Welcome everyone to the regular meeting for the Minneapolis Planning Commission for December 8th, 2025. I'm Chris Meyer, chair of the commission. Clerk, please call a role. >> Commissioner Chowry is absent. Connley >> present. Forny >> here. >> Gordon >> here. >> Jones is absent. Shepy is absent. Uh Shepard >> present. >> Wagner is absent. Vice President Baxley >> here. >> And President Meyer >> here. >> There are six commissioners present. >> We have a quorum. Uh so first we'll move to the minutes from November 17th, 2025. Is there a motion to adopt those minutes? >> Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? All right. Say none. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. Extensions. Those minutes are adopted. Next, we're going to organize the agenda. Um, so I'm going to read through each of the items on our agenda and see if there is anyone who wants to discuss them. Our staff are recommending all items to be on our consent agenda. Um, so if you came to speak against a staff recommendation, when I call out your item, let us know that you want to speak to it. Um, so first we have item number four, 1013rd Avenue South. Would anyone like to speak against this? We have someone back there. >> Who wants to speak against that one? Okay. >> So, we will discuss item number four. Next, we have item number five, 3148 41st Avenue South. Would anyone like to speak against the stop recommendation? Okay. Have something back here. So, we will discuss item number five. Number six, 5462 Nicollet Avenue and 5463 Blaze Avenue. Would anyone like to speak against the staff recommendation on that one? All right, we'll have that one on consent. Number seven, 4029 28th Avenue South here. Okay, so we will discuss item number seven. Item number 8, 2028 James Avenue North. Anyone like to speak against the staff recommendation on that one? We'll have eight on consent. And then finally, number nine, 2034 James Avenue North. Would anyone like to speak against the staff recommendation on item number nine? All right. So, we'll have that on consent. So, to review, um items four, five, and seven will be on discussion. And then items 6, 8, and nine will be consent. Is there a motion to adopt that agenda? >> Moved. Is >> there a second? >> Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. >> Opposed. Absentence. That is our agenda. All right. So, I will open the public hearing for our consent agenda. So, if you were here for items number 6, eight, or nine and you wanted to say something about it, you can do so now. Would anyone like to speak to that? All right. Not seeing anyone. So, I will close the public hearing. Commissioners, is there any question or comments on our consent agenda? Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Some moved. >> Second. >> All right. Is there any further discussion? All in favor say I. I. Opposed. Absentions. Items 6, eight, and nine are adopted. So, if you came here for those, good luck with your projects. All right. So, we will now move to item number four. Our first discussion item 1013rd Avenue South and staff is Andrew Liska. Good afternoon, chair, commissioners. This item for you is a conditional use permit for a communication exchange located at 10001 Third at Third Street South. The existing structure totals just over 5,000 500,000 five uh square feet. 505,000 square feet uh and it's a mix of offices and communication exchange. Today, the applicant is seeking to convert the entire structure into a communication exchange, although the floor plans show uh a lot of office to remain on the first and second floors. Here's the site bound by 10th Street South, uh 11th, then fourth and third, and this structure occupies that entire block. This building was built in the late 1980s and received a certificate of occupancy in 1990. The CO calls the structure an office and computer complex which is akin to uh again a communications exchange as the zoning code would define. Over time uh the floor plans for that use changed. Uh there were times where a majority of that structure was used as a communication exchange. Uh staff has found building permit records that show some of those lower floors. Floors 1, two, and three being used as an office. Today the applicant requested a zoning letter. Staff determined that yes, floors 1, 2, and three are offices four, five, and six are that communication exchange. Uh, and that's what gets us to this cup application to authorize that use throughout this entire structure. All of the proposed improve imp improvements to the structure are all interior. There's no exterior changes whatsoever. Um, when looking at a conditional use permit, several findings must be met. uh staff evaluated those findings in the report and is able to make all of those necessary findings. Uh if any commissioner or member of the public has a concern with u any of these specifically uh we can kind of highlight that. Uh but again, staff finds that all of the required findings for the uh CUP are met and with that recommends approval of this conditional use permit uh for the for the property located at 10001 Third Street South or Third A South. Um and I think that uh we have the the CO here as I mentioned calling this a uh office computer complex again from 1980. And we have some floor plans. Those are kind of small. And some photos, so I'll be here for any questions. The applicant is also present. >> Great. Commissioners, are there any questions for staff before we open the hearing? Not seeing any. So, thank you. I will now open the public hearing and we'll hear from the applicant. Welcome. >> Thank you, chair and commissioners. My name is Jake Stein with Larkin Hoffman and we represent the applicant. Uh as staff has indicated, this building was originally built actually as the American Express data center was its official title in 1990. Uh this is uh the result of uh the 2023 zoning code text amendment which changed a data center over from a permitted use downtown or a communications exchange uh from a permitted to a conditional use. Uh it was only recently when we requested a zoning letter to confirm the building was still a data center uh that we started to get into the uh discussion of parsing out floor by floor. Uh the truth is it's always been uh a mix of offices and computers and support equipment. That's what a data center