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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022/11/07 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Official minutes City council study session St. Louis Park, Minnesota Nov. 7, 2022 The meeting convened at 5:30 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jake Spano, Tim Brausen, Sue Budd, Lynette Dumalag, Larry Kraft, Nadia Mohamed, and Margaret Rog Councilmembers absent: none Staff present: City Manager (Ms. Keller), Economic Development Manager (Mr. Hunt), Director of Community Development (Ms. Barton), Planning Manager/Deputy Community Development Director (Mr. Walther), Communications and Technology Director (Ms. Smith) Guests: 1. Managing change in residential neighborhoods Ms. Barton and Mr. Walther presented the report. Mr. Walther asked for council feedback related to the 2040 comp plan goals and strategies. Councilmember Kraft noted that as land use evolves within the city, engagement of the community will be important. Councilmember Brausen stated both strategy 3a and 3d involve community engagement with development strategies. He agreed this is important, explaining we will need to explain to the community about housing options. Councilmember Dumalag noted with land use changes, the education will be a big component and how the community is changing, as well as who will be doing the education, including staff. Councilmember Rog noted the unique neighborhoods and character component and added she is interested in hearing council’s thoughts on this. Mayor Spano noted throughout the strategies and goals, are we doing these things, noting he was not sure the city is doing things, and how does staff call this out and try to point this out to council. He added some strategies related to affordable housing may need to be reviewed again when looking at location especially around light rail stations. Councilmember Kraft added what does success look like and how do we know if we are achieving it or not. Councilmember Rog noted she wanted to elevate walkable neighborhoods with businesses and services that people can walk to, and that are safe and comfortable. Councilmember Budd noted public gathering places and the importance of where there is public art. DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -2- Nov. 7, 2022 Councilmember Dumalag noted the re-use opportunities, and retail repurposed can be an opportunity for different uses and is another amenity to the neighborhood. Councilmember Rog noted home ownership and affordable home ownership as a subset. Councilmember Kraft added the theme of diversity of housing options and types and that it’s important to understand where the city is doing well and where it is not. Mayor Spano added how do we measure diversity, and what is needed in each neighborhood . He noted another item related to public art heritage and culture and wants to look deeper into this with commercial development and how it stands out in the community. Councilmember Mohamed stated mixed income neighborhoods, and preservation of homes and renovations and that seeing funding and creative methods going into this would be helpful. Goals already embraced by council. Councilmember Rog noted affordable rental multifamily housing. Councilmember Mohamed added apartment style is more embraced versus home ownership. Councilmember Dumalag added this is also a function of the market and availability. She stated this council is supportive of home ownership in a variety of levels of price point, but again it is a function of the marketplace. Councilmember Brausen stated the council is committed to all seven goals, but they don’t promote preservation of existing housing as vigorously as they do for new housing. He stated the greenest thing to do is preservation of existing buildings, and he would like to see more of this done, especially with multifamily housing. Councilmember Mohamed stated she sees a lot of public art, but not a lot of cultural heritage art that speaks to residents in St. Louis Park. Based on priorities, what would need to change? Councilmember Rog stated zoning and land use regulations would need to be more expansive to include triplexes and fourplexes. Councilmember Brausen stated promotion of ADU’s is important. Councilmember Mohmed added more out of the box thinking. Councilmember Rog added zoning that allows commercial businesses in areas where they are currently not allowed – true neighborhood commercial. Councilmember Kraft added how density could be increased to create more affordability. He noted the green side is an integral component, so increasing density and increasing tree canopy, which is a challenge. DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -3- Nov. 7, 2022 Councilmember Rog added perhaps prohibiting what changes can happen in neighborhoods to preserve green space and trees and not simply expanding and increasing density. Councilmember Brausen added educating the community about the city’s goals and creating affordable space. Councilmember Dumalag liked the use of the tables related to multifamily housing and zoning, and the education will be important. She added obstacles still exists however with the city’s market limitations. What does race equity and inclusion mean to council members in the context of low-density residential areas? Councilmember Mohamed stated this would mean larger homes for immigrant families, and the challenges that come with larger families living in 2–3-bedroom homes. She stated how we look at single family homes in the city is important. Councilmember Rog added access generally to living in single family neighborhoods, and generational wealth issues. She stated people of color are usually in rental homes, and if there is access it is temporary and not the same opportunity to build wealth as other single -family homeowners. Councilmember Kraft stated there are problems with zoning, adding it created barriers to people of color for home ownership, so we need to create opportunities in the city for homeownership, so we evolve as a city. He noted entry-level homeownership, is key. Mayor Spano stated he does not know, and it is a question that others in the community may be better suited to answer. He understands the structural parts of this. He asked how the council can make sure the voices of folks that represent those groups and neighbors within the city, can articulate their own vision for what they want for housing and not be pushed out because it doesn’t align with what the council may want. How can the council advance that work based on information directly from those seeking housing opportunities, rather than what council thinks is needed within the community. Councilmember Dumalag noted her experience as a child with her parents as immigr ants and her multi-generational living situation. She stated having her grandparents live with them, being in a safe and walkable neighborhood. Their experience was being in a neighborhood without sidewalks, adding