Bloomington City Council — Transcript
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Street Name Change for Safety and Emergency Response
Amendment to Off-Street Parking Requirements
Future Planning Initiatives and Infrastructure Updates
Votes (2)
Public Hearing on Changing Part of Hopkins Road to Mission Road (PL202600157)
Dissent: None
Moved by Commissioner White [0:07:44] · Seconded by Unknown [0:07:48]
City Engineer Julie Long presented the proposal to rename a segment of Hopkins Road to Mission Road to address safety concerns at a confusing Y-intersection with Mission Road and Lindale Avenue. The change would re-align the intersection into a T-shape. Two homeowner-occupied properties will be affected and offered $1000 compensation for the inconvenience. Staff confirmed compliance with City Code Chapter 17 and consulted with Development Review Committee and Fire Department. No public testimony was received. Commissioners expressed support for the safety improvements and the compensation plan.
Public Hearing on Amending City Code for Off-Street Parking Requirements
Dissent: Commissioner Coleman (voted against the main motion after his amendment failed)
Moved by Acting Chair [1:09:44] · Seconded by Unknown [1:09:50]
Ms. Liz O'Day presented the staff recommendation to amend City Code Chapters 12 and 21 to update off-street parking requirements. The rationale included high costs, inefficient land use, increased heat island effect, and stormwater issues associated with excessive parking. Key proposed changes included reducing minimum parking standards by 10-30% (up to 50% in some cases) for new developments, an automatic 10% reduction in specific redevelopment districts (South Loop, Penn American, Normandale Lake, 86th & 98th St on Lyndale), capping parking flexibility requests to two per project, and increasing allowed off-garage parking for single/two-family homes from four to six vehicles to accommodate multi-generational households. Staff also clarified how secondary uses within buildings are measured and updated definitions. Public comments included a resident concerned about existing over-parking in residential areas, and a business owner at Clover Center expressing frustration about employee parking impacting customer access. A heated debate ensued among commissioners regarding the extent of parking reform, with Commissioner Coleman advocating for eliminating minimums entirely in redevelopment districts to spur growth and transit-oriented development, drawing comparisons to development in Edina. Other commissioners, while supporting reform, expressed caution about moving too quickly given current transit infrastructure and potential impacts on businesses and residential parking. An amendment to eliminate minimums in redevelopment zones failed, and the original staff recommendation passed with one dissent.
Notable Quotes (8)
There are different ways to change street names in Bloomington, either public or private initiative. It can be by petition, or by the City Council, or by the City Engineer. Tonight, we are following the procedures initiated by the City Engineer.
I think the offer of some financial support for them for the costs and the hassle of making the changes seems like a good plan, and it seems like the right thing to do. So I don't see any reason to stand in the way of this.
What are the impacts of having too much parking? Well, first, it's expensive, and that expense is borne by developers and their projects. And often that gets passed on to residents through higher rents, or to businesses or customers in goods and services that we use. It also makes inefficient use of land... In addition, it creates higher heat island effect, creates stormwater runoff issues.
I live in a neighborhood where I'm looking out my window and I have pictures of up to nine cars parked, four in the driveway, the rest on the street... it looks like a used car lot. And consequently, snow doesn't get plowed there.
My dad owns La Estancia bakery... a lot of times other businesses' employees will park in front of that side of the strip mall... we don't have dedicated parking spots for our customers... this is all.
I'm generally on the team of no parking minimums... I believe the market is going to decide... I think that there's an argument to be made if we didn't have parking minimums in the redevelopment districts but kept these rules outside the redevelopment districts, that's something that I would support.
I think from a sustainability standpoint, we want people to get out of their cars and walk or take transit. We're not there yet in Minnesota... I think there's still some difficulty for people to get comfortable enough not to leave their house and use their car to go to their destination.
The last time we looked at parking more holistically and deeply was 2005... the feedback that was given at City Council, I believe, was when thinking about going to no parking minimums, I don't believe the Council was ready for that either... But at the same time, they did say waiting another 20 years to revisit this policy is not acceptable... the timeframe they set was five years.
Ordinances & Resolutions (9)
Governs street naming standards and guidelines in Bloomington.
Identifier for the street name change proposal.
Identified the off-street parking ordinance amendment as a project for the year.
The specific chapters of the City Code being amended for off-street parking requirements and definitions.
Specific article in the City Code proposed for deletion in an amendment to remove minimum parking requirements in development areas.
Mentioned as a previous city action aimed at streamlining development processes and reducing bureaucracy.
A letter from the Sustainability Committee supporting the off-street parking ordinance amendment.
A type of site plan approval or development flexibility tool.
Local newspaper used for public notice of hearings.