is. There is a large office component and and will continue to be uh but we want to make sure that we don't have to continue to uh every time we make a floor plan change we don't have to ask for a CUP amendment. So, in discussing this with staff, we determined that this was the best approach and uh in many ways uh this is really almost a a paperwork cleanup. There are no changes to the building currently uh proposed. Certainly nothing to the exterior and any changes over time will just be uh entirely to the interior. So, uh happy to answer any questions. Appreciate working with staff on this and appreciate staff support. >> Thank you. Commissioners, are there any questions? >> So, I have one just to clarify. you were the one who initiated this. >> That's correct. That's correct. We we made the application uh after discussing with staff about uh what the best way to clean this up is. It really the discussion is you know if if the second floor uh you know we wanted to add some computers or support equipment, what do we do? What's the trigger? And you know at under the current ordinance if we don't apply for the cup to include the whole building we would have to come through and do a cup amendment every time we expanded on the first floor or the second floor or the third floor. Uh a lot of the building was originally built with the infrastructure for this and uh I think in the last uh year this was the single biggest building permit uh as we we've made some improvements to this building in the city of Minneapolis. So there's a lot of investment in the building already and we just want to simply continue to operate it the way it has been with uh additional flexibility to make modifications as needed. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> All right. Any additional speakers who would like to come up? Each person can have two minutes. Come up and introduce yourself. Hi there. Thank you. Uh my name is Creton Gekle. I reside at the apartment building at 365 Nicollet Mall here in downtown Minneapolis in Ward 3. I'm here in opposition to the approval of a conditional use permit uh for a data center or communications exchange. um but asked the commission to send the proposal back to city staff for further study regarding the utility usage and equity impact of the proposal. This project appears to be for a smaller data center not subject to recent legislative restrictions on large data centers. I do not believe that the current study and supportive letter adequately address the impact on utility usage posed by this proposal including for internet or data. There is no anticipation of costs spread to consumers from higher usage of water, electricity or internet bandwidth. I also do not believe it is fair to compare data usage to historical use from 1990 given advances in that area and the magnitude and density of data equipment. I believe it is therefore in question whether the proposal would be detrimental to the general welfare based on utility usage. And to conclude, and most importantly, I do not believe the permit should be allowed under conditional use criterion five. I do not see how an outofstate entity which claims Minneapolis in its LLC name, uh, but no staff or real presence here, can be consistent with development policy 23 of the Minneapolis 20 240 plan. There are no promises of employment here. And I would be concerned how this could be consistent with any of development policy 23. How this project serves the public or builds equity when it seems to be just adding capacity to and enriching an outofstate entity with no real ties to Minnesota and no defined benefits to Minneapolis or its residents. I appreciate the commission's time. Thank you. >> Thank you. Would anyone else like to speak to this item? All right. Not seeing any. So I we'll close the public hearing. Commissioners, any comments, discussion, or emotions? Commissioner Conley? >> Yes. >> Yep. >> Thank you, Mr. President. So my question is to staff and I I wondered about um how we might have updated policy procedures, the way that we look at um commun communication exchanges or data centers given that these are popping up. It's a relatively new issue and there is a cost to utilities. Thank you. Um, Commissioner Connley. So, there is a zoning code text amendment being studied right now by our code development team that's taking a a deeper look into data centers, particularly larger ones that could potentially be established in the city. Um, looking at a lot of the things that the speaker uh just brought up in terms of, you know, energy usage, water, utility, that sort of thing. There's also been um legislation introduced at the state level. This one is well below any sort of need for um environmental review, but um because this one is existing and has been existing uh in the city since this building was constructed, um this isn't one that is necessarily going to be uh scrutinized as part of that zoning code text amendment work. Um it's not one where we thought we needed to like slow down and take a closer look at this. This is really more of a procedural issue. As noted, the building permit history on this one is very clear for the upper floors of the building having rights to a data center. It was less clear on the lower floors and with that we weren't able to issue a zoning letter to the applicant when requested that said the lower floors had rights to this use and it's a communication exchange in the code. Um, so this is really cleaning that up because our permit history was not perfectly clear about the use of floors one, two, three. So you will likely be seeing something from our code development team in the next year about data centers um overall that will take a look at um a lot of the potential off-site impacts of those uses. Mr. President, thank you. That's uh inc that's really great clarification. I'm happy to hear that that is something that's uh being explored right now. I I guess uh I think the applicant would need to come back to us though if the use changes, right? So if there's an expansion or if the entire building is used as a data center, then that's a different agenda item before us. >> That's what's in front of you right now. So the use is in the building right now >> for the entire building, not just the certain floors. