Our goal is to offer readers diverse perspectives on newsworthy events or issues of broad public concern to the Hill & Lake community.
2040 zoning sets us back to the 1970s.
I am, as are many of your readers, dismayed at what the city is doing with its zoning revisions to implement the 2040 Plan.
The changes are so large and complicated that Minneapolis residents do not know what is happening to them. The planners' online survey is a farce. It will reveal nothing.
I speak with experience. I was the planner who led the effort in 1975 to downzone most of the inner core of Minneapolis from Franklin Ave. to 36th St. from Hennepin Ave. to Hiawatha Ave.
It was a neighborhood initiated effort to preserve the existing housing stock and halt the indiscriminate development of two and a half story apartment buildings that residents thought were the scourge of the neighborhood.
That downzoning has stabilized the neighborhood for almost 50 years while allowing apartments on major streets and in the Lake St. corridor.
I also, in conjunction with the Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association, sensitively developed amendments to the zoning code that allowed the townhouses on Mount Curve and Groveland Terrace to be built — provided they were developed at the same density as the surrounding zoning. That was innovative at the time.
It appears that neighborhood stability and planning sensitivity has disappeared.
Look at what the city council approved in January on a 13-0 vote at 5009 Beard Ave: There will be a 63-unit, five-story building with virtually no setbacks or open space.
The planning staff even made up some phony findings to justify a setback variance on a perfectly rectangular lot. It’s cavalier and unbelievable!
The city hall cabal will stop at nothing to jam as many apartments into the city as they can.
Best of luck to Minneapolis residents in achieving sensitive zoning code changes.
Perry Thorvig, St. Anthony
Jones-Harrison Senior Living opens onsite dialysis center.
Jones-Harrison Senior Living proudly unveils an onsite dialysis center to bring life-sustaining kidney care to residents in assisted living, memory care, long-term care, and transitional care and rehabilitation. The goal is to provide kidney care to residents where they live.
Jones-Harrison is excited to partner with DaVita Dialysis on this newest development to improve residents’ lives. DaVita is a leading kidney-care provider with 20 years of experience and proven clinical procedures.
An on-premises dialysis center allows Jones-Harrison residents to dialyze conveniently and comfortably on-premises as well as: 1) reduce stress; 2) provide smoother care coordination; and 3) eliminate travel costs for treatment.
A nonprofit leader in senior living for 135 years, Jones-Harrison continues its legacy of care. To learn more, visit www.jones-harrison.org.
Jacquie Jurva, Cedar-Isles-Dean
Join us and “Be Set Free!”
Our Hill & Lake community has had a lot to deal with after the murder of George Floyd. Fortunately, we have an upcoming lecture about healing racism and division called “Be Set Free” that is open to the public.
Please consider attending this healing lecture by Nicole Virgil from Chicago, Illinois. Join us May 18 at 7:00 p.m. at The Second Church of Christ, Scientist located at 1822 Hennepin Ave. S. All are welcome!
I am a member of The Second Church of Christ, Scientist on Hennepin Ave. S. in Lowry Hill — you’ll recognize it with the cool murals outside! I am grateful that Christ Science, and the Laws of God, that have helped me deal with family issues, financial issues, medical issues, community issues, relationship issues and more.
I just love our community. My family — consisting of my husband, four kids and our dog Sydney — moved from Boston to Minneapolis 16 years ago. Ever since then, I have cherished our parks: swimming in lakes, cross country skiing, biking and walking around our beautiful Grand Rounds. Join us in community healing and moving forward.
Molly Larsen, East Isles
Ward 7 City Council candidate forum on local energy & climate justice.
Tuesday, May 9, 6:00 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.
Loring Community Arts Center
1382 Willow St. Minneapolis 55406
Ward 7 candidates Katie Cashman, Kenneth Foxworth, Mark Globus and Scott Graham will share their vision and respond to audience questions!
An informal gathering will follow in the lobby afterward.
For more information visit: https://www.communitypowermn.org/events_calendar.
Lee Samualson, Community Power
Call to revisit Hennepin Avenue project
Initiated in 2018, the Hennepin Avenue reconstruction plan is currently in its “final engineering phase,” according to the project calendar. Street and utility construction are scheduled to begin in early 2024. Since plan development and project goals commenced five years ago, several dramatic changes have occurred.
The Covid pandemic upended work life, family life, leisure life, social life, quality of life, health and fitness. Although several aspects of our pre-pandemic lives have returned, other aspects have changed markedly.
