Planning Commission approves 15-unit townhome development on Penn Avenue
The Bloomington Planning Commission approved a revised plan for a 15-unit townhome development at 8525 and 8545 Penn Avenue South on October 3, moving forward a project that has faced legal challenges over emergency vehicle access since 2020.
The commission voted 5-1 to approve the revised plat for the townhome project, with Commissioner Cooktown making the motion. The development includes 15 townhome lots plus one common area lot and will provide 66 parking spaces. The project's history is complex: the city approved it in 2020, but a court appeal challenged the emergency vehicle access design on Penn Avenue. The City Council resolved that dispute in 2022 by approving the emergency access plan. The current revision was needed because minor floor plan changes slightly altered property lines. Hennepin County, which oversees Penn Avenue, required the right-of-way to be widened from 33 feet to 40 feet, a change incorporated into the final plan. The commission's discussion focused on whether the plat met city code requirements and whether the emergency vehicle access was properly designed to discourage public use.
In other business, the commission unanimously approved a Conditional Use Permit for Minnesota Air Solutions to operate an advanced driver assistance systems training center at 9555 James Avenue South. The facility will train technicians to diagnose and repair vehicle safety systems. The company will test vehicles inside the building and has secured 415 parking spaces, exceeding the 299 required. The applicant clarified that the Bloomington location will be a training center only, unlike their public-facing operation in Maple Grove. The company sought the permit now to avoid delays from a forthcoming city ordinance that may reclassify this type of use as automatically permitted.
The commission also received a comprehensive update on the city's Pavement Management Program, which has been strategically maintaining and improving streets since 1991. Senior Engineers Julie Long and Bob Simonds outlined upcoming 2025 and 2026 projects across multiple neighborhoods, including reconstruction work on 84th Street, 12th Avenue, and 105th Street, plus overlay projects on Nine Mile Creek Parkway and France Avenue. The presentation detailed how the city uses a Pavement Condition Index to prioritize which streets need work and emphasized integrating pedestrian and bicycle facilities into street improvements. Commissioners asked about coordination with other city projects, sidewalk needs on specific streets, and contractor selection processes.
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Votes (3)
Case PL 2024-135: Type Three Preliminary And Final Plat To Subdivide Two Lots Into 15 Townhome Lots And One Common Lot (8525 and 8545 Penn Av South)
Dissent: One commissioner opposed the motion, though their identity was not explicitly stated.
Moved by Commissioner Cooktown [0:32:38] · Seconded by Unknown [0:32:59]
The Planning Commission reviewed a request for a revised plat for a 15-unit townhome development. This revision was necessitated by minor floor plan changes that slightly altered property lines. The project has a complex history, including a prior City Council approval in 2020, an appeal to court regarding emergency vehicle-only access on Penn Avenue, and a subsequent resolution by the City Council in 2022 to approve the emergency access. Discussion focused on the limited discretion of the Commission for plat approvals, adherence to code, emergency vehicle access design to deter public use, and parking provisions (66 spaces total). Hennepin County required a right-of-way adjustment on Penn Ave from 33 feet to 40 feet, which was incorporated into the final plat presented.
Conditional Use Permit for an Instructional Center (9555 James Av South)
Dissent: None
Moved by Commissioner McGovern [0:49:50] · Seconded by Unknown [0:50:00]
The Planning Commission considered a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for Minnesota Air Solutions to operate an instructional center for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) technician training. The applicant requested the CUP despite the use potentially becoming a permitted use via a forthcoming 'Streamlining Development Ordinance' to avoid delays. Discussions addressed the use of test vehicles inside the building for diagnostics, adequate parking (415 spaces provided vs. 299 required), and interior safety measures like yellow-painted and wrapped steel columns. The applicant confirmed partnerships with local businesses for vehicles and clarified that Bloomington would be a training center, not open to the public like their Maple Grove location.