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So, that's the part that we're cleaning up as part of this application because our building permit history, while we have a uh certificate of occupancy from when the building was first opened that references a computer complex of the entire building, our permit history was not perfectly clear about which floors the building contained a communication exchange on. Um, so this is essentially cleaning that up. >> Wonderful. And I I think I'll just close with just a followup and I think that um it may be worth the consideration um for some of the smaller ones that you know when I think data centers when we think data centers we think the big large footprints that have a massive impact on water etc. But I think it might benefit um the city to know what the usage might be in this area of downtown for this building in the future. Um so I I get the cleanup is necessary. it's procedural uh to bring things up from 1990 to 2025, but it still should might be something to look into in the future. So, thank you. >> I have a different question for staff. Um can one of you remind us uh what policy 23 is that the testifier spoke to. I don't have all the numbers, all the policies memorized by number, but if someone can look that up and and read it for us. >> Nor do I. I would have to look it up. >> Okay. Sadly, the staff report doesn't reference policy 23 either. So, I I don't have that in front of me either. >> Okay. >> Any other discussion while they look that up? >> So, I'm seeing policy 23 is about coordinated development strategies. >> Okay. which I >> which is more about like interdep departmental and inter agency coordination teams. Um so it it's possible that's not the the one. >> Okay. Um well I I guess I'll share my thoughts then. Um I I I feel like this was something that the applicant was proactively looking to do. It's an existing building. There's not any exterior changes. I I thank the testifier for drawing attention to the energy and and water usage of of data centers. I I think that would be a lot more applicable to a new one that was was being considered. Um but for cleaning up the existing um zoning for this, I I think I'm inclined to approve this. There any other discussion from commissioners? Would anyone like to make a motion? Commissioner Shepard? >> Uh, I would I would agree, uh, Mr. President, that that both data and power are infrastructure improvements which downtown is is only going to benefit from. And I would move to approve. >> Okay. Is there a second? >> Second. >> All right. There's a motion in a second. Is there any more discussion? >> All right. Not seeing any. Clerk, please call the RO. Commissioner Connley >> I >> Forny >> I >> Gordon >> I >> Shepard >> I >> Vice President Baxley >> I >> and President Meyer >> I >> there are six I's and zero nays >> that is adopted. All right. Next, uh, we'll move to 3148 41st Avenue South and staff is Aspen plans. Good evening, chair, commission, Aspen Plan, City Planner. The application before you today is for 314841st Avenue South, a conditional use permit to allow for a community center in the UN2 urban neighborhood district. There is no new construction proposed as part of this community center. It is simply a change of use from an existing religious institutional building that's been on the property since the early 1900s um to a new community center which is still a civic and institutional use. The zoning code defines a community center as an establishment operated by a nonprofit organization or government agency which includes recreational and cultural facilities, meetings rooms, social service facilities, and public health facilities or any combination thereof and that is not a public park. Community center uses may include afterchool programs and tutoring. Again, our use table indicates that with a conditional use permit, a community center is allowed in UN2. Some existing photos of the site show um this Greek revi this Gothic revival church with a substantial addition in the rear which has again been uh part of the property for almost a hundred years. Um that was used as a Sunday school. Um and so I'll just flip through these photos. There is an alleyway in the rear of the property and there is no off- streetet parking currently nor is any off- streetet parking proposed as part of this application. On the north side of the property, this is a corner lot. On the north side, there is a substantial green space that's just an open grassy area with a few mature trees. The site plan shows I flipped it. So, north is on the right side of the screen here. The existing site plan shows again it's a substantially sized lot. Almost 16,000 square ft of lot area. The building footprint is just over 5,000 square ft, but the total gross floor area is around 11,000. The applicant does own the lot north of this um but that is not included with this proposal. So that lot just has again a mature tree and a small shed building. But the community center application use ahead of you is just for the existing um site that I've I've outlined in red here. The floor plans provided just show that the existing um building footprint will be maintained. So there's some large meeting areas in the lower level of the existing building and the rear edition has several offices which again were formally used as classrooms and then a large meeting area. The applicant because this proposal would require a building permit to change the occupancy of the building. The applicant is proposing an ADA lift which would create a new exterior entrance on the front facing 41st Avenue South. Um and then um that would be accessible from the public sidewalk. And then with a change of use, bicycle parking is required. So there will be a bicycle rack installed on the south end of the site along 32nd Street. There were also there was also a separate permit to upgrade the commercial kitchen that exists in the building. The six findings required for a conditional use permit staff finds as all met, which there's more details about that in the staff report, but I can speak to these more um substantially if there are questions. But given that the previous use of a church is substantially similar to a community center, there are no exterior changes save the new ADA entrance in installation of bike parking. um and that the applicant is proposing a nonprofit to operate the