The Twin Cities are experiencing a paradigm shift in business and employment practices. According to The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s study of USPS change of address forms, more than 7,800 Twin Cities businesses changed their address since 2020. Of that number, more than 1,400 businesses left downtown Minneapolis. Notable examples include Target, Marshall’s, Nordstrom’s Rack, Portico Benefit Services and JB Hudson Jewelers. Recently, AT&T announced that it is moving all of its downtown operations to Bloomington later this year. And, after 120 years downtown, the iconic Grain Exchange Barbershop has closed.
Businesses headquartered in the suburbs are also reevaluating and adjusting their space needs based on an emerging hybrid work model that combines in-office and home office work venues. UnitedHealth Group has 748,000 square feet of space available for lease in Minnetonka and Eden Prairie.
It has become apparent that the five-year-old Hennepin Avenue goals and outcomes may no longer be relevant or justified when construction is due to begin in 2024. For these reasons, the Hennepin Avenue plan should be paused and revisited. Minneapolis Public Works should not be forced to forge ahead in the face of a dramatically changing environment. Rather than continue as if nothing has changed, Public Works should reexamine its planning and outcome assumptions. For example:
- Provide updated annual daily transit ridership between downtown and Southdale (2020-2022). Provide aggregate figures for weekdays (M-F) and weekends (S-S). How do ridership figures from 2020-2022 compare to those from 2017-2019?
- Current transit stops on Hennepin between Douglas Avenue and Lake Street are slated for significant reduction. What is the rationale for depriving transit access to 16,000+ nearby residents of East Isles, Lowry Hill and The Wedge?
- Provide 2020-2022 crime and safety figures on the Hennepin transit route. How do number and type of incidents compare to corresponding incidents in 2017-2019?
- Provide the rationale for adding Metro E Line Bus Rapid Transit project to this route. Will the E Line replace or expand current service? The existence of SWLRT within one mile of East Isles/ Lowry Hill/Kenwood makes the Hennepin Metro E Line Bus Rapid Transit plan unnecessary and undesirable based on street parking needed to serve the Hennepin Avenue business and adjoining residential communities.
- Why is there no acknowledgment of hybrid or electric vehicles in the plan? California and 15 other states have already backed zero-emission vehicle requirements, and several other states are in the process of adopting the new regulations. Under these rules, auto manufacturers cannot sell any vehicle that emits greenhouse gases by 2035; all new cars must run on electricity or hydrogen. Regrettably, Hennepin Avenue planners missed or overlooked this critical information.
- Are the plan’s 2030 project outcomes — a mere seven years from now — even remotely possible in light of changing business, shopping and transportation needs on the horizon? Sans pandemic, the changing business environment and increase in crime, my answer is still “no”: reduce solo motorists from 40% to 20%, a 50% reduction; reduce multi-occupant vehicles from 28% to 20%, a 28.5% reduction; increase public transit ridership from 13% to 25%, a 92% increase; increase walkers from 16% to 25%, a 36% increase; increase biking from 3% to 10%, a 233% increase.
The EPA recently announced that new tail-pipe emissions requirements would result in a quantum increase in all-electric vehicle sales, representing 54-60% of all new cars sold in the U.S. by 2030. To my knowledge, the Hennepin Avenue plan does not address electric vehicles or charging stations, which represents a serious omission, especially since the plan design purports to reflect our transportation needs 50 years into the future.
As a 38-year Lowry Hill/East Isles resident and 74-year-old in reasonably good health, I cannot walk home from Kowalski’s with groceries unless I buy three or four items at a time. At that rate, it would take me an entire week to restock my food shelves. I can walk to Osman Cleaners to drop off clothing, but I cannot walk the clean clothing home. Nor can I transport it via bike or bus.
If this year is an example of the future, I will be able to walk to Rinata and Tao Café for meals in summer and fall only. Winter aside, I am no longer confident that spring can be taken for granted.
I am not anti-bike. With the exception of Antarctica, I have cycled on every continent. However, I strongly oppose bike lanes on Hennepin Avenue when a cycling boulevard already exists on Bryant Avenue South, a mere 2-4 blocks east of Hennepin Ave.
My neighbors and I cherish our Hennepin Avenue businesses. They are the foundation and essence of our community. I know firsthand that many of our declining number of businesses fear that the unknown reconstruction process and timetable will force them to close or relocate. This would result in an incalculable loss to our community quality of life. If you agree, please share your concerns with your city representatives and the Hennepin Avenue project planning team posted on this link: https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/projects/hennepin-ave-s/#contacts-47963
Sandra Nelson, East Isles Resident