Update on the Pavement Management Program and CIP Transportation Updates
Senior Engineers Julie Long and Bob Simonds presented a comprehensive update on Bloomington's Pavement Management Program (PMP), which began in 1991 to extend pavement life and reduce costs through strategic maintenance. Key elements included the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) for street selection, cost-sharing assessment policies, various treatment techniques (reconstruct, overlay, seal coat), and integration of Complete Streets principles. The presentation detailed upcoming 2025 reconstruction and overlay projects across various areas (e.g., 84th Street, Nine Mile Creek Area, France Avenue) and 2026 projects (e.g., West Bush Lake Road, Old Shakopee Road). Additionally, specific Capital Improvement Program (CIP) transportation projects like the Normanale Boulevard multi-use trail and Safe Routes to School for Valley View Schools were highlighted. Commissioner questions covered coordination with other city projects (Ice Garden), the functionality of specific road segments (Old Shakopee cul-de-sac), the need for pedestrian facilities (34th Avenue, Old Shakopee Road sidewalks), boulevard tree policies, and contractor selection processes.
Notable Quotes (11)
There are certain applications that the Planning Commission can approve or deny on its own subject to the right to appeal to the City Council. And we have one of those as well.
So again, they're not changing the number of units if you kind of look at it from this level, it doesn't really look all that different and that's it's really because the individual townhome lots have just shifted slightly.
Our intent was to look for ownership housing units that were affordable to 80% of the Area Median Income and then of course, in 2020 construction costs exploded during the early stages of the pandemic and then we went through quite a cycle of interest rate changes and now to do affordability at that level, it absolutely has to be subsidized.
And the way I see it, we the plant application meets all of the required findings and honestly it's almost identical to what we've seen before... I think if we recommended denial and the City Council denied this, I think we'd be right back in court and we'd lose again and that's in our would be irresponsible to the taxpayers.
The applicant is just wanting to make sure that they can operate as soon as they can and didn't want to have any potential delays and so they wanted to move forward with the Conditional Use Permit application here.
As far as the post the beams they're painted yellow and we wrap them and those ones are covered in pine but that's for the calibrating so that that doesn't pick up the steel being that.
Seems pretty straightforward to me. This will be a permitted use the new plans or under a new guidance from planning seems like a good educational facility as well as a employment facility for Bloomington
The goal of it is to reduce the overall street repair costs by taking the right action at the right time. We use what we call the Pavement Condition Index to help us select the streets.
What we're trying to do is extend the life of that pavement and make it more economically feasible for the taxpayer and anyone who is subject to an assessment.
We know that is an area that the city is lacking, but we find that it's a good opportunity. I recently did a little analysis on our proposed Capital Improvement Program and we realized that we're spending about 25% of what engineering does is in that multimodal area, which was surprising to us. We thought we were doing less.
I think that's the most dangerous pedestrian condition we have in the city and I can't wait to get rid of it.
Ordinances & Resolutions (26)
Guides land use, mentioned for moderate density residential for the townhome project.
Approved by City Council in October 2020 for the townhome project.
Approved by City Council in October 2020 for the townhome project.
Approved by City Council in October 2020 and again in a revised form by Planning Commission.
Approved by City Council in October 2020 for the townhome project.
Related to access requirements on Penn Ave, denied by City Council in May 2021.
Adopted by City Council in August 2022, approving the request to change access requirements.
Approved by the City, guiding initial site work for the townhome project.
Administrative application for floor plan changes related to the townhome project.
Requested for the instructional center at 9555 James Av South.
Scheduled to go to City Council on October 14th; would make 'instructional center' a permitted use.
General regulatory framework that uses must comply with.
Specific regulatory requirements for building construction and safety.
Original plan for the 9555 James Av South building, reviewed for compliance.
City program since 1991 to reduce street repair costs and manage pavement life.
A grading system (0-100) used to select streets for PMP and forecast needs.
Cost-sharing policy for PMP projects with adjacent property owners, in place since 1962.
Adopted in 2012, integrates multimodal considerations into project design.
City plan referenced by the Complete Streets Policy.
Initiative looking at street width alterations and other improvements.
Being developed by Park and Rec, with input on boulevard trees.
State law used for special assessments to fund reconstruct projects.
City's long-term plan for infrastructure projects, includes transportation updates.
Large ordinance review scheduled for an upcoming meeting.
Initial discussion scheduled for an upcoming meeting.
Update scheduled for an upcoming meeting.
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Other Topics from This Document
Commercial & Industrial Permitting
Long-term Transportation Infrastructure Planning & Maintenance
Planning Commission Procedural Fairness
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