CC MINUTES 07252017 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

City Council Regular Meeting Minutes July 25, 2017 Page 4 1 Ms. Nancy Robinette, 3408 3155 Avenue NE, member of SAVCA, spoke about affordable 2 housing in St. Anthony. She attended the meeting earlier today and provided an overview of the 3 meeting. Ms. Robinette stated there will be ongoing discussions about affordable housing 4 components and it is her opinion that any new development in St. Anthony should have 5 affordable housing. She focused on the ongoing losses with Lowry Grove, noting SAVCA 6 members and Lowry Grove residents have asked for the City's help. She stated the third party 7 did help some of the residents and allowed some of the residents to get funds and move on. She 8 mentioned the death by suicide of Frank. Ms. Robinette stated SAVCA developed transition 9 plans for some of the residents but some of the temporary housing has fallen apart over the past 10 couple of weeks and many housing crisis have been occurring. She explained SAVCA does not 11 have the resources the City has and the City should have done more to provide assistance and 12 backup to those residents of Lowry Grove needing help, noting the Comprehensive Plan stated 13 assistance would be given. She stated the SAVCA remains active and engaged with Lowry 14 Grove families and requested the City appoint a leader to work with Kate Martin and Mel 15 Scheppe on addressing the needs of the needy Lowry Grove residents. She asked the City to step 16 up. 17 18 Ms. Nancy Gonzales, 3109 Rankin Road, stated Ms. Robinette puts her money where her mouth 19 is, has taken a family into her home, and is providing transitional housing for that family until 20 they can find a place to live. She stated she believed St. Anthony can ask the developer to 21 provide affordable housing because it is the right and morale thing to do. She felt the poor are 22 being ignored and these people need to be in our community. Ms. Gonzales referred to the book 23 Dream Hoarders and the movie It's a Wonderful Life. She is concerned about the kids that lived 24 in Lowry Grove and feels the School District is becoming a private school, which is morally 25 wrong. 26 27 Mr. Perry Thorvig, 3112 Townview Avenue, stated he is representing another ad -hoc group that 28 has talked about the physical nature of the developer. He stated he was a planner for many years 29 and hopes there is some way that massive grading and tree clearance can be avoided prior to the 30 plan being approved. Mr. Thorvig stated he has reviewed the plan online and would like to see a 31 copy to view, noting the sketch plan back in August appears more detailed than what was 32 recently submitted. He stated he does not know how the townhouses will fit as he found the 33 height declaration is misleading and thinks 823 units are way too many. He felt the development 34 should be 3 stories tall and at 25 units per acre, which would allow for 400 units. Mr. Thorvig 35 noted that no street improvements have been addressed from the environmental assessment 36 worksheet and the traffic issue at 181" and Stinson has not been addressed. He stated their group 37 will be developing some Findings of Fact for Council to consider. 38 39 Mr. Alex Walker, 2214 Roosevelt Street, Minneapolis, stated he appreciates the transparency of 40 putting the documents on line right away. He stated concerns about the traffic, noting there are a 41 number of kids in the neighborhood and the streets near his home are used as pass through for 42 cars. He believed the development is too large for the area and the infrastructure is not adequate. 43 Mr. Walker questioned some of the details in the application, referred to some research he did, 44 and suggested Mr. Casey research and read the report. His stated his primary concern is the 45 traffic. 46