increases. Each side was given 20 minutes to testify - Celeste Campo, daughter of the owners of South Lyndale Liquors, asked that the appeal be continued to the next meeting of the Committee, since her mother was stuck in an airport and unable to be there, and their lawyer had a court date, and was unable to be there. She cited inadequate notice of the meeting, but it was subsequently determined that they had received the requisite 10 days notice, and the appeal was heard. Those who spoke in support of the appeal were a group of people who, out of the desire to support this project over the last few months, had spontaneously formed a grassroots faith-based organization - with representatives from virtually every congregation and synagogue in the SW area. It was a very effective model for mobilizing support for this project, although certainly support came from a wide variety of people - not necessarily all "church folks". This organization was necessary due to the extraordinary number of community meetings and other hearings related to this development. Back to Zoning and Planning: The staff report supported the project in all its particulars and cited it as an excellent example of a development that follows the direction set out in the Minneapolis plan. Barret Lane was asked to give his opinion, and (at last!) came out in full support of the project. Dore Mead spoke (since the project adjoins Ward 11) and in particular, lauded the developers (Lyndale West Partners) for their patience, integrity, their coolness under fire, the great lengths that they went to in order to listen to community/neighborhood concerns, and how they responded to those concerns with modifications to their plan. Paul Ostrow spoke and said that he saw absolutely no legal basis for upholding the appeal, since the development met the city code parameters in virtually every particular. The full committee then unanimousy denied the appeal. The next step is a vote by the full City Council, which will occur on either November 30 or December 7. Since there is no testimony taken, it is very unlikely to result in anything other than full approval of the project.
Two things should be noted: in reflecting on the circus atmosphere and the serious allegations of bad faith, irresponsibility and ignorance that we being slung at the developers at that first community meeting at Annunciation church - these allegations were shown to be completely unfounded. The development plan is and the development will be a good one.. lauded by the city planning staff as exactly the sort of project they hope to see more of, cited by Steve Cramer at a community meeting as "very solid". This plan has been scrutinized in every which way possible by the opposition and the best they could do was to whine about a variance for a Lyndale Avenue loading dock. Secondly, a legacy of this process are the five (count'em) grievances filed by neighborhood opponents working with the business owners citing an "unfair process" at the September 13 Lynnhurst neighborhood meeting where the developers made a presentation, and community input was solicited. These grievances seek to cut off the MCDA funding of the neighborhood association. As one who attended that meeting I will state unequivocally that there is nothing further from the truth. The meeting was set up to disseminate information, to be eminently fair to anyone who wanted to speak, and to give as many folks as possible the chance to weigh in. The LYNAS board (nominally elected, but we all know, basically volunteer positions) are being castigated for acting in bad faith, when in fact they developed and followed an exemplary process, and should be held up as examples of how a neighborhood board should work. If we put every developer who wants to forward mixed used housing with an affordable housing component and every neighborhood group who supports such efforts through this kind of mill in the future, then God help us - Minneapolis will never get the 23,000 units that it needs to be built. Susan Herridge Lynnhurst _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
