September 13th, Monday – 6:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.,
Holy Rosary Church Board Room, 24th and 17th Ave S
Attendance: Mary Gonsior, Linda Leonard, Tim Chancey,
Margaret Kirkpatrick, Carol Pass, Tim Springer, Earl Simms, Brad Pass, Al
Johnson,
Guests: Bev Warmka, Joseph Spangler, Shirley Heyer
6:30 Introduction:
· Greetings and Introductions
· Approval of Agenda (passed)
· Approval of
Minutes from EPIC General Membership Meeting, August 9th (passed)
6:40 Announcements
· Next EPIC Meeting, Monday, October 11, 2010
· NCEC Informational Meetings-Thursday,
September 30, 6-8 pm North Commons Park
· CP
missed the meeting this past Thursday, but will attend the meeting on 9/30.
· Clean Sweep – Saturday, October 9th…Plan to
CLEAN YOUR BLOCK. Starts with a free breakfast at 9 AM at Welna's Ace Hardware
on Bloomington Ave. Steward Park hosts a free lunch at Noon. There will be
entertainment until about 2 PM.
· Garden Harvest Party – Probable Date,
Saturday, October 16th, 2400 block of 17th Avenue. Watch for more information
next month.
· Crime Meeting at the Franklin Safety Center
on Wednesday, Sept. at 5:30 PM.
7:00 Presentation of
City Plan for 22nd St. & Franklin Ave. Improvements. Beverly Warmka,
from CPED
Handout and map were distributed. This
project has been in the works for many years, started through a CPED grant
application, prior to the
light-rail development. This plan affects Franklin Avenue, and pedestrian
walk-ways (Bloomington to 21st Ave.) Seeking community feedback for setting
priorities. Seeking neighborhood volunteers to sit on a panel and figure this
out in a few quick meetings. Finally at a point where building can begin, but
there is not enough money to do everything. All enhancements would be strictly
related to pedestrian areas only (the County plans to resurface the street at
some point.) CPED is working with Seward Redesign on coordinating plans for
22nd Street. Shirley of Midtown talked about the needs of two neighborhoods on
the west side of Hiawatha who also need to have pedestrian access to the light
rail station. There have been two applications to Great Streets funding for
proposals which have been denied in the past four years, and there will be
others. CPED has a $3.2M budget, that can get a project started. They are
"starting" by enhancing the pedestrian ways along Franklin.
7:20 2600-2606 17th
Ave. Proposal for Apartment of 20 Units of Homeless Housing by Alliance of the Streets. Carol Pass
The neighborhood has worked very hard to get
this zoning which residents wanted. EPIC doesn't want to set precedents for
allowing variants against the current zoning. We want a quiet inner space in
our neighborhood, and we don't want to lose this. We resolved to have this
project moved to an appropriately zoned area at our June meeting. In this
particular plan, there will be no front or side yards for people to hang out
and little parking. This area is zoned residential family housing (R2B). People
have recently bought homes right nearby, believing that City zoning would
maintain the character of the neighborhood.
Joseph Spangler discussed the work that CP
and EPIC have done on this since the last GMM. CP worked hard and wrote a great
letter, asking City CM to pull this project from consideration. Joseph predicts
that the neighborhoods will have to continue to work hard and communicate
frequently that we need the City to listen to our needs and honor/support our
neighborhood zoning decisions that were made in the past. It is very hard to
get the City to listen to us. There are places two blocks away from this site
that are zoned for this type of project. EPIC has no problem with placing this
project in an area that is already zoned for the purpose. EPIC is not opposed
to providing housing for the homeless; we know there is a need. We want it
moved to the corridor that is zoned properly.
7:35 Stop 'n Shop Gas
Station on Lake and 18th Ave.: Joseph Spangler;
Should
it stay open all night?? Decision by the City
is coming on the 20th of September.