building. Staff found that this meets all the findings and so we recommend approval of the conditional use permit to allow for the community center in the UN2 urban neighborhood district um subject to the condition that it is recorded with Henipin County and I will answer any questions you may have. >> Thank you. Are there any questions for staff? Thank you, Aspen. I'll now open the public hearing. Do we have the applicant with us? No applicant. Oh, if you would like, you can introduce yourself and tell us about your project. Thank you. Uh, forgive my voice. Some sort of I don't know whether uh it's not clear. My name is Ali Gashan and I'm the executive director of the nonprofit that's uh running the uh this facility and I I'm ready to answer any questions. What we doing already in our St. Paul office is is in line in uh what we be doing here you know so basically it's uh sofa turing uh we uh outside touring we do uh ADR which is basically uh you know bringing families and individuals and you know we have ADR team and I don't see any 25 30 people usually coming in together and so in terms of traffic noise all the main concerns I don't participate any situation that can cause the neighbor or any any any situation that uh out of line of what will say but if any questions I will definitely willing to >> thank you. Are there any questions for the applicant? >> Not seeing any. Thank you. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> All right. Other speakers. Each person can have two minutes. I know there were a few hands that were raised back here. Yep. Go on ahead and come to the podium. Introduce yourself and you have two minutes. Hi, my name is Sylvia Gonzalez and I'm a resident of Cooper neighborhood just um on the other side of the church. So, I've lived there for 30 years. Um have seen what the congregation was before what it is going to be now. Uh I'm not opposed to as long as there's some parking. Um as you saw from the diagram, there is a place where they could put a parking lot in. Um there is going to be increased traffic. I I don't believe him when he says there's only going to be 25 or 30 people showing up at this community hall. Um if they don't provide a parking lot, which they do have the room for, then they should at least provide parking permits for the residents around there. We've already run into problems um on 41st and Lake with the increase in traffic from Hyo Diner, the coffee shop that's near there. It's nearly impossible to see traffic coming out of there and I really hate to see this happen to that corner of 32nd Street and 41st. The other issue I have right now is that I've seen that over the last year, I believe they purchased it in August of 2024. They have not been maintaining this building. They've been fined over $15,000 in fees that have been assessed because they were not cleaning up the rubbish. They weren't cleaning the sidewalks. So, if that's indicative of how they're going to maintain this pill building, then I oppose this conditional permit. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker. Welcome. >> All right. Um, hi everyone. My name is Nancy Chu and I am a resident in the Cooper neighborhood as well. Um, I and many others walk by this church with our dogs every day. The first change I noticed about this property after the sale to AW Homes Limited in 2024 is that I couldn't walk next to the church very much in the winter due to the persistence of unshoveled sidewalks. After reviewing the application for the proposed community center, which was uploaded only a few days ago, I was struck by the scale of what is being proposed and the lack of detail in how such a plan could be implemented. The application includes installation of a new commercial kitchen and elevator. The application mentions a wide range of proposed programs including English classes, citizenship preparation, job readiness, afterchool activities, and health education. For activities and services at this level, a proven track record is essential. With that in mind, I'd like to highlight two issues that I believe deserve the commission's attention. The lack of complete, verifiable information in the submitted plan and the landlord's track record to date. First, regarding Volunteer of Somalia, the nonprofit cited throughout the application, I expected to find an EIN so I could review its form 990 filings. For a project of this scale, it's reasonable to expect partnership with an established nonprofit, one with a documented history of consistent reportable funding above the IRS's $50,000 annual filing threshold. Yet, Volunteer of Somalia does not appear in any publicly searchable registry, which raises questions about the organization's existence and capacity. Second, the condition and operations of the property under the current landlord warrant consideration. Over the past several months, there have been a series of concerning signs posted in the windows along the 32nd Street East Side. notices of unpaid bills, a bright red stop all work sign that stayed up for an extended period. When requesting a conditional permit, burden of proof should rest with the applicant. Um, I am hoping that the city will consider strengthening its process and ask that the applicant revise its application to um clearly demonstrate capacity to deliver it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker. Hello, my name is Tom Duck. I'm a Cooper resident and a neighbor. As a neighbor who regularly bikes and uses public transportation, I'm concerned with how this application characterizes the neighborhood's transit access and biking infrastructure. On page one of the application, it states, "There's a small number of commercial, civic, in and institutional uses. Miniaha Academy, Cooper Elementary School are located in the area. Several bike routes and lanes are present, including 32nd Street, 38th Avenue, 43rd Avenue, 44th Avenue. The area is served by two bus transit routes, the Beline and Lake Street and Route 9 uh on 36th Avenue and 34th Street. The this description suggests that the property is well located for bus and bike users. In reality, not a single building, bus stop, or active bike lane lies within the eight block map shown on page two of the application. There are no bus stops near this property. The beline's only stop in the Cooper neighborhood, 4th Avenue South