Reading the Highland Villager #248

[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free. See also: Three Reasons Why I Re-Blog the Highland Villager.]


Headline: Carter proposes adding $1.68M to '20 budget to make city safer; Funds would help steer youths away from crime
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: They mayor has a city budget proposal.


Headline: Food shelves respond to rise in hunger; Families pinched by higher costs replenish their larder with help of local charities
Author: Carolyn Walkup

Short short version: People are hungry and need food. Sometimes they get some, thanks to hard work of volunteers and charities.


Headline: County kicks off series of truth-in-taxation hearings
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Property taxes are going up. There are meetings to explain why and hear from people that don't like taxes.


Headline: City Council reviews public financing package for Ford site
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Development of the Ford site is going to take a bunch of public money for things like infrastructure (e.g. streets, parks, stormwater stuff). Article explains the TIF (tax increment financing) proposal, development economics, etc. The construction will take a long time.


Headline: Variances raise building heights limits at Ford site to 48 and 65 feet
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Some of the buildings at the Ford site can be a bit higher. The heights were "included in the master plan."


Headline: New solar array for Ford site proposed for top of landfill
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: There might be solar panels installed on an old dump called Area C [and the subject of much handwringing and vague notions]. People don't really know what is down there. The site is still owned by Ford. [Seems like the best possible outcome.]


Headline: No charges are filed following inspection of GABA's finances
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A local business association might or might not have lost a bunch of its money, but the case was closed regardless. The SPPD and US Attorney's Office looked at the org's books. GABA seems to be in disarray.


Headline: St. Paul agrees to sell part of Nathan Hale Park to neighbors
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A [rich] couple can buy a tiny part of a park that they fenced off near Summit Avenue. [See my story on this.] They are [only] paying $32,000 for the bit of yard.


Headline: Applicants sought for Allianz Field benefits fund committee
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: There is a group forming to spend a [small] pot of money to help the area around the soccer stadium.


Headline: High water requires a reduction in parking planned for the Pitch
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Water underground of a new development is higher than people thought which means the developer has to build a car elevator. There will be fewer parking spaces, and there are no parking minimums in the area. Quote from neighbor: "I'm excited to hear that there will be less parking. It will show other developers that there's not as much of a need for parking." They are going from 142 to 85 spots for 158 homes. [A "car elevator" sounds like a very expensive way to construct 30 parking spaces.]


Headline: Committee still poring over plans for coffee shop drive-thru in Sibley Plaza
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A Starbucks coffee shop wants to open where a gas station is located, next to a strip mall parking lot. The Committee wanted to know more about how to monitor the drive thru in case it turns into a traffic nightmare. [Update: this passed the committee yesterday with some additional conditions about ensuring that queue traffic does not affect the intersections. I voted for it, if you can believe that.]


Headline: County lays out its plans for new Dale St. bridge over I-94
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The County is rebuilding a key bridge over the freeway and making both the sidewalks and the street wider. [That is counter-productive, as more lanes makes it inherently more dangerous and harder to cross the street.] 

Headline: Committee looks into loosening St. Paul's off-street parking rules
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The Planning Commission [which I am on] heard about a study from the city that will change and reduce [and maybe get rid of] the city's minimum parking requirements. Neighbors are concerned about traffic and parking, and also concerned about requiring people to build too many parking lots. Article cites some of the proposed changes, including having exemptions for historic buildings and reductions for smaller buildings. [Article does not lay out, however, the reasons for this, which are threefold, at least: parking minimums that require parking lots are expensive to build and hurt businesses or property owners; minimums that require parking lots are bad for the city's tax base as parking lots are not valuable; minimums that require parking lots incentivize driving in an era when we are trying to reduce fossil fuel use; minimums that require parking lots create pollution and pour runoff, oil, and salt into the water; minimums that require parking lots are not based on meaningful research as parking demand is notoriously squishy; and minimums that require parking lots force people who do not drive cars -- often poor people and people of color -- to pay for the car storage of people who do, a hidden, regressive tax. Stay tuned for more on this developing story.] 


Headline: Task force shares ideas for Grand's future
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: People who care about Grand Avenue [consisting only of business owners and property owners] met to talk about how to improve the street. Ideas include reducing taxes, not green space and more signs, closing Grand to cars four times a year, making more public space, better maintaining the sidewalks, and "multi-modal accessibility." [How about parking meters to make it easier for more folks to park and raise money for these efforts at the same time? This would be a great parking benefits district.]