St. Paul council delays one supportive-housing appeal, denies another as state rules shift licensing

The Saint Paul City Council on July 9 took opposite actions on two appeals of Board of Zoning Appeals decisions about supportive‑housing conversions: it laid over the appeal for 418 Sherburne Ave. to Aug. 6 to allow legal and policy review, and it denied the appeal for 438 Daley St., upholding the BZA's finding that the variance standards were not met.

City staff summarized the legal framework and the BZA findings. David Ayd, a staff member with the Department of Safety and Inspections, told the council that both appeals asked the council to overturn denials of zoning variances needed to classify long‑running congregate residences as supportive housing. Ayd said staff and the BZA concluded that three of the six findings required for a variance — that the hardship is not self‑created, that the hardship is unique to the property, and that granting the variance would not alter neighborhood character — were not met in both cases. He noted the code includes a quarter‑mile separation requirement between higher‑intensity congregate uses and caps on resident counts in some zoning districts.

The Sherburne property owner, Dominic Carchetti, told the council he has…