Did you see “Don’t Coon Rapids Northeast”?

Posted on by Neighbors for More Neighbors

A flier recently began circulating in response to proposed housing near Dusty’s bar, on Marshall and 14th, entitled, “Don’t Uptown Northeast”. Amongst the complaints, are the typical: not enough parking, too tall, shadows, neighborhood character, etc. People seem to say this about every new proposal to add people to a neighborhood, but that doesn’t make it true.

Neighbors for More Neighbors supports more housing and more neighbors. You’ve seen the flier, now read some more things, and then contact your council member or the Zoning & Planning committee members to voice your support, also CC the Sheridan Neighborhood Org on it; like most neighborhood organizations, they are probably about a dozen people pretending to speak for a neighborhood when they likely haven’t heard from 99.9% of residents.

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Update (7/13): Appeals denied!

Project & rezoning request approved by Z&P, now will move on to be voted by the full council. Thanks to everyone who emailed & said things to your CMs. Hearing video will be posted when available.

Oppose the appeal (on 7/13)

If you wish to write a letter of opposition to these projects, here are some talking points to consider including, as well as who you should email.

  • I support both proposed projects
  • I support the rezoning from C1 to C3a
  • Please deny the appeal
  • In the last Z&P hearing, two CMs suggested that approval somehow be attached to affordability or rental rates, the is not presently legal, and I do not want the city to get sued. The city pursuing affordable housing is great, but it should be done within legal means, or laws should be changed.
  • These projects are consistent with Sheridan Neighborhood Organization’s small area plan, which has these properties marked on a future land use map as part of an ‘activity center’ and zoned for ‘mixed use’.

Contacts:

  • Zoning and Planning committee members: lisa.bender@minneapolismn.gov, andrew.johnson@minneapolismn.gov, barbara.johnson@minneapolismn.gov, abdi.warsame@minneapolismn.gov, lisa.goodman@minneapolismn.gov, kevin.reich@minneapolismn.gov
  • Ward 3 CM: jacob.frey@minneapolismn.gov
  • city planner & project staff contact: peter.crandall@minneapolismn.gov

The SNO small area plan does indeed call for an ‘activity center’ and ‘mixed use’ right at the site of this possible project:



Update (7/5)

SNO is circulating an updated flier. We will be responding. You have to love how they say “all people are welcome in sheridan” while they explain how they don’t want more people.


Project Update (6/22)

This project went through Z&P on June 22nd, and any decision on the appeal and project, variances, conditional use permit etc., has been continued to July 13th; and a motion to rezone to C3A has passed (3–2), . As such, this project still will need your support, watch this space as we may have more ways to interact beyond email!

The projects have also changed slightly, after the developer “collaborated with the neighborhood”.

Changes — corner of Marshall & 14th

  • Residential parking — Provided stalls: increase from 47 provided to 67 provided (55 required); 0.44/unit -> 0.61/unit, previously asking for a variance for 8 less, now have a surplus of 12 parking units; 42.5% increase and no variance needed. (“Good faith effort to maximize parking”; discussions with neighborhood kept coming back to parking, starting and ending there ?). According to developer, similar projects in similarly near transit have parking use/lease ratios of .5, so they agree with need to reduce parking but are the neighborhood will not accept.
  • Street level retail space added, 998 SF space replaced two live/work units
  • Building massing — reduced 5 stories adjacent to the alley, same amount of units preserved.

More reading

About the projects

Contact Info for Z&P committee members & more

Ward 3 CM

Jacob Frey (NE!) — 612–673–2203 — Jacob.Frey@minneapolismn.gov

Z&P Committee

Barb Johnson — 612–673–2205 — Barbara.Johnson@minneapolismn.gov

Abdi Warsame — 612–673–2206 — Abdi.Warsame@minneapolismn.gov

Lisa Bender — 612–673–2210 — Lisa.Bender@minneapolismn.gov

Andrew Johnson — 612–673–2212 — Andrew.Johnson@minneapolismn.gov

Lisa Goodman — 612–673–2207 — Lisa.Goodman@minneapolismn.gov

Kevin Reich — 612–673–2201 — Kevin.Reich@minneapolismn.gov

Sheridan Neighborhood Org — 612–379–0728 — sno@sheridanneighborhood.org

Talking Points for your emails & flier text

FOLKS, there are two 6-story buildings that need to come to Northeast. The Sheridan Neighborhood Organization is opposing them because they would rather have sprawl and displace people as a result of high cost of living. Convince city council members not to listen to these neighborhood busybodies who think that an appropriate use of land in a city is one that matches that of Coon Rapids. Buildings of this height and greater are here in NE already.

YOU can help fight the SNO, which has decided to oppose housing that will help more people live in the area, and which would be in line with our city’s stated goals to resist Trump and abide by the Paris Climate Accord. SNO is merely the neighborhood organization, not all the people who actually live in the neighborhood. SNO has made this decision to appeal with a tiny fraction of residents (less than 1%!) participating in the process. This is not representative.

  • I support C3A re-zoning, I object to C-1 zoning, this is not dense enough for a city.
  • I support the Conditional Use Permit for extra height.
  • I support the variance to reduce the setback. Low setbacks are a part of walkable and livable neighborhoods: look at 13th Ave NE, Central & Lowry, and “downtown” Northeast.
  • The projects are reasonable scale for a city, we need more of this!
  • Neighbors’ sunlight takes a back seat to our need to save the planet by living sustainably, promote city living, and allow more people to live in an already desirable neighborhood near jobs.
  • 200+ new residential units at the parking ratio required is reasonable for an area with transit routes, bike lanes, and plenty to do in the neighborhood.
  • Developments do not need one parking space for every resident, especially on a site so close to off-street bike trails and high-frequency transit. This is too much for any urban area, especially as we seek ways to reduce dependence on fossil fuels after Trump backed out of the Paris Agreement. Decreasing parking is environmentally sound, increasing parking is Trumpism.
  • I support bringing more housing to a desireable neighborhood to help control housing costs.
  • I support more residents who will patronize all the nearby small businesses.
  • The “character of the neighborhood” is a loaded phrase that is used to keep certain kinds of people out. People are what give our neighborhood character, and I want to build enough housing to welcome new residents.
  • We want density like this, as it benefits the community. Sprawl is a burden to our planet.

Shareable fliers

A shareable condensed version of the flier

The uncondensed jumbo flier