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Summer 2011 in the Como neighborhood
Compared to 2010, 2011 has been fairly quiet when it comes to issues surrounding Como Regional Park. My office did a lot of work with the Como Regional Park Transportation Improvement Plan in order to lay the groundwork for easing the effects of Como traffic and parking on neighbors.
This year, I worked with Parks and Rec to help develop the Como Regional Park Advisory Committee to improve communication among neighbors, Parks and Rec, and park users. Also, neighbors west of the park, petitioned to create a new residential permit parking zone west of the Park, which went into effect this year to restrict park visitors from parking on those residential streets.
 The combination of these efforts is having a positive effect. The restricted residential parking west of the park along with significantly improved shuttle marketing and signage increased shuttle ridership. While overall zoo attendance decreased this year in large part due to weather, shuttle ridership increased significantly. Weekend ridership has increased to 6.94% of Como Campus (Zoo, Conservatory, ComoTown, not picnickers and other park uses) this year from 4.31%. The total number of riders increased to 35,768 from 28,963 in 2010. 99.3% of riders surveyed would ride the shuttle again. Moving forward, in 2012 Parks and Rec and the Como Regional Park Advisory Committee will continue to tackle wayfinding signage and other traffic, parking, and circulation topics, as well as the future of Como golf course. Further, the new Como Pool facility will open this coming spring.
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Student housing zoning study update
Last week, I joined planning and safety and inspections staff and dozens of neighbors, property-owners, and landlords in a preliminary discussion about the student housing zoning study. For the most part, it was a respectful exchange of experiences, perspectives, and ideas on the topic of student housing in the moratorium area and beyond.
For more information about the study, please visit this website, where a summary of comments and questions from the meeting will be posted soon. |
650 Pelham -- testing our Central Corridor vision
Recently, the City Council granted the Union Park District Council's appeal of an approved site plan for an industrial development at 650 Pelham Avenue. This proposed development raises several important questions for development along the Central Corridor moving forward.
The Central Corridor Development Strategy and Station Area Plans, both developed over the past 5 years through extensive community processes, have been adopted as amendments to the City's Comprehensive Plan. Generally speaking, these documents point toward higher density, more transit and pedestrian-oriented development than we have seen along much of the corridor over the past several decades. But overlaying the desire to take advantage of the $1 billion investment in light rail onto the City's largest area of industrial-zoned land is not a straightforward or simple process.
Ward 4 is home to nearly 50% (nearly 5,000) of the remaining manufacturing jobs in St. Paul, and these jobs are generally good-paying, family-supporting jobs. Retaining and attracting more of these jobs in our community has clear, easy-to-understand benefits. However, I-1 zoning, including at the Pelham site, allows for light industrial, warehouse, office/showroom, and other uses, that in the current marketplace tend to be 1-story, large footprint buildings with ample surface parking.
Transit-Oriented development, such as that envisioned along the corridor and allowed under T2, T3, and T4 zoning generally allows for multi-story development of housing, office, retail, and related uses, and combinations of these uses ("mixed-use"). This type of development generally brings more housing units and jobs per acre, but the jobs tend to be modest-wage, service industry jobs.
As others have said in describing this phenomenon, as much as we like the look and feel of mixed-use and residential buildings, we do not want to become a community of only "condos and coffee shops." In fact, the community is organized around the idea of highlighting and growing the creative, productive enterprises located in the University/Raymond area, under the name Creative Enterprise Zone.
In the midst of this important debate, the St. Paul Port Authority and Meridien proposed a light industrial/office/warehouse building at Pelham and Wabash. The building was designed to look a lot like most of the Port Authority projects of the last 20 years in St. Paul, such as the Westgate development at University west of 280 and many others.
The community eloquently voiced opposition to the design and layout of the building on the site, given that it is located within ¼ mile of the Raymond Station and that Pelham is an important walking/biking route to the Raymond Station from Desnoyer Park. While the I-1 zoning would generally allow the building as proposed, the Central Corridor Development Strategy, the Raymond Station Area Plan, and a desire to maximize the development opportunities on adjacent sites led me to support granting the appeal on the basis that the building should be located up to the corner rather than behind parking.
Moving forward, we clearly need to have further dialogue with the St. Paul Port Authority (the City's taxpayer-supported industrial development partner), community stakeholders, and private developers to ensure that we continue to allow for and attract industrial/commercial business growth, but in a way that fits into our plan and vision for the future of the light rail corridor - particularly in areas where industrial zones abut light rail station areas.
As a City, we have a definite interest in making the "rules of the game" clear to developers so that we avoid case-by-case arguments about each development. As a community, we want to set the bar high for development and ensure that every project adds value and enhances additional opportunities to attract private investment. Nothing less than the future health and vitality of our community is at stake. |
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