she is happy the city is making the effor t to add sidewalks. She noted access to amenities and transit, and changing homes to accommodate multi-generational living are important to think about. Councilmember Budd stated listening to residents, and to STEP, as well as early education groups have been helpful. DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -4- Nov. 7, 2022 Sharing learnings Councilmember Dumalag stated the council should spend time discussing what racial equity means in neighborhoods and look deeper at communities that are already in St. Louis Park. Mayor Spano added the council meets with and talks to residents and each have different experiences, noting he values the multiple viewpoints everyone offers. Councilmember Mohamed appreciated having a refresher on goals and strategies and what is currently being done will go on the backburner and recentering will be helpful. Councilmember Rog stated there is cohesion between the strategic plan and goals . She added the cultural food opportunities points made, reflected synergy with unique neighborhoods. Councilmember Kraft noted the nuance and type of housing and multifamily housing created interesting thoughts. Councilmember Brausen stated having this discussion and educating capital providers to the needs of the community is important and how do we get there. Recess and reconvene The council recessed the meeting at 6:11 p.m. to hold the EDA and council meetings, noting the study session will continue following the council meeting. The council reconvened the study session at 6:50 p.m. Notes from Workshop Mr. Walther facilitated a consensus workshop with the council and conducted a brainstorming exercise with the council. Ideas were shared in successive rounds with discussion after each set of ideas were shared. Ideas were organized into categories, and eventually each category was named. The first set of ideas shared included:  Eliminate language barriers to housing options.  Duplexes throughout.  Affordable homes to buy.  Educating community on needs.  Art history/walkable.  Neighborhoods create a workplan on how to align with goals.  More townhomes. Councilmember Dumalag noted art history/walkable refers to something like Chicago art history walks and with sidewalks. Mayor Spano stated he is interested in creating a vacuum effect to pull neighborhoods along, while operationalizing the city’s race equity work. He added what if each neighborhood helped in this process that reflected their own uniqueness and character -- and they then become more aligned with the city’s goals and strategies. DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -5- Nov. 7, 2022 Councilmember Rog asked how far we go with asking the community again for input, when we have already gotten input from them through the visioning process. Councilmember Brausen asked if this aligns with social capital. He stated we cannot get the Cedar Manor neighborhood organized, so not sure how this might happen. Councilmember Kraft stated there is an important community aspect to this but has concerns about starting over with the process on what do residents want. Mayor Spano noted, however, this might be a space for neighborhoods to state what they might be missing and provide more of a voice in what is going on in the city, to help them live the city’s vision. Councilmember Dumalag noted we will need to invite those that don’t have the privilege of living in a certain area, or who gets to have what say. Mr. Walther read aloud each successive round of ideas, council members discussed the ideas to understand them better collectively, and similar ideas were sorted into categories. The final topic headings and sets of ideas that the council agreed upon and responded to the workshop question, “How can our low-density neighborhoods become more aligned with our adopted strategic priorities?” were as follows:  Engagement and Education  Neighborhoods create a work plan on how to align with goals  Educating the community on needs  Exposure to strategic priorities – do they know them?  Listen to school district  Equity in neighborhood leadership  Events to ease concerns  Gradual evolution  Eliminate language barriers to housing options  Housing Types  Duplexes throughout  More townhomes  Larger family sized homes  Expand number of bedrooms in single-family homes  Multigenerational living  Rezone for duplex/triplex/quad homes at minimal expense  Rowhomes  Create more ADUs (accessory dwelling units)  More duplexes  Smaller lot sizes and smaller homes  Multigenerational housing DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -6- Nov. 7, 2022  Trees and Nature  Expand / preserve tree canopy.  Increase tree canopy.  Tree preservation (Legacy tree ordinance +).  Tree preservation incentives or regulation .  Limit pesticide weed control.  More yards with native plantings.  Culture  Art History Walkable.  Cultural events like Wat Promwachirayan.  Cultural-specific art.  Bike lane festivals.  Home Ownership  Affordable homes to buy.  Entry-level ownership for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) community.  Limit investors to preserve ownership opportunities.  More affordable home ownership opportunities.  Complete Neighborhoods  Retail gap analysis.  5/15-minute neighborhoods.  More places to walk to.  $ (Financing)  NOAH preservation incentives.  $ for incentives.  Pilot programs.  Create 30% AMI (area median income) options.  Financial assistance for smart expansion.  Energy Efficient Homes Mr. Walther ask for council’s final reflections on the consensus they had reached. Councilmember Rog noted the housing category stands out and what opportunities are there for this. Councilmember Mohamed stated these topics stay true to community education and keeping neighborhoods in the loop. Mayor Spano added coming out of COVID there is a need for communities and neighbors to re- connect with each other, noting he agrees housing and community engagement are core. Mr. Walther stated next steps will be to address these topics and ideas with council in future agendas while presenting how they align with workplans. DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236 Study session minutes -7- Nov. 7, 2022 Written Reports Councilmember Brausen supports the parking policy. Mayor Spano added council needs to continue to think about how parking affects neighborhoods and moving away from issues related to who is allowed to park in neighborhoods, while reducing the need to drive to all locations. Councilmember Kraft stated this ties in with the complete neighborhoods area, where residents should be able to walk to businesses in the area. He added more creative use of the right of way in neighborhoods is something that can be developed more. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Written Reports 2. Corridor parking policy ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Melissa Kennedy, city clerk Jake Spano, mayor DocuSign Envelope ID: 40686F5C-5A00-40E1-A7F7-56E9CD1A3236