1700 E. Lake St Gas Station was established
in 1997. This site has all of the problems that any gas station would have
(noise, traffic, etc.) but it is located within a designated Transit Station
Area for the light rail station, within the half-mile radius. In 2005, the City
created an overlay zone called a Pedestrian Overlay District. While the
original zoning permitted all these uses, the POD area prohibits automobile
convenience facilities and car washes. Because the gas station was
"grandfathered" in, the nonconforming use of this property is legal.
However, any expansion of noncornforming use is NOT legal. The gas station
owners have submitted a proposal requesting re-zoning of their property. Current
hours are Sun-Thurs. 6 am - 10 pm, Fri - Sat 6 pm 12:00 am, Sun. 6:00 am - 11
pm.
MOTION (MG, ES) passed
EPIC opposes the proposed expansion of
nonconforming use by Stop N Shop at 1700 E. Lake St. Whereas the proposed
expansion uses are not in conformance with the current zoning for the property,
and does not conform to the Cities policies for transit oriented development
along this section of Lake Street, nor does it conform to the Pedestrian
Overlay District reaffirmed by the City in early 2010. In addition, in an
effort to minimize the negative impact of the current legal nonconforming use,
EPIC recommends the following modifications of the current use [as outlined in
the suggested remediations document.]
7:50 East Phillips Park
Center: Brad Pass, Update, $50,000.00 for kitchen
requires NRP Phase II completion
The building is now closed. Report any
vandalism or trespassing inside the fence after business hours (about 3:30 pm.)
Call 911 and direct Police. Plans are coming along great, and the site is
expected to be open by the beginning of next year. Still seeking $50,000 for
the kitchen.
8:00 Phillips Community
Center: Brad
Pass, Update, A waiting game. Effort
to save and restore the pool, Pillsbury-Waite House & Neighborhood
Proposals.
On
the corner of 11th Avenue and 24th Street. There is now a mold problem, due to
water on the floors that seem to be coming from the new roof which must be
leaking. The community wants to save the pool - 100%.
MOTION (MG, TC) Passed
EPIC
joins the other Neighborhoods to fund a feasibility study to determine the cost
to restore the pool for $1,500.00.*
*The
board recommended $1,000, however, the "share" for EPIC increased to
$1,500 since the board meeting.
8:10 Narrowing 28th St.
at the Greenway crossing: Tim Springer,
The
City of Minneapolis is proposing changes to the way the Greenway crosses over
28th St. just west of Hiawatha. There have been a number of accidents to
bicyclists crossing 28th St, because of the "double threat" caused by
two lanes of traffic going in both directions on 28th St. The proposal would
"cross-hatch" the outside lane on both sides of 28th St. before and
after the bicycle crossing. Neighborhood says that 29th Street is a nightmare
during rush hour with traffic backed up to 14th Ave.
MOTION (BP, AJ) Passed
In
order to solve the crossing problem of the Greenway at 28th Street, EPIC
proposes stop lights at the intersection of the Greenway and E. 28th Street;
green for automobile traffic, and red for bicyclists, push-button activated.
MOTION (MK, MG) Passed
Until
we get stoplights, EPIC will support the City's temporary solution to provide a
cross-hatching to prohibit automobile traffic on the outside lanes of 28th
Street in an effort to make the crossing safer for bicyclists. In addition to
simple cross-hatching on the street, we require floppy bollards as a vertical
barrier.
8:20 Xcel Energy High
Voltage Transmission Lines: Tim Springer, Update
The formal hearings with neighborhoods, Xcel and the
Administrative Law Judge are over. The ALJ is scheduled to release her
recommendation, which is only advisory to the PUC in October. There may be an
opportunity for public input before the PUC makes its decision.
8:30 Future Funding for
Neighborhoods: Basis for Allocations and Process for NCEC is
asking us: What do we want
from the new City Commission Decision-making Body for Neighborhoods? We need to let folks know.
8:45 Crime Concerns: Write down problem
Addresses and what is going on. We will submit list to the police. Bloomington
Patrol is up and running again.
There
was a raid at 2602 17th Avenue - communicate concerns to Police.
9:00 Adjournment
