HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025/06/18 - ADMIN - Agenda Packets - Charter Commission - Regular Planning commission study session meeting
June 18, 2025
5:00 p.m.
If you need special accommodations or have questions about the meeting, please call Sean Walther at 952.924.2574 or the
administration department at 952.924.2505.
Planning commission study session
The St. Louis Park planning commission is meeting in person at the Union Park Flats
apartments community room at 6027 W 37th Street, St. Louis Park MN 55416. Members of
the public can attend and watch the meeting in person.
Visit bit.ly/slppcagendas to view the agenda and reports.
Agenda
5:00 p.m. Tour of Union Park Flats
5:45 p.m. Break
6:00 p.m. 1.Elections presentation
6:15 p.m. 2.Arrive + Thrive presentation and discussion
7:45 p.m. 3.Communications (no staff report)
8:00 p.m. Adjourn
Future scheduled meeting/event dates:
July 2, 2025 - planning commission canceled
July 16, 2025 - planning commission study session meeting
August 6, 2025 - planning commission regular meeting
August 20, 2025 – planning commission regular meeting
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Planning commission: Study session
Meeting date: June 18, 2025
Agenda item: 1
1 City council election filing process
Recommended action: None, informational only
Policy consideration: None
Summary: Marcus Paul, the City of St. Louis Park Elections Specialist, is meeting with boards
and commissions to discuss the opportunity of running for local office in the park. Board and
commission members are ideal participants in this conversation, as they’ve already
demonstrated a strong commitment to making a positive impact in the city. The discussion will
cover the upcoming 2025 municipal election, the steps involved in filing to run for office, and
what it’s like to serve as a city councilmember. The goal is to connect with individuals who have
shown a genuine interest in improving the park, and to encourage them to consider bringing
their unique perspectives and life experiences into local government.
Prepared by: Sean Walther, planning manager / deputy community development director
Reviewed by: Angela Nelson, community development office assistant
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Planning commission: Study session
Meeting date: June 18, 2025
Agenda item: 2
2 Discussion of Arrive + Thrive implementation
Recommended Action: No action at this time. Provide feedback to staff on the final draft of Arrive
+ Thrive and the implementation approach.
Background: In 2023, the city kicked off the Arrive + Thrive project to create a planning
framework for the areas around the three METRO Green Line Extension light rail stations:
Beltline Boulevard, Wooddale Avenue, and Louisiana Avenue, and the commercial corridor of
Excelsior Boulevard west of Highway 100. Collectively, these areas made up the “gateways”
analyzed in the Arrive + Thrive plan.
Following 18 months of community, planning commission and city council engagement, a full
draft of Arrive + Thrive was reviewed and considered by the planning commission and city
council in October 2024. Staff updated the Arrive + Thrive plan based on the feedback and
developed an approach for implementation of the plan.
Project purpose: The focus of the Arrive + Thrive planning was to establish a common
framework and communications tool for the small area plans for the four selected gateways.
This included updates to three existing light rail station area plans and creating a new small
area plan for the commercial corridor of West Excelsior Boulevard. These gateway plans
provided an opportunity to further the vision of these areas while utilizing the city’s strategic
priorities as a planning framework. The project set out to not only create a planning document,
but to emphasize implementation and create a living document to communicate progress.
Project approach: We began with an analysis of existing conditions in the gateways. City staff
and the consulting team at SRF Consulting Group, Inc. created an existing conditions summary
and presented it to a community advisory group for the project. The information gathered from
this analysis also informed community engagement questions and activities.
This analysis influenced the next phase of the project: establishing a framework and identifying
“big ideas” for each gateway. The big ideas went through multiple iterations, getting feedback
from city staff technical experts, the community advisory group, the planning commission, and
the community at large through engagement events. This phase included targeted engagement
efforts to reach a greater representation of the community, including renters, business
community, and families with young children.
We refined the big ideas of each gateway, created illustrated plans and identified the desired
strategic outcomes based on the big ideas. The illustrated plans and outcomes were presented
to the community through online engagement and an open house event. The feedback from
this engagement was used to develop the list of implementation actions for each outcome.
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Study session of June 18, 2025 (Item No. 2)
Title: Discussion of Arrive + Thrive implementation
Final draft: The Arrive + Thrive planning document is organized by gateway; each gateway plan
includes:
• Gateway illustrative plan
• Gateway outcomes
• Impact analysis
• Implementation actions
Links to each chapter of the final draft are at the end of this staff report.
Implementation approach: Each outcome for each gateway has implementation actions, which
are categorized with the information below:
• Types of Arrive + Thrive implementation actions
o Planning – actions directing further study and analysis of a topic
o Policy – actions establishing direction for city activities and programs
o Regulatory – actions related to zoning, subdivision and land use
o Infrastructure – actions related to building physical infrastructure by the city
• Timing of implementation actions
o Near term – anticipated action over the next 5 years
o Mid term – action likely 5-15 years from now
o Long term – action 15 years from now or later
o On-going – actions that the city already does and will continue to implement
The implementation tables for each outcome and gateway are organized by timing, with the
most near-term actions listed first and on-going actions listed at the end.
In order to maintain focus on implementation of Arrive + Thrive and communicating progress
and make it a living document, staff will create an online dashboard that tracks implementation
actions, providing metrics and measures of success, as well as update the dashboard as actions
happen over the next 20 years. Below is a mock-up visual of what an implementation
dashboard might look like:
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Study session of June 18, 2025 (Item No. 2)
Title: Discussion of Arrive + Thrive implementation
Staff will draft the dashboard in late summer 2025 and present it to the planning commission
for feedback in the fall.
Analysis: When looking at the implementation actions for all the gateways, some of these
actions will require active involvement and decision-making from the planning commission. At
the forefront are land use changes and updates to zoning to facilitate the desired outcomes of
Arrive + Thrive.
The current Phase 2 of the Zoning Code Update dovetails well with the implementation of
Arrive + Thrive, making it possible to create a transit-oriented development zoning district and
standards. Many of the planning commission’s priorities identified within the zoning code
update consensus workshop could factor into a new transit-oriented development zoning
district, such as:
• Enhancing pedestrian and bicycle-friendly development
• Fostering community gathering spaces
• Focusing on green space and natural landscaping (“ecospace”)
• Improving transit connectivity and prioritizing non-car mobility
Discussion questions: Staff requests commissioners’ responses to following questions:
• What are some tools to best accomplish the commissions’ priorities within a transit-
oriented development zoning district? Examples of tools include: form-based standards,
density-bonuses or other incentives, etc.
• What are some ways to make sure redevelopment harmonizes with existing land uses,
especially employment centers that are remaining in the station areas?
• What information would you find most useful on the Arrive + Thrive implementation
dashboard? What measures of success are you most interested in hearing about?
Next steps: The city council will consider approval of the Arrive + Thrive final draft next. Staff
will work on the creation of the implementation dashboard in late summer and present a draft
of it to the planning commission in the fall.
Prepared by: Laura Chamberlain, senior planner
Reviewed by: Sean Walther, planning manager / deputy community development director
Links to final draft chapters:
• Chapter 1 - Arrive + Thrive Framework
• Chapter 2 - Beltline Gateway Plan
• Chapter 3 - Wooddale Gateway Plan
• Chapter 4 - Louisiana Gateway Plan
• Chapter 5 - West Excelsior Gateway Plan
• Chapter 6 - Impact Analysis
• Chapter 7 - Implementation
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