Planning commission recommends interim permit, tightens signage and parking conditions for Red Rock farmers market

Planning commissioners recommended approval Monday of an interim conditional use permit for a Sunday farmers market at Red Rock Elementary School, subject to added conditions on signage, parking enforcement and an explicit mechanism allowing the city to require relocation back to Central Park.

The permit request, submitted by the St. Paul Growers Association for a market to operate Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., seeks to place roughly 35 local vendors at 3311 Commonwealth Avenue under an interim conditional use permit because the school property is zoned R4 and is guided as public/semi-public in the city land use plan. Staff told the commission the market previously operated at Central Park but used Red Rock under a temporary outdoor-event allowance when Central Park construction prevented use in 2024; the association now seeks a formal interim permit for the Red Rock location for 2025.

Staff recommended approval and described the proposal as using an area of the Red Rock lot configured with roughly 59 parking spaces for vendors and pedestrian circulation; staff said adequate parking remains in other portions of the school lot and that the school reported no Sunday programming that would conflict with the market. During discussion commissioners focused on circulation and safety in tight parts…