RecordingTranscript available10:45
May 22, 2025 Zoning Board of Adjustment
Minneapolis City CouncilFriday, May 23, 2025
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">> LET THE RECORD SHOW WE DO Have Quorum. With That We'Ll Proceed To The Agenda. A Copy Of Which Was Posted To The City'S Legislative Information Management System. Is There A Motion To Approve This Agenda? >> So Moved. >> Second. >> It'S Moved And Seconded. Is There Any Discussion? Hearing None, All In Favor Of The Motion Indicate By Saying Aye. >> Aye. >> Any Against Indicate By Saying Nay? Any Abstentions? And With That The Motion Passes And The Agenda Is Approved. I Believe All Of The Board Members Have Seen A Copy Of The Minutes From The May 8, 2025, Zoning Board Of Adjustment Regular Meeting. Is There A Motion To Approve? >> So Moved. >> Is There A Second? >> Second. >> It'S Moved And Seconded. Is There Any Discussion? Seeing None Or Hearing None, All In Favor Of The Motion Indicate By Saying Aye. >> Aye. >> All Against Indicate By Saying Nay? Any Abstentions? >> Abstain. >> And Perry Abstains. And With That The Motion Passes. The Minutes From The Zoning Board Of Adjustment May 8, 2025, Meeting Are Approved. Reminder To Applicants And Others, If You'Re Going To Speak At The Public Hearing, Please Sign In On The Sheet Available From The Clerk And Speak Clearly Into The Microphone. If You Have Not Signed In, You Can Do So On Your Way Out. Also To Applicants And Others, Please Contact Staff After The Hearing With Any Questions Regarding Your Projects. Let'S Review The Agenda, I Will Read The Agenda Number And Address To The Project And Slate Whether It'S Slated For Consent, Continuance Or Return With Discussion. The Recommended Dispositions On Item Number Four Is 2561 Burnham Boulevard. Staff Is Recommending Deciding For Consent. Is There Anyone To Speak Against This Item? I See No One. Agenda Item Number Five Is 3553 Clinton Avenue. Staff Is Recommending This Item For Consent. Is There Anyone To Speak Against This Item? Yes? >> Can I Ask A Question To Staff About Number Five Before We Move On? >> Sure, Yep. >> So The Question I Got Looking Over The Staff Report, Can You Clarify The Purchase, Now They'Re Only Seeking A Variance To Maintain The 13 That Are In Existence. It Got Murky For Me. Could You Clarify? >> So There Are 13 Established Dwelling Units In The Building, But 16 Units Were Being Utilized. So The Owner Is Now Seeking To Establish Those Three Additional Units, Legally Establish Those. >> Thanks For That. Is There Anything About Them That Doesn'T Meet Code Other Than They Weren'T Approved On The Front End? >> One Unit Is Below The Required Square Footage, But As Part Of The Building Permit Process, We'Ll Work With The Applicant To Make Sure It Complies With The Dwelling Unit Standards. >> Okay, So This Variance Only Allows Them To Bring Those Three Up To Par? >> Yep. >> Not Approving Them In Existence The Way They Are Today? >> No. >> Okay, Perfect. Thanks For That Clarification. >> Any Other Questions Of Staff? I See None. Agenda Item Six Is 4709 28Th Avenue South. Staff Is Recommending This Item For Consent. Is There Anyone To Speak Against This Item? I See No One. So Let'S Review The Items On The Agenda For Consent. They Are 4, 5, And 6. Is There A Motion To Adopt These Items On Consent? >> So Moved. >> Second. >> It'S Moved And Seconded. >> I Have A Question. >> Yes? >> This May Or May Not Be Pertinent For This Meeting, But Maybe For Future Meetings, But I'D Like To Address It To The Planners. I Am Genuinely Thrilled That This Is At Least The Third If Not The Fourth Meeting Where We Are Having Consent On Variances. I Think That Bodes Well For The Individuals As Well As The City As A Whole That We'Re Being More Flexible And Creative. My Question To Staff Though Is Is This Because Number One, Clients Are Becoming More Savvy And Listening, Or Number Two They'Re Becoming More Sneaky, But I Don'T Think That'S The Reason. Or Third, And I Think This Is Probably The Reason Why, Staff Must Be Doing A Better Job Of Communicating Or Somehow Or Other This Information Is Getting More Collaborative. And I Just Think It'S Really Great That We'Re Doing These Consent Items. Like I Said, I Think This Is The Third If Not Fourth Meeting Where We'Ve Had Nothing But Variances That Are Approved. And I Think That Really Bodes Well For The City. You Don'T Have To Answer It Now, But I Think It'S Something To Give Some Thought On, Because It'S Really Great. Whatever Is Happening Is Good. So Maybe That'S Just A Comment. It Doesn'T Have To Be A Question. But It'S Something To Think About, If Things Are Going Well, Sometimes It'S Good To Examine Why They'Re Going Well. So Thank You. >> Mr. Ellis, Do You Want To Respond? >> Chair Perry, Board Member, It'S Hard To Say. Everybody Has Their Reasons For Pursuing A Variance. Staff Tries To Give A Realistic Expectation Of Whether We Recommend Approval Or Denial. But Staff Tries To Give An Honest Feeling Of Whether Something Will Be Changed Or Not. There Are Probably People Who We'Ve Said Realistically It Will Be Very Difficult For You To Get A Variation, It Will Be Difficult For Staff To Recommend Approval, So They Modify The Project Along Those Lines. And We Work With People If There'S Practical Difficulty Or Challenges On The Property, Like The Ones You See Tonight, We'Ll Be Able To Recommend Approval And We Work With Them To Try To Do It. Sometimes We Work With People And They'Ll Change Their Project And They May Require A Variance, But They Move From Something Staff Recommends Denial To Something Staff Can Recommend Approval On. So We Do Try. >> So Far So Good. >> Okay, Great. Any Other Comments Or Discussion On The Motion? If Not, All In Favor Of The Motion Indicate By Saying Aye. >> Aye. >> Any Against Indicate By Saying Nay? Any Abstentions? That Motion Passes. So If You Were Here For Items 4, 5, Or 6, Your Land Use Requests Are Approved. Good Luck With Your Projects And Thank You Very Much For Coming Downtown For This Meeting. Okay, Mr. Ellis, Are There Any Updates? >> Chair Perry, There Are No Updates This Evening. >> Okay. Our Next Meeting Is June 12, 2025. So A Motion To Adjourn? >> So Moved. >> Second? >> Second. >> It'S Moved And Seconded. All In Favor Indicate By Saying Aye. >> Aye. >> We'Re Adjourned."