North St. Paul City Council — Transcript
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Parks and Open Space Master Plan Adoption
Downtown Design Manual Review and Future
Votes (2)
Review and Recommendation of the Parks and Open Space Master Plan
Dissent: None
Moved by Commissioner Rothi [~0:45:50] · Seconded by Commissioner Munich [~0:46:10]
The Planning Commission engaged in a detailed review of the Parks and Open Space Master Plan, noting its clarity and thoroughness. Discussions covered specific park improvements, funding challenges for amenities like lifeguards, the importance of ADA accessibility for educational sites like Southwood Preserve, and the successful community engagement led by the consulting firm HGA. Commissioners clarified their role as recommending endorsement to the City Council rather than conducting granular review of city codes. The plan was highlighted as a guiding document for future park development and maintenance over 5-10 year horizons.
Discussion of the Downtown Design Manual
The Planning Commission initiated a discussion on the relevance and future of the Downtown Design Manual. Commissioners debated whether the manual provided value beyond what the zoning ordinance already covers, largely agreeing that its focus on aesthetics, guidelines, and visual representations is unique and beneficial. Suggestions were made to update its content, moving away from potentially outdated requirements, and to consider integrating it as a chapter or appendix within the North St Paul Comprehensive Plan (2040/2050) to enhance accessibility and prevent conflicting information. The need for legal guidance regarding potential conflicts between different city documents was also identified.
Notable Quotes (10)
historically we've had to have fund raised to have um lifeguards at the beach and one of our commissioners did that with the Silver Lake Splash for a very long time but it was a very big undertaking
I would commend you for for the work done on especially on um mcnight Fields ... this report puts clarifies some of that and and at least establishes some goals for things to do
we have to shout out hga who's the firm that we hired to do all of this... they absolutely delivered um and we're super impressed and grateful to them as well
the future of Southwood is absolutely something that we're talking okay um about it's a very emotional and delicate conversation but it's not feedback that we haven't heard before
as a city planner usually the parks would be on the city of this size you have two different levels of parks you'd have the neighborhood park that are usually don't have parking planned because they're meant to be accessed by people walking and bicycling and then you'd have the few larger parks where you would need to have parking
do we need it it's a good question um does the zoning ordinance adequately cover what we care about in the downtown area
I would agree with that I feel like it's a pictorial representation of what the zoning ordinances are saying and it gives people uh a way of imagining how something could fit within those zoning ordinances
I think it maybe just has to transform a little bit but it's you know it's a lot of um a lot of cities used to have things like this where it was requirements... and those are I think a lot of cities are moving away from that
one of the things I would possibly suggest is to take a gander at the um the uh the official name the North St Paul comprehensive plan 2040... condense it and have it be a chapter or a section in the comprehensive plan rather than its own separate document
is there information in here that conflicts with our ordinance in some form or the comp plan for that matter so those are maybe the things we should focus some energy on
Ordinances & Resolutions (5)
Comprehensive plan for the development and management of parks and open spaces in North St Paul, developed with HGA.
A guideline document providing aesthetic and design recommendations for downtown development, under review for its relevance and potential integration with other city plans.
Existing city regulation that establishes setbacks and other development rules, contrasted with the Downtown Design Manual's focus on aesthetics.
The city's long-term development plan, which was suggested as a potential host document for a condensed version of the Downtown Design Manual.
A guiding document outlining historical, current, and future park improvements over 5-7 years, running parallel to the Master Plan.