and Lake Street, is more than 2,000 ft away. The second stop referenced in the application, 36th Avenue South and 34th Street East, is outside of the Cooper neighborhood and even farther from the property at 3,000 ft away. There are also no active bike lanes nearby. According to the city of Minneapolis's all ages and abilities biking network plan, none of the streets listed in the application, 32nd Street, 38th Avenue, 43rd Avenue, and 44th Avenue are active bike routes. Two of these streets are are identified as possible near-term low stress bikeways, but the city marks them as highly difficult to complete before 2030. This property is not well served by public transportation or bike infrastructure. Any references to this property or project's alignment with the city's 2040 plan in this regard should be re-evaluated and corrected. I do not believe attendees will walk over 2,000 feet from a bus stop, nor do I expect the per proposed bike rack to see meaningful use. The added on street parking demand will burden nearby residents and increased traffic from events will further endanger cyclists like myself. Thank you. And there's some figures on the back if you have the thing. >> Okay, you can give that click over there if you'd like. Thank you. >> Next speaker. Was there anyone else you wanted to >> welcome? Introduce yourself and you have two minutes. >> Uh, hi. Uh, I'm David Gown. I'm not as well spoken as everybody else, but uh I live on the uh direct opposite southeast corner of where this building is. Uh, and like a lot of other people have mentioned, the parking is a concern. 41st Street already has a lot of cars that are consistently parked there. Um, and also what the hours of activity would be for this building. Uh, I didn't see anything listed before. So, just yeah, mainly just a concern about parking and how that would be handled. That's pretty much it. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. >> Welcome. Introduce yourself and you have two minutes. Hi, my name is Katie Malumbi. I am a Cooper resident as well. Um, live two blocks away from the proposed site. Um, given the broad scope of programs, can the applicant provide a phase plan detailing the activities um, which will be held um, the hours of operation and how staffing will be structured and funded. Um, I I was not able to see any breakdown. Um, will this function as an open community center serving all of the residents of the community or as a cultural service center with defined targeted population? The both can be valuable. Uh, the distinction and clarification matters for our community. Um, I would like to see a place where all all residents and nearby um people can can utilize this space. I am not opposed to the idea of a community center that's culturally um informed, but I believe that approval should be contingent upon a revised application that outlines operational plans that ties needs to the neighborhood. um programming schedules and capacity limits limits, an inclusive mission statement, expected parking demand and mitigation strategies, communication, engagement and feedback processes, maintenance and compliance commitments, measurable timebased deliverables. A community center can be a valuable asset and my hope is that if approved, this project is implemented in a way that is transparent, inclusive, accountable, and responsive to the neighborhood and the community that it serves. I encourage the commission to request additional details and measure measurable plans before granting approval here. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker, if there is one, go ahead. Welcome. Introduce yourself and you have two minutes. >> Thank you. My name is Eric Hogan and I live on the block. I'm about two blocks away on 41st Avenue. Uh like others here, I also express concern over parking. This parking here is pretty limited on our street and the ability for us to find parking as when winter and things come up can be challenging. So, it's a big concern that I haven't heard any addressed yet fully from the applicant. The other concern I have is that this is outlined as a community center, but the person person who's proposing this, he hasn't proposed what kind of community will this I want to know will this be for everyone in the community. What kind of outreach are you going to be doing? Can I be involved? I haven't had any communication in that regard. He might have been, but I've missed it, but I haven't received anything like that. So, I'd like to know what that's going to look like. If if it's going to be truly a community center, then let's involve the community and have those conversations. And from my understanding, it has not happened yet. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Go ahead. >> Welcome. Introduce yourself and you have two minutes. >> Thank you. >> Uh my name is Carl Bartell. I'm here with my husband Ted Buell. We live in the house next door to the uh mentioned property. Uh I just want to reiterate the concerns that most everyone has shared already. concerns about parking, um concerns about the upkeep of the property. We've seen a pattern of neglect in on this property, including a break-in that took several days for the owner to repair in a reasonable fashion. Um he has not been forthcoming with us. We sent him an email a year ago when he first bought the property asking voicing our concerns about pollution, litter, security, all these things. um Aspen, we sent a a a copy of that email to them. Um and that's that that's the gist of it is we're just concerned that with this pattern of neglect and kind of mild disrespect for the neighborhood, we're concerned that the running of this facility is is going to be in line with that kind of neglect. So that is our concern and we are hoping that is addressed. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker. Is there anyone else who would like to speak? All right. I'm not seeing any. Before I close the hearing, commissioners, are there any questions for the applicant or any testifiers before we close the hearing? >> All right. I will close the public hearing. Is there a discussion or a motion from any commissioners? >> Commissioner Conley. