To: Linea Palmisano, City Council Member, Mei-Ling Smith, City Planner, and Betsy Hodges, Mayor of Minneapolis
Don't allow developers to ignore our Small Area Plans and destroy the character of our neighborhoods
We, the undersigned, call upon elected and appointed Minneapolis officials to deny a conditional use permit for the proposed development at 43rd & Upton, in order to protect the character and stability of this neighborhood, and to protect the integrity of the small area planning process and promote orderly and beneficial development for all Minneapolis neighborhoods.
Why is this important?
The Linden Hills neighborhood spent $60,000 and 18 months of neighborhood meetings working with the City to write a Small Area Plan that provides a policy framework to guide developers proposing new buildings. The Linden Hills Small Area Plan is now part of the Minneapolis Plan for Sustainable Growth, which is intended to "protect the character and stability of residential areas within the city and to promote the orderly and beneficial development of those areas."
The proposed building for 43rd & Upton is inconsistent with the Linden Hills Small Area Plan and is out of scale and character with surrounding uses. Against the wishes of the neighborhood, the developer wants a conditional use permit (CUP) to build a four-story 56' building (with parapet) that is 14 feet taller than C1 zoning allows as of right (42' without a CUP) now. The overall height of 56' is the maximum allowed for a four-story building in a C2 zone, but this corner is zoned C1 and the height limit is 42’. The proposed 19' height for the first floor alone is out of scale with all the adjacent buildings, and taller than the first-floor height of any previous proposal for this corner.
This proposal is detrimental to the neighborhood and injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in downtown Linden Hills. Approving a conditional use permit would also set a precedent that would lead to effectively rezoning the other parcels in our C1 zone to C2 without the required legal process of public hearings.
If the City grants this CUP, the builder will be allowed to ignore and bypass the vision and goals in the Linden Hills Small Area Plan, as well as the guidelines for height, setbacks, and transition areas between adjacent properties.
The proposed building for 43rd & Upton is inconsistent with the Linden Hills Small Area Plan and is out of scale and character with surrounding uses. Against the wishes of the neighborhood, the developer wants a conditional use permit (CUP) to build a four-story 56' building (with parapet) that is 14 feet taller than C1 zoning allows as of right (42' without a CUP) now. The overall height of 56' is the maximum allowed for a four-story building in a C2 zone, but this corner is zoned C1 and the height limit is 42’. The proposed 19' height for the first floor alone is out of scale with all the adjacent buildings, and taller than the first-floor height of any previous proposal for this corner.
This proposal is detrimental to the neighborhood and injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in downtown Linden Hills. Approving a conditional use permit would also set a precedent that would lead to effectively rezoning the other parcels in our C1 zone to C2 without the required legal process of public hearings.
If the City grants this CUP, the builder will be allowed to ignore and bypass the vision and goals in the Linden Hills Small Area Plan, as well as the guidelines for height, setbacks, and transition areas between adjacent properties.