Isanti council agrees to add curbside handicap stall sign on Main Street after business request

Isanti Mayor and City Council discussed a request from business owner Deanna Austin to add a curbside handicap parking stall on Main Street and clarify whether her existing off‑street required stall could be relocated.

The discussion opened with Josie, a city staff member, correcting an earlier statement and noting that code requires certain off‑street accessible parking as part of a site’s required parking. Josie said the original site design required off‑street spaces and that the accessible stall was placed in the business’s off‑street lot “per our requirements.”

Jason, public works staff, outlined practical limitations of placing an accessible stall on Second Street — a signed no‑parking state route — and said adding a curb ramp there would trigger a chain of work including widening the road and obtaining easements. He described the Main Street location as physically feasible but noted ramp and circulation concerns at the site; “To be able to go from a parking stall on Main Street onto that ramp … they would have to get out into oncoming traffic,” Jason said, adding that an off‑street stall requires users to travel an extra roughly 30 feet but avoids conflict with motor vehicles.

Council members focused on balancing the legal requirement for off‑street accessible parking and practical access for users. Council member Holmgren said the curbside Main Street location would be “a better access point.” Council member Peterson noted typical practice: when a business asks for a curbside stall the city has sometimes required the business to pay for the sign and the city to install and stripe it. Josie estimated the sign and post would cost “less than a hundred dollars. Probably looking at $80 for signs and, and the post to install it.”

Council members reached consensus to add one marked accessible stall on Main Street while leaving the site’s required off‑street accessible stall in place. The council discussed options for who pays for the sign; several council members said the business should cover the sign while the city would perform installation and curb painting, and others favored the city installing the sign to ensure consistency. The group agreed staff would install the sign and paint the curb; Josie and council members discussed notifying the business about other users of downtown curbside spaces.

The council did not adopt a formal ordinance or vote at the meeting; members described the outcome as a consensus to install and stripe a curbside accessible stall at the Main Street site and keep the required off‑street accessible stall in place.

A future council or staff item will record the final cost assignment for the sign and any associated curb markings if the business chooses to proceed.

Ending

Staff will coordinate installation, locate utility lines, and schedule curb painting; the council asked that the business be informed of downtown parking being available to the public and of the likely install cost that was discussed at the meeting.