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COMMENT ON LOT COVERAGE FROM RESIDENT <br />• Mr. Rich Roddick of 1341 Idaho Avenue, who had arrived after the close of the public hearing, <br />requested the opportunity to ask a question about the ordinance. The public hearing could not be re- <br />opened, but the Commission invited him to speak since he had taken the trouble to come. Mr. <br />Roddick asked how the coverage limit would impact future changes to properties that are already <br />close to the coverage limit. Would owners be allowed to replace one kind of coverage with <br />another? The answer is yes, Ms. Jones confirmed. Commissioner DeLeo assured Mr. Roddick that <br />the Commission had looked very carefully at these issues in Northome in particular over several <br />months. <br />INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS <br />City Administrator Heather Worthington gave an update on the SE Corner project. The project is <br />running about a month behind the timeline that was included in the October memo the Commission <br />received. In December the Commission will be asked to review the Preliminary Site Plan for the <br />project and the Comp Plan Amendment. The latter is a formality. The Commission will make <br />recommendations to the City Council. <br />Several of the Commissioners had questions about the project. In response to a question from <br />Commission Lageson, Ms. Worthington said that the developer is committing funds to the <br />redevelopment of Curtiss Field in lieu of setting aside land from the development for park use. <br />There will be many opportunities for communication with the public during the project, beginning <br />early in the new year. Ms. Worthington said that the City had received a grant of $1 million from <br />the Met Council toward the project. The City has tried to be proactive about addressing concerns <br />• that have been raised by the community; recent phone calls from the public have been very positive, <br />mostly about how to get on waiting lists for units. In response to a question from Commissioner <br />Harris, Ms. Worthington said the City has not been involved in relocation of businesses but has <br />been in touch with Sherman and Associates about the progress of this. <br />Commissioner Heideman asked if the City has concerns about local government aid in view of the <br />recent election. Ms. Worthington replied that nothing is certain but that an LGA cut is likely and <br />that the City is prepared with a contingency budget. The Truth in Taxation Hearing on December 9 <br />will go into this in detail. The City has been told that the tax credits for the SE Corner cannot be <br />"unallocated," but Ms. Worthington cautioned that nothing is certain. <br />Commissioner Lageson gave a brief report on the meeting of the working group of developed <br />suburbs that has been meeting in Richfield. The group met earlier this month with representatives <br />of the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities and League of Minnesota Cities to formulate <br />priorities. The issues at the top of the list are (1) local government aid, (2) TIFF/redevelopment, <br />and (3) transit. Commissioner Heideman added that the needs of inner suburbs are quite different <br />from those of the developing suburbs and that we need to direct some effort toward supporting our <br />common interests. The inner suburbs face a lot of complexity in these issues. She encouraged the <br />commissioners, and any interested citizens, to attend future meetings of the working group. <br />Commissioner Middleton asked if the City had taken a look at the transit changes in Falcon Heights. <br />The new stops do not have shelters or even benches. She mentioned in particular the stops on <br />Larpenteur at Cleveland and Gortner that serve UM students. Ms. Jones will look into this and find <br />out if shelters are planned; these routes are on county and state right-of--ways. <br />• Commissioner Lageson asked about the proposed Vikings/UM football stadium. Councilmember <br />Lindstrom replied that the most recent proposal, which included parking at the State Fair, seems to <br />be "off' for now. <br />