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Just um to clarify that for what the applicant is applying for there's six conditions that need to be met. I think I counted six and from the staff um it appears that all recommends have been met for the conditional use permit which is what we have to vote on today. I will say that there are um city pathways for uh reporting blighted properties for reporting um snow not being shoveled um etc. Uh so I I want to make sure that residents know that there are ways uh to report things like that. I also want to mention just uh as a comment that it's really really important when um you purchase a property for the for the community in the community to have a really good partnership with the community. Um just just in general I would say that to anybody coming in purchasing and building to be a part of that community. Community centers in and of themselves are structures that uh help define neighborhoods that help bring neighborhoods together. So reestablishing that relationship will be critical I think to this project moving forward. I have seen that this is sometimes a first step to other agenda items that we might see in the future. So uh when um when projects like this come back for other permits or other requirements or building additions, etc. Knowing that you've got the community uh on your side for that really helps us uh in making our decisions. Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Thank you. >> Other commissioners, Commissioner Shepard, >> just an observation. I haven't heard any concern about Bethlehem Covenant not having an off street parking capacity either. And I get that that does induce a good amount of parking on the street. I bike through there all the time. I'm also a Cooper resident, but that that's a problem I'm I'm not seeing as unique to this particular. We have a number of facilities in our neighborhood with the same capacity or more, and that doesn't seem to be a concern for them, and I don't really see it as being a concern here either. So I would um again concur that there are six conditions and they've met them and and there are other city avenues for for addressing u concerns with the operation of the property itself. So I would move this uh as written. >> Second. >> Okay. There's a motion in a second. I'll I'll give my comments. Um, so we heard some pretty concerning things uh about the property owner here today about litter and lack of snow shoveling. Um, one speaker said that they were fined $15,000 with that. So that it it sounds like they are being appropriately penalized for that if they have have been fined for that. Um, so I I would urge the applicant uh to to address those issues if that's if that's correct. Um, to to shovel the sidewalks, to pick up the litter, to be engaged with the community. Um, as to parking, um, I I sympathize with the concerns that people have brought up, but um, the city's adopted climate policies actively discourage more parking from being built. Um, so that there's no mechanism where that could be in included today. Um, if anything, the planning commission tries to get applicants to build less parking um because that brings more traffic into the neighborhood. Um, and the the existing site is already there. um when it was used before it, you know, presumably had parking issues with with that as Commissioner Shepard was uh was mentioning. Um the only external changes that are being made here are the ADA ramp and the bike racks, and those seem to be clear improvements. Um and I I just want to clarify for the public like um you know what a conditional use permit is. um like the the assumption is if if the applicant meets certain requirements that are laid out that we automatically give the CUP. There's not a a lot of um discretion for the for the city to reject one. Um it's not like a variance where there's a lot more discretion if if they choose. Um so I I do feel um that they have have met this. Um an appropriate use of a conditional use permit is to apply conditions. So if commissioners have any ideas on on particular conditions to impose I mean it could be something around the hours of operation or something. Um, at at this point I'm I'm inclined to go with the staff recommendation and and approve um the motion that's on the table, but I would be open to conditions if people have them. Commissioner Forny, >> thank you. Um, I agree with all that has been set up here and everything. um it is not something that is a requirement, but I really hope that the owners um owning the property to the north respect the one mature tree that is there and um at some point in time there will be u some conditions regarding um the preservation of trees and I really just hope that they will honor um the importance of that tree. Thank you. Okay. And that was a comment. You don't want to make a condition out of that. >> I don't know that. >> I'm not actually familiar with which tree you're talking about, but okay. >> Okay. Any other comments or motions from commissioners? All right. So, we've got the motion on the table. >> Not seeing anyone else. Clerk, please call the RO. >> Commissioner Connley. >> I. >> Forny. >> I. >> Gordon. >> I. >> Shepard. I, >> Vice President Baxley, >> I >> and President Meyer, >> I. >> There are six eyes. >> All right, that is approved. Good luck with your project. Please shuffle your sidewalks and pick up the trash and engage with your neighbors. Thank you. All right. Uh, our last item is item number seven, 4029 28th Avenue South, and staff is Aaron Hanower. I have this off. >> Good afternoon, chair and commissioners. For Roosevelt High School, uh they are proposing a 17,000 square 600 foot addition on the east side of the building. near 30th Avenue and 40th Street. The proposed building and the project require four applications. A um a variance for the building placement. Here's here's some renderings of the building with four uh 30th Avenue being here, 40th Street North being here. So again, up on this image, this would be 30th and 40th. Uh the project requires four land use applications. A variance for that building placement along 40th Street from reducing the setback from 10 ft to 1 ft in the corner sideyard. And that would be in line with the existing building that's been there since the 1960s. Parking to allow parking in the front yard or between the building and the street along 30th Avenue. However, show you and that's an existing condition as well. Just with the reconfiguration of the