Brooklyn Park staff outline anti-displacement package tied to Blue Line extension; council to review grant applications in July

City of Brooklyn Park staff on Tuesday presented a package of anti-displacement programs aimed at protecting residents and small businesses ahead of the Blue Line Extension construction, and said they will prepare grant applications to the corridor anti-displacement board after council direction this summer.

The proposals, developed since February and shaped by a community survey, include residential cost-assistance, small-business grants for rent or property tax increases, revenue-loss and façade programs, a construction trades workforce program and discussion with a community land trust. Staff said the programs are designed to operate from 2026 through 2030 so that ACPP board funding can be spent by June 30, 2030, and that the city will return to the council in July with more-developed materials to support grant applications.

Why it matters: The Blue Line Extension runs through neighborhoods with concentrations of lower-income and racially diverse households. City staff said the corridor’s historically disadvantaged communities are at higher risk of being displaced as investment and development accelerate, and the proposed package is intended to mitigate that risk before and during construction.

Staff presentation and survey results Cara Donovan, a city staff presenter, summarized a monthlong survey conducted in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Hmong and Somali that received 166 responses; staff cautioned the sample skewed toward white and female respondents and does not fully represent Brooklyn Park’s demographics. Donovan said 149 responses identified as residents; 17 as business owners;…