Brainerd council approves preliminary plat for St. Francis with conditions; street vacation to be decided later

The Brainerd City Council on March 10 approved a preliminary plat for St. Francis Church that would consolidate 14 parcels into three lots for the church, school and a new rectory, but made the approval contingent on a future street vacation, rezoning and a development agreement.

The 4–3 vote clears the plat to move forward in the city review process but does not itself vacate North Ninth Street between Ivy and Juniper; the vacation is a separate, later action. Council President Eric O'Day presided over the meeting; the motion to approve carried 4–3 (Bevins, Johnson, Stunick and Erickson voting yes; Chesak, Yeager and O'Day voting no on the street vacation condition tied motion).

The preliminary plat would consolidate lots used by St. Francis Church, its school and the rectory and would demolish three single-family homes to accommodate a larger rectory building. The planning commission had unanimously recommended approval of the preliminary plat with conditions, and city staff recommended the council treat the street vacation as part of the preliminary plat review because the plat will not function without the proposed vacation.

Community Development Director James Krambick told the council the applicant intends to later request rezoning to a public/semi-public (PSP) district so the site configuration and future additions could proceed without separate conditional use permits. "The preliminary plat will not work without the proposed street vacation," Krambick said, urging the council to consider the vacation when acting on the plat.

Jesse Dean, the city engineer, warned the council the primary public consequence of a street vacation would be loss of on-street parking that currently serves adjacent properties. "If no replacement of on-street parking is provided, the loss of these stalls can cause issues with visitors to the church and school, utilizing some of the other adjacent streets that could cause conflict with neighboring properties," Dean said, and noted the fire department would require the street remain open until two interior homes were demolished and that BPU would require unused service lines to be capped at the main.

Representing St. Francis, Father Gary framed the application as a multi-year, community-driven effort to expand church and school facilities and to create more publicly accessible green and pedestrian space. "The definite plan would be to offer outdoor site amenities, including playgrounds, green space, and walkways to facilitate pedestrian traffic," Father Gary said, adding the church had presented its proposals at neighborhood meetings and received letters of support. He said the vacation would convert asphalt now used by the public into more usable green space and improve safety for children moving between church and school.

Not all neighbors agreed. Ed Shaw, who lives on North Ninth Street, told the council he supports the church generally but said the plans lacked specifics about parking, new structures and whether the street amenities would be truly public. "We need more specifics here," Shaw said. "Demolishing three very usable structures is very concerning when we have a severe housing shortage in the city."

Council members split over competing priorities. Councilmember Gabe Johnson said he supported the overall project and the rectory but said he needed clearer plans before supporting a street vacation. Safety & Public Works Chair Tad Erickson said he intended to support the motion, citing public-safety improvements and the work done by staff and the planning commission. Several council members urged conditions that would require the applicant to show how lost parking would be addressed in later steps.

The council approved the preliminary plat with three explicit conditions read into the record: approval of the North Ninth Street vacation between Ivy and Juniper Street (to be decided later through the formal vacation process), rezoning of all parcels to public/semi-public (PSP) district, and execution of a development agreement with the city. The action advances the project to the next steps (rezoning and formal vacation hearings) while preserving the council's authority over the separate street-vacation decision.

The council directed staff and the applicant to return with more-detailed, site-specific plans during the rezoning and vacation processes, and to address parking, access and service-line issues raised by BPU, the fire department and neighbors.

What happens next: the applicant must pursue a formal street vacation and the rezoning; if the council ultimately agrees to vacate the street, the conditions will remain part of the record and the project will proceed toward building permits and conditional-use reviews as required.

Votes at the March 10 meeting on this item were recorded by roll call: Bevins, yes; Chesak, no; Johnson, yes; Stunick (Steunich in the roll), yes; Yeager, no; Erickson, yes; O'Day (council president), no. The preliminary-plat motion carried 4–3.

Ending: Council members repeatedly told St. Francis representatives they are broadly supportive of the church and school expansion but that the city must see firm, site-specific plans about parking replacement, public access and the design for the former street before approving a formal vacation.