parking lot, staff wanted to have this be a noted land use application of variance given that the parking spaces would be um closer or not closer, but but the parking lights and parking spaces would be fronting 30th Avenue more than they do currently. Some positives, however, a 7 foot landscape buffer and and screening would be added to to the 30th Avenue frontage. All right. And then third is a wall sign that they're proposing along 30th Avenue. A school in the RM1 district is allowed one 32 foot wall sign. There's a large wall sign for Roosevelt gym that's uh along this elevation that's currently there. The applicant would like a second wall sign to note where the main entrance is for the for the new career technical education program that they're proposing. And fourth is uh site plan review and that that we just trying to go through with a building this size. it required that site plan review application. Uh CPAD's supportive of the land use applications that the applicants proposed. I've been in touch with um a couple of the neighbors in terms of possible concerns. I know that some of it may be with the public noticing or just maybe not everyone being aware and just heard also concerns about the parking situation with with the current conditions and possibly with the proposed project expansion. But um if it's okay, I could I could leave it there and answer questions that you might have for staff at this time. >> Okay. Are there any questions for staff? All right. Thank you, Erin. I'll open public hearing. Do we have the applicant with us today? Welcome. Introduce yourself. And if you'd like, you can tell us about your project or you can just ask answer questions if you'd like. >> Sure. Uh yeah, my name is uh Chris Lobs. I'm a project architect with LSE Architects and I'm representing the applicant today. I wanted to talk a little bit about the project itself. Uh the purpose of it is uh Minneapolis public schools operates their career technical education center. It's a separate high school from all their other programs uh that exists in three locations. Uh North High School, which recently uh through its renovation had uh was uh its career technical education center. Edison High School, which just completed their career technical education center, now here at Roosevelt High School. Uh the purpose is that students from any high school can opt in to take classes uh for specific career and technical education programs where they'll then take a bus from their current school uh which may or may not be Roosevelt High School, come take their class there, and then be busted back to their regular high school to complete their day. For that reason, there aren't a lot of students that are going to be necessarily driving to this school. Uh as well as unless they're already going to Roosevelt. Uh, and the students aren't going to be here for the whole day. They're just going to be coming for one class and then leaving. Uh, this is a really important program to uh, Minneapolis public schools. It's a program that they really feel is important for building job training skills for it. And they're investing this money into producing uh, really high quality uh, welding uh, classes, auto classes, small engines, and machining. This is also where the career technical education district staff will be. Uh as part of it, we're building a new storm shelter uh to comply with new codes. And then uh the reality is it's a real challenge. The building's over 100 years old. It was put on the middle of a nearly twob block site. So we tried as much as possible to meet the intent of the 2040 code where we couldn't actually meet it uh by the letter. For instance, increasing that landscaping buffer, increasing the amount of landscaping to reduce headlights uh coming off of the site. Uh creating materials that are uh aligning with the rest of the building. Uh and uh also trying to increase the amount of glazing that's going onto the the uh city around it so that you have those active functions seen. Uh so that's really the intent of the project. If you have any questions, thank you. >> Thank you. Are there any questions for the applicant? Thank you. All right, each speaker can have two minutes. Welcome. Good evening. My name is Carla Nielsen. I reside in the 3900 block of 30th Avenue South and have for over 30 years. My concern is the overall lack of community engagement with we who live we the me as a resident and the other businesses around us. Um I'm not a business. Um it's unfortunate that council member Chowry is not here. This is right in the smack dab in the middle of her ward. So when I got this letter and found out I was one of very few households only based on I think it was 350 square ft around the school uh I was like what you know that it wasn't more extensive. Roosevelt is a big neighbor to us 33.5 acres is that school. It's a plus. I I'm a non-parent. Obviously, this educational opportunity, a place for kids to use to learn these um skills of of welding, machinery, etc. I mean, obviously, that's a plus. The fact that when I looked at the LS, LS um script, it showed that there would be more trees, that is a plus over there. But the loss of 60 parking spots and that is a mix of teachers and students that are parking there. That is appalling. We're a highly residential area and many of the homes have two and three cars by themselves. Um I'm also wondering what type of safety screening devices will be put in place on the 30th a entrance. School safety for all ages of children is important. Um the graphics from LSC is not showing bike racks or um on 30th A uh entrance for that. Um I personally do not think this proposal is ready to be affirmed given the lack of community engagement. Thank you for your public service. >> Thank you. Um would anyone anyone else like to testify? Did you want to? >> Welcome. Introduce yourself and you have two minutes. Hi, my name is Jen Newberg and I live on 29th Avenue um in between 39th and 40th Street. Um and I have a student who or an alumni who went to the community ed or the technical school to take automotive and is now in his second year at university learning to build Formula 1 race cars. So I value this um education. I also have a current student at Roosevelt. Given Roosevelt's current demographics of their younger classes of students, the elimination of the teacher parking lot, an entire parking lot at Roosevelt will greatly impact parking around the um around the school. Um and I didn't necessarily see that mentioned um or the fact that an entire parking lot is leaving the school that's used by Roosevelt. >> Thank you. Would anyone else like to speak? All right, not seeing any, but I have a question for the applicant. if you can come back up. >> Can you just tell us um about the bike parking and specifically on on 30th Avenue if um and and uh and then in response you have to the safety screening devices. >> Uh yeah, I can answer a couple of these. Uh the bike racks, there are bike racks being added. I do see they're not in the rendering. That's just no mission. Uh but there are, I believe it's uh eight or nine bike racks being added here. Uh also around the building uh there are well over a hundred bike racks just that are serving the general school itself. Uh but we're uh we're adding three classrooms to it and I believe and I don't have the application in front of me uh but we exceed the number that are required uh by the zoning code for an addition of classrooms. Uh in terms of the safety uh we are adding a new secure entry uh to the building. Uh so we'll be following the Minneapolis public school standards on secure entry uh into the school itself. Essentially it'll be buzzed in through each set of doors. >> Okay. So the 30th Avenue one is not on the rendering. So can we add a condition that would would you be receptive to to a condition that would clarify that? >> Sure. Yeah, I'd be happy to add that. >> Kimberly, do you have a suggestion on how we would phrase that just to >> Well, I'm just looking to Aaron. It's not on the rendering, but is it on the site plan or elsewhere accounted for in the application materials? Because if so, then we would need a condition. >> Okay. If I go back forward. >> Yeah. So, they're located right right here as you come in. >> Okay. >> Just adjacent to the entrance. As long as staff feel feels as clear that that is included in the staff recommendation, I'm fine with that. Okay, last chance for anyone. Did you have a question you want to ask the applicant? >> Please. Yes. >> Okay. If you want to come back up, we have another before we close the hearing. >> Sorry. What can you talk to talk to us about any traffic demand management plans that were developed during the design? >> Uh there wasn't a specific uh traffic demand management plan required as part of it. So, uh, we do not have one here. Uh, and since there's no parking minimum, we weren't required to make up the parking that we lost here. >> But you had some discussions obviously with MPS. >> Yeah. >> So, MPS has their transportation plan as they move through this. Um, again, for most of the students who are actually coming to this center, they're going to be coming on a bus from their regular high school. Uh, so they're not necessarily going to be parking here. Uh, so any demand would be just for people who are currently at Roosevelt High School. In terms of staff, is is this a staff parking only that you have? >> Uh I believe currently right now they operate this uh parking lot here is staff only >> and and they are unconcerned with that. >> Uh and they're not concerned with losing that parking. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Anyone else? >> All right. I will close the public hearing. >> Commissioners, is there any discussion or a motion? >> Oh, sorry. The public hearing is closed. Commissioners, >> Commissioner Conley, >> this is only a comment, Mr. President. I'm excited about these changes to Roosevelt. Um I think that this is a really great program and Roosevelt is just a solid institution in the neighborhood over there. I'm um actually excited to hear that the staff weren't concerned about the loss of parking because I saw the rendering show that that parking lot is cut in half. I think this will be a benefit not only to the community uh especially with the addition of the trees, the addition of the 7 foot I think it it was um uh buffer and uh just to the students themselves. So I'm excited to support this today. Thank you. I will move to approve it. >> All right, there's a motion. Is there a second? second. >> All right. I'll speak to it as well. And first I'll just note um the city council is currently reviewing their budget. It's probably the busiest week of of the year for them. So I imagine that is where council member Sha um is at. Um but it does sound like there could be more more engagement with with the neighbors around. But um but I think this is a a good project that's very in line with our our 2040 plan. and the variances uh seem reasonable. I know that parking is a frequent concern, but as I noted for the last um application, the city's policy um is to the climate policy is to try to reduce parking as much as possible and whenever possible try to get people to to bus or bike and it's great that they're busing the kids uh to the school. So, that is very in line um with this. So I I um will uh definitely vote to approve this. Any other commissioners wish to comment or make an any amendment? >> All right. Not seeing any. Uh clerk, please call the role. >> Commissioner Connley >> I. >> Forny >> I. >> Gordon. >> I. >> Shepard. >> I. >> Vice President Baxley. >> I >> and President Meyer. >> I. There are six eyes. >> All right, that is approved. Good luck with your project. And that is our last item for the day. Uh we don't have any committee of the whole uh this week and our next full meeting will be January 5th of 2026. Are there any updates from staff or commissioners? >> Um yes. So updates out of the biz committee of the city council. Also, I mentioned at our last meeting that we did receive an appeal of the planning commission's approval of the project at 4109 and 4113 Sheridan. That appeal was denied by the biz committee of the city council. There was a condition of approval added just asking for some additional landscaping um on that property and that goes to the full city council this week. Um planning commission appointments were also on that agenda. So happy to say that uh commissioners Wagner, Jones, and Shepard were moved forward for reappointments and that will also go to the full city council this week. >> Great. Anyone else? Not seeing any. So that we are ajourned. Thank you.